BACKGROUND Modern computer systems typically have different services and resources that can be accessed by users of the computer system.","When users request access to the services and resources, such requests are generally verified before access is granted so that a user does not gain access to services and resources not granted by the set of permissions associated with that user account.","One system typically used for providing secure access to services and resources is based on creating short-term session credentials that are associated with a user.","Once a session is established, a user can use the session credentials associated with the session to issue multiple requests over the life of that session.","Typically, session credentials are encrypted and include a secret key that is used to sign each of the multiple requests over the life of the session.","A drawback of such sessions and the associated session credentials is that any service that can decrypt the session credentials can have access to the secret key.","Since decrypting the session credentials is typically required to verify a request, when the secret key is a symmetric key, the secret key can be used by services to improperly sign additional requests.","For example, a service can receive a request and decrypt the session credentials associated with the request to extract the secret key for the purposes of verifying the request.","However, the service may also use the extracted secret key to generate requests to other services, even though such requests may not necessarily originate from the owner of the session."],[" BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Various techniques will be described with reference to the drawings, in which: FIG.","1 illustrates an environment where session credentials are generated; FIG.","2 illustrates an environment where requests are validated using session credentials; FIG.","3 illustrates a diagram showing encryption operations associated with using session credentials; FIG.","4 illustrates a diagram showing decryption operations associated with using session credentials; FIG.","5 illustrates a process for validating requests using session credentials; FIG.","6 illustrates a process for using a session token to generate resource requests using session credentials; FIG.","7 illustrates an environment where session credentials are generated with asymmetric keys; FIG.","8 illustrates an environment where requests are validated using session credentials with asymmetric keys; FIG.","9 illustrates a diagram showing encryption operations associated with using session credentials with asymmetric keys; FIG.","10 illustrates a process for validating requests using session credentials with asymmetric keys; FIG.","11 illustrates an environment where a session associated with a region is retrieved using session credentials; FIG.","12 illustrates an environment where a retrieved session is used across regions using session credentials; FIG.","13 illustrates an environment where session data is used across regions to generate a cross-region session using session credentials; FIG.","14 illustrates a process for generating a cross-region session using session credentials; FIG.","15 illustrates a process for extracting session data from a cross-region session using session credentials; FIG.","16 illustrates an environment where a cross-region session is validated using session credentials; FIG.","17 illustrates an environment where a service intercepts a session using session credentials; FIG.","18 illustrates an environment where an account key and a global key are used to generate a session key for use in generating session credentials; FIG.","19 illustrates an environment where an account key is distributed to different regions for use in isolating regions using session credentials; FIG.","20 illustrates a process for distributing an account key to different regions for use in isolating regions using session credentials; FIG.","21 illustrates an environment where global session keys are combined with account keys to generate session credentials; FIG.","22 illustrates an environment where global session keys are combined with account keys to generate session credentials; FIG.","23 illustrates an environment where global session keys are maintained for use in generating session credentials; FIG.","24 illustrates an environment where sessions are expired using session credentials; FIG.","25 illustrates a process for rotating session credentials; FIG.","26 illustrates an environment where a plurality of session keys can be invalidated using session credentials; FIG.","27 illustrates an environment where a plurality of invalidated session keys can be regenerated using session credentials; FIG.","28 illustrates a process for invalidating and regenerating a plurality of session keys using session credentials; FIG.","29 illustrates an environment where account keys are invalidated in association with session credentials; FIG.","30 illustrates an environment where cross-region roles are assumed across regions using session credentials; FIG.","31 illustrates an environment where policies associated with cross-region roles are applied using session credentials; FIG.","32 illustrates an environment where a cross-region role is assumed using session credentials; FIG.","33 illustrates an environment where a cross-region role is used to access resources across regions using session credentials; FIG.","34 illustrates a process for using a cross-region role session token to generate resource requests using session credentials; and FIG.","35 illustrates an environment in which various embodiments can be implemented.","detailed-description description=\"Detailed Description\" end=\"lead\"?"],["CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser.","No.","14/958,872, filed Dec. 3, 2015, entitled “ASYMMETRIC SESSION CREDENTIALS,” which incorporates by reference for all purposes the full disclosure of co-pending U.S. patent application Ser.","No.","14/958,887, filed Dec. 3, 2015, entitled “CROSS-REGION ROLES,” co-pending U.S. patent application Ser.","No.","14/958,888, filed Dec. 3, 2015, entitled “CROSS-REGION CACHE OF REGIONAL SESSIONS,” and co-pending U.S. patent application Ser.","No.","14/958,892, filed Dec. 3, 2015, entitled “PERSONALIZING GLOBAL SESSION IDENTIFIERS.” BACKGROUND Modern computer systems typically have different services and resources that can be accessed by users of the computer system.","When users request access to the services and resources, such requests are generally verified before access is granted so that a user does not gain access to services and resources not granted by the set of permissions associated with that user account.","One system typically used for providing secure access to services and resources is based on creating short-term session credentials that are associated with a user.","Once a session is established, a user can use the session credentials associated with the session to issue multiple requests over the life of that session.","Typically, session credentials are encrypted and include a secret key that is used to sign each of the multiple requests over the life of the session.","A drawback of such sessions and the associated session credentials is that any service that can decrypt the session credentials can have access to the secret key.","Since decrypting the session credentials is typically required to verify a request, when the secret key is a symmetric key, the secret key can be used by services to improperly sign additional requests.","For example, a service can receive a request and decrypt the session credentials associated with the request to extract the secret key for the purposes of verifying the request.","However, the service may also use the extracted secret key to generate requests to other services, even though such requests may not necessarily originate from the owner of the session.","BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Various techniques will be described with reference to the drawings, in which: FIG.","1 illustrates an environment where session credentials are generated; FIG.","2 illustrates an environment where requests are validated using session credentials; FIG.","3 illustrates a diagram showing encryption operations associated with using session credentials; FIG.","4 illustrates a diagram showing decryption operations associated with using session credentials; FIG.","5 illustrates a process for validating requests using session credentials; FIG.","6 illustrates a process for using a session token to generate resource requests using session credentials; FIG.","7 illustrates an environment where session credentials are generated with asymmetric keys; FIG.","8 illustrates an environment where requests are validated using session credentials with asymmetric keys; FIG.","9 illustrates a diagram showing encryption operations associated with using session credentials with asymmetric keys; FIG.","10 illustrates a process for validating requests using session credentials with asymmetric keys; FIG.","11 illustrates an environment where a session associated with a region is retrieved using session credentials; FIG.","12 illustrates an environment where a retrieved session is used across regions using session credentials; FIG.","13 illustrates an environment where session data is used across regions to generate a cross-region session using session credentials; FIG.","14 illustrates a process for generating a cross-region session using session credentials; FIG.","15 illustrates a process for extracting session data from a cross-region session using session credentials; FIG.","16 illustrates an environment where a cross-region session is validated using session credentials; FIG.","17 illustrates an environment where a service intercepts a session using session credentials; FIG.","18 illustrates an environment where an account key and a global key are used to generate a session key for use in generating session credentials; FIG.","19 illustrates an environment where an account key is distributed to different regions for use in isolating regions using session credentials; FIG.","20 illustrates a process for distributing an account key to different regions for use in isolating regions using session credentials; FIG.","21 illustrates an environment where global session keys are combined with account keys to generate session credentials; FIG.","22 illustrates an environment where global session keys are combined with account keys to generate session credentials; FIG.","23 illustrates an environment where global session keys are maintained for use in generating session credentials; FIG.","24 illustrates an environment where sessions are expired using session credentials; FIG.","25 illustrates a process for rotating session credentials; FIG.","26 illustrates an environment where a plurality of session keys can be invalidated using session credentials; FIG.","27 illustrates an environment where a plurality of invalidated session keys can be regenerated using session credentials; FIG.","28 illustrates a process for invalidating and regenerating a plurality of session keys using session credentials; FIG.","29 illustrates an environment where account keys are invalidated in association with session credentials; FIG.","30 illustrates an environment where cross-region roles are assumed across regions using session credentials; FIG.","31 illustrates an environment where policies associated with cross-region roles are applied using session credentials; FIG.","32 illustrates an environment where a cross-region role is assumed using session credentials; FIG.","33 illustrates an environment where a cross-region role is used to access resources across regions using session credentials; FIG.","34 illustrates a process for using a cross-region role session token to generate resource requests using session credentials; and FIG.","35 illustrates an environment in which various embodiments can be implemented.","DETAILED DESCRIPTION This disclosure relates to managing message authentication within a computing resource service provider environment using short-term credentials.","The short-term credentials are generated based on long-term credentials and can be used within a computer system or across computer system boundaries.","The short-term credentials can also be secured so that they may be used in untrusted environments without compromising either the short-term credentials or the underlying long-term credentials.","The short-term credentials can also be partially based on other, short-term credentials so that, for example, they can be regularly expired and efficiently invalidated at an individual, account, regional, or global scale.","The short term credentials can also be used to assign and validate short-term access to user roles so that a user can have access to resources in a region or location that the user may not generally have access to.","A request from a customer of a computing resource service provider for access to computing resources of the computing resource service provider is typically signed or authenticated by a key and that key is used to verify the request prior to executing or fulfilling the request.","One method of signing the request is to use a long-term secret key that is maintained as a shared secret between the customer and the computing resource service provider.","In this method, the customer signs the request using the long-term secret key and sends the request and the signature to the computing resource service provider.","The computing resource service provider then verifies the signature using the same secret key and, if the signature is verified, the computing resource service provider executes or fulfills the request by, for example, providing resources, executing applications, or performing operations associated with the request.","One potential drawback of using long-term credentials to provide access is that, if the long-term credentials are compromised, they provide a mechanism for the detection of unauthorized access by an unauthorized agent.","Another potential drawback of using such long-term credentials is that, if they are used for multiple transactions by a customer, the likelihood of their being compromised may increase.","A third potential drawback of using such long-term credentials is that, in the interest of increasing their security, the cryptographic operations associated with such long-term credentials can become very computationally expensive if, for example, larger keys and/or more complicated key-generation algorithms are used.","Using short-term credentials such as those provided by session credentials helps alleviate some of the potential drawbacks of using long-terms credentials as message authenticators.","One example of how a customer may obtain short-term session credentials that may be used as message authenticators is the customer may first generate a request for a session, and sign the request with a long-term secret key such as, for example, an account key.","The request may then be sent to a security service which verifies the request signature.","If the verification is successful, the security service can then generate a set of session data (also referred to herein as “short-term credential data”) that includes a session key and encrypt the short-term credential data to produce a short-term credential such as a session credential (also referred to herein as a “session token”).","The session token is encrypted with a session encryption key that is available only to the computing resource service provider and provided to the customer.","The encryption of the session token prevents the customer from accessing the session data in the session token.","The customer is also provided with a session key which is cryptographically related to the session key in the session data.","When the customer sends a message using the session token, the session token is sent with the message and digitally signed with the session key sent to the customer.","The computing resource service provider then extracts the session key from the session token using the secret encryption key and verifies the digital signature of the message using the extracted session key.","If the digital signature is verified, the message is processed.","Using short-term credentials provided by session tokens, the customer can sign messages and have them authenticated without compromising long-term credentials.","The long-term credentials (e.g., a password, a private key, or a certificate) are used to generate the request for the session token and the session token is only valid for a determined period of time.","One example of how a session can be used by a customer is, a customer can request the session token using the username and password of the customer (i.e., the long-term credential) and can also request that the session be active for a certain time period (e.g., 36 hours).","During the 36-hour period, the customer can generate messages and requests for resources using the session token and signed by the session key.","Each request can be verified by the computing resource service provider without compromising the long-term key so, for example, the customer could generate thousands or millions of messages during the 36-hour period, and still have his or her username and password used only once.","If, due to some circumstances, the short-term credentials in the session become compromised, the session token can be invalidated quickly and the customer can simply request a new session token.","In an example of how session tokens can be used as message authenticators, the copy of the session key in the session data that is encrypted in the session token may be the same as the copy of the session key that is returned to the customer.","This type of symmetric key session token maintains the security of short-term credentials with the session encryption key.","While the customer has access to the session key that is sent from the computing resource service provider, the customer does not have access to the session key in the session token.","The session key that the customer has access to can be used to digitally sign messages and requests for resources, but such messages and requests will not be verified if the session key in the session token does not match the digital signature.","Thus, the session key cannot be used to digitally sign messages without the session token and the session token cannot be used without the signature of the session key.","In another example of how session tokens can be used as message authenticators, the copy of the session key in the session data that is encrypted in the session token may one of a pair of session keys that form a public key encryption pair where the private key is maintained as a secret and the public key is used to verify the private key.","In this type of asymmetric key session token, the session key in the session data is a public key and the session key that is provided to the customer is a corresponding private key.","The security of the private key is maintained by the customer and the security of the public key is maintained within the session token with a session encryption key.","As with a symmetric key session token, the session key that the customer has access to can be used to digitally sign messages and requests for resources, but such messages and requests will not be verified if the session key in the session token does not match the digital signature.","In the case of asymmetric key session tokens, the public key in the session token can be used to verify the digital signature generated by the private key.","In a first example of an asymmetric session token, the private key and the public key can be generated by the computing resource service provider and sent to the customer.","In a second example of an asymmetric session token, the customer can maintain the private key for signing requests and provide the public key to the computing resource service provider for inclusion in the session token.","Symmetric key session tokens and asymmetric key session tokens can be used to provide short-term credentials for users and/or customers in several different ways.","In a first example, a customer or user in one zone (or region) of a computing resource service provider can obtain short-term credentials in that region, and can then use those region-specific short-term credentials to authenticate message and/or generate resource requests in other regions.","Because the other regions may not have access to the session encryption keys of the original region, they may not normally be able to extract the session key from the session token to verify the digital signature.","However, by sending a request to the original region to extract the session key from the session token, the message or request can be authenticated by the original region and then the short-term credentials used in the other regions.","Similarly, customers can use session tokens across regions to authenticate access to resources in defined roles.","For example, a user in a first region may create a set of permissions for access to resources in a second region such as, for example, the ability to access a particular database.","This set of permissions defines a role for access to those resources and other users can assume that role to access the resources.","Symmetric and asymmetric session tokens can be used across regions to access the role by providing an identifier associated with the role to the other users in other regions (i.e., regions different than where the resources are located).","When the other users use the identifier associated with the role to assume the role, a symmetric or asymmetric session token can be generated, providing short-term credentials for the access.","Such short-term credentials can also provide access to resources in untrusted regions such as, for example, external regions because the short-term credentials can all be both generated and verified in trusted regions, thereby protecting any sensitive information such as encryption keys from being accessed in the untrusted regions.","Other aspects of symmetric and asymmetric session tokens can also be used to control access to customer credentials, to limit those credentials to certain regions, to personalize those credentials to customers, accounts, or roles, and/or to maintain those credentials, are also described in the present disclosure.","For example, by encrypting a session token with a combination of encryption keys that are global, regional, and/or account-specific, only a customer associated with that account or in that region may be able to use that session token.","Similarly, by encrypting a session token with a combination of encryption keys, the session tokens (and thus, the short-term credentials) may be quickly invalidated by discarding one of the encryption keys while keeping the others that may still be valid and/or usable.","In the preceding and following description, various techniques are described.","For purposes of explanation, specific configurations and details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of possible ways of implementing the techniques.","However, it will also be apparent that the techniques described below may be practiced in different configurations without the specific details.","Furthermore, well-known features may be omitted or simplified to avoid obscuring the techniques being described.","FIG.","1 illustrates an example environment 100 where session credentials are generated in accordance with an embodiment.","A customer 102 of a computing resource service provider 104 may generate a session request 108 (also referred to herein as a “request for a session”) from a security service that may be used as a short-term credential (also referred to as a “session token”) and which may be used to authenticate messages from the customer 102 to the computing resource service provider 104 and which may also be used to generate requests for resources from the computing resource service provider 104.In some embodiments, the computing resource service provider 104 may provide a distributed, virtualized, and/or datacenter environment within which one or more applications, processes, services, virtual machines, and/or other such computer system entities may be executed.","In some embodiments, the customer 102 may be a person, or may be a process running on one or more remote computer systems, or may be some other computer system entity, user, or process.","The commands to connect to the computer system instance may originate from an outside computer system and/or server, or may originate from an entity, user, or process on a remote network location, or may originate from an entity, user, or process within the computing resource service provider 104.The command to connect to the computing resource service provider 104 may be generated by a computer system client device associated with the customer 102, or may originate as a result of an automatic process, or may originate as a result of a combination of these and/or other such origin entities.","In some embodiments, the command or commands to initiate the connection to the computing resource service provider 104 may be sent to the one or more services associated with and/or provided by the computing resource service provider 104, without the intervention of the customer 102.The commands to initiate the connection to the services may originate from the same origin as the commands to connect to the computing resource service provider 104, or may originate from another computer system and/or server, or may originate from a different entity, user, or process on the same or a different remote network location, or may originate from a different entity, user, or process within the computing resource service provider 104, or may originate from a different user of a computer system client device, or may originate as a result of a combination of these and/or other such same and/or different entities.","The customer 102 may request connection to the computing resource service provider 104 via one or more connections and, in some embodiments, via one or more networks and/or entities associated therewith, such as servers connected to the network, either directly or indirectly.","The computer system client device that may request access to the services may include any device that is capable of connecting with a computer system via a network, including at least servers, laptops, mobile devices such as smartphones or tablets, other smart devices such as smart watches, smart televisions, set-top boxes, video game consoles and other such network-enabled smart devices, distributed computer systems and components thereof, abstracted components such as guest computer systems or virtual machines, and/or other types of computing devices and/or components.","The network may include, for example, a local network, an internal network, a public network such as the Internet, or other networks such as those listed or described below.","The network may also operate in accordance with various protocols such as those listed or described below.","The computing resource service provider 104 may provide access to one or more host machines, as well as provide access to one or more virtual machine (VM) instances as may be operating thereon.","The services provided by the computing resource service provider 104 may also be implemented as and/or may utilize one or more VM instances as may be operating on the host machines.","For example, the computing resource service provider 104 may provide a variety of services to the customer 102 and the customer 102 may communicate with the computing resource service provider 104 via an interface such as a web services interface or any other type of interface.","While the example environment illustrated in FIG.","1 shows a single connection or interface used to generate the session request 108 from the computing resource service provider 104, each of the services provided by the computing resource service provider 104 may have its own interface and, generally, subsets of the services may have corresponding interfaces in addition to or as an alternative to the single interface.","The computing resource service provider 104 may provide various services to its users or customers (e.g., the customer 102).","The services provided by the computing resource service provider 104 may include, but may not be limited to, virtual computer system services, block-level data storage services, cryptography services, on-demand data storage services, notification services, authentication services, policy management services, security services, or other services.","Not all embodiments described may include all of these services, and additional services may be provided in addition to or as an alternative to the services explicitly described.","As described above, each of the services may include one or more web service interfaces that enable the customer 102 to submit appropriately configured API requests to the various services through web service requests.","In addition, each of the services may include one or more service interfaces that enable the services to access each other (e.g., to enable a virtual machine instance provided by the virtual computer system service to request credentials from a security service such as the security service 106).","The security service 106 may be one of a plurality of services provided by the computing resource service provider 104 and may be configured to facilitate secure access to the services and/or other resources associated with the computing resource service provider 104.For example, the security service 106 may be configured to control access to resources of the computing resource service provider 104, may be configured to authenticate messages sent to the computing resource service provider 104, may be configured to verify credentials of customers such as the customer 102, may be configured to provide secure storage for credentials, may be configured to generate credentials, and may be configured to perform other security related operations associated with the computing resource service provider 104.For example, the security service 106 may generate cryptographic keys such as those described herein, may receive cryptographic keys from customers and/or other services, may maintain cryptographic keys as a service, and/or may use such cryptographic keys to validate requests and digital signatures of requests and messages.","It should be noted that, as used herein, a “cryptographic key” may refer to a symmetric key, an asymmetric key, or some other authentication credential (e.g., a username and password or a certificate) and may be referred to simply as a “key.” In an embodiment, a security service maintains cryptographic keys as a secret within the security service by, for example, storing the key in a hardware security module (“HSM”).","In another embodiment, a security service maintains cryptographic keys as a secret within the security service by being configured to not expose the key (e.g., because the security service is programmed to not provide the keys).","In another embodiment, a security service maintains cryptographic keys as a secret within the security service by, for example, deleting the keys in the event of an intrusion.","The session request 108 may be digitally signed 134 by the customer so that the security service 106 may validate the session request 110.In the example illustrated in FIG.","1, the session request 108 is digitally signed 134 with a customer long-term key 132 associated with the customer 102.A customer long-term key 132 is a secure credential with a long-term period of validity (e.g., three months, six months, or more) that is uniquely associated with the customer 102.In another embodiment, the session request 108 is digitally signed 134 with a username and password of an account associated with the customer 102.In another embodiment, the session request is digitally signed 134 with a short-term credential such as those described herein (i.e., a session request 108 may be digitally signed 134 by a session token that may be specific to such requests).","In another embodiment, the session request is digitally signed with a public key cryptography key pair that includes a public long-term key and a private long-term key.","In another embodiment, the session request is digitally signed 134 by a certificate such as, for example, an X.509 certificate, or some other public or identify certificate.","In another embodiment, the session request is digitally signed 134 by a combination of such cryptographic methods.","As may be contemplated, the examples of cryptographic methods that may be used to digitally sign the session request described herein are illustrative examples and other such cryptographic methods that may be used to digitally sign the session request may be considered as within the scope of the present disclosure.","When the security service 106 receives the session request 108 that is digitally signed 134 by, for example, the customer long-term key 132, the security service may first validate the request 110.Operations to validate the request 110 may include, but may not be limited to validating the identity of the customer 102, validating that the customer 102 is authorized to generate the session request 108, validating that the customer account used to generate the request is authorized to generate the session request 108, and/or validating that the request came from a computing device associated with the customer 102 that is authorized to generate the session request 108.In the example illustrated in FIG.","1, the security service 106 validates the request by verifying that the session request 108 is digitally signed 134 by the customer long-term key 132 and that the customer long-term key 136 is being used by the customer 102 associated with the key.","Although not illustrated in FIG.","1, in the event that the session request 108 is not valid (i.e., that one or more of the operations to validate the request 110 yield a result indicating the request is not valid), an error may be generated and/or one or more notifications may be sent to the customer, an administrator, or some other such entity.","If the session Request 108 is valid 112, the security service 106 may then process 114 the request.","The security service 106 may first process 114 the request by obtaining a session key 116 and a session encryption key 120.The session key 116 may be any cryptographic key, certificate, or credential.","The session key 116 may be generated by the security service 106, may be provided by another service of the computing resource service provider 104, or may be provided by the customer 102.The session encryption key 120 may also be any cryptographic key, certificate, or credential and may be generated by the security service 106 or may be provided by another service by the computing resource service provider 104.In an embodiment, the session key 116 and/or the session encryption key 120 are generated by dedicated hardware and/or software within the computing resource service provider 104 environment configured to generate such keys.","The security service 106 may then store the session key 116 in a set of session data 124 and may encrypt 118 the session data 124 using the session encryption key 120 to generate 122 a session token 126.Each of these operations is described in more detail below, as is the set of session data 124.The security service 106 may then provide 130 the session token 126 to the customer 102.In the example illustrated in FIG.","1, because the session token 126 is encrypted using the session encryption key 120, the customer cannot access the session data 124 and may not otherwise alter the session data 124, including the session key 116 stored in the session data 124.Additionally, the security service 106 may provide 128 the session key 116 to the customer 102 so that the customer 102 can use the session key 116 to digitally sign messages and/or requests that are combined with the session token 126 as described herein.","The examples described below illustrate how the short-term credentials in the session token 126 are combined with the digital signature of the session key 116 to verify requests and/or authenticate messages.","FIG.","2 illustrates an example environment 200 where requests are validated using session credentials as described in connection with FIG.","1 and in accordance with an embodiment.","A customer 202 may use the session token described above to generate a signed request 204.The signed request 204, which includes the session token, is signed by the session key 218.The signed request is illustrated herein with a “lock” symbol in a circle, which represents the session token and the “pen and line” symbol in the square, which represents the digital signature.","As discussed herein, numerous variations of the cryptographic operations described herein utilize symmetric and/or asymmetric cryptographic primitives.","Symmetric key algorithms may include various schemes for performing cryptographic operations on data including block ciphers, stream ciphers and digital signature schemes.","Example symmetric key algorithms include the advanced encryption standard (AES), the data encryption standard (DES), triple DES (3DES), Serpent, Twofish, blowfish, CAST5, RC4, and the international data encryption algorithm (IDEA).","Symmetric key algorithms may also include those used to generate output of one way functions and include algorithms that utilize hash-based message authentication codes (HMACs), message authentication codes (MACs) in general, PBKDF2 and Bcrypt.","Asymmetric key algorithms may also include various schemes for performing cryptographic operations on data.","Example algorithms include those that utilize the Diffie-Hellman key exchange protocol, the digital signature standard (DSS), the digital signature algorithm, the ElGamal algorithm, various elliptic curve algorithms, password-authenticated key agreement techniques, the pallier cryptosystem, the RSA encryption algorithm (PKCS#1), the Cramer-Shoup cryptosystem, the YAK authenticated key agreement protocol, the NTRUEncrypt cryptosystem, the McEliece cryptosystem, and others.","Elliptic curve cryptography algorithms include the elliptic curve Diffie-Hellman (ECDH) key agreement scheme, the Elliptic Curve Integrated Encryption Scheme (ECIES), the Elliptic Curve Digital Signature Algorithm (ECDSA), the ECMQV key agreement scheme, and the ECQV implicit certificate scheme.","Other algorithms and combinations of algorithms for symmetric and/or asymmetric cryptographic primitives are considered as being within the scope of the present disclosure and the above is not intended to be an exhaustive list.","It should be noted that that the term “digital signature” includes any information usable to cryptographically verify authenticity of a message including information generated using an RSA-based digital scheme (such as RSA-PSS), the digital signature algorithm (DSA) and the elliptic curve digital signature algorithm, the ElGamal signature scheme, the Schnorr signature scheme, the Pointcheval-Stern signature algorithm, the Rabin signature algorithm, pairing-based digital signature schemes (such as the Boneh-Lynn-Schacham signature scheme), undeniable digital signature schemes, and others.","Further, message authentication codes (such as hash-based message authentication codes (HMACs), keyed cryptographic hash functions, and other types of information may also be used as digital signatures.","As with the above, other algorithms and combinations of algorithms used to provide digital signatures are also considered as being within the scope of the present disclosure and the above is not intended to be an exhaustive list.","In various embodiments, data objects such as session tokens may be cryptographically verifiable.","In one example, cryptographically verifiable data objects are created to be cryptographically verifiable by the system to which the data object is to be provided or another system that operates in conjunction with the system to which the data object is to be provided.","For example, the data object may be encrypted so as to be decryptable by the system that will cryptographically verify the data object, where the ability to decrypt the data object serves as cryptographic verification of the data object.","As another example, the data object may be digitally signed (thereby producing a digital signature of the data object) such that the digital signature is verifiable by the system that will cryptographically verify the data object.","In other examples, both encryption and digital signatures are used for cryptographic verifiability and/or security.","In such examples, the key used to encrypt and/or digitally sign the data object may vary in accordance with various embodiments and the same key is not necessarily used for both encryption and digital signing, where applicable.","In some embodiments, a key used to encrypt the data object is a public key of a public/private key pair where the private key of the key pair is maintained securely by the system to which the data object is to be provided, thereby enabling the system to decrypt the data object using the private key of the key pair.","Using the public key to encrypt the data object may include generating a symmetric key, using the symmetric key to encrypt the data object, and encrypting the symmetric key using the public key, where the encrypted symmetric key is provided to a system with the encrypted data object to enable the system to use the corresponding private key to decrypt the symmetric key and use the decrypted symmetric key to decrypt the data object.","Further, in some embodiments, the data object is digitally signed using a private key of a public/private key pair corresponding to the computer system that encrypts and/or digitally signs the data object (e.g., a user device).","For example, an application may be provisioned with the private key and the data object may include a certificate for the private key for use by a system for verification of the digital signature of the data object.","Other variations, including variations where a symmetric key shared between the user computer and the system that cryptographically verifies the data object can be used to encrypt and/or digitally sign the data object.","The signed request 204 may be received by a security service 220, which may be the same as the security service 106 described in connection with FIG.","1.The security service 220 may first verify the session token 206 by extracting the session key 210 from the session token 208 that is included in the signed request 204.The security service 220 may extract the session key 210 from the session token 208 by decrypting the session token using the session encryption key.","The session encryption key, which may be the same as the session encryption key 120 described in connection with FIG.","1, may be maintained as a secret by the security service 220 using one or more of the methods described herein.","It should be noted that, unless otherwise specified or made clear from context, “decrypting the session token using the session encryption key” includes decrypting the session token using the same session encryption key that was used to encrypt the session token (i.e., using a symmetric session encryption key), decrypting the session token using a decryption key that corresponds to the session encryption key (i.e., using an asymmetric session encryption key), decrypting the session token using a combination of keys that were used to encrypt the session token (i.e., using multiple session encryption keys), or a combination of these and/or other such cryptographic operations usable to extract the session key from the session token.","The security service 220 may then verify 212 the signature 214 of the signed request 204 by using the extracted session key 216 obtained by extracting the session key 210 from the session token 208 that is included in the signed request 204 by obtaining the session key 210 from the extracted session data.","The security service 220 may validate the signature 222 of the signed request by, for example, using the extracted session key 216 to perform a cryptographic operation to validate the digital signature generated by the session key 218.The security service 220 may also validate the signature 222 by using the session key 218 to perform an encryption operation on a data item and then using the extracted session key 216 to perform a corresponding decryption operation on the encrypted data item.","The security service 220 may also validate the signature 222 by comparing the session key 218 to the extracted session key 216.Finally, if the security service 220 is able to verify the session token 206 and is able to verify 212 the signature 214, the security service may process the request 224 by, for example, providing resources associated with the request and/or forwarding the request to another service of the computing resource service provider.","In an embodiment, the signed request 204 includes a request for resources from a computing resource service provider such as the computing resource service provider 104 described in connection with FIG.","1.The request for resources may include an identifier for the resource and/or an identifier for the customer 202.The request for resources may also include a set of policies or permissions for access to the resources or those policies or permissions may be determined after the request for resource is received by the computing resource service provider.","For example, the request for resources may include a request, by the customer 202, to access a data store provided by a data storage service of the computing resource service provider.","The request for resources may further specify that the customer desires read-write access to the data store provided by the data storage service of the computing resource service provider.","Because having read-write access to a data store can have potentially harmful effects, verifying the request using the short-term credentials provided by the session token can help ensure that the customer 202 is authorized to access such resources.","In another embodiment, the signed request 204 includes a message that is received by the computing resource service provider such as the computing resource service provider 104 described in connection with FIG.","1 and that must be authenticated by the security service 220 before being processed by the computing resource service provider.","The message may include an identifier for the customer 202, may include a destination for the message, and may include the content of the message.","For example, the message may be a message, from the customer 202, to restart one or more virtual machine instances associated with the customer 202.Because restarting virtual machine instances can have harmful effects, authenticating the message using the short-term credentials provided by the session token can help ensure that the customer 202 is authorized to restart the virtual machine instances.","In an embodiment, the operations to verify the session token 206 and to verify 212 the signature 214 before processing the request 224 (or authorizing the message) are performed by the security service 220 prior to sending the request or the message to a different service of the computing resource service provider.","In another embodiment, the operations to verify the session token 206 and to verify 212 the signature 214 are performed by the security service 220 after the different service of the computing resource service provider has received the request or the message.","That is, the different service of the computing resource service provider receives the request or message and forwards the request or message to the security service 220 for verification of the session token and signature.","In another embodiment, the different service may be configured to verify the session token 206 and/or to verify 212 the signature 214 by, for example, obtaining the session encryption key from the security service.","FIG.","3 illustrates an example diagram 300 showing encryption operations associated with using session credentials as described in connection with FIG.","1 and in accordance with an embodiment.","The first part of the example diagram 300 illustrated in FIG.","3 shows how a session key and a session encryption key are used to produce the session token as described above.","The operations illustrated in the first part of the example diagram 300 may be performed by a security service such as the security service 106 described in connection with FIG.","1.The session key 302 is added to the unencrypted session data 304.The unencrypted session data (also referred to herein more simply as the “session data”) may contain additional data and/or metadata associated with the session including, but not limited to, identifiers associated with users (or customers), identifiers associated with user (or customer) accounts, identifiers associated with resources, zones of operation (also referred to herein as “regions”) of the computing resource service provider where the session may be used, policies associated with the session, permissions associated with the session, roles associated with the session, keys used to generate the session token, expiration conditions (e.g., dates or times) associated with the session, or other such data and/or metadata associated with the session.","The session data 304 may be encrypted using the session encryption key 306 as described herein to produce the session token 308.Although not illustrated in the first part of the example diagram 300, the session encryption key may also be preserved as a secret within the security service, stored in a session encryption keychain, or otherwise maintained for later use in the verification operations.","It should be noted that the session key 302 and the session encryption key 306 are different keys.","The session key 302 is stored in the session data 304 and is, in some embodiments, provided to the customer.","The session encryption key 306 is used to encrypt the session data 304 to produce the session token 308 and is maintained as a secret (i.e., is not provided to the customer).","The second part of the example diagram 300 illustrated in FIG.","3 shows how some parts of the data sent to the customer 310 in response to the request for the session token are accessible to the customer 310, while some parts of the data sent to the customer 310 in response to the request for the session token are not accessible to the customer 310.In the example illustrated in the second part of the example diagram 300 illustrated in FIG.","3, the session token 314 is not accessible to the customer 310 as illustrated by the “x-shaped mark” next to the session token 314.The session token 314 may be usable by the customer 310 to generate signed requests as described above, but the customer 310 may not be able to extract the session data 304 to produce extracted session data from the session token because the customer 310 may not have access to the session encryption key 306 (or a corresponding session decryption key).","Conversely, in the example illustrated in the second part of the example diagram 300 illustrated in FIG.","3, the session key 312 is accessible to the customer 310 as illustrated by the “check mark” next to the session key 312.The session key 312 may be usable by the customer 310 to digitally sign requests for resources as described above and/or to digitally sign messages also as described above.","As used herein, the terms “digital signature” and “digitally signing” refer to the process of performing one or more mathematical operations (i.e., cryptographic operations) to provide a means for authenticating the request and/or the message.","If the digital signature is valid (i.e., it is verified), a service such as the security service 106 described in connection with FIG.","1 can verify that the request or message was generated by the customer, that the customer cannot later repudiate the message (i.e., cannot later deny that the customer sent the message), and that the message was not tampered with in transit.","A session key can be used to digitally sign a request or message by using a signing algorithm associated with a digital signature scheme combined with the session key.","The digital signature can then be verified using a corresponding signature verification algorithm with the session key (or with a corresponding key).","The third part of the example diagram 300 illustrated in FIG.","3 shows how the signed request is generated using the session token and signed with the session key.","In the example illustrated in the third part of the example diagram 300 illustrated in FIG.","3, the session token 316 is combined with a request 318, and digitally signed 322 using the session key 320.The process to digitally sign the request using the session key 320 may include encrypting the request 318 using the session key 320 based on the signing algorithm associated with the digital signature scheme.","The process to digitally sign a message using the session key 320 may also include encrypting the message using the session key 320 based on the signing algorithm associated with the digital signature scheme.","In an embodiment, the signing algorithm used to sign messages is different than the signing algorithm used to sign requests such as the request 318.FIG.","4 illustrates an example diagram 400 showing decryption operations associated with using session credentials as described in connection with FIG.","1 and in accordance with an embodiment.","A signed request 402 may be received and the session token 404 used to generate the request may be extracted from the signed request 402.The session data 408 may then be extracted from the session token by using the session encryption key 406.In an embodiment, the session encryption key 406 is the same key that was used to encrypt the session token as described above.","In another embodiment, the session encryption key 406 is a key corresponding to the key that was used to encrypt the session token but that is different than the key that was used to encrypt the session token.","For example, the session encryption key 406 and the key that was used to encrypt the session token may be two keys of a public key cryptography key pair, where one of the keys is a public key of the public key cryptography key pair and the other key is a private key of the public key cryptography key pair.","In such an example, the public key of the public key cryptography key pair may be generated to match the private key of the public key cryptography key pair by, for example, performing one or more key generation operations on the private key to produce the public key.","After the session data 408 is extracted from the session token by using the session encryption key 406, the session key 412 from the session data 408 extracted from the session token 404 may be used to validate 414 the digital signature 410 as described above.","In the example illustrated in FIG.","4, the session key 412 (also referred to herein as the “extracted session key”) may be used to validate 414 the digital signature 410 by using the session key 412 in conjunction with a digital signature verification algorithm associated with the digital signature scheme used to digitally sign the signed request 402 (e.g., Diffie-Hellman, RSA cryptography, Hash trees, Rabin signatures, GMR signatures, elliptic curve cryptography, or some other digital signature scheme).","As may be contemplated, the digital signature schemes described herein are merely illustrative examples and other such digital signature schemes may be considered as within the scope of the present disclosure.","FIG.","5 illustrates an example process 500 for validating requests using session credentials as described in connection with FIG.","1 and in accordance with an embodiment.","A security service such as the security service 106 described in connection with FIG.","1 may perform the process illustrated in FIG.","5.The security service may first receive a request for a session 502 (also referred to herein as receiving a request for a “session token”).","In an embodiment, the request for a session token is signed with a digital signature using a credential associated with the requester such as, for example, the customer long-term key described above.","In such an embodiment, the request may first be validated 504 by verifying the credential to ensure that the request for the session was properly generated, that it was generated by the customer, and/or that it was not tampered with during transmission.","A request that is not valid 506 may cause the security service to generate an error 508 in response to the invalid request.","The security service may generate an error 508 and send a report of the error to the customer, or to an administrative account associated with the customer, or to a computing device associated with the customer, or to a message log system or service associated with the customer.","The security service may also communicate the error to the customer using an email, a short message service (“SMS”) message, a console message, an application programming interface (“API”) call (also referred to herein as an application programming interface request), a webservice call, a library call, or some other such communication modality.","Similarly, the security service may generate an error 508 and report the error to a user, account, device, or message log service associated with the security service and/or with the computing resource service provider.","For example, a report of the error may be sent to an access monitoring service that monitors attempted access to resources associated with the computing resource service provider in order to identify potential malicious attacks.","As may be contemplated, the actions taken by the security service in response to a request that is not valid described herein are illustrative examples and other such responses to requests that are not valid may be considered as within the scope of the present disclosure.","If the request for a session token is valid because, for example, the credentials associated with the request are verified, the security service may then obtain 510 a session key for the session.","In an embodiment, the session key is obtained by generating the session key using a key generation algorithm associated with the encryption scheme for the session keys.","In another embodiment, the session key is obtained by selecting the session key from a plurality of pre-generated session keys.","In another embodiment, the session key is received from the requester (e.g., the customer) associated with the request for the session token.","In such an embodiment, the session key may be included with the request for the session token or the session key may be received by the security service in response to a request sent to the customer.","After obtaining the session key, the security service may then store 512 the session key in the session data as described above.","The security service may then obtain 514 a session encryption key usable to encrypt the session data to produce the session token.","In an embodiment, the session encryption key is obtained by generating the session encryption key using a key generation algorithm associated with the encryption scheme for the session encryption keys.","In such an embodiment, the encryption scheme for the session encryption keys may be different from the encryption scheme for the session keys.","In another embodiment, the session encryption key is obtained by selecting the session encryption key from a plurality of pre-generated session encryption keys.","In another embodiment, the session encryption key is generated from a combination of personal and global keys as described below.","In an embodiment, the session encryption key is a designated key of a plurality of keys maintained by the security service in a session encryption keychain.","For example, a plurality of session encryption keys may be maintained by the security service in a session keychain with a corresponding time interval.","Periodically (e.g., each hour) a new session encryption key may be generated and stored in the session encryption keychain and an oldest session encryption key (i.e., the key that was generated the longest time ago) may be deleted, invalidated, or otherwise removed from use.","In such an embodiment, the newest key may be designated for use as the session encryption key (i.e., may be the only key used to encrypt the session data to generate the session token) while the other keys may be used to decrypt the session token to extract the session data.","After obtaining the session encryption key, the security service may then use the session encryption key to encrypt 516 the session data to generate the session token as described above.","The security service may then verify 518 the session token by performing one or more cryptographic operations on the session token (e.g., the security service may use the session encryption key and/or a corresponding key to decrypt the session token and compare the results to the session data).","If the security service is not able to verify 518 the session token, the security service may generate 508 an error as described above.","If the security service is able to verify 518 the session token, the security service may provide 520 the session token and the session key to the requester.","In an embodiment where the requester has provided the session key, the security service may provide 520 only the session token to the requester.","FIG.","6 illustrates an example process 600 for using a session token to generate resource requests using session credentials as described in connection with FIG.","1 and in accordance with an embodiment.","A security service such as the security service 106 described in connection with FIG.","1 may perform the process illustrated in FIG.","6.The security service may first receive 602 a request for resources or a message as described above.","The request for resources or the message may be digitally signed by a session key and may also be generated using a session token, also as described above.","Next, the security service may extract 604 the session key from the session token used to generate the session token and may validate 606 the digital signature using the extracted session key.","If the signature is valid 608 (i.e., if the request or the message is authenticated), the security service may next process 610 the request or the message by, for example, providing access to the resources, processing the message, or performing some other action.","If the signature is not valid 608 (i.e., if the request or the message is not authenticated) the security service may generate 612 an error as described above.","FIG.","7 illustrates an environment 700 where session credentials are generated with asymmetric keys using session credentials as described in connection with FIG.","1 and in accordance with an embodiment.","A customer 702 of a computing resource service provider 704 may generate a session request 708 from a security service that may be used as a short-term credential and which may be used to authenticate messages from the customer 702 to the computing resource service provider 704 and which may also be used to generate requests for resources from the computing resource service provider 704.The customer 702, the computing resource service provider 704, and the security service 706 may be the same as the customer 102, the computing resource service provider 104, and the security service 106 described above in connection with FIG.","1.The session request 708 may be digitally signed 734 by the customer so that the security service 706 may validate 710 the session request.","In the example illustrated in FIG.","7, the session request 708 is digitally signed 734 with a customer long-term key 732 associated with the customer 702.As described above, a customer long-term key 732 is a secure credential with a long-term period of validity (e.g., three months, six months, or more) that is uniquely associated with the customer 702.In another embodiment, the session request 708 is digitally signed 734 with a username and password of an account associated with the customer 702.In another embodiment, the session request is digitally signed 734 with a short-term credential such as those described herein (i.e., a session request 708 may be digitally signed 734 by a session token that may be specific to such requests).","In another embodiment, the session request is digitally signed 734 by a certificate such as, for example, an X.509 certificate, or some other public or identify certificate.","In another embodiment, the session request is digitally signed 734 by a combination of such cryptographic methods.","As may be contemplated, the examples of cryptographic methods that may be used to digitally sign the session request described herein are illustrative examples and other such cryptographic methods that may be used to digitally sign the session request may be considered as within the scope of the present disclosure.","When the security service 706 receives the session request 708 that is digitally signed 734 by, for example, the customer long-term key 732, the security service may first validate 710 the session request.","Operations to validate 710 the session request may include, but may not be limited to validating the identity of the customer 702, validating that the customer 702 is authorized to generate the session request 708, validating that the customer account used to generate the request is authorized to generate the session request 708, and/or validating that the request came from a computing device associated with the customer 702 that is authorized to generate the session request 708.In the example illustrated in FIG.","7, the security service 706 validates the request by verifying that the session request 708 is digitally signed 734 by the customer long-term key 732 and that the customer long-term key 736 is being used by the customer 702 associated with the key.","Although not illustrated in FIG.","7, in the event that the session request 708 is not valid (i.e., that one or more of the operations to validate 710 the session request may yield a result indicating the request is not valid), an error may be generated and/or one or more notifications may be sent to the customer, an administrator, or some other such entity.","If the session request 708 is valid 712, the security service 706 may then process 714 the request.","The security service 706 may first process 714 the request by obtaining a session key pair 716 and a session encryption key 720.The session key pair 716 may be any cryptographic key, certificate, or credential with a public entity (e.g., a public key) and a private entity (e.g., a private key).","The session key pair 716 may be generated by the security service 706 or may be provided by another service of the computing resource service provider 704.In embodiment, the public key portion of the session key pair 716 may be provided by the customer 702 while the private key portion of the session key pair 716 may be maintained as a secret by the customer 702.The session encryption key 720 may also be any cryptographic key, certificate, or credential and may be generated by the security service 706 or may be provided by another service by the computing resource service provider 704.In an embodiment, the session key pair 716 and/or the session encryption key 720 are generated by dedicated hardware and/or software within the computing resource service provider 704 environment configured to generate such keys.","The security service 706 may then store 718 the public session key of the session key pair 716 in a set of session data 724 and may encrypt 722 the session data 724 using the session encryption key 720 to generate 722 a session token 726.The security service 706 may then provide 730 the session token 726 to the customer 702.In the example illustrated in FIG.","7, because the session token 726 is encrypted using the session encryption key 720, the customer cannot access the session data 724 and may not otherwise alter the session data 724, including the public session key of the session key pair 716 stored in the session data 724.Additionally, the security service 706 may provide 728 the private session key of the session key pair 716 to the customer 702 so that the customer 702 can use the private session key of the session key pair 716 to digitally sign messages and/or requests that are combined with the session token 726 as described herein.","In an embodiment where the customer provides the public session key to the security service and maintains the private session key as a secret, the security service does not provide 728 the private session key of the session key pair 716 to the customer 702.The examples described below illustrate how the short-term credentials in the session token 726 are combined with the digital signature of the private session key of the session key pair 716 to verify requests and/or authenticate messages.","FIG.","8 illustrates an environment 800 where requests are validated using session credentials with asymmetric keys using session credentials as described in connection with FIG.","1 and in accordance with an embodiment.","A customer 802 may use the session token described above to generate a signed request 804.The signed request 804, which includes the session token, is signed by the private session key 818.The signed request is illustrated herein with a “lock” symbol in a circle, which represents the session token and the “pen and line” symbol in the square, which represents the digital signature.","The signed request 804 may be received by a security service 820, which may be the same as the security service 106 described in connection with FIG.","1.The security service 820 may first verify the session token 806 by extracting the public session key 810 from the session token 808 that is included in the signed request 804.The security service 820 may extract the public session key 810 from the session token 808 to produce an extracted public key by, for example, decrypting the session token using the session encryption key or a session decryption key corresponding to the session encryption key.","The session encryption key, which may be the same as the session encryption key 120 described in connection with FIG.","1, may be maintained as a secret by the security service 820 using one or more of the methods described herein.","The security service 820 may then verify 812 the signature 814 of the signed request 804 by using the extracted public session key 816 obtained by extracting the public session key 810 from the session token 808 that is included in the signed request 804.The security service 820 may validate the signature 822 of the signed request by, for example, using the extracted public session key 816 to perform a cryptographic operation to validate the digital signature generated by the private session key 818.If the security service 820 is able to verify the session token 806 and is able to verify 812 the signature 814, the security service may process the request 824 by, for example, providing resources associated with the request and/or forwarding the request to another service of the computing resource service provider.","In an embodiment, the operations to verify the session token 806 and to verify 812 the signature 814 before processing the request 824 (or authorizing the message) are performed by the security service 820 prior to sending the request or the message to a different service of the computing resource service provider.","In another embodiment, the operations to verify the session token 806 and to verify 812 the signature 814 are performed by the security service 820 after the different service of the computing resource service provider has received the request or the message.","That is, the different service of the computing resource service provider receives the request or message and forwards the request or message to the security service 820 for verification of the session token and signature.","In another embodiment, the different service may be configured to verify the session token 806 and/or to verify 812 the signature 814 by, for example, obtaining the session encryption key from the security service.","FIG.","9 illustrates a diagram 900 showing encryption operations associated with using session credentials with asymmetric keys using session credentials as described in connection with FIG.","1 and in accordance with an embodiment.","The first part of the diagram 900 illustrated in FIG.","9 shows how a public session key and a session encryption key are used to produce the session token as described above.","The operations illustrated in the first part of the diagram 900 may be performed by a security service such as the security service 106 described in connection with FIG.","1 The public session key 902 is added to the unencrypted session data 904.The session data 904 may be encrypted using the session encryption key 906 as described herein to produce the session token 908.As described above, although not illustrated in the first part of the diagram 900, the session encryption key may also be preserved as a secret within the security service, stored in a session encryption keychain, or otherwise maintained for later use in the verification operations.","It should be noted that the public session key 902 and the session encryption key 906 are different keys.","The public session key 902 is stored in the session data 904 and is accessible by the customer.","The session encryption key 906 is used to encrypt the session data 904 to produce the session token 908 and is maintained as a secret (i.e., is not accessible by the customer).","The second part of the diagram 900 illustrated in FIG.","9 shows how some parts of the data sent to the customer 910 in response to the request for the session token are accessible to the customer 910, while some parts of the data sent to the customer 910 in response to the request for the session token are not accessible to the customer 910.In the example illustrated in the second part of the diagram 900 illustrated in FIG.","9, the session token 914 is not accessible to the customer 910 as illustrated by the “x-shaped mark” next to the session token 914.The session token 914 may be usable by the customer 910 to generate signed requests as described above, but the customer 910 may not be able to extract the session data 904 from the session token because the customer 910 may not have access to the session encryption key 906 (or a corresponding session decryption key).","Conversely, in the example illustrated in the second part of the diagram 900 illustrated in FIG.","9, the private session key 912 is accessible to the customer 910 as illustrated by the “check mark” next to the private session key 912.As described above, the private session key may be provided by the customer in some embodiments.","The private session key 912 may be usable by the customer 910 to digitally sign requests for resources as described above and/or to digitally sign messages also as described above.","The third part of the diagram 900 illustrated in FIG.","9 shows how the signed request is generated using the session token and signed with the private session key.","In the example illustrated in the third part of the diagram 900 illustrated in FIG.","9, the session token 916 is combined with a request 918, and digitally signed 922 using the private session key 920.The process to digitally sign the request using the private session key 920 may include encrypting the request 918 using the private session key 920 based on the signing algorithm associated with the digital signature scheme.","The process to digitally sign a message using the private session key 920 may also include encrypting the message using the private session key 920 based on the signing algorithm associated with the digital signature scheme.","In an embodiment, the signing algorithm used to sign messages is different than the signing algorithm used to sign requests such as the request 918.FIG.","10 illustrates a process 1000 for validating requests using session credentials with asymmetric keys using session credentials as described in connection with FIG.","1 and in accordance with an embodiment.","A security service such as the security service 106 described in connection with FIG.","1 may perform the process illustrated in FIG.","10.The security service may first receive a request for a session 1002 (also referred to herein as receiving a request for a “session token”).","In an embodiment, the request for a session token is signed with a digital signature using a credential associated with the requester such as, for example, the customer long-term key described above.","In such an embodiment, the request may first be validated 1004 by verifying the credential to ensure that the request for the session was properly generated, that it was generated by the customer, and/or that it was not tampered with during transmission.","A request that is not valid 1006 may cause the security service to generate an error 1008 in response to the invalid request as described above.","If the request for a session token is valid because, for example, the credentials associated with the request are verified, the security service may then obtain 1010 a pair of session keys for the session.","In an embodiment, the pair of session keys is obtained by generating the session keys using a key generation algorithm associated with the encryption scheme for the session keys.","In such an embodiment, the private session key may be generated first and the public session key generated based at least in part on the private session key.","In another embodiment, the session keys are obtained by selecting one or both of the session keys from a plurality of pre-generated session keys.","In another embodiment, the private and/or the public session keys are received from the requester (e.g., the customer) associated with the request for the session token.","In such an embodiment, the session keys may be included with the request for the session token or the session keys may be received by the security service in response to a request sent to the customer.","After obtaining the session keys, the security service may then store 1012 the public session key in the session data as described above.","The security service may then obtain 1014 a session encryption key usable to encrypt the session data to produce the session token.","In an embodiment, the session encryption key is obtained by generating the session encryption key using a key generation algorithm associated with the encryption scheme for the session encryption keys.","In such an embodiment, the encryption scheme for the session encryption keys may be different from the encryption scheme for the session keys.","In another embodiment, the session encryption key is obtained by selecting the session encryption key from a plurality of pre-generated session encryption keys.","In another embodiment, the session encryption key is generated from a combination of personal and global keys as described below.","After obtaining the session encryption key, the security service may then use the session encryption key to encrypt 1016 the session data to generate the session token as described above.","The security service may also verify 1018 the session token by performing one or more cryptographic operations on the session token (e.g., the security service may use the session encryption key and/or a corresponding key to decrypt the session token and compare the results to the session data).","If the security service is not able to verify 1018 the session token, the security service may generate 1008 an error as described above.","If the security service is able to verify 1018 the session token, the security service may provide 1020 the session token and the private session key to the requester.","In an embodiment where the requester has provided the private session key, the security service may provide 1020 only the session token to the requester.","FIG.","11 illustrates an example environment 1100 where a session associated with a region is retrieved using session credentials as described in connection with FIG.","1 and in accordance with an embodiment.","As used herein, a “region” is a logical and/or physical partitioning of the resources provided by a computing resource service provider.","As described above, a computing resource service provider may host a variety of services and provide a variety of resources in multiple locations.","Each of these locations may include one or more regions (also referred to herein as “zones”), which are logical and/or physical partitions of the services and/or resources.","For example, a first datacenter in a first location (a physical or geographical location) may encompass a single region, which may be identified by that datacenter and/or that location.","Conversely, a second datacenter in a second location may encompass multiple logical regions.","Additionally, a region may include multiple physical locations such as, for example, a region identified by a collection of datacenters in one or more countries (e.g., “Western Europe”).","Regions provide additional data security for customers by limiting access to resources to users or accounts within that region.","For example, a customer may have multiple customer accounts and may have data and/or resources located in multiple regions.","Such a customer may have a default policy that limits access to the resources in a first region to accounts that are authorized in that first region and that limits access to the resources in a second region to accounts that are authorized in that second region.","Thus, a first region user account would not have access to second region resources and a second region user account would not have access to first region resources.","In the example illustrated in FIG.","11, a customer 1102 uses a customer credential (e.g., a long-term key) to sign a session request 1104 as described above.","The customer 1102 may issue a request from an account authorized in the first region (referred to herein as a “first region account”) to a first region security service 1106 (i.e., a security service in that first region) that has authorization credentials usable to validate the account in the first region.","It should be noted that an account that is not authorized in a particular region (e.g., the first region) may not generally be used to access services and/or resources in that region because there is no method to validate the customer credentials in that first region in order to determine whether the account is authorized to access those services and/or resources.","Services generally have a policy to deny unknown users and, when accounts are regional, those accounts are unknown in regions where they are not authorized.","It should also be noted that an account may be authorized in multiple regions by propagating authorization credentials usable to authorize the account to those multiple regions.","The first region security service 1106 may validate 1108 the session request 1104 by validating the digital signature of the session request as described above.","The first region security service 1106 may also validate 1110 that the customer 1102 is authorized for the first region, also as described above.","In an embodiment, when the security service validates the session request by validating the digital signature of the session request, that serves to validate 1110 that the customer 1102 is authorized for the first region.","In an embodiment, the first region security service 1106 validates the customer before validating the session request.","In another embodiment, the first region security service 1106 validates the session request before validating the customer.","After the request and/or the customer is validated, the first region security service 1106 may provide 1112 a session token 1114 to the customer as described above and may also, in some embodiments, provide the session key used for signing requests and messages.","The session token 1114 may be usable only in the first region or may be usable in multiple regions.","The region or regions where the session token is usable may be included in the session data that is encrypted to produce the session token.","The region or regions where the session token is usable may also be stored in a policy and permission service so that, for example, the service records a session identifier and associates a list of allowable regions where the session token may be used with that session identifier.","The region or regions where the session token is usable may also be determined by where the session encryption key (i.e., the key used to encrypt the session token) or a corresponding session decryption key (i.e., the key corresponding to the key used to encrypt the session token that may be used to decrypt the session token) may be propagated.","That is, if the session encryption key or the session decryption key is propagated only to the first region, then the session token may generally only be usable in that first region.","FIG.","12 illustrates an example environment 1200 where a retrieved session is used across regions using session credentials as described in connection with FIG.","1 and in accordance with an embodiment.","A customer 1202 may use a session token such as the session token 1114 described in connection with FIG.","11 to generate 1204 a request.","In the example illustrated in FIG.","12, the customer account is authorized in the first region, the customer account is not authorized in the second region, and the session token is generated in first region.","The request illustrated in FIG.","12 is denoted as a first region signed request 1206, meaning that the request is generated in the first region, signed with first region credentials (in this case, the first region session key provided by the security service) and includes a session token usable in the first region.","In the second region 1208, a service such as the security service 106 described in connection with FIG.","1 may determine that the signature and/or the session token is not usable in the second region 1208 and that the signature and/or the session token is associated with a first region 1220.The service may then request 1210 that the first region 1220 provide a session usable in the second region.","The customer account associated with the customer 1202 and used to generate 1204 the request may be authorized in the second region 1208.In an embodiment, the service in the second region 1208 will validate the customer prior to generating the request 1210 to the first region 1220 to provide a session usable in the second region.","In another embodiment, the service in the second region 1208 will validate the customer after receiving a response to the request 1210 to the first region 1220 to provide a session usable in the second region.","The request 1214 to the first region 1220 to provide a session usable in the second region may be a signed request such as those described herein.","The request 1214 may be digitally signed 1218 by a second region credential and may include the first region signed request 1216 which may be the same as the first region signed request 1206.The request 1214 to the first region 1220 to provide a session usable in the second region and that is signed 1218 by a second region credential is denoted as a second region signed request, meaning that the request is digitally signed in the second region.","In the example illustrated in FIG.","12, the request 1214 to the first region 1220 to provide a session usable in the second region includes a request that is denoted as a first region signed request 1216, meaning that it is digitally signed with first region credentials (in this case, the first region session key provided by the security service) and includes a session token usable in the first region.","It should be noted that the credentials used to sign the request 1214 to the first region 1220 to provide a session usable in the second region must be verifiable in the first region so that, for example, a first region may validate the request 1214.In an embodiment, the request 1214 to the first region 1220 to provide a session usable in the second region is signed by a private key associated with the second region.","In such an embodiment, the service in the second region configured to validate the request 1214 may do so by obtaining a corresponding public key from the second region such as, for example, a key corresponding to the private key used to digitally sign the request 1214.When the request 1214 to the first region 1220 to provide a session usable in the second region is received at the first region 1220, a service (e.g., a security service) of the first region 1220 may validate the request as described above and then may decrypt 1222 the session token to extract the session data.","The service of the first region 1220 may then encrypt 1224 the session data using credentials usable in the second region 1208.In an embodiment, the service of the first region 1220 uses a public key provided by the second region 1208 to encrypt the 1224 the session so that a service in the second region 1208 can use a corresponding private key to decrypt the session and generate a session usable in the second region 1208.After the second region 1208 receives the encrypted second region session token 1226, the second region 1208 may decrypt the encrypted second region session token 1226 and may use the session to process 1230 the request.","In an embodiment, the second region 1208 caches 1228 the decrypted second region session token (also referred to herein as a cached session token) so that the session token may be used to process further requests.","In another embodiment, the second region 1208 discards the decrypted second region second token after processing the request so that the session token may not be used to process further requests.","FIG.","13 illustrates an example environment 1300 where session data is used across regions to generate a cross-region session using session credentials as described in connection with FIG.","1 and in accordance with an embodiment.","A service such as the security service 106 described in connection with FIG.","1 generates a cross-region resource request.","A cross-region resource request is a request where a second region signed request 1304 that contains a first region signed request 1306 is used to provide a session usable in the second region from the request generated in the first region as described above.","In the example illustrated in FIG.","13, the second region signed request 1304 is a request to the first region 1308 to provide a session usable in the second region 1302 and the first region signed request 1306 is a request for resources or a message to the second region as described above in connection with FIG.","12.A service of the first region 1308 may first decrypt 1312 the session token using the session encryption key 1314 as described herein.","The resulting session data 1316 may then be encrypted 1318 using a session encryption key selected so that the second region 1302 can use the session.","In the example illustrated in FIG.","13, the first region 1308 uses a second region public key 1320 that is obtained from the second region 1302 to encrypt the session data 1316.The resulting session includes the session data 1316, but is a second region session 1322 due to being encrypted by the second region public key 1320.When the second region session 1322 is received at the second region 1302, a service of the second region 1302 may then use the second region private key 1324 that corresponds to the second region public key to extract the session data, validate 1326 the session and use 1328 the session to process requests and/or authenticate messages.","FIG.","14 illustrates an example process 1400 for generating a cross-region session using session credentials as described in connection with FIG.","1 and in accordance with an embodiment.","One or more security services such as the security service 106 described in connection with FIG.","1 may perform a part of the process described in FIG.","14.A computing device associated with a customer such as the customer 102 described in connection with FIG.","1 may also perform a part of the process described in FIG.","14.The example process 1400 illustrated in FIG.","14 shows the actions of the customer 1402 (e.g., of a device associated with a user account of the customer), the actions of a service (e.g., a security service such as the security service 106 described in connection with FIG.","1) of a first region 1408, and the actions of a service (e.g., a security service such as the security service 106 described in connection with FIG.","1) of a second region 1416 to request, generate, and use a cross-region session such as those described above.","The customer 1402 may first request 1404 a session from the first region 1408 using credentials verifiable in the first region 1408 such as, for example, a long-term session key that is verifiable in the first region 1408.It should be noted that, as used herein, the actions of the customer 1402 to send and/or receive requests and responses from the services may be understood to be sent and/or received from a computing device associated with the user account of the customer.","Similarly, the actions ascribed to the first region 1408 and/or the second region 1416 may be understood to be performed by the services associated with the respective regions such as, for example, the security services.","The service in the first region 1408 may receive the request and, after validating the request, may generate 1406 a session token as described above.","The service in the first region 1408 may then send 1410 the session token to the customer 1402 also as described above.","The customer 1402 may then receive 1412 the session token and may use the session token generated to send 1414 a signed request to the second region 1416 using the session token such as the first region signed request 1206 described in connection with FIG.","12.The service in the second region 1416 may first verify 1418 the signed request and may then identify 1420 the origin session (e.g., the first region 1408) based at least in part on, for example, a region identifier included in the signed request.","The service in the second region 1416 may then send 1422 a signed request for a new session usable in the second region 1416 to the identified first region 1408 as described above.","The signed request for a new session usable in the second region 1416 sent from the second region 1416 to the first region 1408 may be a second region signed request such as the second region signed request 1214 described in connection with FIG.","12.The service in the first region 1408 may then verify 1424 the second region signed request and may extract 1426 the session data using the session encryption key used to generate 1406 the session token or a session decryption key corresponding to the session encryption key used to generate 1406 the session token.","Finally, the service in the first region 1408 encrypt 1428 the session data into a session token usable in the second region 1416 using, for example, a public key of the second session as described above and may send 1430 the encrypted session token usable in the second region to the service in the second region 1416.When the service in the second region 1416 receives the encrypted session token usable in the second region, the service in the second region 1416 may decrypt 1432 the encrypted session token usable in the second region using, for example, a private key corresponding to public key that was used by the service of the first region 1408 to encrypt the encrypted session token usable in the second region.","The service of the second region 1416 may then cache 1434 the decrypted session token as a cached session token for later use and may also use the decrypted session token to respond 1436 to the request for resources.","The customer 1402 may receive 1438 the response to the request, which may include access to resources, an indication that a message was authenticated, or some other response.","FIG.","15 illustrates an example process 1500 for extracting session data from a cross-region session using session credentials as described in connection with FIG.","1 and in accordance with an embodiment.","A security service such as the security service 106 described in connection with FIG.","1 may perform the process described in FIG.","15.A service of a first region may receive 1502 a signed request for a new session from a second region and may verify 1504 the request as described above.","If the request is not verified 1506, an error may be generated 1508 such as the error 508 described in connection with FIG.","5.If the request is verified 1506, the service of the first region may decrypt 1510 the session token using a session encryption key or a key corresponding to the session encryption key and extract 1512 the session data including, but not limited to, a session key of a symmetric session, a public session key of an asymmetric session, a session identifier, a region identifier, or a combination of data items as described herein.","The service of the first region may then use credentials provided by the second region (also referred to herein as the “other region”) to encrypt 1514 a new session token that is usable in the other region.","Finally, the service of the first region may send 1516 the new session token to the other region so that the new session may be used in the other region to provide access to resources in response to resource requests from the customer and/or to authenticate messages from the customer.","FIG.","16 illustrates an example environment 1600 where a cross-region session is validated using session credentials as described in connection with FIG.","1 and in accordance with an embodiment.","The example illustrated in FIG.","16 follows after the example illustrated in FIG.","11 where a session associated with a region is retrieved using session credentials.","In the example illustrated in FIG.","11, a customer uses a customer credential to sign a session request (i.e., a request for a session token).","The first region security service may then validate the session request and also validate that the customer is authorized for the first region.","After the request and/or the customer is validated, the first region security service may provide a session token to the customer and may also, in some embodiments, provide the session key used for signing requests and messages.","The session token described in connection with FIG.","11 may be usable only in the first region or may be usable in multiple regions as described above.","A customer 1602 may use a session token such as the session token 1114 described in connection with FIG.","11 to generate 1604 a request.","In the example illustrated in FIG.","16, the customer account is authorized in the first region, the customer account is not authorized in the third region (which may be different than the second region described in connection with FIG.","11), and the session token is generated in first region.","The customer account may not be authorized in the third region because, for example, the third region may be an untrusted region (i.e., may be a region that the computing resource service provider, the customer, or both the customer and the computing resource service provider do not wish to have data and or credentials stored or accessed therein).","The request illustrated in FIG.","16 is denoted as a first region signed request 1606, meaning that the request is generated in the first region, signed with first region credentials (in this case, the first region session key provided by the security service) and includes a session token usable in the first region.","In the third region 1608, a service such as the security service 106 described in connection with FIG.","1 may determine that the signature and/or the session token is not usable in the third region 1608 and that the signature and/or the session token is associated with a first region 1620 as described above.","The service may then request 1610 that the first region 1620 provide a session usable in the third region 1608.The request 1614 may be digitally signed 1618 by a third region credential as described above.","The request 1614 to the first region 1620 to provide a session usable in the third region and that is signed 1618 by a third region credential is denoted as a third region signed request, meaning that the request is digitally signed in the third region.","In the example illustrated in FIG.","16, the request 1614 to the first region 1620 to provide a session usable in the third region includes a request that is denoted as a first region signed request 1616, meaning that it is digitally signed with first region credentials (in this case, the first region session key provided by the security service) and includes a session token usable in the first region.","When the request 1614 to the first region 1620 to provide a session usable in the third region is received at the first region 1620, a service (e.g., a security service) of the first region 1620 may first determine whether the request is allowed 1622 based on an access policy 1630 associated with the first region 1620.For example, if the account associated with the customer 1602 is not authorized to operate in the third region 1608, the request may not be allowed 1622.In another example, if the third region is an untrusted region (i.e., the third region is not trusted by the computing resource service provider or by the customer 1602), the request may not be allowed 1622.In a third example, if the request is a request for resources and the resources are not available in the third region 1608, the request may not be allowed 1622.As may be contemplated, the reasons why a request may not be allowed that are described herein are illustrated examples and other such reasons why a request may not be allowed may be considered as within the scope of the present disclosure.","If the request is not allowed 1622, the service associated with the first region 1620 may generate 1624 an error as described above.","Conversely, if the request is allowed 1622, the service of the first region may process 1626 the request by, for example, validating the request, decrypting the session token to extract the session data, and encrypting the session data using credentials usable in the third region 1608 as described above at least in connection with FIG.","12.After the third region 1608 receives the encrypted third region session token 1628, the third region 1608 may decrypt the encrypted third region session token and may use 1632 the session to process requests and/or to authenticate messages.","FIG.","17 illustrates an example environment 1700 where a service intercepts a session using session credentials as described in connection with FIG.","1 and in accordance with an embodiment.","A customer 1702 uses a signed first region session 1704 to connect to a first region 1706 and, during transmission of the request, the session is intercepted 1708 and sent 1710 to a third region 1712.In the example illustrated in FIG.","17, a service in the third region 1712 (e.g., a security service such as the security service 106 described in connection with FIG.","1), may have the first region session 1714, but may not able to perform any operations associated with that session.","For example, the third region may not be able to perform operations to verify the signature 1716 of the first region session 1714 because the third region 1712 may not have access to the necessary credentials.","As described above, the session key used to sign the first region session 1714 may be, for example, a symmetric key or an asymmetric key.","If the session key used to sign the first region session is a symmetric key, the service in the third region 1712 may not have access to the verifying key (e.g., the session key 1724) because that key is stored in the encrypted session token and the encrypted session token cannot be decrypted without the session encryption key 1722 or a decryption key corresponding to the session encryption key 1722.Unless the service in the third region 1712 can obtain the session encryption key 1722 or a decryption key corresponding to the session encryption key 1722 as described above, the service in the third region 1712 cannot verify the symmetric session key.","It should be noted that, if the session key used to sign the first region session is an asymmetric key, the service in the third region 1712 may be able to obtain access to the verifying key if that verifying key is, for example, a public key 1726 corresponding to the private key used to sign the first region session.","However, the service in the third region 1712 may still not be able to extract the session data 1718 and/or use that session data to generate a new request 1720 without access to the session encryption key 1722 or a decryption key corresponding to the session encryption key 1722.Again, unless the service in the third region 1712 is able to obtain the session encryption key 1722 or a decryption key corresponding to the session encryption key 1722 as described above, the service in the third region 1712 may not extract the session data 1718 from the encrypted session token and also may not generate a new request 1720 to, for example, masquerade as a service in the first region 1706.In the example illustrated in FIG.","17, the session is intercepted 1708 during transmission of the request by, for example, a malicious actor.","However, the operations illustrated in the third region 1712 that cannot be performed because of lack of access to the first region session credentials (e.g., the session encryption key 1722 and/or the session key 1724) may also be not performable if the signed first region session 1704 was deliberately sent to the third region (e.g., in a request for resources), or if the account associated with the customer 1702 is not authorized in the third region 1712, or for some other reason.","FIG.","18 illustrates an example environment 1800 where an account key and a global key are used to generate a session key for use in generating session credentials as described in connection with FIG.","1 and in accordance with an embodiment.","As described above, a session encryption key is used to encrypt the session data 1808 that contains the session key 1806, which may be a symmetric session key or a public key of an asymmetric session key pair.","The resulting session token 1812 and, in some embodiments, the session key 1806 are sent to the customer 1814 so that the customer 1814 can use the session token 1812 and the session key 1806 to generate signed requests for resources and/or to authenticate messages.","In the example illustrated in FIG.","18, the session encryption key 1810 used to encrypt the session data 1808 to produce the session token 1812 is generated from two different keys.","The first key is an account key 1802, which is a credential associated with the customer 1814 or a user account associated with the customer 1814.The account key 1802 may be a key uniquely associated with the customer 1814 and/or the user account associated with the customer so that, for example, each customer and/or each user account has a key only used for that customer or that user account.","In an embodiment, a single account key is assigned to each customer so that each customer has one unique account key (i.e., no two customers have the same account key).","In another embodiment, a single account key is assigned to each user account so that each user account has one unique account key (i.e., no two user accounts have the same account key).","In another embodiment, each customer has multiple account keys that are not shared with any other account key.","For example, a customer may have multiple roles, users, identities, or accounts associated with the customer.","In such an example, the customer may assign account keys according to policies or procedures associated with those roles, users, identities, or accounts.","In yet another embodiment, each user account has multiple account keys that are not shared with other user accounts.","An account key may be generated by a service such as the security service 106 described in connection with FIG.","1, and may be maintained as secrets by that service so that, for example, they are uniquely associated with a user account but never communicated to a user associated with that account.","The second key used to generate the session encryption key is a global session key 1804 which may be maintained as a secret by the security service as described above.","It should be noted that a global session key should not be construed as meaning a key corresponding to a session key such as the session key 116 described in connection with FIG.","1.A global session key is used to generate, and is only related to, a session encryption key such as the session encryption key 120 described in connection with FIG.","1.The global session key 1804 may be shared by a plurality of regions such as those described above.","For example, in a computing resource service provider environment where there are four regions as described above, the global session key 1804 may be shared with each of the four regions and used by a security service in each of the four regions to generate session encryption keys as described herein.","It should be noted that, although the examples illustrated and described herein show the generation of the session encryption key 1810 from the account key 1802 and the global session key 1804, this is not to imply that a session encryption key 1810 must be generated as a separate operation from the operation of encrypting the session data 1808 to produce the session token 1812.For example, the session data 1808 can, in some embodiments, be encrypted using the account key 1802 and the global session key 1804 to produce the session token 1812 without the intermediary step of generating the session encryption key 1810.FIG.","19 illustrates an example environment 1900 where an account key is distributed to different regions for use in isolating regions using session credentials as described in connection with FIG.","1 and in accordance with an embodiment.","In the example illustrated in FIG.","19, a global session key 1904 is propagated (i.e., made available to) a first region 1906, a second region 1910, and a third region 1912.The first region 1906, the second region 1910, and the third region 1912 are regions that are trusted by the computing resource service provider.","As used herein, a region that is “trusted” by the computing resource service provider is a region where, for example, proper security protocols have been implemented.","A region may be “untrusted” if, for example, it has become compromised or it has not implemented the proper safety protocols, or it is outside of the computing resource service provider environment (e.g., if it is a third party region).","In the example illustrated in FIG.","19, there is a fourth region 1914 that is untrusted (also referred to herein as “not trusted”) and the global session key has not been propagated to this fourth region 1914 so that the fourth region 1914 may not be able to encrypt session data to produce session tokens as described herein.","In the example illustrated in FIG.","19, the global session key 1904 is shown as a single global session key that is propagated to the first region 1906, the second region 1910, and the third region 1912 and that is not propagated to the fourth region 1914.In an embodiment, each region has a different global session key (also referred to herein as a “regional session key”).","In another embodiment, each region has a regional session key in addition to the global session key 1904.In another embodiment, the global session key 1904 is one of a plurality of global session keys maintained in, for example, a session encryption keychain as described herein.","In the example illustrated in FIG.","19, an account key 1902 is propagated to the first region 1906, the second region 1910, and the fourth region 1914 according to a set of policies and permissions 1908.The first region 1906 and the second region 1910 are regions that are trusted by the customer and thus are regions that, by the policies and permissions 1908, are regions where the customer or a user account associated with the customer may request a session token.","Conversely, the third region 1912 is a region that, while trusted by the computing resource service provider, is not trusted by the customer.","For example, the customer may have resources in the third region that should not be made available to a first region only user account as described herein.","The policies and permissions 1908 associated with the user account may, in this example, be configured to prevent the user account from being able to generate a session token in the third region and, therefore, the third region may be untrusted by the customer for this account (also referred to herein as “restricted”).","In the example illustrated in FIG.","19, the account key 1902 is shown as being propagated to the fourth region 1914 because, even though the fourth region 1914 may be untrusted by the computing resource service provider, the fourth region 1914 may be trusted by the customer.","It should be noted that the account key being present in the fourth region 1914 may still preclude session tokens being generated in the fourth region due to the fact that the global session key 1904 is not present in the fourth region 1914.FIG.","20 illustrates an example process 2000 for distributing an account key to different regions for use in isolating regions using session credentials as described in connection with FIG.","1 and in accordance with an embodiment.","A security service such as the security service 106 described in connection with FIG.","1 may perform the process illustrated in FIG.","20.The security service may first receive 2002 a request for a session and may verify 2004 that request as described above.","A request that is not valid 2006 may cause the security service to generate an error 2014 in response to the invalid request.","The security service may generate an error 2014 and send a report of the error to the customer and/or to the computing resource service provider as described above in connection with FIG.","5.A request that is valid 2006 may cause the security service verify 2008 the region by determining if the region is an untrusted region 2010 (i.e., a region not trusted by the computing resource service provider) and/or if the region is a restricted region 2012 (i.e., a region not trusted by the customer).","A region may be determined to be an untrusted region 2010 because, for example, there are policies and/or permissions explicitly stating such or because, for example, the global session key is not present in the region.","Similarly, a region may be determined to be a restricted region 2012 because, for example, there are policies and/or permissions explicitly stating such or because, for example, the account key is not present in the region.","If the region is an untrusted region 2010 and/or if the region is a restricted region 2012, the security service may generate an error 2014 and send a report of the error to the customer and/or to the computing resource service provider.","Conversely, if the region is not an untrusted region 2010 and if the region is not a restricted region 2012, the security service may use the global session key and the account key to generate 2016 a session token as described above.","FIG.","21 illustrates an example environment 2100 where global session keys are combined with account keys to generate session credentials as described in connection with FIG.","1 and in accordance with an embodiment.","An account key 2102 may be combined with a first global session key 2104 to produce a first session encryption key 2106, which may be used to encrypt 2108 session data to produce a first session token 2110 as described above.","In an embodiment, the first session encryption key 2106 is generated on demand when the session token is requested.","In another embodiment, the first session encryption key 2106 is generated in response to a request such as, for example, a first request for a session token and is stored by a service such as the security service for later use (e.g., for later decryption of the session token).","In another embodiment, the account key 2102 and the first global session key 2104 are used to encrypt 2108 the session data directly, without producing an intermediary first session encryption key such as the first session encryption key 2106.In another embodiment, the account key 2102 and/or the first global session key 2104 are discarded after a period of time, or a number of uses, or according to some other security policy.","In the example illustrated in FIG.","21, the first global session key 2104 may be valid only for a predetermined amount of time and, after that predetermined amount of time has expired and a timeout 2112 occurs, a second global session key 2114 may be generated, which may be combined with the account key 2102 to produce a second session encryption key 2116.The second session encryption key 2116 may then be used to encrypt 2118 session data to produce a second session token 2120 as described above.","Although not illustrated in FIG.","21, the second global session key 2114 may also be generated as a result of a key generation event that may be generated by the computing resource service provider or a service operating therein.","A key generation event may be a key rotation event, a key timeout event, a key invalidation event, a keychain update event, or some other key generation event.","An example of a key generation event is a key rotation event, where on a periodic basis (e.g., hourly) the oldest key (based on a creation time associated with the key) is removed or invalidated and a new key (with a new creation time) is generated.","Another example of a key generation event is a keychain update event, where one or more keys in a keychain are updated according to one or more update criteria.","A key generation event may be generated by a security service, causing a global session key such as the first global session key 2104 to be replaced with a new global session key when a region is compromised and/or potentially compromised.","Similarly, a key generation event may be generated by a policy service, causing a global session key such as the first global session key 2104 to be replaced with a new global session key when one or more policies regarding access to a region have changed.","In an embodiment, the removal and/or replacement of a global session key causes the session tokens encrypted with that session key to be invalidated.","In another embodiment, a global session key that is removed and/or replaced remains available for some time in order to extract session data from session tokens encrypted with that global session key.","FIG.","22 illustrates an example environment 2200 where global session keys are combined with account keys to generate session credentials as described in connection with FIG.","1 and in accordance with an embodiment.","A first account key 2202 may be combined with a global session key 2204 to produce a first session encryption key 2206, which may be used to encrypt 2208 session data to produce a first session token 2210 as described above.","Just as with the first global session key 2104 described in connection with FIG.","21, the first account key 2202 may be valid only for a predetermined amount of time and, after that predetermined amount of time has expired and a timeout 2212 occurs, a second account key 2214 may be generated, which may be combined with the global session key 2204 to produce a second session encryption key 2216.The second session encryption key 2216 may then be used to encrypt 2218 session data to produce a second session token 2220 as described above.","It should be noted that while the timeout 2112 described in connection with FIG.","21 may be on the order of several hours (e.g., twelve, twenty-four, or thirty-six hours), the timeout 2212 may be on the order of several months (e.g., two, three, or six months).","The longer timeout 2212 associated with an account key as compared to the timeout 2112 associated with a global session key may be based at least in part on there being only a few global session keys that are valid at one time (e.g., keys for the last twenty-four or thirty-six hours) while there may be millions of account keys when, for example, each user account of a computing resource service provider has a different unique account key.","Because there may be many more account keys in a computing resource service provider environment, they may be used for longer periods of time than global session keys.","FIG.","23 illustrates an example environment 2300 where global session keys are maintained for use in generating session credentials as described in connection with FIG.","1 and in accordance with an embodiment.","In the example illustrated in FIG.","23, a global session keychain 2302 stores a plurality of global session keys, one of which is the oldest 2304 global session key (i.e., the global session key that was generated least recently) and one of which is the newest 2306 global session key (i.e., the global session key that was generated the most recently).","When a key generation event such as a timeout 2308 occurs, the global session keychain 2302 may be updated by, for example, invalidating 2310 the oldest 2304 global session key designating the next oldest global session key 2312 as the new oldest 2314 global session key, generating 2318 a new global session key, designating that new global session key as the newest 2320 global session key, and changing the designation of the former newest global session key 2316.In an embodiment, only the newest global session key is used to encrypt session tokens and the other global session keys in the global session keychain are used to decrypt session tokens.","In such an embodiment, using the example illustrated in FIG.","23, a session token is encrypted using the newest 2306 global session key immediately before the timeout 2308 and is encrypted using the newest 2320 global session immediately after the timeout 2308 (and, until the next key generation event occurs).","FIG.","24 illustrates an example environment 2400 where sessions are expired using session credentials as described in connection with FIG.","1 and in accordance with an embodiment.","A customer 2402 may first generate a signed request 2404 using a session token as described herein.","In the example illustrated in FIG.","24, the session token used to generate the signed request 2404 was generated using a session encryption key 2414, which may be one of a plurality of session encryption keys 2408.In an embodiment, the session encryption keys 2408 and the session encryption key 2414 are generated using a global session key and an account key as described at least in connection with FIG.","18.The signed request 2404 may be verified 2410 by a service 2406 (e.g., a security service such as the security service 106 described in connection with FIG.","1) and the signed request may be processed 2412 because the session encryption key 2414 is still valid and is still one of the plurality of session encryption keys 2408.Conversely, after one or more key generation events such as a timeout 2416, the session encryption key 2414 may become an invalid session encryption key 2430, and may be replaced by one or more new session encryption keys in the plurality of session encryption keys 2428.For example, if a new session encryption key is generated every hour, and each session encryption key is valid for twenty-four hours, then there may be twenty-four session encryption keys in the plurality of session encryption keys 2428.In such an example, after twenty-four hours pass, the first session token used to generate the signed request 2404 may no longer be valid due to the session encryption key 2414 having expired.","In the example illustrated in FIG.","24, if the customer 2418 uses the session token generated using the session encryption key 2414 to generate a signed request 2420 after the session encryption key 2414 has expired and become the invalid session encryption key 2430, the service 2422 may not be able to verify 2424 the signed request 2420 (because, for example, the session token may not be decrypted) and, accordingly, the service 2422 may not process the request 2426.FIG.","25 illustrates an example process 2500 for rotating session credentials as described in connection with FIG.","1 and in accordance with an embodiment.","A security service such as the security service 106 described in connection with FIG.","1 may perform the process illustrated in FIG.","25.The security service may first generate 2502 the session encryption key from the global session key and the account key as described at least in connection with FIG.","18.If after a time period has expired and/or after a key generation event has occurred, the security service may generate new session encryption keys.","For example, if a session encryption key expires or becomes invalid because of a global key timeout 2504, the security service may generate 2508 one or more replacement session encryption keys.","Similarly, if a session encryption key expires or becomes invalid because of an account key timeout 2506, the security service may also generate 2508 one or more replacement session encryption keys.","The security service may next receive 2510 one or more signed requests using session tokens encrypted with the one or more session encryption keys as described above.","It should be noted that, although the process illustrated in FIG.","25 shows the security service receiving the signed requests after a time period has expired and/or after a key generation event has occurred, the security service may generate new session encryption keys, the steps in the process to respond to a global key timeout 2504 and/or an account key timeout 2506 as well as to generate 2508 one or more replacement session encryption keys may occur before, during, or after the steps in the process to receive 2510 one or more signed requests using session tokens encrypted with the one or more session encryption keys.","After receiving the one or more signed requests, the security service may verify the session using a session encryption key corresponding to the session encryption key that was used to encrypt the session token associated with the signed request as described herein.","If the session is verified (i.e., if the session token is validated), then the security service may process the request 2516.Conversely, if the session is not verified, the security service may generate an error 2518 as described above.","FIG.","26 illustrates an example environment 2600 where a plurality of session keys can be invalidated using session credentials as described in connection with FIG.","1 and in accordance with an embodiment.","In the example illustrated in FIG.","26, a global session key 2602 may be combined with account keys 2604 to generate session encryption keys 2606 as described above.","The session encryption keys 2606 may remain valid and the session tokens generated using the session encryption keys 2606 may also remain valid for a time period.","When the time period has expired, the global session key 2602 may be invalidated 2608 and may become an invalid global session key 2610.As a result of the global session key 2602 becoming an invalid global session key 2610, the session encryption keys generated from the invalid global session key 2610 and the account keys 2604 may become invalid session encryption keys 2612 and session tokens generate using the formerly valid, but now invalid, session encryption keys such as the invalid session encryption keys 2612 may also become invalid due to being unverifiable.","FIG.","27 illustrates an example environment 2700 where a plurality of invalidated session keys can be regenerated using session credentials as described in connection with FIG.","1 and in accordance with an embodiment.","The example illustrated in FIG.","27 continues from the example illustrated in FIG.","26, where a global session key is an invalid global session key 2704 and, as a result, the session encryption keys generated from the invalid global session key 2704 and the account keys 2702 are invalid session encryption keys 2706.After the global session key has become an invalid global session key 2704, the security service may generate 2708 a new global session key 2710 to replace the invalid global session key 2704 and may use the new global session key 2710 combined with the account keys 2702 to generate 2712 session encryption keys 2714 as needed.","It should be noted that, in the examples illustrated in FIGS.","26 and 27, the account keys were not changed.","As described above, an account may have a much longer period of validity than a global session key.","Additionally, a computing resource service provider may provide thousands or millions of account keys and, accordingly, it may be considerably more efficient to regenerate session encryption keys by invalidating global session keys.","It should also be noted that session encryption keys may be generated as needed within a computing resource service provider environment.","For example, a customer may use a user account to request a session token as described herein and may use that session token for a short period of time (e.g., two hours).","Because of the expiration of global session keys, that session token may expire after, for example, twenty-four hours.","If the customer does not use the session token again in that twenty-four hour period, the session encryption key used to generate the session token and corresponding to the account key for the user account may not be regenerated at the end of that twenty-four hour period (e.g., as a replacement for the expired or invalidated session encryption key).","In an embodiment, the session encryption key used to generate session tokens corresponding to a user account is generated only when the customer generates a signed request using the previous session token.","In such an embodiment, a session token may include an expiration time that may trigger such a regeneration of the session token.","FIG.","28 illustrates an example process 2800 for invalidating and regenerating a plurality of session keys using session credentials as described in connection with FIG.","1 and in accordance with an embodiment.","A security service such as the security service 106 described in connection with FIG.","1 may perform the process illustrated in FIG.","28.The security service may first generate 2802 session encryption keys using the global session key and the account keys as described above.","The security service may next determine whether to invalidate 2804 one or more global session keys.","If the security service does determine to invalidate 2804 one or more global session keys, the security service may first invalidate 2806 the selected global session key or keys, may generate 2808 one or more new global session keys to replace the invalidated global session keys and may begin the process of generating replacement session encryption keys as needed such as, for example, when a customer generates a request using a session token that was generated with a now invalid session encryption key as described above.","The security service may next receive 2812 a request for resources or a message as described above.","It should be noted that, although the process illustrated in FIG.","28 shows the security service receiving a signed request or message after checking for invalidated global keys, the checking for invalidated global keys may be performed before, during, or after the processing of the requests.","The request for resources or the message may be digitally signed by a session key and may also be generated using a session token, also as described above.","Next, the security service may extract 2814 the session key from the session token used to generate the session token and may validate 2816 the digital signature.","If the signature is valid 2818 (i.e., if the request or the message is authenticated), the security service may next process 2810 the request or the message by, for example, providing access to the resources, processing the message, or performing some other action.","If the signature is not valid 2818 (i.e., if the request or the message is not authenticated) the security service may generate 2822 an error as described above.","FIG.","29 illustrates an example environment 2900 where account keys are invalidated in association with session credentials as described in connection with FIG.","1 and in accordance with an embodiment.","In the example illustrated in FIG.","29, a global session key 2904 may be used with one or more account keys 2902 to generate a corresponding one or more session encryption keys 2908 as described above.","A security service may then invalidate 2908 one or more of the account keys 2910 to invalidate one or more session encryption keys 2914 generated with the account keys 2910 and a global session key 2912.In contrast to the example illustrated in FIGS.","26 and 27 where all session encryption keys were invalidated by invalidating the global session key, the example illustrated in FIG.","29 shows the selecting invalidation of session encryption keys and, accordingly, of session tokens generated using those invalidated session encryption keys.","For example, a computing resource service provider may determine that one or more accounts associated with a customer may have been compromised.","Invalidating the account keys associated with those compromised accounts renders the credentials associated with those accounts (e.g., the session tokens) invalid.","Similarly, a customer may determine that one or more user accounts should not have access to short-term credentials and may invalidate the account keys associated with those accounts.","FIG.","30 illustrates an example environment 3000 where cross-region roles are assumed across regions using session credentials as described in connection with FIG.","1 and in accordance with an embodiment.","A first customer 3002 in a first region 3006 may create 3004 a role.","The role 3008 may have a role identifier 3014 (illustrated herein as a circle with the letters “ID” inside) and a set of permissions 3010 for access to a set of customer resources 3012 in the first region.","The customer resources 3012 are a set of resources associated with the first customer 3002.For example, a customer may have a resource such as a database that is configured to store data associated with a webservice (e.g., a database that records each transaction for each user of the webservice).","The customer may create first role for this database that provides permissions to read, but not write, data from the database.","The customer may additionally create a second role for this database that provides permissions to read and write data to and from the database.","The customer may additionally create a third role for this database that provides permissions to alter the database, including adding and removing records and changing the data schema (e.g., an “administrator” role).","A user of a user account may then assume one or more of these roles to have access to the database.","For example, a user may assume the first role if the user only requires permission to read data from the database.","Using the first role, the user could analyze, but not alter, the data in the database.","Similarly, a user may assume the second role if the user requires permissions to read from and write to the database.","Using the second role, the user could update records in the database.","The third role could be assumed to allow the user to alter the structure of the database to, for example, add a new table to the database schema.","Each of the roles may have a set of permissions associated with access to the resources and may also have a set of access policies associated with the role so that, for example, only designated users and/or user accounts may have access to the role.","These access policies may be enforced using credentials such as those described herein (e.g., keys, sessions, etc.).","The access policies and the permissions associated with the roles are described in more detail below.","The role identifier 3014 may be used to identify the role in other regions.","For example, the role 3008 may be propagated to a second region 3022 (where it is identified as the role 3020) and may also be propagated to a third region 3030 (where it is identified as the role 3024).","In an embodiment, a role can only be assumed in regions where the role has been propagated because regions where the role has not been propagated may not have access to the permissions associated with the role.","In the example illustrated in FIG.","30, the role has access to customer resources 3012 in the first region 3006 and customer resources 3028 in the third region 3030.The role 3024, which is the same as the role 3014, may have a set of permissions 3026 for access to a set of customer resources 3028 in the third region.","The set of customer resources 3028 are a set of resources associated with the first customer 3002, but present in the third region.","In the example illustrated in FIG.","30, no customer resources associated with the first customer 3002 are present in the second region 3022.When a second customer 3016 in the second region 3022 assumes the role 3018 based at least in part on the role identifier 3014, the access policies associated with the role determine whether the second customer 3016 may assume the role.","If the second customer 3016 assumes the role 3018, the second customer 3016 may have all of the permissions associated with the role so that, for example, the second customer 3016 may access the customer resources 3012 in the first region 3006 and may also access the customer resources 3028 in the third region 3030.It should be noted that the second customer 3016 does not have an account in the first region 3006 or in the third region 3030, but still may be authenticated to assume the role and access the resources by assuming the role.","In the example illustrated in FIG.","30, the role identifier 3014 is provided to the second customer 3016 in the second region 3022 so that the second customer 3016 in the second region may assume the role.","In an embodiment, the role identifier is provided to the second customer by storing the role in a database of role identifiers.","In another embodiment, the role identifier is provided to the second customer by sending the role identifier in an email, or a SMS message, or a console message, or using some other such communications methodology.","In such an embodiment, the role identifier may be sent using an encryption method such as those described herein.","In another embodiment, the role identifier is provided to the second customer by publishing the role identifier in documentation associated with the customer resources 3028.For example, the customer resources 3028 may have a webpage documenting the use of the resources that may include the role identifier to use when requesting access to the resources.","As may be contemplated, the methods of providing the role identifier described herein are illustrative examples and other such methods of providing the role identifier may be considered as within the scope of the present disclosure.","FIG.","31 illustrates an example environment 3100 where policies associated with cross-region roles are applied using session credentials as described in connection with FIG.","1 and in accordance with an embodiment.","The role 3102 has a role identifier 3104, an allowed users policy 3106, and one or more allowed resources policies 3114.In the example illustrated in FIG.","31, the allowed users policy 3106 indicates that a first user 3108 may assume the role 3102, a second user 3110 may also assume the role 3102, and a third user 3112 may not assume the role 3102.The third user 3112 may be, for example, an untrusted user or may simply be associated with an account that should not have access to the permissions associated with the role.","The allowed users policy 3106 may include a default policy to deny all users not explicitly allowed by the policy so that only users explicitly granted access to the role may assume the role.","In the example illustrated in FIG.","31, the allowed resources policies 3114 specify a set of permissions for access to a set of resources associated with the role.","The permissions may be specific to, and based at least in part on, a region, a user, a resource, a resource type, or a combination of these and/or other such factors.","For example, a set of permissions 3116 for a resource 3118 may specify that users from, for example, a first region may have unrestricted access to the resource 3118 and users from, for example, a second region may have restricted access to the resource 3118.Similarly, a set of permissions 3120 for a resource 3122 may specify that the role 3102 as assumed by the first user 3108 has different access permissions than the role 3102 as assumed by the second user 3110.As may be contemplated, the types of permissions granted by assuming a role described herein are merely illustrative examples and other types of permissions granted by assuming a role may be considered as within the scope of the present disclosure.","FIG.","32 illustrates an example environment 3200 where a cross-region role is assumed using session credentials as described in connection with FIG.","1 and in accordance with an embodiment.","A second customer 3202, which may be the same as the second customer 3016 described in connection with FIG.","30, may send a signed request 3204 to assume a role 3206 to a security service 3208 of a second region 3220, which may be the same as the second region 3022 described in connection with FIG.","30.The security service 3208 of the second region 3220 may first verify that the role 3214 exists in the second region 3220 before verifying the request 3204, verifying that the second customer 3202 has permission to assume the role 3214, and validating the signature of the signed request 3204.If the signed request 3204 is valid (i.e., if all of the verifications pass), the security service may generate a session associated with the role (designated herein as a role session 3212) using the methods described above.","In an embodiment, the security service 3208 includes the role identifier in the session data prior to encrypting the session data to produce the session token as described above.","In another embodiment, the security service 3208 provides the role identifier separate from the session token.","In the example illustrated in FIG.","32, the role 3214 provides access 3216 to customer resources 3218 in a third region 3222, but the second customer 3202 does not have an account in the third region 3222.Access to the customer resources 3218 are provided to the second customer 3202 using the mechanism of the second customer 3202 assuming the role 3214.FIG.","33 illustrates an example environment 3300 where a cross-region role is used to access resources across regions using session credentials as described in connection with FIG.","1 and in accordance with an embodiment.","A customer 3302 may use a role session 3304 to generate a signed request 3308 and send 3306 the signed request to a region 3310 where the resources 3324 are located.","A service of the region 3310 may verify 3312 the session using the techniques described herein and may validate 3314 that the customer 3302 may have access to the role 3318 based at least in part on the permissions associated with the role 3318.If the session is verified and the access is validated, access 3320 to the resources 3324 may be provided to the customer 3302 using the access 3322 to the resources 3324 provided by the role 3318.In the example illustrated in FIG.","33, the role session 3304 provides the credentials associated with assuming the role 3318 using the short-term credentials provided by the session token.","In an embodiment, the credentials associated with assuming the role 3318 are provided by a username and password associated with the customer 3302.In another embodiment, the credentials associated with assuming the role 3318 are provided by a certificate associated with the customer 3302.In another embodiment, the credentials associated with assuming the role 3318 are provided by a long-term key associated with the customer 3302.In such an embodiment, the credentials associated with assuming the role 3318 may be a symmetric key or may be an asymmetric key pair.","FIG.","34 illustrates an example process 3400 for using a cross-region role session token to generate resource requests using session credentials as described in connection with FIG.","1 and in accordance with an embodiment.","A security service such as the security service 106 described in connection with FIG.","1 may perform the process illustrated in FIG.","34.The security service may first receive 3402 a request for resources signed by a session key and using a role session token as described above.","The request for resources may be digitally signed by a session key, may be generated using a session token, and may include a role identifier, also as described above.","Next, the security service may extract 3404 the session key from the session token used to generate the session token and may verify 3406 the digital signature using the extracted session key.","If the request is valid 3408 (i.e., if the request is authenticated), the security service may next determine 3410 whether the permissions associated with the request allow such access.","If the access is allowed 3412, the service may provide 3416 access to the resources using the role.","If the request is not valid 3408 or if the access is not allowed 3412, the security service may generate 3414 an error as described above.","FIG.","35 illustrates aspects of an example environment 3500 for implementing aspects in accordance with various embodiments.","As will be appreciated, although a web-based environment is used for purposes of explanation, different environments may be used, as appropriate, to implement various embodiments.","The environment includes an electronic client device 3502, which can include any appropriate device operable to send and/or receive requests, messages, or information over an appropriate network 3504 and, in some embodiments, convey information back to a user of the device.","Examples of such client devices include personal computers, cell phones, handheld messaging devices, laptop computers, tablet computers, set-top boxes, personal data assistants, embedded computer systems, electronic book readers, and the like.","The network can include any appropriate network, including an intranet, the Internet, a cellular network, a local area network, a satellite network or any other such network and/or combination thereof.","Components used for such a system can depend at least in part upon the type of network and/or environment selected.","Many protocols and components for communicating via such a network are well known and will not be discussed herein in detail.","Communication over the network can be enabled by wired or wireless connections and combinations thereof.","In this example, the network includes the Internet and/or other publicly-addressable communications network, as the environment includes a web server 3506 for receiving requests and serving content in response thereto, although for other networks an alternative device serving a similar purpose could be used as would be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art.","The illustrative environment includes at least one application server 3508 and a data store 3510.It should be understood that there can be several application servers, layers or other elements, processes or components, which may be chained or otherwise configured, which can interact to perform tasks such as obtaining data from an appropriate data store.","Servers, as used herein, may be implemented in various ways, such as hardware devices or virtual computer systems.","In some contexts, servers may refer to a programming module being executed on a computer system.","As used herein, unless otherwise stated or clear from context, the term “data store” refers to any device or combination of devices capable of storing, accessing and retrieving data, which may include any combination and number of data servers, databases, data storage devices and data storage media, in any standard, distributed, virtual or clustered environment.","The application server can include any appropriate hardware, software and firmware for integrating with the data store as needed to execute aspects of one or more applications for the client device, handling some or all of the data access and business logic for an application.","The application server may provide access control services in cooperation with the data store and is able to generate content including, but not limited to, text, graphics, audio, video and/or other content usable to be provided to the user, which may be served to the user by the web server in the form of HyperText Markup Language (“HTML”), Extensible Markup Language (“XML”), JavaScript, Cascading Style Sheets (“C SS”), JavaScript Object Notation (JSON), and/or another appropriate client-side structured language.","Content transferred to a client device may be processed by the client device to provide the content in one or more forms including, but not limited to, forms that are perceptible to the user audibly, visually and/or through other senses.","The handling of all requests and responses, as well as the delivery of content between the client device 3502 and the application server 3508, can be handled by the web server using PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor (“PHP”), Python, Ruby, Perl, Java, HTML, XML, JSON, and/or another appropriate server-side structured language in this example.","Further, operations described herein as being performed by a single device may, unless otherwise clear from context, be performed collectively by multiple devices, which may form a distributed and/or virtual system.","The data store 3510 can include several separate data tables, databases, data documents, dynamic data storage schemes and/or other data storage mechanisms and media for storing data relating to a particular aspect of the present disclosure.","For example, the data store illustrated may include mechanisms for storing production data 3512 and user information 3516, which can be used to serve content for the production side.","The data store also is shown to include a mechanism for storing log data 3514, which can be used for reporting, analysis, or other such purposes.","It should be understood that there can be many other aspects that may need to be stored in the data store, such as page image information and access rights information, which can be stored in any of the above listed mechanisms as appropriate or in additional mechanisms in the data store 3510.The data store 3510 is operable, through logic associated therewith, to receive instructions from the application server 3508 and obtain, update or otherwise process data in response thereto.","The application server 3508 may provide static, dynamic, or a combination of static and dynamic data in response to the received instructions.","Dynamic data, such as data used in web logs (blogs), shopping applications, news services, and other such applications may be generated by server-side structured languages as described herein or may be provided by a content management system (“CMS”) operating on, or under the control of, the application server.","In one example, a user, through a device operated by the user, might submit a search request for a certain type of item.","In this case, the data store might access the user information to verify the identity of the user and can access the catalog detail information to obtain information about items of that type.","The information then can be returned to the user, such as in a results listing on a web page that the user is able to view via a browser on the user device 3502.Information for a particular item of interest can be viewed in a dedicated page or window of the browser.","It should be noted, however, that embodiments of the present disclosure are not necessarily limited to the context of web pages, but may be more generally applicable to processing requests in general, where the requests are not necessarily requests for content.","Each server typically will include an operating system that provides executable program instructions for the general administration and operation of that server and typically will include a computer-readable storage medium (e.g., a hard disk, random access memory, read only memory, etc.)","storing instructions that, when executed (i.e., as a result of being executed) by a processor of the server, allow the server to perform its intended functions.","The environment, in one embodiment, is a distributed and/or virtual computing environment utilizing several computer systems and components that are interconnected via communication links, using one or more computer networks or direct connections.","However, it will be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art that such a system could operate equally well in a system having fewer or a greater number of components than are illustrated in FIG.","35.Thus, the depiction of the system 3500 in FIG.","35 should be taken as being illustrative in nature and not limiting to the scope of the disclosure.","The various embodiments further can be implemented in a wide variety of operating environments, which in some cases can include one or more user computers, computing devices or processing devices which can be used to operate any of a number of applications.","User or client devices can include any of a number of computers, such as desktop, laptop or tablet computers running a standard operating system, as well as cellular, wireless and handheld devices running mobile software and capable of supporting a number of networking and messaging protocols.","Such a system also can include a number of workstations running any of a variety of commercially-available operating systems and other known applications for purposes such as development and database management.","These devices also can include other electronic devices, such as dummy terminals, thin-clients, gaming systems and other devices capable of communicating via a network.","These devices also can include virtual devices such as virtual machines, hypervisors and other virtual devices capable of communicating via a network.","Various embodiments of the present disclosure utilize at least one network that would be familiar to those skilled in the art for supporting communications using any of a variety of commercially-available protocols, such as Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (“TCP/IP”), User Datagram Protocol (“UDP”), protocols operating in various layers of the Open System Interconnection (“OSI”) model, File Transfer Protocol (“FTP”), Universal Plug and Play (“UpnP”), Network File System (“NFS”), Common Internet File System (“CIFS”), and AppleTalk.","The network can be, for example, a local area network, a wide-area network, a virtual private network, the Internet, an intranet, an extranet, a public switched telephone network, an infrared network, a wireless network, a satellite network, and any combination thereof.","In some embodiments, connection-oriented protocols may be used to communicate between network endpoints.","Connection-oriented protocols (sometimes called connection-based protocols) are capable of transmitting data in an ordered stream.","Connection-oriented protocols can be reliable or unreliable.","For example, the TCP protocol is a reliable connection-oriented protocol.","Asynchronous Transfer Mode (“ATM”) and Frame Relay are unreliable connection-oriented protocols.","Connection-oriented protocols are in contrast to packet-oriented protocols such as UDP that transmit packets without a guaranteed ordering.","In embodiments utilizing a web server, the web server can run any of a variety of server or mid-tier applications, including Hypertext Transfer Protocol (“HTTP”) servers, FTP servers, Common Gateway Interface (“CGP”) servers, data servers, Java servers, Apache servers, and business application servers.","The server(s) also may be capable of executing programs or scripts in response to requests from user devices, such as by executing one or more web applications that may be implemented as one or more scripts or programs written in any programming language, such as Java®, C, C#, or C++, or any scripting language, such as Ruby, PHP, Perl, Python or TCL, as well as combinations thereof.","The server(s) may also include database servers, including without limitation those commercially available from Oracle®, Microsoft®, Sybase®, and IBM® as well as open-source servers such as MySQL, Postgres, SQLite, MongoDB, and any other server capable of storing, retrieving, and accessing structured or unstructured data.","Database servers may include table-based servers, document-based servers, unstructured servers, relational servers, non-relational servers, or combinations of these and/or other database servers.","The environment can include a variety of data stores and other memory and storage media as discussed above.","These can reside in a variety of locations, such as on a storage medium local to (and/or resident in) one or more of the computers or remote from any or all of the computers across the network.","In a particular set of embodiments, the information may reside in a storage-area network (“SAN”) familiar to those skilled in the art.","Similarly, any necessary files for performing the functions attributed to the computers, servers or other network devices may be stored locally and/or remotely, as appropriate.","Where a system includes computerized devices, each such device can include hardware elements that may be electrically coupled via a bus, the elements including, for example, at least one central processing unit (“CPU” or “processor”), at least one input device (e.g., a mouse, keyboard, controller, touch screen, or keypad) and at least one output device (e.g., a display device, printer, or speaker).","Such a system may also include one or more storage devices, such as disk drives, optical storage devices, and solid-state storage devices such as random access memory (“RAM”) or read-only memory (“ROM”), as well as removable media devices, memory cards, flash cards, etc.","Such devices also can include a computer-readable storage media reader, a communications device (e.g., a modem, a network card (wireless or wired), an infrared communication device, etc.","), and working memory as described above.","The computer-readable storage media reader can be connected with, or configured to receive, a computer-readable storage medium, representing remote, local, fixed, and/or removable storage devices as well as storage media for temporarily and/or more permanently containing, storing, transmitting, and retrieving computer-readable information.","The system and various devices also typically will include a number of software applications, modules, services, or other elements located within at least one working memory device, including an operating system and application programs, such as a client application or web browser.","In addition, customized hardware might also be used and/or particular elements might be implemented in hardware, software (including portable software, such as applets) or both.","Further, connection to other computing devices such as network input/output devices may be employed.","Storage media and computer readable media for containing code, or portions of code, can include any appropriate media known or used in the art, including storage media and communication media, such as, but not limited to, volatile and non-volatile, removable and non-removable media implemented in any method or technology for storage and/or transmission of information such as computer readable instructions, data structures, program modules or other data, including RAM, ROM, Electrically Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory (“EEPROM”), flash memory or other memory technology, Compact Disc Read-Only Memory (“CD-ROM”), digital versatile disk (DVD) or other optical storage, magnetic cassettes, magnetic tape, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices or any other medium which can be used to store the desired information and which can be accessed by the system device.","Based on the disclosure and teachings provided herein, a person of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate other ways and/or methods to implement the various embodiments.","The specification and drawings are, accordingly, to be regarded in an illustrative rather than a restrictive sense.","It will, however, be evident that various modifications and changes may be made thereunto without departing from the broader spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the claims.","Other variations are within the spirit of the present disclosure.","Thus, while the disclosed techniques are susceptible to various modifications and alternative constructions, certain illustrated embodiments thereof are shown in the drawings and have been described above in detail.","It should be understood, however, that there is no intention to limit the invention to the specific form or forms disclosed, but on the contrary, the intention is to cover all modifications, alternative constructions, and equivalents falling within the spirit and scope of the invention, as defined in the appended claims.","The use of the terms “a” and “an” and “the” and similar referents in the context of describing the disclosed embodiments (especially in the context of the following claims) are to be construed to cover both the singular and the plural, unless otherwise indicated herein or clearly contradicted by context.","The terms “comprising,” “having,” “including,” and “containing” are to be construed as open-ended terms (i.e., meaning “including, but not limited to,”) unless otherwise noted.","The term “connected,” when unmodified and referring to physical connections, is to be construed as partly or wholly contained within, attached to, or joined together, even if there is something intervening.","Recitation of ranges of values herein are merely intended to serve as a shorthand method of referring individually to each separate value falling within the range, unless otherwise indicated herein and each separate value is incorporated into the specification as if it were individually recited herein.","The use of the term “set” (e.g., “a set of items”) or “subset” unless otherwise noted or contradicted by context, is to be construed as a nonempty collection comprising one or more members.","Further, unless otherwise noted or contradicted by context, the term “subset” of a corresponding set does not necessarily denote a proper subset of the corresponding set, but the subset and the corresponding set may be equal.","Conjunctive language, such as phrases of the form “at least one of A, B, and C,” or “at least one of A, B and C,” unless specifically stated otherwise or otherwise clearly contradicted by context, is otherwise understood with the context as used in general to present that an item, term, etc., may be either A or B or C, or any nonempty subset of the set of A and B and C. For instance, in the illustrative example of a set having three members, the conjunctive phrases “at least one of A, B, and C” and “at least one of A, B and C” refer to any of the following sets: {A}, {B}, {C}, {A, B}, {A, C}, {B, C}, {A, B, C}.","Thus, such conjunctive language is not generally intended to imply that certain embodiments require at least one of A, at least one of B and at least one of C each to be present.","Operations of processes described herein can be performed in any suitable order unless otherwise indicated herein or otherwise clearly contradicted by context.","Processes described herein (or variations and/or combinations thereof) may be performed under the control of one or more computer systems configured with executable instructions and may be implemented as code (e.g., executable instructions, one or more computer programs or one or more applications) executing collectively on one or more processors, by hardware or combinations thereof.","The code may be stored on a computer-readable storage medium, for example, in the form of a computer program comprising a plurality of instructions executable by one or more processors.","The computer-readable storage medium may be non-transitory.","In some embodiments, the code is stored on set of one or more non-transitory computer-readable storage media having stored thereon executable instructions that, when executed (i.e., as a result of being executed) by one or more processors of a computer system, cause the computer system to perform operations described herein.","The set of non-transitory computer-readable storage media may comprise multiple non-transitory computer-readable storage media and one or more of individual non-transitory storage media of the multiple non-transitory computer-readable storage media may lack all of the code while the multiple non-transitory computer-readable storage media collectively store all of the code.","Accordingly, in some examples, computer systems are configured to implement one or more services that singly or collectively perform operations of processes described herein.","Such computer systems may, for instance, be configured with applicable hardware and/or software that enable the performance of the operations.","Further, computer systems that implement various embodiments of the present disclosure may, in some examples, be single devices and, in other examples, be distributed computer systems comprising multiple devices that operate differently such that the distributed computer system performs the operations described herein and such that a single device may not perform all operations.","The use of any and all examples, or exemplary language (e.g., “such as”) provided herein, is intended merely to better illuminate embodiments of the invention and does not pose a limitation on the scope of the invention unless otherwise claimed.","No language in the specification should be construed as indicating any non-claimed element as essential to the practice of the invention.","Embodiments of this disclosure are described herein, including the best mode known to the inventors for carrying out the invention.","Variations of those embodiments may become apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art upon reading the foregoing description.","The inventors expect skilled artisans to employ such variations as appropriate and the inventors intend for embodiments of the present disclosure to be practiced otherwise than as specifically described herein.","Accordingly, the scope of the present disclosure includes all modifications and equivalents of the subject matter recited in the claims appended hereto as permitted by applicable law.","Moreover, any combination of the above-described elements in all possible variations thereof is encompassed by the scope of the present disclosure unless otherwise indicated herein or otherwise clearly contradicted by context.","All references, including publications, patent applications, and patents, cited herein are hereby incorporated by reference to the same extent as if each reference were individually and specifically indicated to be incorporated by reference and were set forth in its entirety herein."]],"string":"[\n [\n \"ASYMMETRIC SESSION CREDENTIALS\",\n \"Techniques for using short-term credentials using asymmetric session keys are described herein.\",\n \"A request for a short-term credential is received that is digitally signed with a different credential.\",\n \"In response to the request, short-term credential data is generated and populated with a public session key corresponding to a private session key.\",\n \"The short-term credential data is then encrypted with a session encryption key to produce the short-term credential token, which can then be used by the requester as a short-term credential for subsequent requests.\"\n ],\n [\n \"1.A computer-implemented method, comprising: generating, based at least on an encryption key and as a result of a request to establish a session, credential data usable to authenticate messages within the session; and providing, in response to the request, the credential data to at least: cause extraction of the encryption key from the credential data; and cause authentication of the messages in the session using the encryption key.\",\n \"2.The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the credential data is valid for a predetermined amount of time.\",\n \"3.The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising: generating additional requests, while the credential data is valid, to authenticate additional messages.\",\n \"4.The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising: in response to determining that the credential data has been comprised, invalidating the credential data; and sending a request for new credential data.\",\n \"5.A system, comprising: memory to store instructions that, if executed by one or more processors of the system, cause the system to: generate, based at least on an encryption key and as a result of a request to establish a session, credential data usable to authenticate messages within the session; and provide, in response to the request, the credential data to at least: cause extraction of the encryption key from the credential data; and cause authentication of the messages in the session using the encryption key.\",\n \"6.The system of claim 5, wherein the credential data is valid for a predetermined amount of time.\",\n \"7.The system of claim 5, wherein the instructions that, if executed by one or more processors of the system, further cause the system to: generate additional requests, while the credential data is valid, to authenticate additional messages.\",\n \"8.The system of claim 5, wherein the instructions that, if executed by one or more processors of the system, further cause the system to: in response to determining that the credential data has been comprised, invalidating the credential data; and send a request for new credential data.\",\n \"9.The system of claim 5, wherein the request to establish the session is digitally signed using a long-term key associated with an account of a requestor.\",\n \"10.The system of claim 9, wherein the instructions that, if executed by one or more processors of the system, further cause the system to: verify, at a security service, a digital signature associated with the request to establish the session.\",\n \"11.The system of claim 10, wherein in response to the security service verifying the request, the security service generates the credential data.\",\n \"12.The system of claim 11, wherein in response to the security service generating the credential data, the security service encrypts the generated credential data using a session encryption key.\",\n \"13.A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having stored thereon executable instructions that, as a result of being executed by one or more processors of a computer system, cause the computer system to at least: generate, based at least on an encryption key and as a result of a request to establish a session, credential data usable to authenticate messages within the session; and provide, in response to the request, the credential data to at least: cause extraction of the encryption key from the credential data; and cause authentication of the messages in the session using the encryption key.\",\n \"14.The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 13, wherein the credential data is valid for a predetermined amount of time.\",\n \"15.The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 13, wherein the instructions further comprise instructions that, as a result of being executed by the one or more processors, cause the computer system to: generate additional requests, while the credential data is valid, to authenticate additional messages.\",\n \"16.The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 13, wherein the instructions further comprise instructions that, as a result of being executed by the one or more processors, cause the computer system to: in response to determining that the credential data has been comprised, invalidating the credential data; and send a request for new credential data.\",\n \"17.The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 13, wherein the request to establish the session is digitally signed using a long-term key associated with an account of a requestor.\",\n \"18.The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 17, wherein the instructions that, if executed by one or more processors of the system, further cause the system to: verify, at a security service, a digital signature associated with the request to establish the session.\",\n \"19.The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 18, wherein in response to the security service verifying the request, the security service generates the credential data.\",\n \"20.The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 19, wherein in response to the security service generating the credential data, the security service encrypts the generated credential data using a session encryption key.\"\n ],\n [\n \" BACKGROUND Modern computer systems typically have different services and resources that can be accessed by users of the computer system.\",\n \"When users request access to the services and resources, such requests are generally verified before access is granted so that a user does not gain access to services and resources not granted by the set of permissions associated with that user account.\",\n \"One system typically used for providing secure access to services and resources is based on creating short-term session credentials that are associated with a user.\",\n \"Once a session is established, a user can use the session credentials associated with the session to issue multiple requests over the life of that session.\",\n \"Typically, session credentials are encrypted and include a secret key that is used to sign each of the multiple requests over the life of the session.\",\n \"A drawback of such sessions and the associated session credentials is that any service that can decrypt the session credentials can have access to the secret key.\",\n \"Since decrypting the session credentials is typically required to verify a request, when the secret key is a symmetric key, the secret key can be used by services to improperly sign additional requests.\",\n \"For example, a service can receive a request and decrypt the session credentials associated with the request to extract the secret key for the purposes of verifying the request.\",\n \"However, the service may also use the extracted secret key to generate requests to other services, even though such requests may not necessarily originate from the owner of the session.\"\n ],\n [\n \" BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Various techniques will be described with reference to the drawings, in which: FIG.\",\n \"1 illustrates an environment where session credentials are generated; FIG.\",\n \"2 illustrates an environment where requests are validated using session credentials; FIG.\",\n \"3 illustrates a diagram showing encryption operations associated with using session credentials; FIG.\",\n \"4 illustrates a diagram showing decryption operations associated with using session credentials; FIG.\",\n \"5 illustrates a process for validating requests using session credentials; FIG.\",\n \"6 illustrates a process for using a session token to generate resource requests using session credentials; FIG.\",\n \"7 illustrates an environment where session credentials are generated with asymmetric keys; FIG.\",\n \"8 illustrates an environment where requests are validated using session credentials with asymmetric keys; FIG.\",\n \"9 illustrates a diagram showing encryption operations associated with using session credentials with asymmetric keys; FIG.\",\n \"10 illustrates a process for validating requests using session credentials with asymmetric keys; FIG.\",\n \"11 illustrates an environment where a session associated with a region is retrieved using session credentials; FIG.\",\n \"12 illustrates an environment where a retrieved session is used across regions using session credentials; FIG.\",\n \"13 illustrates an environment where session data is used across regions to generate a cross-region session using session credentials; FIG.\",\n \"14 illustrates a process for generating a cross-region session using session credentials; FIG.\",\n \"15 illustrates a process for extracting session data from a cross-region session using session credentials; FIG.\",\n \"16 illustrates an environment where a cross-region session is validated using session credentials; FIG.\",\n \"17 illustrates an environment where a service intercepts a session using session credentials; FIG.\",\n \"18 illustrates an environment where an account key and a global key are used to generate a session key for use in generating session credentials; FIG.\",\n \"19 illustrates an environment where an account key is distributed to different regions for use in isolating regions using session credentials; FIG.\",\n \"20 illustrates a process for distributing an account key to different regions for use in isolating regions using session credentials; FIG.\",\n \"21 illustrates an environment where global session keys are combined with account keys to generate session credentials; FIG.\",\n \"22 illustrates an environment where global session keys are combined with account keys to generate session credentials; FIG.\",\n \"23 illustrates an environment where global session keys are maintained for use in generating session credentials; FIG.\",\n \"24 illustrates an environment where sessions are expired using session credentials; FIG.\",\n \"25 illustrates a process for rotating session credentials; FIG.\",\n \"26 illustrates an environment where a plurality of session keys can be invalidated using session credentials; FIG.\",\n \"27 illustrates an environment where a plurality of invalidated session keys can be regenerated using session credentials; FIG.\",\n \"28 illustrates a process for invalidating and regenerating a plurality of session keys using session credentials; FIG.\",\n \"29 illustrates an environment where account keys are invalidated in association with session credentials; FIG.\",\n \"30 illustrates an environment where cross-region roles are assumed across regions using session credentials; FIG.\",\n \"31 illustrates an environment where policies associated with cross-region roles are applied using session credentials; FIG.\",\n \"32 illustrates an environment where a cross-region role is assumed using session credentials; FIG.\",\n \"33 illustrates an environment where a cross-region role is used to access resources across regions using session credentials; FIG.\",\n \"34 illustrates a process for using a cross-region role session token to generate resource requests using session credentials; and FIG.\",\n \"35 illustrates an environment in which various embodiments can be implemented.\",\n \"detailed-description description=\\\"Detailed Description\\\" end=\\\"lead\\\"?\"\n ],\n [\n \"CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"14/958,872, filed Dec. 3, 2015, entitled “ASYMMETRIC SESSION CREDENTIALS,” which incorporates by reference for all purposes the full disclosure of co-pending U.S. patent application Ser.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"14/958,887, filed Dec. 3, 2015, entitled “CROSS-REGION ROLES,” co-pending U.S. patent application Ser.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"14/958,888, filed Dec. 3, 2015, entitled “CROSS-REGION CACHE OF REGIONAL SESSIONS,” and co-pending U.S. patent application Ser.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"14/958,892, filed Dec. 3, 2015, entitled “PERSONALIZING GLOBAL SESSION IDENTIFIERS.” BACKGROUND Modern computer systems typically have different services and resources that can be accessed by users of the computer system.\",\n \"When users request access to the services and resources, such requests are generally verified before access is granted so that a user does not gain access to services and resources not granted by the set of permissions associated with that user account.\",\n \"One system typically used for providing secure access to services and resources is based on creating short-term session credentials that are associated with a user.\",\n \"Once a session is established, a user can use the session credentials associated with the session to issue multiple requests over the life of that session.\",\n \"Typically, session credentials are encrypted and include a secret key that is used to sign each of the multiple requests over the life of the session.\",\n \"A drawback of such sessions and the associated session credentials is that any service that can decrypt the session credentials can have access to the secret key.\",\n \"Since decrypting the session credentials is typically required to verify a request, when the secret key is a symmetric key, the secret key can be used by services to improperly sign additional requests.\",\n \"For example, a service can receive a request and decrypt the session credentials associated with the request to extract the secret key for the purposes of verifying the request.\",\n \"However, the service may also use the extracted secret key to generate requests to other services, even though such requests may not necessarily originate from the owner of the session.\",\n \"BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Various techniques will be described with reference to the drawings, in which: FIG.\",\n \"1 illustrates an environment where session credentials are generated; FIG.\",\n \"2 illustrates an environment where requests are validated using session credentials; FIG.\",\n \"3 illustrates a diagram showing encryption operations associated with using session credentials; FIG.\",\n \"4 illustrates a diagram showing decryption operations associated with using session credentials; FIG.\",\n \"5 illustrates a process for validating requests using session credentials; FIG.\",\n \"6 illustrates a process for using a session token to generate resource requests using session credentials; FIG.\",\n \"7 illustrates an environment where session credentials are generated with asymmetric keys; FIG.\",\n \"8 illustrates an environment where requests are validated using session credentials with asymmetric keys; FIG.\",\n \"9 illustrates a diagram showing encryption operations associated with using session credentials with asymmetric keys; FIG.\",\n \"10 illustrates a process for validating requests using session credentials with asymmetric keys; FIG.\",\n \"11 illustrates an environment where a session associated with a region is retrieved using session credentials; FIG.\",\n \"12 illustrates an environment where a retrieved session is used across regions using session credentials; FIG.\",\n \"13 illustrates an environment where session data is used across regions to generate a cross-region session using session credentials; FIG.\",\n \"14 illustrates a process for generating a cross-region session using session credentials; FIG.\",\n \"15 illustrates a process for extracting session data from a cross-region session using session credentials; FIG.\",\n \"16 illustrates an environment where a cross-region session is validated using session credentials; FIG.\",\n \"17 illustrates an environment where a service intercepts a session using session credentials; FIG.\",\n \"18 illustrates an environment where an account key and a global key are used to generate a session key for use in generating session credentials; FIG.\",\n \"19 illustrates an environment where an account key is distributed to different regions for use in isolating regions using session credentials; FIG.\",\n \"20 illustrates a process for distributing an account key to different regions for use in isolating regions using session credentials; FIG.\",\n \"21 illustrates an environment where global session keys are combined with account keys to generate session credentials; FIG.\",\n \"22 illustrates an environment where global session keys are combined with account keys to generate session credentials; FIG.\",\n \"23 illustrates an environment where global session keys are maintained for use in generating session credentials; FIG.\",\n \"24 illustrates an environment where sessions are expired using session credentials; FIG.\",\n \"25 illustrates a process for rotating session credentials; FIG.\",\n \"26 illustrates an environment where a plurality of session keys can be invalidated using session credentials; FIG.\",\n \"27 illustrates an environment where a plurality of invalidated session keys can be regenerated using session credentials; FIG.\",\n \"28 illustrates a process for invalidating and regenerating a plurality of session keys using session credentials; FIG.\",\n \"29 illustrates an environment where account keys are invalidated in association with session credentials; FIG.\",\n \"30 illustrates an environment where cross-region roles are assumed across regions using session credentials; FIG.\",\n \"31 illustrates an environment where policies associated with cross-region roles are applied using session credentials; FIG.\",\n \"32 illustrates an environment where a cross-region role is assumed using session credentials; FIG.\",\n \"33 illustrates an environment where a cross-region role is used to access resources across regions using session credentials; FIG.\",\n \"34 illustrates a process for using a cross-region role session token to generate resource requests using session credentials; and FIG.\",\n \"35 illustrates an environment in which various embodiments can be implemented.\",\n \"DETAILED DESCRIPTION This disclosure relates to managing message authentication within a computing resource service provider environment using short-term credentials.\",\n \"The short-term credentials are generated based on long-term credentials and can be used within a computer system or across computer system boundaries.\",\n \"The short-term credentials can also be secured so that they may be used in untrusted environments without compromising either the short-term credentials or the underlying long-term credentials.\",\n \"The short-term credentials can also be partially based on other, short-term credentials so that, for example, they can be regularly expired and efficiently invalidated at an individual, account, regional, or global scale.\",\n \"The short term credentials can also be used to assign and validate short-term access to user roles so that a user can have access to resources in a region or location that the user may not generally have access to.\",\n \"A request from a customer of a computing resource service provider for access to computing resources of the computing resource service provider is typically signed or authenticated by a key and that key is used to verify the request prior to executing or fulfilling the request.\",\n \"One method of signing the request is to use a long-term secret key that is maintained as a shared secret between the customer and the computing resource service provider.\",\n \"In this method, the customer signs the request using the long-term secret key and sends the request and the signature to the computing resource service provider.\",\n \"The computing resource service provider then verifies the signature using the same secret key and, if the signature is verified, the computing resource service provider executes or fulfills the request by, for example, providing resources, executing applications, or performing operations associated with the request.\",\n \"One potential drawback of using long-term credentials to provide access is that, if the long-term credentials are compromised, they provide a mechanism for the detection of unauthorized access by an unauthorized agent.\",\n \"Another potential drawback of using such long-term credentials is that, if they are used for multiple transactions by a customer, the likelihood of their being compromised may increase.\",\n \"A third potential drawback of using such long-term credentials is that, in the interest of increasing their security, the cryptographic operations associated with such long-term credentials can become very computationally expensive if, for example, larger keys and/or more complicated key-generation algorithms are used.\",\n \"Using short-term credentials such as those provided by session credentials helps alleviate some of the potential drawbacks of using long-terms credentials as message authenticators.\",\n \"One example of how a customer may obtain short-term session credentials that may be used as message authenticators is the customer may first generate a request for a session, and sign the request with a long-term secret key such as, for example, an account key.\",\n \"The request may then be sent to a security service which verifies the request signature.\",\n \"If the verification is successful, the security service can then generate a set of session data (also referred to herein as “short-term credential data”) that includes a session key and encrypt the short-term credential data to produce a short-term credential such as a session credential (also referred to herein as a “session token”).\",\n \"The session token is encrypted with a session encryption key that is available only to the computing resource service provider and provided to the customer.\",\n \"The encryption of the session token prevents the customer from accessing the session data in the session token.\",\n \"The customer is also provided with a session key which is cryptographically related to the session key in the session data.\",\n \"When the customer sends a message using the session token, the session token is sent with the message and digitally signed with the session key sent to the customer.\",\n \"The computing resource service provider then extracts the session key from the session token using the secret encryption key and verifies the digital signature of the message using the extracted session key.\",\n \"If the digital signature is verified, the message is processed.\",\n \"Using short-term credentials provided by session tokens, the customer can sign messages and have them authenticated without compromising long-term credentials.\",\n \"The long-term credentials (e.g., a password, a private key, or a certificate) are used to generate the request for the session token and the session token is only valid for a determined period of time.\",\n \"One example of how a session can be used by a customer is, a customer can request the session token using the username and password of the customer (i.e., the long-term credential) and can also request that the session be active for a certain time period (e.g., 36 hours).\",\n \"During the 36-hour period, the customer can generate messages and requests for resources using the session token and signed by the session key.\",\n \"Each request can be verified by the computing resource service provider without compromising the long-term key so, for example, the customer could generate thousands or millions of messages during the 36-hour period, and still have his or her username and password used only once.\",\n \"If, due to some circumstances, the short-term credentials in the session become compromised, the session token can be invalidated quickly and the customer can simply request a new session token.\",\n \"In an example of how session tokens can be used as message authenticators, the copy of the session key in the session data that is encrypted in the session token may be the same as the copy of the session key that is returned to the customer.\",\n \"This type of symmetric key session token maintains the security of short-term credentials with the session encryption key.\",\n \"While the customer has access to the session key that is sent from the computing resource service provider, the customer does not have access to the session key in the session token.\",\n \"The session key that the customer has access to can be used to digitally sign messages and requests for resources, but such messages and requests will not be verified if the session key in the session token does not match the digital signature.\",\n \"Thus, the session key cannot be used to digitally sign messages without the session token and the session token cannot be used without the signature of the session key.\",\n \"In another example of how session tokens can be used as message authenticators, the copy of the session key in the session data that is encrypted in the session token may one of a pair of session keys that form a public key encryption pair where the private key is maintained as a secret and the public key is used to verify the private key.\",\n \"In this type of asymmetric key session token, the session key in the session data is a public key and the session key that is provided to the customer is a corresponding private key.\",\n \"The security of the private key is maintained by the customer and the security of the public key is maintained within the session token with a session encryption key.\",\n \"As with a symmetric key session token, the session key that the customer has access to can be used to digitally sign messages and requests for resources, but such messages and requests will not be verified if the session key in the session token does not match the digital signature.\",\n \"In the case of asymmetric key session tokens, the public key in the session token can be used to verify the digital signature generated by the private key.\",\n \"In a first example of an asymmetric session token, the private key and the public key can be generated by the computing resource service provider and sent to the customer.\",\n \"In a second example of an asymmetric session token, the customer can maintain the private key for signing requests and provide the public key to the computing resource service provider for inclusion in the session token.\",\n \"Symmetric key session tokens and asymmetric key session tokens can be used to provide short-term credentials for users and/or customers in several different ways.\",\n \"In a first example, a customer or user in one zone (or region) of a computing resource service provider can obtain short-term credentials in that region, and can then use those region-specific short-term credentials to authenticate message and/or generate resource requests in other regions.\",\n \"Because the other regions may not have access to the session encryption keys of the original region, they may not normally be able to extract the session key from the session token to verify the digital signature.\",\n \"However, by sending a request to the original region to extract the session key from the session token, the message or request can be authenticated by the original region and then the short-term credentials used in the other regions.\",\n \"Similarly, customers can use session tokens across regions to authenticate access to resources in defined roles.\",\n \"For example, a user in a first region may create a set of permissions for access to resources in a second region such as, for example, the ability to access a particular database.\",\n \"This set of permissions defines a role for access to those resources and other users can assume that role to access the resources.\",\n \"Symmetric and asymmetric session tokens can be used across regions to access the role by providing an identifier associated with the role to the other users in other regions (i.e., regions different than where the resources are located).\",\n \"When the other users use the identifier associated with the role to assume the role, a symmetric or asymmetric session token can be generated, providing short-term credentials for the access.\",\n \"Such short-term credentials can also provide access to resources in untrusted regions such as, for example, external regions because the short-term credentials can all be both generated and verified in trusted regions, thereby protecting any sensitive information such as encryption keys from being accessed in the untrusted regions.\",\n \"Other aspects of symmetric and asymmetric session tokens can also be used to control access to customer credentials, to limit those credentials to certain regions, to personalize those credentials to customers, accounts, or roles, and/or to maintain those credentials, are also described in the present disclosure.\",\n \"For example, by encrypting a session token with a combination of encryption keys that are global, regional, and/or account-specific, only a customer associated with that account or in that region may be able to use that session token.\",\n \"Similarly, by encrypting a session token with a combination of encryption keys, the session tokens (and thus, the short-term credentials) may be quickly invalidated by discarding one of the encryption keys while keeping the others that may still be valid and/or usable.\",\n \"In the preceding and following description, various techniques are described.\",\n \"For purposes of explanation, specific configurations and details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of possible ways of implementing the techniques.\",\n \"However, it will also be apparent that the techniques described below may be practiced in different configurations without the specific details.\",\n \"Furthermore, well-known features may be omitted or simplified to avoid obscuring the techniques being described.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"1 illustrates an example environment 100 where session credentials are generated in accordance with an embodiment.\",\n \"A customer 102 of a computing resource service provider 104 may generate a session request 108 (also referred to herein as a “request for a session”) from a security service that may be used as a short-term credential (also referred to as a “session token”) and which may be used to authenticate messages from the customer 102 to the computing resource service provider 104 and which may also be used to generate requests for resources from the computing resource service provider 104.In some embodiments, the computing resource service provider 104 may provide a distributed, virtualized, and/or datacenter environment within which one or more applications, processes, services, virtual machines, and/or other such computer system entities may be executed.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the customer 102 may be a person, or may be a process running on one or more remote computer systems, or may be some other computer system entity, user, or process.\",\n \"The commands to connect to the computer system instance may originate from an outside computer system and/or server, or may originate from an entity, user, or process on a remote network location, or may originate from an entity, user, or process within the computing resource service provider 104.The command to connect to the computing resource service provider 104 may be generated by a computer system client device associated with the customer 102, or may originate as a result of an automatic process, or may originate as a result of a combination of these and/or other such origin entities.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the command or commands to initiate the connection to the computing resource service provider 104 may be sent to the one or more services associated with and/or provided by the computing resource service provider 104, without the intervention of the customer 102.The commands to initiate the connection to the services may originate from the same origin as the commands to connect to the computing resource service provider 104, or may originate from another computer system and/or server, or may originate from a different entity, user, or process on the same or a different remote network location, or may originate from a different entity, user, or process within the computing resource service provider 104, or may originate from a different user of a computer system client device, or may originate as a result of a combination of these and/or other such same and/or different entities.\",\n \"The customer 102 may request connection to the computing resource service provider 104 via one or more connections and, in some embodiments, via one or more networks and/or entities associated therewith, such as servers connected to the network, either directly or indirectly.\",\n \"The computer system client device that may request access to the services may include any device that is capable of connecting with a computer system via a network, including at least servers, laptops, mobile devices such as smartphones or tablets, other smart devices such as smart watches, smart televisions, set-top boxes, video game consoles and other such network-enabled smart devices, distributed computer systems and components thereof, abstracted components such as guest computer systems or virtual machines, and/or other types of computing devices and/or components.\",\n \"The network may include, for example, a local network, an internal network, a public network such as the Internet, or other networks such as those listed or described below.\",\n \"The network may also operate in accordance with various protocols such as those listed or described below.\",\n \"The computing resource service provider 104 may provide access to one or more host machines, as well as provide access to one or more virtual machine (VM) instances as may be operating thereon.\",\n \"The services provided by the computing resource service provider 104 may also be implemented as and/or may utilize one or more VM instances as may be operating on the host machines.\",\n \"For example, the computing resource service provider 104 may provide a variety of services to the customer 102 and the customer 102 may communicate with the computing resource service provider 104 via an interface such as a web services interface or any other type of interface.\",\n \"While the example environment illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"1 shows a single connection or interface used to generate the session request 108 from the computing resource service provider 104, each of the services provided by the computing resource service provider 104 may have its own interface and, generally, subsets of the services may have corresponding interfaces in addition to or as an alternative to the single interface.\",\n \"The computing resource service provider 104 may provide various services to its users or customers (e.g., the customer 102).\",\n \"The services provided by the computing resource service provider 104 may include, but may not be limited to, virtual computer system services, block-level data storage services, cryptography services, on-demand data storage services, notification services, authentication services, policy management services, security services, or other services.\",\n \"Not all embodiments described may include all of these services, and additional services may be provided in addition to or as an alternative to the services explicitly described.\",\n \"As described above, each of the services may include one or more web service interfaces that enable the customer 102 to submit appropriately configured API requests to the various services through web service requests.\",\n \"In addition, each of the services may include one or more service interfaces that enable the services to access each other (e.g., to enable a virtual machine instance provided by the virtual computer system service to request credentials from a security service such as the security service 106).\",\n \"The security service 106 may be one of a plurality of services provided by the computing resource service provider 104 and may be configured to facilitate secure access to the services and/or other resources associated with the computing resource service provider 104.For example, the security service 106 may be configured to control access to resources of the computing resource service provider 104, may be configured to authenticate messages sent to the computing resource service provider 104, may be configured to verify credentials of customers such as the customer 102, may be configured to provide secure storage for credentials, may be configured to generate credentials, and may be configured to perform other security related operations associated with the computing resource service provider 104.For example, the security service 106 may generate cryptographic keys such as those described herein, may receive cryptographic keys from customers and/or other services, may maintain cryptographic keys as a service, and/or may use such cryptographic keys to validate requests and digital signatures of requests and messages.\",\n \"It should be noted that, as used herein, a “cryptographic key” may refer to a symmetric key, an asymmetric key, or some other authentication credential (e.g., a username and password or a certificate) and may be referred to simply as a “key.” In an embodiment, a security service maintains cryptographic keys as a secret within the security service by, for example, storing the key in a hardware security module (“HSM”).\",\n \"In another embodiment, a security service maintains cryptographic keys as a secret within the security service by being configured to not expose the key (e.g., because the security service is programmed to not provide the keys).\",\n \"In another embodiment, a security service maintains cryptographic keys as a secret within the security service by, for example, deleting the keys in the event of an intrusion.\",\n \"The session request 108 may be digitally signed 134 by the customer so that the security service 106 may validate the session request 110.In the example illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"1, the session request 108 is digitally signed 134 with a customer long-term key 132 associated with the customer 102.A customer long-term key 132 is a secure credential with a long-term period of validity (e.g., three months, six months, or more) that is uniquely associated with the customer 102.In another embodiment, the session request 108 is digitally signed 134 with a username and password of an account associated with the customer 102.In another embodiment, the session request is digitally signed 134 with a short-term credential such as those described herein (i.e., a session request 108 may be digitally signed 134 by a session token that may be specific to such requests).\",\n \"In another embodiment, the session request is digitally signed with a public key cryptography key pair that includes a public long-term key and a private long-term key.\",\n \"In another embodiment, the session request is digitally signed 134 by a certificate such as, for example, an X.509 certificate, or some other public or identify certificate.\",\n \"In another embodiment, the session request is digitally signed 134 by a combination of such cryptographic methods.\",\n \"As may be contemplated, the examples of cryptographic methods that may be used to digitally sign the session request described herein are illustrative examples and other such cryptographic methods that may be used to digitally sign the session request may be considered as within the scope of the present disclosure.\",\n \"When the security service 106 receives the session request 108 that is digitally signed 134 by, for example, the customer long-term key 132, the security service may first validate the request 110.Operations to validate the request 110 may include, but may not be limited to validating the identity of the customer 102, validating that the customer 102 is authorized to generate the session request 108, validating that the customer account used to generate the request is authorized to generate the session request 108, and/or validating that the request came from a computing device associated with the customer 102 that is authorized to generate the session request 108.In the example illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"1, the security service 106 validates the request by verifying that the session request 108 is digitally signed 134 by the customer long-term key 132 and that the customer long-term key 136 is being used by the customer 102 associated with the key.\",\n \"Although not illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"1, in the event that the session request 108 is not valid (i.e., that one or more of the operations to validate the request 110 yield a result indicating the request is not valid), an error may be generated and/or one or more notifications may be sent to the customer, an administrator, or some other such entity.\",\n \"If the session Request 108 is valid 112, the security service 106 may then process 114 the request.\",\n \"The security service 106 may first process 114 the request by obtaining a session key 116 and a session encryption key 120.The session key 116 may be any cryptographic key, certificate, or credential.\",\n \"The session key 116 may be generated by the security service 106, may be provided by another service of the computing resource service provider 104, or may be provided by the customer 102.The session encryption key 120 may also be any cryptographic key, certificate, or credential and may be generated by the security service 106 or may be provided by another service by the computing resource service provider 104.In an embodiment, the session key 116 and/or the session encryption key 120 are generated by dedicated hardware and/or software within the computing resource service provider 104 environment configured to generate such keys.\",\n \"The security service 106 may then store the session key 116 in a set of session data 124 and may encrypt 118 the session data 124 using the session encryption key 120 to generate 122 a session token 126.Each of these operations is described in more detail below, as is the set of session data 124.The security service 106 may then provide 130 the session token 126 to the customer 102.In the example illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"1, because the session token 126 is encrypted using the session encryption key 120, the customer cannot access the session data 124 and may not otherwise alter the session data 124, including the session key 116 stored in the session data 124.Additionally, the security service 106 may provide 128 the session key 116 to the customer 102 so that the customer 102 can use the session key 116 to digitally sign messages and/or requests that are combined with the session token 126 as described herein.\",\n \"The examples described below illustrate how the short-term credentials in the session token 126 are combined with the digital signature of the session key 116 to verify requests and/or authenticate messages.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"2 illustrates an example environment 200 where requests are validated using session credentials as described in connection with FIG.\",\n \"1 and in accordance with an embodiment.\",\n \"A customer 202 may use the session token described above to generate a signed request 204.The signed request 204, which includes the session token, is signed by the session key 218.The signed request is illustrated herein with a “lock” symbol in a circle, which represents the session token and the “pen and line” symbol in the square, which represents the digital signature.\",\n \"As discussed herein, numerous variations of the cryptographic operations described herein utilize symmetric and/or asymmetric cryptographic primitives.\",\n \"Symmetric key algorithms may include various schemes for performing cryptographic operations on data including block ciphers, stream ciphers and digital signature schemes.\",\n \"Example symmetric key algorithms include the advanced encryption standard (AES), the data encryption standard (DES), triple DES (3DES), Serpent, Twofish, blowfish, CAST5, RC4, and the international data encryption algorithm (IDEA).\",\n \"Symmetric key algorithms may also include those used to generate output of one way functions and include algorithms that utilize hash-based message authentication codes (HMACs), message authentication codes (MACs) in general, PBKDF2 and Bcrypt.\",\n \"Asymmetric key algorithms may also include various schemes for performing cryptographic operations on data.\",\n \"Example algorithms include those that utilize the Diffie-Hellman key exchange protocol, the digital signature standard (DSS), the digital signature algorithm, the ElGamal algorithm, various elliptic curve algorithms, password-authenticated key agreement techniques, the pallier cryptosystem, the RSA encryption algorithm (PKCS#1), the Cramer-Shoup cryptosystem, the YAK authenticated key agreement protocol, the NTRUEncrypt cryptosystem, the McEliece cryptosystem, and others.\",\n \"Elliptic curve cryptography algorithms include the elliptic curve Diffie-Hellman (ECDH) key agreement scheme, the Elliptic Curve Integrated Encryption Scheme (ECIES), the Elliptic Curve Digital Signature Algorithm (ECDSA), the ECMQV key agreement scheme, and the ECQV implicit certificate scheme.\",\n \"Other algorithms and combinations of algorithms for symmetric and/or asymmetric cryptographic primitives are considered as being within the scope of the present disclosure and the above is not intended to be an exhaustive list.\",\n \"It should be noted that that the term “digital signature” includes any information usable to cryptographically verify authenticity of a message including information generated using an RSA-based digital scheme (such as RSA-PSS), the digital signature algorithm (DSA) and the elliptic curve digital signature algorithm, the ElGamal signature scheme, the Schnorr signature scheme, the Pointcheval-Stern signature algorithm, the Rabin signature algorithm, pairing-based digital signature schemes (such as the Boneh-Lynn-Schacham signature scheme), undeniable digital signature schemes, and others.\",\n \"Further, message authentication codes (such as hash-based message authentication codes (HMACs), keyed cryptographic hash functions, and other types of information may also be used as digital signatures.\",\n \"As with the above, other algorithms and combinations of algorithms used to provide digital signatures are also considered as being within the scope of the present disclosure and the above is not intended to be an exhaustive list.\",\n \"In various embodiments, data objects such as session tokens may be cryptographically verifiable.\",\n \"In one example, cryptographically verifiable data objects are created to be cryptographically verifiable by the system to which the data object is to be provided or another system that operates in conjunction with the system to which the data object is to be provided.\",\n \"For example, the data object may be encrypted so as to be decryptable by the system that will cryptographically verify the data object, where the ability to decrypt the data object serves as cryptographic verification of the data object.\",\n \"As another example, the data object may be digitally signed (thereby producing a digital signature of the data object) such that the digital signature is verifiable by the system that will cryptographically verify the data object.\",\n \"In other examples, both encryption and digital signatures are used for cryptographic verifiability and/or security.\",\n \"In such examples, the key used to encrypt and/or digitally sign the data object may vary in accordance with various embodiments and the same key is not necessarily used for both encryption and digital signing, where applicable.\",\n \"In some embodiments, a key used to encrypt the data object is a public key of a public/private key pair where the private key of the key pair is maintained securely by the system to which the data object is to be provided, thereby enabling the system to decrypt the data object using the private key of the key pair.\",\n \"Using the public key to encrypt the data object may include generating a symmetric key, using the symmetric key to encrypt the data object, and encrypting the symmetric key using the public key, where the encrypted symmetric key is provided to a system with the encrypted data object to enable the system to use the corresponding private key to decrypt the symmetric key and use the decrypted symmetric key to decrypt the data object.\",\n \"Further, in some embodiments, the data object is digitally signed using a private key of a public/private key pair corresponding to the computer system that encrypts and/or digitally signs the data object (e.g., a user device).\",\n \"For example, an application may be provisioned with the private key and the data object may include a certificate for the private key for use by a system for verification of the digital signature of the data object.\",\n \"Other variations, including variations where a symmetric key shared between the user computer and the system that cryptographically verifies the data object can be used to encrypt and/or digitally sign the data object.\",\n \"The signed request 204 may be received by a security service 220, which may be the same as the security service 106 described in connection with FIG.\",\n \"1.The security service 220 may first verify the session token 206 by extracting the session key 210 from the session token 208 that is included in the signed request 204.The security service 220 may extract the session key 210 from the session token 208 by decrypting the session token using the session encryption key.\",\n \"The session encryption key, which may be the same as the session encryption key 120 described in connection with FIG.\",\n \"1, may be maintained as a secret by the security service 220 using one or more of the methods described herein.\",\n \"It should be noted that, unless otherwise specified or made clear from context, “decrypting the session token using the session encryption key” includes decrypting the session token using the same session encryption key that was used to encrypt the session token (i.e., using a symmetric session encryption key), decrypting the session token using a decryption key that corresponds to the session encryption key (i.e., using an asymmetric session encryption key), decrypting the session token using a combination of keys that were used to encrypt the session token (i.e., using multiple session encryption keys), or a combination of these and/or other such cryptographic operations usable to extract the session key from the session token.\",\n \"The security service 220 may then verify 212 the signature 214 of the signed request 204 by using the extracted session key 216 obtained by extracting the session key 210 from the session token 208 that is included in the signed request 204 by obtaining the session key 210 from the extracted session data.\",\n \"The security service 220 may validate the signature 222 of the signed request by, for example, using the extracted session key 216 to perform a cryptographic operation to validate the digital signature generated by the session key 218.The security service 220 may also validate the signature 222 by using the session key 218 to perform an encryption operation on a data item and then using the extracted session key 216 to perform a corresponding decryption operation on the encrypted data item.\",\n \"The security service 220 may also validate the signature 222 by comparing the session key 218 to the extracted session key 216.Finally, if the security service 220 is able to verify the session token 206 and is able to verify 212 the signature 214, the security service may process the request 224 by, for example, providing resources associated with the request and/or forwarding the request to another service of the computing resource service provider.\",\n \"In an embodiment, the signed request 204 includes a request for resources from a computing resource service provider such as the computing resource service provider 104 described in connection with FIG.\",\n \"1.The request for resources may include an identifier for the resource and/or an identifier for the customer 202.The request for resources may also include a set of policies or permissions for access to the resources or those policies or permissions may be determined after the request for resource is received by the computing resource service provider.\",\n \"For example, the request for resources may include a request, by the customer 202, to access a data store provided by a data storage service of the computing resource service provider.\",\n \"The request for resources may further specify that the customer desires read-write access to the data store provided by the data storage service of the computing resource service provider.\",\n \"Because having read-write access to a data store can have potentially harmful effects, verifying the request using the short-term credentials provided by the session token can help ensure that the customer 202 is authorized to access such resources.\",\n \"In another embodiment, the signed request 204 includes a message that is received by the computing resource service provider such as the computing resource service provider 104 described in connection with FIG.\",\n \"1 and that must be authenticated by the security service 220 before being processed by the computing resource service provider.\",\n \"The message may include an identifier for the customer 202, may include a destination for the message, and may include the content of the message.\",\n \"For example, the message may be a message, from the customer 202, to restart one or more virtual machine instances associated with the customer 202.Because restarting virtual machine instances can have harmful effects, authenticating the message using the short-term credentials provided by the session token can help ensure that the customer 202 is authorized to restart the virtual machine instances.\",\n \"In an embodiment, the operations to verify the session token 206 and to verify 212 the signature 214 before processing the request 224 (or authorizing the message) are performed by the security service 220 prior to sending the request or the message to a different service of the computing resource service provider.\",\n \"In another embodiment, the operations to verify the session token 206 and to verify 212 the signature 214 are performed by the security service 220 after the different service of the computing resource service provider has received the request or the message.\",\n \"That is, the different service of the computing resource service provider receives the request or message and forwards the request or message to the security service 220 for verification of the session token and signature.\",\n \"In another embodiment, the different service may be configured to verify the session token 206 and/or to verify 212 the signature 214 by, for example, obtaining the session encryption key from the security service.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"3 illustrates an example diagram 300 showing encryption operations associated with using session credentials as described in connection with FIG.\",\n \"1 and in accordance with an embodiment.\",\n \"The first part of the example diagram 300 illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"3 shows how a session key and a session encryption key are used to produce the session token as described above.\",\n \"The operations illustrated in the first part of the example diagram 300 may be performed by a security service such as the security service 106 described in connection with FIG.\",\n \"1.The session key 302 is added to the unencrypted session data 304.The unencrypted session data (also referred to herein more simply as the “session data”) may contain additional data and/or metadata associated with the session including, but not limited to, identifiers associated with users (or customers), identifiers associated with user (or customer) accounts, identifiers associated with resources, zones of operation (also referred to herein as “regions”) of the computing resource service provider where the session may be used, policies associated with the session, permissions associated with the session, roles associated with the session, keys used to generate the session token, expiration conditions (e.g., dates or times) associated with the session, or other such data and/or metadata associated with the session.\",\n \"The session data 304 may be encrypted using the session encryption key 306 as described herein to produce the session token 308.Although not illustrated in the first part of the example diagram 300, the session encryption key may also be preserved as a secret within the security service, stored in a session encryption keychain, or otherwise maintained for later use in the verification operations.\",\n \"It should be noted that the session key 302 and the session encryption key 306 are different keys.\",\n \"The session key 302 is stored in the session data 304 and is, in some embodiments, provided to the customer.\",\n \"The session encryption key 306 is used to encrypt the session data 304 to produce the session token 308 and is maintained as a secret (i.e., is not provided to the customer).\",\n \"The second part of the example diagram 300 illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"3 shows how some parts of the data sent to the customer 310 in response to the request for the session token are accessible to the customer 310, while some parts of the data sent to the customer 310 in response to the request for the session token are not accessible to the customer 310.In the example illustrated in the second part of the example diagram 300 illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"3, the session token 314 is not accessible to the customer 310 as illustrated by the “x-shaped mark” next to the session token 314.The session token 314 may be usable by the customer 310 to generate signed requests as described above, but the customer 310 may not be able to extract the session data 304 to produce extracted session data from the session token because the customer 310 may not have access to the session encryption key 306 (or a corresponding session decryption key).\",\n \"Conversely, in the example illustrated in the second part of the example diagram 300 illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"3, the session key 312 is accessible to the customer 310 as illustrated by the “check mark” next to the session key 312.The session key 312 may be usable by the customer 310 to digitally sign requests for resources as described above and/or to digitally sign messages also as described above.\",\n \"As used herein, the terms “digital signature” and “digitally signing” refer to the process of performing one or more mathematical operations (i.e., cryptographic operations) to provide a means for authenticating the request and/or the message.\",\n \"If the digital signature is valid (i.e., it is verified), a service such as the security service 106 described in connection with FIG.\",\n \"1 can verify that the request or message was generated by the customer, that the customer cannot later repudiate the message (i.e., cannot later deny that the customer sent the message), and that the message was not tampered with in transit.\",\n \"A session key can be used to digitally sign a request or message by using a signing algorithm associated with a digital signature scheme combined with the session key.\",\n \"The digital signature can then be verified using a corresponding signature verification algorithm with the session key (or with a corresponding key).\",\n \"The third part of the example diagram 300 illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"3 shows how the signed request is generated using the session token and signed with the session key.\",\n \"In the example illustrated in the third part of the example diagram 300 illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"3, the session token 316 is combined with a request 318, and digitally signed 322 using the session key 320.The process to digitally sign the request using the session key 320 may include encrypting the request 318 using the session key 320 based on the signing algorithm associated with the digital signature scheme.\",\n \"The process to digitally sign a message using the session key 320 may also include encrypting the message using the session key 320 based on the signing algorithm associated with the digital signature scheme.\",\n \"In an embodiment, the signing algorithm used to sign messages is different than the signing algorithm used to sign requests such as the request 318.FIG.\",\n \"4 illustrates an example diagram 400 showing decryption operations associated with using session credentials as described in connection with FIG.\",\n \"1 and in accordance with an embodiment.\",\n \"A signed request 402 may be received and the session token 404 used to generate the request may be extracted from the signed request 402.The session data 408 may then be extracted from the session token by using the session encryption key 406.In an embodiment, the session encryption key 406 is the same key that was used to encrypt the session token as described above.\",\n \"In another embodiment, the session encryption key 406 is a key corresponding to the key that was used to encrypt the session token but that is different than the key that was used to encrypt the session token.\",\n \"For example, the session encryption key 406 and the key that was used to encrypt the session token may be two keys of a public key cryptography key pair, where one of the keys is a public key of the public key cryptography key pair and the other key is a private key of the public key cryptography key pair.\",\n \"In such an example, the public key of the public key cryptography key pair may be generated to match the private key of the public key cryptography key pair by, for example, performing one or more key generation operations on the private key to produce the public key.\",\n \"After the session data 408 is extracted from the session token by using the session encryption key 406, the session key 412 from the session data 408 extracted from the session token 404 may be used to validate 414 the digital signature 410 as described above.\",\n \"In the example illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"4, the session key 412 (also referred to herein as the “extracted session key”) may be used to validate 414 the digital signature 410 by using the session key 412 in conjunction with a digital signature verification algorithm associated with the digital signature scheme used to digitally sign the signed request 402 (e.g., Diffie-Hellman, RSA cryptography, Hash trees, Rabin signatures, GMR signatures, elliptic curve cryptography, or some other digital signature scheme).\",\n \"As may be contemplated, the digital signature schemes described herein are merely illustrative examples and other such digital signature schemes may be considered as within the scope of the present disclosure.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"5 illustrates an example process 500 for validating requests using session credentials as described in connection with FIG.\",\n \"1 and in accordance with an embodiment.\",\n \"A security service such as the security service 106 described in connection with FIG.\",\n \"1 may perform the process illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"5.The security service may first receive a request for a session 502 (also referred to herein as receiving a request for a “session token”).\",\n \"In an embodiment, the request for a session token is signed with a digital signature using a credential associated with the requester such as, for example, the customer long-term key described above.\",\n \"In such an embodiment, the request may first be validated 504 by verifying the credential to ensure that the request for the session was properly generated, that it was generated by the customer, and/or that it was not tampered with during transmission.\",\n \"A request that is not valid 506 may cause the security service to generate an error 508 in response to the invalid request.\",\n \"The security service may generate an error 508 and send a report of the error to the customer, or to an administrative account associated with the customer, or to a computing device associated with the customer, or to a message log system or service associated with the customer.\",\n \"The security service may also communicate the error to the customer using an email, a short message service (“SMS”) message, a console message, an application programming interface (“API”) call (also referred to herein as an application programming interface request), a webservice call, a library call, or some other such communication modality.\",\n \"Similarly, the security service may generate an error 508 and report the error to a user, account, device, or message log service associated with the security service and/or with the computing resource service provider.\",\n \"For example, a report of the error may be sent to an access monitoring service that monitors attempted access to resources associated with the computing resource service provider in order to identify potential malicious attacks.\",\n \"As may be contemplated, the actions taken by the security service in response to a request that is not valid described herein are illustrative examples and other such responses to requests that are not valid may be considered as within the scope of the present disclosure.\",\n \"If the request for a session token is valid because, for example, the credentials associated with the request are verified, the security service may then obtain 510 a session key for the session.\",\n \"In an embodiment, the session key is obtained by generating the session key using a key generation algorithm associated with the encryption scheme for the session keys.\",\n \"In another embodiment, the session key is obtained by selecting the session key from a plurality of pre-generated session keys.\",\n \"In another embodiment, the session key is received from the requester (e.g., the customer) associated with the request for the session token.\",\n \"In such an embodiment, the session key may be included with the request for the session token or the session key may be received by the security service in response to a request sent to the customer.\",\n \"After obtaining the session key, the security service may then store 512 the session key in the session data as described above.\",\n \"The security service may then obtain 514 a session encryption key usable to encrypt the session data to produce the session token.\",\n \"In an embodiment, the session encryption key is obtained by generating the session encryption key using a key generation algorithm associated with the encryption scheme for the session encryption keys.\",\n \"In such an embodiment, the encryption scheme for the session encryption keys may be different from the encryption scheme for the session keys.\",\n \"In another embodiment, the session encryption key is obtained by selecting the session encryption key from a plurality of pre-generated session encryption keys.\",\n \"In another embodiment, the session encryption key is generated from a combination of personal and global keys as described below.\",\n \"In an embodiment, the session encryption key is a designated key of a plurality of keys maintained by the security service in a session encryption keychain.\",\n \"For example, a plurality of session encryption keys may be maintained by the security service in a session keychain with a corresponding time interval.\",\n \"Periodically (e.g., each hour) a new session encryption key may be generated and stored in the session encryption keychain and an oldest session encryption key (i.e., the key that was generated the longest time ago) may be deleted, invalidated, or otherwise removed from use.\",\n \"In such an embodiment, the newest key may be designated for use as the session encryption key (i.e., may be the only key used to encrypt the session data to generate the session token) while the other keys may be used to decrypt the session token to extract the session data.\",\n \"After obtaining the session encryption key, the security service may then use the session encryption key to encrypt 516 the session data to generate the session token as described above.\",\n \"The security service may then verify 518 the session token by performing one or more cryptographic operations on the session token (e.g., the security service may use the session encryption key and/or a corresponding key to decrypt the session token and compare the results to the session data).\",\n \"If the security service is not able to verify 518 the session token, the security service may generate 508 an error as described above.\",\n \"If the security service is able to verify 518 the session token, the security service may provide 520 the session token and the session key to the requester.\",\n \"In an embodiment where the requester has provided the session key, the security service may provide 520 only the session token to the requester.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"6 illustrates an example process 600 for using a session token to generate resource requests using session credentials as described in connection with FIG.\",\n \"1 and in accordance with an embodiment.\",\n \"A security service such as the security service 106 described in connection with FIG.\",\n \"1 may perform the process illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"6.The security service may first receive 602 a request for resources or a message as described above.\",\n \"The request for resources or the message may be digitally signed by a session key and may also be generated using a session token, also as described above.\",\n \"Next, the security service may extract 604 the session key from the session token used to generate the session token and may validate 606 the digital signature using the extracted session key.\",\n \"If the signature is valid 608 (i.e., if the request or the message is authenticated), the security service may next process 610 the request or the message by, for example, providing access to the resources, processing the message, or performing some other action.\",\n \"If the signature is not valid 608 (i.e., if the request or the message is not authenticated) the security service may generate 612 an error as described above.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"7 illustrates an environment 700 where session credentials are generated with asymmetric keys using session credentials as described in connection with FIG.\",\n \"1 and in accordance with an embodiment.\",\n \"A customer 702 of a computing resource service provider 704 may generate a session request 708 from a security service that may be used as a short-term credential and which may be used to authenticate messages from the customer 702 to the computing resource service provider 704 and which may also be used to generate requests for resources from the computing resource service provider 704.The customer 702, the computing resource service provider 704, and the security service 706 may be the same as the customer 102, the computing resource service provider 104, and the security service 106 described above in connection with FIG.\",\n \"1.The session request 708 may be digitally signed 734 by the customer so that the security service 706 may validate 710 the session request.\",\n \"In the example illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"7, the session request 708 is digitally signed 734 with a customer long-term key 732 associated with the customer 702.As described above, a customer long-term key 732 is a secure credential with a long-term period of validity (e.g., three months, six months, or more) that is uniquely associated with the customer 702.In another embodiment, the session request 708 is digitally signed 734 with a username and password of an account associated with the customer 702.In another embodiment, the session request is digitally signed 734 with a short-term credential such as those described herein (i.e., a session request 708 may be digitally signed 734 by a session token that may be specific to such requests).\",\n \"In another embodiment, the session request is digitally signed 734 by a certificate such as, for example, an X.509 certificate, or some other public or identify certificate.\",\n \"In another embodiment, the session request is digitally signed 734 by a combination of such cryptographic methods.\",\n \"As may be contemplated, the examples of cryptographic methods that may be used to digitally sign the session request described herein are illustrative examples and other such cryptographic methods that may be used to digitally sign the session request may be considered as within the scope of the present disclosure.\",\n \"When the security service 706 receives the session request 708 that is digitally signed 734 by, for example, the customer long-term key 732, the security service may first validate 710 the session request.\",\n \"Operations to validate 710 the session request may include, but may not be limited to validating the identity of the customer 702, validating that the customer 702 is authorized to generate the session request 708, validating that the customer account used to generate the request is authorized to generate the session request 708, and/or validating that the request came from a computing device associated with the customer 702 that is authorized to generate the session request 708.In the example illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"7, the security service 706 validates the request by verifying that the session request 708 is digitally signed 734 by the customer long-term key 732 and that the customer long-term key 736 is being used by the customer 702 associated with the key.\",\n \"Although not illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"7, in the event that the session request 708 is not valid (i.e., that one or more of the operations to validate 710 the session request may yield a result indicating the request is not valid), an error may be generated and/or one or more notifications may be sent to the customer, an administrator, or some other such entity.\",\n \"If the session request 708 is valid 712, the security service 706 may then process 714 the request.\",\n \"The security service 706 may first process 714 the request by obtaining a session key pair 716 and a session encryption key 720.The session key pair 716 may be any cryptographic key, certificate, or credential with a public entity (e.g., a public key) and a private entity (e.g., a private key).\",\n \"The session key pair 716 may be generated by the security service 706 or may be provided by another service of the computing resource service provider 704.In embodiment, the public key portion of the session key pair 716 may be provided by the customer 702 while the private key portion of the session key pair 716 may be maintained as a secret by the customer 702.The session encryption key 720 may also be any cryptographic key, certificate, or credential and may be generated by the security service 706 or may be provided by another service by the computing resource service provider 704.In an embodiment, the session key pair 716 and/or the session encryption key 720 are generated by dedicated hardware and/or software within the computing resource service provider 704 environment configured to generate such keys.\",\n \"The security service 706 may then store 718 the public session key of the session key pair 716 in a set of session data 724 and may encrypt 722 the session data 724 using the session encryption key 720 to generate 722 a session token 726.The security service 706 may then provide 730 the session token 726 to the customer 702.In the example illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"7, because the session token 726 is encrypted using the session encryption key 720, the customer cannot access the session data 724 and may not otherwise alter the session data 724, including the public session key of the session key pair 716 stored in the session data 724.Additionally, the security service 706 may provide 728 the private session key of the session key pair 716 to the customer 702 so that the customer 702 can use the private session key of the session key pair 716 to digitally sign messages and/or requests that are combined with the session token 726 as described herein.\",\n \"In an embodiment where the customer provides the public session key to the security service and maintains the private session key as a secret, the security service does not provide 728 the private session key of the session key pair 716 to the customer 702.The examples described below illustrate how the short-term credentials in the session token 726 are combined with the digital signature of the private session key of the session key pair 716 to verify requests and/or authenticate messages.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"8 illustrates an environment 800 where requests are validated using session credentials with asymmetric keys using session credentials as described in connection with FIG.\",\n \"1 and in accordance with an embodiment.\",\n \"A customer 802 may use the session token described above to generate a signed request 804.The signed request 804, which includes the session token, is signed by the private session key 818.The signed request is illustrated herein with a “lock” symbol in a circle, which represents the session token and the “pen and line” symbol in the square, which represents the digital signature.\",\n \"The signed request 804 may be received by a security service 820, which may be the same as the security service 106 described in connection with FIG.\",\n \"1.The security service 820 may first verify the session token 806 by extracting the public session key 810 from the session token 808 that is included in the signed request 804.The security service 820 may extract the public session key 810 from the session token 808 to produce an extracted public key by, for example, decrypting the session token using the session encryption key or a session decryption key corresponding to the session encryption key.\",\n \"The session encryption key, which may be the same as the session encryption key 120 described in connection with FIG.\",\n \"1, may be maintained as a secret by the security service 820 using one or more of the methods described herein.\",\n \"The security service 820 may then verify 812 the signature 814 of the signed request 804 by using the extracted public session key 816 obtained by extracting the public session key 810 from the session token 808 that is included in the signed request 804.The security service 820 may validate the signature 822 of the signed request by, for example, using the extracted public session key 816 to perform a cryptographic operation to validate the digital signature generated by the private session key 818.If the security service 820 is able to verify the session token 806 and is able to verify 812 the signature 814, the security service may process the request 824 by, for example, providing resources associated with the request and/or forwarding the request to another service of the computing resource service provider.\",\n \"In an embodiment, the operations to verify the session token 806 and to verify 812 the signature 814 before processing the request 824 (or authorizing the message) are performed by the security service 820 prior to sending the request or the message to a different service of the computing resource service provider.\",\n \"In another embodiment, the operations to verify the session token 806 and to verify 812 the signature 814 are performed by the security service 820 after the different service of the computing resource service provider has received the request or the message.\",\n \"That is, the different service of the computing resource service provider receives the request or message and forwards the request or message to the security service 820 for verification of the session token and signature.\",\n \"In another embodiment, the different service may be configured to verify the session token 806 and/or to verify 812 the signature 814 by, for example, obtaining the session encryption key from the security service.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"9 illustrates a diagram 900 showing encryption operations associated with using session credentials with asymmetric keys using session credentials as described in connection with FIG.\",\n \"1 and in accordance with an embodiment.\",\n \"The first part of the diagram 900 illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"9 shows how a public session key and a session encryption key are used to produce the session token as described above.\",\n \"The operations illustrated in the first part of the diagram 900 may be performed by a security service such as the security service 106 described in connection with FIG.\",\n \"1 The public session key 902 is added to the unencrypted session data 904.The session data 904 may be encrypted using the session encryption key 906 as described herein to produce the session token 908.As described above, although not illustrated in the first part of the diagram 900, the session encryption key may also be preserved as a secret within the security service, stored in a session encryption keychain, or otherwise maintained for later use in the verification operations.\",\n \"It should be noted that the public session key 902 and the session encryption key 906 are different keys.\",\n \"The public session key 902 is stored in the session data 904 and is accessible by the customer.\",\n \"The session encryption key 906 is used to encrypt the session data 904 to produce the session token 908 and is maintained as a secret (i.e., is not accessible by the customer).\",\n \"The second part of the diagram 900 illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"9 shows how some parts of the data sent to the customer 910 in response to the request for the session token are accessible to the customer 910, while some parts of the data sent to the customer 910 in response to the request for the session token are not accessible to the customer 910.In the example illustrated in the second part of the diagram 900 illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"9, the session token 914 is not accessible to the customer 910 as illustrated by the “x-shaped mark” next to the session token 914.The session token 914 may be usable by the customer 910 to generate signed requests as described above, but the customer 910 may not be able to extract the session data 904 from the session token because the customer 910 may not have access to the session encryption key 906 (or a corresponding session decryption key).\",\n \"Conversely, in the example illustrated in the second part of the diagram 900 illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"9, the private session key 912 is accessible to the customer 910 as illustrated by the “check mark” next to the private session key 912.As described above, the private session key may be provided by the customer in some embodiments.\",\n \"The private session key 912 may be usable by the customer 910 to digitally sign requests for resources as described above and/or to digitally sign messages also as described above.\",\n \"The third part of the diagram 900 illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"9 shows how the signed request is generated using the session token and signed with the private session key.\",\n \"In the example illustrated in the third part of the diagram 900 illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"9, the session token 916 is combined with a request 918, and digitally signed 922 using the private session key 920.The process to digitally sign the request using the private session key 920 may include encrypting the request 918 using the private session key 920 based on the signing algorithm associated with the digital signature scheme.\",\n \"The process to digitally sign a message using the private session key 920 may also include encrypting the message using the private session key 920 based on the signing algorithm associated with the digital signature scheme.\",\n \"In an embodiment, the signing algorithm used to sign messages is different than the signing algorithm used to sign requests such as the request 918.FIG.\",\n \"10 illustrates a process 1000 for validating requests using session credentials with asymmetric keys using session credentials as described in connection with FIG.\",\n \"1 and in accordance with an embodiment.\",\n \"A security service such as the security service 106 described in connection with FIG.\",\n \"1 may perform the process illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"10.The security service may first receive a request for a session 1002 (also referred to herein as receiving a request for a “session token”).\",\n \"In an embodiment, the request for a session token is signed with a digital signature using a credential associated with the requester such as, for example, the customer long-term key described above.\",\n \"In such an embodiment, the request may first be validated 1004 by verifying the credential to ensure that the request for the session was properly generated, that it was generated by the customer, and/or that it was not tampered with during transmission.\",\n \"A request that is not valid 1006 may cause the security service to generate an error 1008 in response to the invalid request as described above.\",\n \"If the request for a session token is valid because, for example, the credentials associated with the request are verified, the security service may then obtain 1010 a pair of session keys for the session.\",\n \"In an embodiment, the pair of session keys is obtained by generating the session keys using a key generation algorithm associated with the encryption scheme for the session keys.\",\n \"In such an embodiment, the private session key may be generated first and the public session key generated based at least in part on the private session key.\",\n \"In another embodiment, the session keys are obtained by selecting one or both of the session keys from a plurality of pre-generated session keys.\",\n \"In another embodiment, the private and/or the public session keys are received from the requester (e.g., the customer) associated with the request for the session token.\",\n \"In such an embodiment, the session keys may be included with the request for the session token or the session keys may be received by the security service in response to a request sent to the customer.\",\n \"After obtaining the session keys, the security service may then store 1012 the public session key in the session data as described above.\",\n \"The security service may then obtain 1014 a session encryption key usable to encrypt the session data to produce the session token.\",\n \"In an embodiment, the session encryption key is obtained by generating the session encryption key using a key generation algorithm associated with the encryption scheme for the session encryption keys.\",\n \"In such an embodiment, the encryption scheme for the session encryption keys may be different from the encryption scheme for the session keys.\",\n \"In another embodiment, the session encryption key is obtained by selecting the session encryption key from a plurality of pre-generated session encryption keys.\",\n \"In another embodiment, the session encryption key is generated from a combination of personal and global keys as described below.\",\n \"After obtaining the session encryption key, the security service may then use the session encryption key to encrypt 1016 the session data to generate the session token as described above.\",\n \"The security service may also verify 1018 the session token by performing one or more cryptographic operations on the session token (e.g., the security service may use the session encryption key and/or a corresponding key to decrypt the session token and compare the results to the session data).\",\n \"If the security service is not able to verify 1018 the session token, the security service may generate 1008 an error as described above.\",\n \"If the security service is able to verify 1018 the session token, the security service may provide 1020 the session token and the private session key to the requester.\",\n \"In an embodiment where the requester has provided the private session key, the security service may provide 1020 only the session token to the requester.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"11 illustrates an example environment 1100 where a session associated with a region is retrieved using session credentials as described in connection with FIG.\",\n \"1 and in accordance with an embodiment.\",\n \"As used herein, a “region” is a logical and/or physical partitioning of the resources provided by a computing resource service provider.\",\n \"As described above, a computing resource service provider may host a variety of services and provide a variety of resources in multiple locations.\",\n \"Each of these locations may include one or more regions (also referred to herein as “zones”), which are logical and/or physical partitions of the services and/or resources.\",\n \"For example, a first datacenter in a first location (a physical or geographical location) may encompass a single region, which may be identified by that datacenter and/or that location.\",\n \"Conversely, a second datacenter in a second location may encompass multiple logical regions.\",\n \"Additionally, a region may include multiple physical locations such as, for example, a region identified by a collection of datacenters in one or more countries (e.g., “Western Europe”).\",\n \"Regions provide additional data security for customers by limiting access to resources to users or accounts within that region.\",\n \"For example, a customer may have multiple customer accounts and may have data and/or resources located in multiple regions.\",\n \"Such a customer may have a default policy that limits access to the resources in a first region to accounts that are authorized in that first region and that limits access to the resources in a second region to accounts that are authorized in that second region.\",\n \"Thus, a first region user account would not have access to second region resources and a second region user account would not have access to first region resources.\",\n \"In the example illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"11, a customer 1102 uses a customer credential (e.g., a long-term key) to sign a session request 1104 as described above.\",\n \"The customer 1102 may issue a request from an account authorized in the first region (referred to herein as a “first region account”) to a first region security service 1106 (i.e., a security service in that first region) that has authorization credentials usable to validate the account in the first region.\",\n \"It should be noted that an account that is not authorized in a particular region (e.g., the first region) may not generally be used to access services and/or resources in that region because there is no method to validate the customer credentials in that first region in order to determine whether the account is authorized to access those services and/or resources.\",\n \"Services generally have a policy to deny unknown users and, when accounts are regional, those accounts are unknown in regions where they are not authorized.\",\n \"It should also be noted that an account may be authorized in multiple regions by propagating authorization credentials usable to authorize the account to those multiple regions.\",\n \"The first region security service 1106 may validate 1108 the session request 1104 by validating the digital signature of the session request as described above.\",\n \"The first region security service 1106 may also validate 1110 that the customer 1102 is authorized for the first region, also as described above.\",\n \"In an embodiment, when the security service validates the session request by validating the digital signature of the session request, that serves to validate 1110 that the customer 1102 is authorized for the first region.\",\n \"In an embodiment, the first region security service 1106 validates the customer before validating the session request.\",\n \"In another embodiment, the first region security service 1106 validates the session request before validating the customer.\",\n \"After the request and/or the customer is validated, the first region security service 1106 may provide 1112 a session token 1114 to the customer as described above and may also, in some embodiments, provide the session key used for signing requests and messages.\",\n \"The session token 1114 may be usable only in the first region or may be usable in multiple regions.\",\n \"The region or regions where the session token is usable may be included in the session data that is encrypted to produce the session token.\",\n \"The region or regions where the session token is usable may also be stored in a policy and permission service so that, for example, the service records a session identifier and associates a list of allowable regions where the session token may be used with that session identifier.\",\n \"The region or regions where the session token is usable may also be determined by where the session encryption key (i.e., the key used to encrypt the session token) or a corresponding session decryption key (i.e., the key corresponding to the key used to encrypt the session token that may be used to decrypt the session token) may be propagated.\",\n \"That is, if the session encryption key or the session decryption key is propagated only to the first region, then the session token may generally only be usable in that first region.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"12 illustrates an example environment 1200 where a retrieved session is used across regions using session credentials as described in connection with FIG.\",\n \"1 and in accordance with an embodiment.\",\n \"A customer 1202 may use a session token such as the session token 1114 described in connection with FIG.\",\n \"11 to generate 1204 a request.\",\n \"In the example illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"12, the customer account is authorized in the first region, the customer account is not authorized in the second region, and the session token is generated in first region.\",\n \"The request illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"12 is denoted as a first region signed request 1206, meaning that the request is generated in the first region, signed with first region credentials (in this case, the first region session key provided by the security service) and includes a session token usable in the first region.\",\n \"In the second region 1208, a service such as the security service 106 described in connection with FIG.\",\n \"1 may determine that the signature and/or the session token is not usable in the second region 1208 and that the signature and/or the session token is associated with a first region 1220.The service may then request 1210 that the first region 1220 provide a session usable in the second region.\",\n \"The customer account associated with the customer 1202 and used to generate 1204 the request may be authorized in the second region 1208.In an embodiment, the service in the second region 1208 will validate the customer prior to generating the request 1210 to the first region 1220 to provide a session usable in the second region.\",\n \"In another embodiment, the service in the second region 1208 will validate the customer after receiving a response to the request 1210 to the first region 1220 to provide a session usable in the second region.\",\n \"The request 1214 to the first region 1220 to provide a session usable in the second region may be a signed request such as those described herein.\",\n \"The request 1214 may be digitally signed 1218 by a second region credential and may include the first region signed request 1216 which may be the same as the first region signed request 1206.The request 1214 to the first region 1220 to provide a session usable in the second region and that is signed 1218 by a second region credential is denoted as a second region signed request, meaning that the request is digitally signed in the second region.\",\n \"In the example illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"12, the request 1214 to the first region 1220 to provide a session usable in the second region includes a request that is denoted as a first region signed request 1216, meaning that it is digitally signed with first region credentials (in this case, the first region session key provided by the security service) and includes a session token usable in the first region.\",\n \"It should be noted that the credentials used to sign the request 1214 to the first region 1220 to provide a session usable in the second region must be verifiable in the first region so that, for example, a first region may validate the request 1214.In an embodiment, the request 1214 to the first region 1220 to provide a session usable in the second region is signed by a private key associated with the second region.\",\n \"In such an embodiment, the service in the second region configured to validate the request 1214 may do so by obtaining a corresponding public key from the second region such as, for example, a key corresponding to the private key used to digitally sign the request 1214.When the request 1214 to the first region 1220 to provide a session usable in the second region is received at the first region 1220, a service (e.g., a security service) of the first region 1220 may validate the request as described above and then may decrypt 1222 the session token to extract the session data.\",\n \"The service of the first region 1220 may then encrypt 1224 the session data using credentials usable in the second region 1208.In an embodiment, the service of the first region 1220 uses a public key provided by the second region 1208 to encrypt the 1224 the session so that a service in the second region 1208 can use a corresponding private key to decrypt the session and generate a session usable in the second region 1208.After the second region 1208 receives the encrypted second region session token 1226, the second region 1208 may decrypt the encrypted second region session token 1226 and may use the session to process 1230 the request.\",\n \"In an embodiment, the second region 1208 caches 1228 the decrypted second region session token (also referred to herein as a cached session token) so that the session token may be used to process further requests.\",\n \"In another embodiment, the second region 1208 discards the decrypted second region second token after processing the request so that the session token may not be used to process further requests.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"13 illustrates an example environment 1300 where session data is used across regions to generate a cross-region session using session credentials as described in connection with FIG.\",\n \"1 and in accordance with an embodiment.\",\n \"A service such as the security service 106 described in connection with FIG.\",\n \"1 generates a cross-region resource request.\",\n \"A cross-region resource request is a request where a second region signed request 1304 that contains a first region signed request 1306 is used to provide a session usable in the second region from the request generated in the first region as described above.\",\n \"In the example illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"13, the second region signed request 1304 is a request to the first region 1308 to provide a session usable in the second region 1302 and the first region signed request 1306 is a request for resources or a message to the second region as described above in connection with FIG.\",\n \"12.A service of the first region 1308 may first decrypt 1312 the session token using the session encryption key 1314 as described herein.\",\n \"The resulting session data 1316 may then be encrypted 1318 using a session encryption key selected so that the second region 1302 can use the session.\",\n \"In the example illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"13, the first region 1308 uses a second region public key 1320 that is obtained from the second region 1302 to encrypt the session data 1316.The resulting session includes the session data 1316, but is a second region session 1322 due to being encrypted by the second region public key 1320.When the second region session 1322 is received at the second region 1302, a service of the second region 1302 may then use the second region private key 1324 that corresponds to the second region public key to extract the session data, validate 1326 the session and use 1328 the session to process requests and/or authenticate messages.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"14 illustrates an example process 1400 for generating a cross-region session using session credentials as described in connection with FIG.\",\n \"1 and in accordance with an embodiment.\",\n \"One or more security services such as the security service 106 described in connection with FIG.\",\n \"1 may perform a part of the process described in FIG.\",\n \"14.A computing device associated with a customer such as the customer 102 described in connection with FIG.\",\n \"1 may also perform a part of the process described in FIG.\",\n \"14.The example process 1400 illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"14 shows the actions of the customer 1402 (e.g., of a device associated with a user account of the customer), the actions of a service (e.g., a security service such as the security service 106 described in connection with FIG.\",\n \"1) of a first region 1408, and the actions of a service (e.g., a security service such as the security service 106 described in connection with FIG.\",\n \"1) of a second region 1416 to request, generate, and use a cross-region session such as those described above.\",\n \"The customer 1402 may first request 1404 a session from the first region 1408 using credentials verifiable in the first region 1408 such as, for example, a long-term session key that is verifiable in the first region 1408.It should be noted that, as used herein, the actions of the customer 1402 to send and/or receive requests and responses from the services may be understood to be sent and/or received from a computing device associated with the user account of the customer.\",\n \"Similarly, the actions ascribed to the first region 1408 and/or the second region 1416 may be understood to be performed by the services associated with the respective regions such as, for example, the security services.\",\n \"The service in the first region 1408 may receive the request and, after validating the request, may generate 1406 a session token as described above.\",\n \"The service in the first region 1408 may then send 1410 the session token to the customer 1402 also as described above.\",\n \"The customer 1402 may then receive 1412 the session token and may use the session token generated to send 1414 a signed request to the second region 1416 using the session token such as the first region signed request 1206 described in connection with FIG.\",\n \"12.The service in the second region 1416 may first verify 1418 the signed request and may then identify 1420 the origin session (e.g., the first region 1408) based at least in part on, for example, a region identifier included in the signed request.\",\n \"The service in the second region 1416 may then send 1422 a signed request for a new session usable in the second region 1416 to the identified first region 1408 as described above.\",\n \"The signed request for a new session usable in the second region 1416 sent from the second region 1416 to the first region 1408 may be a second region signed request such as the second region signed request 1214 described in connection with FIG.\",\n \"12.The service in the first region 1408 may then verify 1424 the second region signed request and may extract 1426 the session data using the session encryption key used to generate 1406 the session token or a session decryption key corresponding to the session encryption key used to generate 1406 the session token.\",\n \"Finally, the service in the first region 1408 encrypt 1428 the session data into a session token usable in the second region 1416 using, for example, a public key of the second session as described above and may send 1430 the encrypted session token usable in the second region to the service in the second region 1416.When the service in the second region 1416 receives the encrypted session token usable in the second region, the service in the second region 1416 may decrypt 1432 the encrypted session token usable in the second region using, for example, a private key corresponding to public key that was used by the service of the first region 1408 to encrypt the encrypted session token usable in the second region.\",\n \"The service of the second region 1416 may then cache 1434 the decrypted session token as a cached session token for later use and may also use the decrypted session token to respond 1436 to the request for resources.\",\n \"The customer 1402 may receive 1438 the response to the request, which may include access to resources, an indication that a message was authenticated, or some other response.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"15 illustrates an example process 1500 for extracting session data from a cross-region session using session credentials as described in connection with FIG.\",\n \"1 and in accordance with an embodiment.\",\n \"A security service such as the security service 106 described in connection with FIG.\",\n \"1 may perform the process described in FIG.\",\n \"15.A service of a first region may receive 1502 a signed request for a new session from a second region and may verify 1504 the request as described above.\",\n \"If the request is not verified 1506, an error may be generated 1508 such as the error 508 described in connection with FIG.\",\n \"5.If the request is verified 1506, the service of the first region may decrypt 1510 the session token using a session encryption key or a key corresponding to the session encryption key and extract 1512 the session data including, but not limited to, a session key of a symmetric session, a public session key of an asymmetric session, a session identifier, a region identifier, or a combination of data items as described herein.\",\n \"The service of the first region may then use credentials provided by the second region (also referred to herein as the “other region”) to encrypt 1514 a new session token that is usable in the other region.\",\n \"Finally, the service of the first region may send 1516 the new session token to the other region so that the new session may be used in the other region to provide access to resources in response to resource requests from the customer and/or to authenticate messages from the customer.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"16 illustrates an example environment 1600 where a cross-region session is validated using session credentials as described in connection with FIG.\",\n \"1 and in accordance with an embodiment.\",\n \"The example illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"16 follows after the example illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"11 where a session associated with a region is retrieved using session credentials.\",\n \"In the example illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"11, a customer uses a customer credential to sign a session request (i.e., a request for a session token).\",\n \"The first region security service may then validate the session request and also validate that the customer is authorized for the first region.\",\n \"After the request and/or the customer is validated, the first region security service may provide a session token to the customer and may also, in some embodiments, provide the session key used for signing requests and messages.\",\n \"The session token described in connection with FIG.\",\n \"11 may be usable only in the first region or may be usable in multiple regions as described above.\",\n \"A customer 1602 may use a session token such as the session token 1114 described in connection with FIG.\",\n \"11 to generate 1604 a request.\",\n \"In the example illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"16, the customer account is authorized in the first region, the customer account is not authorized in the third region (which may be different than the second region described in connection with FIG.\",\n \"11), and the session token is generated in first region.\",\n \"The customer account may not be authorized in the third region because, for example, the third region may be an untrusted region (i.e., may be a region that the computing resource service provider, the customer, or both the customer and the computing resource service provider do not wish to have data and or credentials stored or accessed therein).\",\n \"The request illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"16 is denoted as a first region signed request 1606, meaning that the request is generated in the first region, signed with first region credentials (in this case, the first region session key provided by the security service) and includes a session token usable in the first region.\",\n \"In the third region 1608, a service such as the security service 106 described in connection with FIG.\",\n \"1 may determine that the signature and/or the session token is not usable in the third region 1608 and that the signature and/or the session token is associated with a first region 1620 as described above.\",\n \"The service may then request 1610 that the first region 1620 provide a session usable in the third region 1608.The request 1614 may be digitally signed 1618 by a third region credential as described above.\",\n \"The request 1614 to the first region 1620 to provide a session usable in the third region and that is signed 1618 by a third region credential is denoted as a third region signed request, meaning that the request is digitally signed in the third region.\",\n \"In the example illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"16, the request 1614 to the first region 1620 to provide a session usable in the third region includes a request that is denoted as a first region signed request 1616, meaning that it is digitally signed with first region credentials (in this case, the first region session key provided by the security service) and includes a session token usable in the first region.\",\n \"When the request 1614 to the first region 1620 to provide a session usable in the third region is received at the first region 1620, a service (e.g., a security service) of the first region 1620 may first determine whether the request is allowed 1622 based on an access policy 1630 associated with the first region 1620.For example, if the account associated with the customer 1602 is not authorized to operate in the third region 1608, the request may not be allowed 1622.In another example, if the third region is an untrusted region (i.e., the third region is not trusted by the computing resource service provider or by the customer 1602), the request may not be allowed 1622.In a third example, if the request is a request for resources and the resources are not available in the third region 1608, the request may not be allowed 1622.As may be contemplated, the reasons why a request may not be allowed that are described herein are illustrated examples and other such reasons why a request may not be allowed may be considered as within the scope of the present disclosure.\",\n \"If the request is not allowed 1622, the service associated with the first region 1620 may generate 1624 an error as described above.\",\n \"Conversely, if the request is allowed 1622, the service of the first region may process 1626 the request by, for example, validating the request, decrypting the session token to extract the session data, and encrypting the session data using credentials usable in the third region 1608 as described above at least in connection with FIG.\",\n \"12.After the third region 1608 receives the encrypted third region session token 1628, the third region 1608 may decrypt the encrypted third region session token and may use 1632 the session to process requests and/or to authenticate messages.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"17 illustrates an example environment 1700 where a service intercepts a session using session credentials as described in connection with FIG.\",\n \"1 and in accordance with an embodiment.\",\n \"A customer 1702 uses a signed first region session 1704 to connect to a first region 1706 and, during transmission of the request, the session is intercepted 1708 and sent 1710 to a third region 1712.In the example illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"17, a service in the third region 1712 (e.g., a security service such as the security service 106 described in connection with FIG.\",\n \"1), may have the first region session 1714, but may not able to perform any operations associated with that session.\",\n \"For example, the third region may not be able to perform operations to verify the signature 1716 of the first region session 1714 because the third region 1712 may not have access to the necessary credentials.\",\n \"As described above, the session key used to sign the first region session 1714 may be, for example, a symmetric key or an asymmetric key.\",\n \"If the session key used to sign the first region session is a symmetric key, the service in the third region 1712 may not have access to the verifying key (e.g., the session key 1724) because that key is stored in the encrypted session token and the encrypted session token cannot be decrypted without the session encryption key 1722 or a decryption key corresponding to the session encryption key 1722.Unless the service in the third region 1712 can obtain the session encryption key 1722 or a decryption key corresponding to the session encryption key 1722 as described above, the service in the third region 1712 cannot verify the symmetric session key.\",\n \"It should be noted that, if the session key used to sign the first region session is an asymmetric key, the service in the third region 1712 may be able to obtain access to the verifying key if that verifying key is, for example, a public key 1726 corresponding to the private key used to sign the first region session.\",\n \"However, the service in the third region 1712 may still not be able to extract the session data 1718 and/or use that session data to generate a new request 1720 without access to the session encryption key 1722 or a decryption key corresponding to the session encryption key 1722.Again, unless the service in the third region 1712 is able to obtain the session encryption key 1722 or a decryption key corresponding to the session encryption key 1722 as described above, the service in the third region 1712 may not extract the session data 1718 from the encrypted session token and also may not generate a new request 1720 to, for example, masquerade as a service in the first region 1706.In the example illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"17, the session is intercepted 1708 during transmission of the request by, for example, a malicious actor.\",\n \"However, the operations illustrated in the third region 1712 that cannot be performed because of lack of access to the first region session credentials (e.g., the session encryption key 1722 and/or the session key 1724) may also be not performable if the signed first region session 1704 was deliberately sent to the third region (e.g., in a request for resources), or if the account associated with the customer 1702 is not authorized in the third region 1712, or for some other reason.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"18 illustrates an example environment 1800 where an account key and a global key are used to generate a session key for use in generating session credentials as described in connection with FIG.\",\n \"1 and in accordance with an embodiment.\",\n \"As described above, a session encryption key is used to encrypt the session data 1808 that contains the session key 1806, which may be a symmetric session key or a public key of an asymmetric session key pair.\",\n \"The resulting session token 1812 and, in some embodiments, the session key 1806 are sent to the customer 1814 so that the customer 1814 can use the session token 1812 and the session key 1806 to generate signed requests for resources and/or to authenticate messages.\",\n \"In the example illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"18, the session encryption key 1810 used to encrypt the session data 1808 to produce the session token 1812 is generated from two different keys.\",\n \"The first key is an account key 1802, which is a credential associated with the customer 1814 or a user account associated with the customer 1814.The account key 1802 may be a key uniquely associated with the customer 1814 and/or the user account associated with the customer so that, for example, each customer and/or each user account has a key only used for that customer or that user account.\",\n \"In an embodiment, a single account key is assigned to each customer so that each customer has one unique account key (i.e., no two customers have the same account key).\",\n \"In another embodiment, a single account key is assigned to each user account so that each user account has one unique account key (i.e., no two user accounts have the same account key).\",\n \"In another embodiment, each customer has multiple account keys that are not shared with any other account key.\",\n \"For example, a customer may have multiple roles, users, identities, or accounts associated with the customer.\",\n \"In such an example, the customer may assign account keys according to policies or procedures associated with those roles, users, identities, or accounts.\",\n \"In yet another embodiment, each user account has multiple account keys that are not shared with other user accounts.\",\n \"An account key may be generated by a service such as the security service 106 described in connection with FIG.\",\n \"1, and may be maintained as secrets by that service so that, for example, they are uniquely associated with a user account but never communicated to a user associated with that account.\",\n \"The second key used to generate the session encryption key is a global session key 1804 which may be maintained as a secret by the security service as described above.\",\n \"It should be noted that a global session key should not be construed as meaning a key corresponding to a session key such as the session key 116 described in connection with FIG.\",\n \"1.A global session key is used to generate, and is only related to, a session encryption key such as the session encryption key 120 described in connection with FIG.\",\n \"1.The global session key 1804 may be shared by a plurality of regions such as those described above.\",\n \"For example, in a computing resource service provider environment where there are four regions as described above, the global session key 1804 may be shared with each of the four regions and used by a security service in each of the four regions to generate session encryption keys as described herein.\",\n \"It should be noted that, although the examples illustrated and described herein show the generation of the session encryption key 1810 from the account key 1802 and the global session key 1804, this is not to imply that a session encryption key 1810 must be generated as a separate operation from the operation of encrypting the session data 1808 to produce the session token 1812.For example, the session data 1808 can, in some embodiments, be encrypted using the account key 1802 and the global session key 1804 to produce the session token 1812 without the intermediary step of generating the session encryption key 1810.FIG.\",\n \"19 illustrates an example environment 1900 where an account key is distributed to different regions for use in isolating regions using session credentials as described in connection with FIG.\",\n \"1 and in accordance with an embodiment.\",\n \"In the example illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"19, a global session key 1904 is propagated (i.e., made available to) a first region 1906, a second region 1910, and a third region 1912.The first region 1906, the second region 1910, and the third region 1912 are regions that are trusted by the computing resource service provider.\",\n \"As used herein, a region that is “trusted” by the computing resource service provider is a region where, for example, proper security protocols have been implemented.\",\n \"A region may be “untrusted” if, for example, it has become compromised or it has not implemented the proper safety protocols, or it is outside of the computing resource service provider environment (e.g., if it is a third party region).\",\n \"In the example illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"19, there is a fourth region 1914 that is untrusted (also referred to herein as “not trusted”) and the global session key has not been propagated to this fourth region 1914 so that the fourth region 1914 may not be able to encrypt session data to produce session tokens as described herein.\",\n \"In the example illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"19, the global session key 1904 is shown as a single global session key that is propagated to the first region 1906, the second region 1910, and the third region 1912 and that is not propagated to the fourth region 1914.In an embodiment, each region has a different global session key (also referred to herein as a “regional session key”).\",\n \"In another embodiment, each region has a regional session key in addition to the global session key 1904.In another embodiment, the global session key 1904 is one of a plurality of global session keys maintained in, for example, a session encryption keychain as described herein.\",\n \"In the example illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"19, an account key 1902 is propagated to the first region 1906, the second region 1910, and the fourth region 1914 according to a set of policies and permissions 1908.The first region 1906 and the second region 1910 are regions that are trusted by the customer and thus are regions that, by the policies and permissions 1908, are regions where the customer or a user account associated with the customer may request a session token.\",\n \"Conversely, the third region 1912 is a region that, while trusted by the computing resource service provider, is not trusted by the customer.\",\n \"For example, the customer may have resources in the third region that should not be made available to a first region only user account as described herein.\",\n \"The policies and permissions 1908 associated with the user account may, in this example, be configured to prevent the user account from being able to generate a session token in the third region and, therefore, the third region may be untrusted by the customer for this account (also referred to herein as “restricted”).\",\n \"In the example illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"19, the account key 1902 is shown as being propagated to the fourth region 1914 because, even though the fourth region 1914 may be untrusted by the computing resource service provider, the fourth region 1914 may be trusted by the customer.\",\n \"It should be noted that the account key being present in the fourth region 1914 may still preclude session tokens being generated in the fourth region due to the fact that the global session key 1904 is not present in the fourth region 1914.FIG.\",\n \"20 illustrates an example process 2000 for distributing an account key to different regions for use in isolating regions using session credentials as described in connection with FIG.\",\n \"1 and in accordance with an embodiment.\",\n \"A security service such as the security service 106 described in connection with FIG.\",\n \"1 may perform the process illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"20.The security service may first receive 2002 a request for a session and may verify 2004 that request as described above.\",\n \"A request that is not valid 2006 may cause the security service to generate an error 2014 in response to the invalid request.\",\n \"The security service may generate an error 2014 and send a report of the error to the customer and/or to the computing resource service provider as described above in connection with FIG.\",\n \"5.A request that is valid 2006 may cause the security service verify 2008 the region by determining if the region is an untrusted region 2010 (i.e., a region not trusted by the computing resource service provider) and/or if the region is a restricted region 2012 (i.e., a region not trusted by the customer).\",\n \"A region may be determined to be an untrusted region 2010 because, for example, there are policies and/or permissions explicitly stating such or because, for example, the global session key is not present in the region.\",\n \"Similarly, a region may be determined to be a restricted region 2012 because, for example, there are policies and/or permissions explicitly stating such or because, for example, the account key is not present in the region.\",\n \"If the region is an untrusted region 2010 and/or if the region is a restricted region 2012, the security service may generate an error 2014 and send a report of the error to the customer and/or to the computing resource service provider.\",\n \"Conversely, if the region is not an untrusted region 2010 and if the region is not a restricted region 2012, the security service may use the global session key and the account key to generate 2016 a session token as described above.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"21 illustrates an example environment 2100 where global session keys are combined with account keys to generate session credentials as described in connection with FIG.\",\n \"1 and in accordance with an embodiment.\",\n \"An account key 2102 may be combined with a first global session key 2104 to produce a first session encryption key 2106, which may be used to encrypt 2108 session data to produce a first session token 2110 as described above.\",\n \"In an embodiment, the first session encryption key 2106 is generated on demand when the session token is requested.\",\n \"In another embodiment, the first session encryption key 2106 is generated in response to a request such as, for example, a first request for a session token and is stored by a service such as the security service for later use (e.g., for later decryption of the session token).\",\n \"In another embodiment, the account key 2102 and the first global session key 2104 are used to encrypt 2108 the session data directly, without producing an intermediary first session encryption key such as the first session encryption key 2106.In another embodiment, the account key 2102 and/or the first global session key 2104 are discarded after a period of time, or a number of uses, or according to some other security policy.\",\n \"In the example illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"21, the first global session key 2104 may be valid only for a predetermined amount of time and, after that predetermined amount of time has expired and a timeout 2112 occurs, a second global session key 2114 may be generated, which may be combined with the account key 2102 to produce a second session encryption key 2116.The second session encryption key 2116 may then be used to encrypt 2118 session data to produce a second session token 2120 as described above.\",\n \"Although not illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"21, the second global session key 2114 may also be generated as a result of a key generation event that may be generated by the computing resource service provider or a service operating therein.\",\n \"A key generation event may be a key rotation event, a key timeout event, a key invalidation event, a keychain update event, or some other key generation event.\",\n \"An example of a key generation event is a key rotation event, where on a periodic basis (e.g., hourly) the oldest key (based on a creation time associated with the key) is removed or invalidated and a new key (with a new creation time) is generated.\",\n \"Another example of a key generation event is a keychain update event, where one or more keys in a keychain are updated according to one or more update criteria.\",\n \"A key generation event may be generated by a security service, causing a global session key such as the first global session key 2104 to be replaced with a new global session key when a region is compromised and/or potentially compromised.\",\n \"Similarly, a key generation event may be generated by a policy service, causing a global session key such as the first global session key 2104 to be replaced with a new global session key when one or more policies regarding access to a region have changed.\",\n \"In an embodiment, the removal and/or replacement of a global session key causes the session tokens encrypted with that session key to be invalidated.\",\n \"In another embodiment, a global session key that is removed and/or replaced remains available for some time in order to extract session data from session tokens encrypted with that global session key.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"22 illustrates an example environment 2200 where global session keys are combined with account keys to generate session credentials as described in connection with FIG.\",\n \"1 and in accordance with an embodiment.\",\n \"A first account key 2202 may be combined with a global session key 2204 to produce a first session encryption key 2206, which may be used to encrypt 2208 session data to produce a first session token 2210 as described above.\",\n \"Just as with the first global session key 2104 described in connection with FIG.\",\n \"21, the first account key 2202 may be valid only for a predetermined amount of time and, after that predetermined amount of time has expired and a timeout 2212 occurs, a second account key 2214 may be generated, which may be combined with the global session key 2204 to produce a second session encryption key 2216.The second session encryption key 2216 may then be used to encrypt 2218 session data to produce a second session token 2220 as described above.\",\n \"It should be noted that while the timeout 2112 described in connection with FIG.\",\n \"21 may be on the order of several hours (e.g., twelve, twenty-four, or thirty-six hours), the timeout 2212 may be on the order of several months (e.g., two, three, or six months).\",\n \"The longer timeout 2212 associated with an account key as compared to the timeout 2112 associated with a global session key may be based at least in part on there being only a few global session keys that are valid at one time (e.g., keys for the last twenty-four or thirty-six hours) while there may be millions of account keys when, for example, each user account of a computing resource service provider has a different unique account key.\",\n \"Because there may be many more account keys in a computing resource service provider environment, they may be used for longer periods of time than global session keys.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"23 illustrates an example environment 2300 where global session keys are maintained for use in generating session credentials as described in connection with FIG.\",\n \"1 and in accordance with an embodiment.\",\n \"In the example illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"23, a global session keychain 2302 stores a plurality of global session keys, one of which is the oldest 2304 global session key (i.e., the global session key that was generated least recently) and one of which is the newest 2306 global session key (i.e., the global session key that was generated the most recently).\",\n \"When a key generation event such as a timeout 2308 occurs, the global session keychain 2302 may be updated by, for example, invalidating 2310 the oldest 2304 global session key designating the next oldest global session key 2312 as the new oldest 2314 global session key, generating 2318 a new global session key, designating that new global session key as the newest 2320 global session key, and changing the designation of the former newest global session key 2316.In an embodiment, only the newest global session key is used to encrypt session tokens and the other global session keys in the global session keychain are used to decrypt session tokens.\",\n \"In such an embodiment, using the example illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"23, a session token is encrypted using the newest 2306 global session key immediately before the timeout 2308 and is encrypted using the newest 2320 global session immediately after the timeout 2308 (and, until the next key generation event occurs).\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"24 illustrates an example environment 2400 where sessions are expired using session credentials as described in connection with FIG.\",\n \"1 and in accordance with an embodiment.\",\n \"A customer 2402 may first generate a signed request 2404 using a session token as described herein.\",\n \"In the example illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"24, the session token used to generate the signed request 2404 was generated using a session encryption key 2414, which may be one of a plurality of session encryption keys 2408.In an embodiment, the session encryption keys 2408 and the session encryption key 2414 are generated using a global session key and an account key as described at least in connection with FIG.\",\n \"18.The signed request 2404 may be verified 2410 by a service 2406 (e.g., a security service such as the security service 106 described in connection with FIG.\",\n \"1) and the signed request may be processed 2412 because the session encryption key 2414 is still valid and is still one of the plurality of session encryption keys 2408.Conversely, after one or more key generation events such as a timeout 2416, the session encryption key 2414 may become an invalid session encryption key 2430, and may be replaced by one or more new session encryption keys in the plurality of session encryption keys 2428.For example, if a new session encryption key is generated every hour, and each session encryption key is valid for twenty-four hours, then there may be twenty-four session encryption keys in the plurality of session encryption keys 2428.In such an example, after twenty-four hours pass, the first session token used to generate the signed request 2404 may no longer be valid due to the session encryption key 2414 having expired.\",\n \"In the example illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"24, if the customer 2418 uses the session token generated using the session encryption key 2414 to generate a signed request 2420 after the session encryption key 2414 has expired and become the invalid session encryption key 2430, the service 2422 may not be able to verify 2424 the signed request 2420 (because, for example, the session token may not be decrypted) and, accordingly, the service 2422 may not process the request 2426.FIG.\",\n \"25 illustrates an example process 2500 for rotating session credentials as described in connection with FIG.\",\n \"1 and in accordance with an embodiment.\",\n \"A security service such as the security service 106 described in connection with FIG.\",\n \"1 may perform the process illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"25.The security service may first generate 2502 the session encryption key from the global session key and the account key as described at least in connection with FIG.\",\n \"18.If after a time period has expired and/or after a key generation event has occurred, the security service may generate new session encryption keys.\",\n \"For example, if a session encryption key expires or becomes invalid because of a global key timeout 2504, the security service may generate 2508 one or more replacement session encryption keys.\",\n \"Similarly, if a session encryption key expires or becomes invalid because of an account key timeout 2506, the security service may also generate 2508 one or more replacement session encryption keys.\",\n \"The security service may next receive 2510 one or more signed requests using session tokens encrypted with the one or more session encryption keys as described above.\",\n \"It should be noted that, although the process illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"25 shows the security service receiving the signed requests after a time period has expired and/or after a key generation event has occurred, the security service may generate new session encryption keys, the steps in the process to respond to a global key timeout 2504 and/or an account key timeout 2506 as well as to generate 2508 one or more replacement session encryption keys may occur before, during, or after the steps in the process to receive 2510 one or more signed requests using session tokens encrypted with the one or more session encryption keys.\",\n \"After receiving the one or more signed requests, the security service may verify the session using a session encryption key corresponding to the session encryption key that was used to encrypt the session token associated with the signed request as described herein.\",\n \"If the session is verified (i.e., if the session token is validated), then the security service may process the request 2516.Conversely, if the session is not verified, the security service may generate an error 2518 as described above.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"26 illustrates an example environment 2600 where a plurality of session keys can be invalidated using session credentials as described in connection with FIG.\",\n \"1 and in accordance with an embodiment.\",\n \"In the example illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"26, a global session key 2602 may be combined with account keys 2604 to generate session encryption keys 2606 as described above.\",\n \"The session encryption keys 2606 may remain valid and the session tokens generated using the session encryption keys 2606 may also remain valid for a time period.\",\n \"When the time period has expired, the global session key 2602 may be invalidated 2608 and may become an invalid global session key 2610.As a result of the global session key 2602 becoming an invalid global session key 2610, the session encryption keys generated from the invalid global session key 2610 and the account keys 2604 may become invalid session encryption keys 2612 and session tokens generate using the formerly valid, but now invalid, session encryption keys such as the invalid session encryption keys 2612 may also become invalid due to being unverifiable.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"27 illustrates an example environment 2700 where a plurality of invalidated session keys can be regenerated using session credentials as described in connection with FIG.\",\n \"1 and in accordance with an embodiment.\",\n \"The example illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"27 continues from the example illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"26, where a global session key is an invalid global session key 2704 and, as a result, the session encryption keys generated from the invalid global session key 2704 and the account keys 2702 are invalid session encryption keys 2706.After the global session key has become an invalid global session key 2704, the security service may generate 2708 a new global session key 2710 to replace the invalid global session key 2704 and may use the new global session key 2710 combined with the account keys 2702 to generate 2712 session encryption keys 2714 as needed.\",\n \"It should be noted that, in the examples illustrated in FIGS.\",\n \"26 and 27, the account keys were not changed.\",\n \"As described above, an account may have a much longer period of validity than a global session key.\",\n \"Additionally, a computing resource service provider may provide thousands or millions of account keys and, accordingly, it may be considerably more efficient to regenerate session encryption keys by invalidating global session keys.\",\n \"It should also be noted that session encryption keys may be generated as needed within a computing resource service provider environment.\",\n \"For example, a customer may use a user account to request a session token as described herein and may use that session token for a short period of time (e.g., two hours).\",\n \"Because of the expiration of global session keys, that session token may expire after, for example, twenty-four hours.\",\n \"If the customer does not use the session token again in that twenty-four hour period, the session encryption key used to generate the session token and corresponding to the account key for the user account may not be regenerated at the end of that twenty-four hour period (e.g., as a replacement for the expired or invalidated session encryption key).\",\n \"In an embodiment, the session encryption key used to generate session tokens corresponding to a user account is generated only when the customer generates a signed request using the previous session token.\",\n \"In such an embodiment, a session token may include an expiration time that may trigger such a regeneration of the session token.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"28 illustrates an example process 2800 for invalidating and regenerating a plurality of session keys using session credentials as described in connection with FIG.\",\n \"1 and in accordance with an embodiment.\",\n \"A security service such as the security service 106 described in connection with FIG.\",\n \"1 may perform the process illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"28.The security service may first generate 2802 session encryption keys using the global session key and the account keys as described above.\",\n \"The security service may next determine whether to invalidate 2804 one or more global session keys.\",\n \"If the security service does determine to invalidate 2804 one or more global session keys, the security service may first invalidate 2806 the selected global session key or keys, may generate 2808 one or more new global session keys to replace the invalidated global session keys and may begin the process of generating replacement session encryption keys as needed such as, for example, when a customer generates a request using a session token that was generated with a now invalid session encryption key as described above.\",\n \"The security service may next receive 2812 a request for resources or a message as described above.\",\n \"It should be noted that, although the process illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"28 shows the security service receiving a signed request or message after checking for invalidated global keys, the checking for invalidated global keys may be performed before, during, or after the processing of the requests.\",\n \"The request for resources or the message may be digitally signed by a session key and may also be generated using a session token, also as described above.\",\n \"Next, the security service may extract 2814 the session key from the session token used to generate the session token and may validate 2816 the digital signature.\",\n \"If the signature is valid 2818 (i.e., if the request or the message is authenticated), the security service may next process 2810 the request or the message by, for example, providing access to the resources, processing the message, or performing some other action.\",\n \"If the signature is not valid 2818 (i.e., if the request or the message is not authenticated) the security service may generate 2822 an error as described above.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"29 illustrates an example environment 2900 where account keys are invalidated in association with session credentials as described in connection with FIG.\",\n \"1 and in accordance with an embodiment.\",\n \"In the example illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"29, a global session key 2904 may be used with one or more account keys 2902 to generate a corresponding one or more session encryption keys 2908 as described above.\",\n \"A security service may then invalidate 2908 one or more of the account keys 2910 to invalidate one or more session encryption keys 2914 generated with the account keys 2910 and a global session key 2912.In contrast to the example illustrated in FIGS.\",\n \"26 and 27 where all session encryption keys were invalidated by invalidating the global session key, the example illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"29 shows the selecting invalidation of session encryption keys and, accordingly, of session tokens generated using those invalidated session encryption keys.\",\n \"For example, a computing resource service provider may determine that one or more accounts associated with a customer may have been compromised.\",\n \"Invalidating the account keys associated with those compromised accounts renders the credentials associated with those accounts (e.g., the session tokens) invalid.\",\n \"Similarly, a customer may determine that one or more user accounts should not have access to short-term credentials and may invalidate the account keys associated with those accounts.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"30 illustrates an example environment 3000 where cross-region roles are assumed across regions using session credentials as described in connection with FIG.\",\n \"1 and in accordance with an embodiment.\",\n \"A first customer 3002 in a first region 3006 may create 3004 a role.\",\n \"The role 3008 may have a role identifier 3014 (illustrated herein as a circle with the letters “ID” inside) and a set of permissions 3010 for access to a set of customer resources 3012 in the first region.\",\n \"The customer resources 3012 are a set of resources associated with the first customer 3002.For example, a customer may have a resource such as a database that is configured to store data associated with a webservice (e.g., a database that records each transaction for each user of the webservice).\",\n \"The customer may create first role for this database that provides permissions to read, but not write, data from the database.\",\n \"The customer may additionally create a second role for this database that provides permissions to read and write data to and from the database.\",\n \"The customer may additionally create a third role for this database that provides permissions to alter the database, including adding and removing records and changing the data schema (e.g., an “administrator” role).\",\n \"A user of a user account may then assume one or more of these roles to have access to the database.\",\n \"For example, a user may assume the first role if the user only requires permission to read data from the database.\",\n \"Using the first role, the user could analyze, but not alter, the data in the database.\",\n \"Similarly, a user may assume the second role if the user requires permissions to read from and write to the database.\",\n \"Using the second role, the user could update records in the database.\",\n \"The third role could be assumed to allow the user to alter the structure of the database to, for example, add a new table to the database schema.\",\n \"Each of the roles may have a set of permissions associated with access to the resources and may also have a set of access policies associated with the role so that, for example, only designated users and/or user accounts may have access to the role.\",\n \"These access policies may be enforced using credentials such as those described herein (e.g., keys, sessions, etc.).\",\n \"The access policies and the permissions associated with the roles are described in more detail below.\",\n \"The role identifier 3014 may be used to identify the role in other regions.\",\n \"For example, the role 3008 may be propagated to a second region 3022 (where it is identified as the role 3020) and may also be propagated to a third region 3030 (where it is identified as the role 3024).\",\n \"In an embodiment, a role can only be assumed in regions where the role has been propagated because regions where the role has not been propagated may not have access to the permissions associated with the role.\",\n \"In the example illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"30, the role has access to customer resources 3012 in the first region 3006 and customer resources 3028 in the third region 3030.The role 3024, which is the same as the role 3014, may have a set of permissions 3026 for access to a set of customer resources 3028 in the third region.\",\n \"The set of customer resources 3028 are a set of resources associated with the first customer 3002, but present in the third region.\",\n \"In the example illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"30, no customer resources associated with the first customer 3002 are present in the second region 3022.When a second customer 3016 in the second region 3022 assumes the role 3018 based at least in part on the role identifier 3014, the access policies associated with the role determine whether the second customer 3016 may assume the role.\",\n \"If the second customer 3016 assumes the role 3018, the second customer 3016 may have all of the permissions associated with the role so that, for example, the second customer 3016 may access the customer resources 3012 in the first region 3006 and may also access the customer resources 3028 in the third region 3030.It should be noted that the second customer 3016 does not have an account in the first region 3006 or in the third region 3030, but still may be authenticated to assume the role and access the resources by assuming the role.\",\n \"In the example illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"30, the role identifier 3014 is provided to the second customer 3016 in the second region 3022 so that the second customer 3016 in the second region may assume the role.\",\n \"In an embodiment, the role identifier is provided to the second customer by storing the role in a database of role identifiers.\",\n \"In another embodiment, the role identifier is provided to the second customer by sending the role identifier in an email, or a SMS message, or a console message, or using some other such communications methodology.\",\n \"In such an embodiment, the role identifier may be sent using an encryption method such as those described herein.\",\n \"In another embodiment, the role identifier is provided to the second customer by publishing the role identifier in documentation associated with the customer resources 3028.For example, the customer resources 3028 may have a webpage documenting the use of the resources that may include the role identifier to use when requesting access to the resources.\",\n \"As may be contemplated, the methods of providing the role identifier described herein are illustrative examples and other such methods of providing the role identifier may be considered as within the scope of the present disclosure.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"31 illustrates an example environment 3100 where policies associated with cross-region roles are applied using session credentials as described in connection with FIG.\",\n \"1 and in accordance with an embodiment.\",\n \"The role 3102 has a role identifier 3104, an allowed users policy 3106, and one or more allowed resources policies 3114.In the example illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"31, the allowed users policy 3106 indicates that a first user 3108 may assume the role 3102, a second user 3110 may also assume the role 3102, and a third user 3112 may not assume the role 3102.The third user 3112 may be, for example, an untrusted user or may simply be associated with an account that should not have access to the permissions associated with the role.\",\n \"The allowed users policy 3106 may include a default policy to deny all users not explicitly allowed by the policy so that only users explicitly granted access to the role may assume the role.\",\n \"In the example illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"31, the allowed resources policies 3114 specify a set of permissions for access to a set of resources associated with the role.\",\n \"The permissions may be specific to, and based at least in part on, a region, a user, a resource, a resource type, or a combination of these and/or other such factors.\",\n \"For example, a set of permissions 3116 for a resource 3118 may specify that users from, for example, a first region may have unrestricted access to the resource 3118 and users from, for example, a second region may have restricted access to the resource 3118.Similarly, a set of permissions 3120 for a resource 3122 may specify that the role 3102 as assumed by the first user 3108 has different access permissions than the role 3102 as assumed by the second user 3110.As may be contemplated, the types of permissions granted by assuming a role described herein are merely illustrative examples and other types of permissions granted by assuming a role may be considered as within the scope of the present disclosure.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"32 illustrates an example environment 3200 where a cross-region role is assumed using session credentials as described in connection with FIG.\",\n \"1 and in accordance with an embodiment.\",\n \"A second customer 3202, which may be the same as the second customer 3016 described in connection with FIG.\",\n \"30, may send a signed request 3204 to assume a role 3206 to a security service 3208 of a second region 3220, which may be the same as the second region 3022 described in connection with FIG.\",\n \"30.The security service 3208 of the second region 3220 may first verify that the role 3214 exists in the second region 3220 before verifying the request 3204, verifying that the second customer 3202 has permission to assume the role 3214, and validating the signature of the signed request 3204.If the signed request 3204 is valid (i.e., if all of the verifications pass), the security service may generate a session associated with the role (designated herein as a role session 3212) using the methods described above.\",\n \"In an embodiment, the security service 3208 includes the role identifier in the session data prior to encrypting the session data to produce the session token as described above.\",\n \"In another embodiment, the security service 3208 provides the role identifier separate from the session token.\",\n \"In the example illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"32, the role 3214 provides access 3216 to customer resources 3218 in a third region 3222, but the second customer 3202 does not have an account in the third region 3222.Access to the customer resources 3218 are provided to the second customer 3202 using the mechanism of the second customer 3202 assuming the role 3214.FIG.\",\n \"33 illustrates an example environment 3300 where a cross-region role is used to access resources across regions using session credentials as described in connection with FIG.\",\n \"1 and in accordance with an embodiment.\",\n \"A customer 3302 may use a role session 3304 to generate a signed request 3308 and send 3306 the signed request to a region 3310 where the resources 3324 are located.\",\n \"A service of the region 3310 may verify 3312 the session using the techniques described herein and may validate 3314 that the customer 3302 may have access to the role 3318 based at least in part on the permissions associated with the role 3318.If the session is verified and the access is validated, access 3320 to the resources 3324 may be provided to the customer 3302 using the access 3322 to the resources 3324 provided by the role 3318.In the example illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"33, the role session 3304 provides the credentials associated with assuming the role 3318 using the short-term credentials provided by the session token.\",\n \"In an embodiment, the credentials associated with assuming the role 3318 are provided by a username and password associated with the customer 3302.In another embodiment, the credentials associated with assuming the role 3318 are provided by a certificate associated with the customer 3302.In another embodiment, the credentials associated with assuming the role 3318 are provided by a long-term key associated with the customer 3302.In such an embodiment, the credentials associated with assuming the role 3318 may be a symmetric key or may be an asymmetric key pair.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"34 illustrates an example process 3400 for using a cross-region role session token to generate resource requests using session credentials as described in connection with FIG.\",\n \"1 and in accordance with an embodiment.\",\n \"A security service such as the security service 106 described in connection with FIG.\",\n \"1 may perform the process illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"34.The security service may first receive 3402 a request for resources signed by a session key and using a role session token as described above.\",\n \"The request for resources may be digitally signed by a session key, may be generated using a session token, and may include a role identifier, also as described above.\",\n \"Next, the security service may extract 3404 the session key from the session token used to generate the session token and may verify 3406 the digital signature using the extracted session key.\",\n \"If the request is valid 3408 (i.e., if the request is authenticated), the security service may next determine 3410 whether the permissions associated with the request allow such access.\",\n \"If the access is allowed 3412, the service may provide 3416 access to the resources using the role.\",\n \"If the request is not valid 3408 or if the access is not allowed 3412, the security service may generate 3414 an error as described above.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"35 illustrates aspects of an example environment 3500 for implementing aspects in accordance with various embodiments.\",\n \"As will be appreciated, although a web-based environment is used for purposes of explanation, different environments may be used, as appropriate, to implement various embodiments.\",\n \"The environment includes an electronic client device 3502, which can include any appropriate device operable to send and/or receive requests, messages, or information over an appropriate network 3504 and, in some embodiments, convey information back to a user of the device.\",\n \"Examples of such client devices include personal computers, cell phones, handheld messaging devices, laptop computers, tablet computers, set-top boxes, personal data assistants, embedded computer systems, electronic book readers, and the like.\",\n \"The network can include any appropriate network, including an intranet, the Internet, a cellular network, a local area network, a satellite network or any other such network and/or combination thereof.\",\n \"Components used for such a system can depend at least in part upon the type of network and/or environment selected.\",\n \"Many protocols and components for communicating via such a network are well known and will not be discussed herein in detail.\",\n \"Communication over the network can be enabled by wired or wireless connections and combinations thereof.\",\n \"In this example, the network includes the Internet and/or other publicly-addressable communications network, as the environment includes a web server 3506 for receiving requests and serving content in response thereto, although for other networks an alternative device serving a similar purpose could be used as would be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art.\",\n \"The illustrative environment includes at least one application server 3508 and a data store 3510.It should be understood that there can be several application servers, layers or other elements, processes or components, which may be chained or otherwise configured, which can interact to perform tasks such as obtaining data from an appropriate data store.\",\n \"Servers, as used herein, may be implemented in various ways, such as hardware devices or virtual computer systems.\",\n \"In some contexts, servers may refer to a programming module being executed on a computer system.\",\n \"As used herein, unless otherwise stated or clear from context, the term “data store” refers to any device or combination of devices capable of storing, accessing and retrieving data, which may include any combination and number of data servers, databases, data storage devices and data storage media, in any standard, distributed, virtual or clustered environment.\",\n \"The application server can include any appropriate hardware, software and firmware for integrating with the data store as needed to execute aspects of one or more applications for the client device, handling some or all of the data access and business logic for an application.\",\n \"The application server may provide access control services in cooperation with the data store and is able to generate content including, but not limited to, text, graphics, audio, video and/or other content usable to be provided to the user, which may be served to the user by the web server in the form of HyperText Markup Language (“HTML”), Extensible Markup Language (“XML”), JavaScript, Cascading Style Sheets (“C SS”), JavaScript Object Notation (JSON), and/or another appropriate client-side structured language.\",\n \"Content transferred to a client device may be processed by the client device to provide the content in one or more forms including, but not limited to, forms that are perceptible to the user audibly, visually and/or through other senses.\",\n \"The handling of all requests and responses, as well as the delivery of content between the client device 3502 and the application server 3508, can be handled by the web server using PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor (“PHP”), Python, Ruby, Perl, Java, HTML, XML, JSON, and/or another appropriate server-side structured language in this example.\",\n \"Further, operations described herein as being performed by a single device may, unless otherwise clear from context, be performed collectively by multiple devices, which may form a distributed and/or virtual system.\",\n \"The data store 3510 can include several separate data tables, databases, data documents, dynamic data storage schemes and/or other data storage mechanisms and media for storing data relating to a particular aspect of the present disclosure.\",\n \"For example, the data store illustrated may include mechanisms for storing production data 3512 and user information 3516, which can be used to serve content for the production side.\",\n \"The data store also is shown to include a mechanism for storing log data 3514, which can be used for reporting, analysis, or other such purposes.\",\n \"It should be understood that there can be many other aspects that may need to be stored in the data store, such as page image information and access rights information, which can be stored in any of the above listed mechanisms as appropriate or in additional mechanisms in the data store 3510.The data store 3510 is operable, through logic associated therewith, to receive instructions from the application server 3508 and obtain, update or otherwise process data in response thereto.\",\n \"The application server 3508 may provide static, dynamic, or a combination of static and dynamic data in response to the received instructions.\",\n \"Dynamic data, such as data used in web logs (blogs), shopping applications, news services, and other such applications may be generated by server-side structured languages as described herein or may be provided by a content management system (“CMS”) operating on, or under the control of, the application server.\",\n \"In one example, a user, through a device operated by the user, might submit a search request for a certain type of item.\",\n \"In this case, the data store might access the user information to verify the identity of the user and can access the catalog detail information to obtain information about items of that type.\",\n \"The information then can be returned to the user, such as in a results listing on a web page that the user is able to view via a browser on the user device 3502.Information for a particular item of interest can be viewed in a dedicated page or window of the browser.\",\n \"It should be noted, however, that embodiments of the present disclosure are not necessarily limited to the context of web pages, but may be more generally applicable to processing requests in general, where the requests are not necessarily requests for content.\",\n \"Each server typically will include an operating system that provides executable program instructions for the general administration and operation of that server and typically will include a computer-readable storage medium (e.g., a hard disk, random access memory, read only memory, etc.)\",\n \"storing instructions that, when executed (i.e., as a result of being executed) by a processor of the server, allow the server to perform its intended functions.\",\n \"The environment, in one embodiment, is a distributed and/or virtual computing environment utilizing several computer systems and components that are interconnected via communication links, using one or more computer networks or direct connections.\",\n \"However, it will be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art that such a system could operate equally well in a system having fewer or a greater number of components than are illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"35.Thus, the depiction of the system 3500 in FIG.\",\n \"35 should be taken as being illustrative in nature and not limiting to the scope of the disclosure.\",\n \"The various embodiments further can be implemented in a wide variety of operating environments, which in some cases can include one or more user computers, computing devices or processing devices which can be used to operate any of a number of applications.\",\n \"User or client devices can include any of a number of computers, such as desktop, laptop or tablet computers running a standard operating system, as well as cellular, wireless and handheld devices running mobile software and capable of supporting a number of networking and messaging protocols.\",\n \"Such a system also can include a number of workstations running any of a variety of commercially-available operating systems and other known applications for purposes such as development and database management.\",\n \"These devices also can include other electronic devices, such as dummy terminals, thin-clients, gaming systems and other devices capable of communicating via a network.\",\n \"These devices also can include virtual devices such as virtual machines, hypervisors and other virtual devices capable of communicating via a network.\",\n \"Various embodiments of the present disclosure utilize at least one network that would be familiar to those skilled in the art for supporting communications using any of a variety of commercially-available protocols, such as Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (“TCP/IP”), User Datagram Protocol (“UDP”), protocols operating in various layers of the Open System Interconnection (“OSI”) model, File Transfer Protocol (“FTP”), Universal Plug and Play (“UpnP”), Network File System (“NFS”), Common Internet File System (“CIFS”), and AppleTalk.\",\n \"The network can be, for example, a local area network, a wide-area network, a virtual private network, the Internet, an intranet, an extranet, a public switched telephone network, an infrared network, a wireless network, a satellite network, and any combination thereof.\",\n \"In some embodiments, connection-oriented protocols may be used to communicate between network endpoints.\",\n \"Connection-oriented protocols (sometimes called connection-based protocols) are capable of transmitting data in an ordered stream.\",\n \"Connection-oriented protocols can be reliable or unreliable.\",\n \"For example, the TCP protocol is a reliable connection-oriented protocol.\",\n \"Asynchronous Transfer Mode (“ATM”) and Frame Relay are unreliable connection-oriented protocols.\",\n \"Connection-oriented protocols are in contrast to packet-oriented protocols such as UDP that transmit packets without a guaranteed ordering.\",\n \"In embodiments utilizing a web server, the web server can run any of a variety of server or mid-tier applications, including Hypertext Transfer Protocol (“HTTP”) servers, FTP servers, Common Gateway Interface (“CGP”) servers, data servers, Java servers, Apache servers, and business application servers.\",\n \"The server(s) also may be capable of executing programs or scripts in response to requests from user devices, such as by executing one or more web applications that may be implemented as one or more scripts or programs written in any programming language, such as Java®, C, C#, or C++, or any scripting language, such as Ruby, PHP, Perl, Python or TCL, as well as combinations thereof.\",\n \"The server(s) may also include database servers, including without limitation those commercially available from Oracle®, Microsoft®, Sybase®, and IBM® as well as open-source servers such as MySQL, Postgres, SQLite, MongoDB, and any other server capable of storing, retrieving, and accessing structured or unstructured data.\",\n \"Database servers may include table-based servers, document-based servers, unstructured servers, relational servers, non-relational servers, or combinations of these and/or other database servers.\",\n \"The environment can include a variety of data stores and other memory and storage media as discussed above.\",\n \"These can reside in a variety of locations, such as on a storage medium local to (and/or resident in) one or more of the computers or remote from any or all of the computers across the network.\",\n \"In a particular set of embodiments, the information may reside in a storage-area network (“SAN”) familiar to those skilled in the art.\",\n \"Similarly, any necessary files for performing the functions attributed to the computers, servers or other network devices may be stored locally and/or remotely, as appropriate.\",\n \"Where a system includes computerized devices, each such device can include hardware elements that may be electrically coupled via a bus, the elements including, for example, at least one central processing unit (“CPU” or “processor”), at least one input device (e.g., a mouse, keyboard, controller, touch screen, or keypad) and at least one output device (e.g., a display device, printer, or speaker).\",\n \"Such a system may also include one or more storage devices, such as disk drives, optical storage devices, and solid-state storage devices such as random access memory (“RAM”) or read-only memory (“ROM”), as well as removable media devices, memory cards, flash cards, etc.\",\n \"Such devices also can include a computer-readable storage media reader, a communications device (e.g., a modem, a network card (wireless or wired), an infrared communication device, etc.\",\n \"), and working memory as described above.\",\n \"The computer-readable storage media reader can be connected with, or configured to receive, a computer-readable storage medium, representing remote, local, fixed, and/or removable storage devices as well as storage media for temporarily and/or more permanently containing, storing, transmitting, and retrieving computer-readable information.\",\n \"The system and various devices also typically will include a number of software applications, modules, services, or other elements located within at least one working memory device, including an operating system and application programs, such as a client application or web browser.\",\n \"In addition, customized hardware might also be used and/or particular elements might be implemented in hardware, software (including portable software, such as applets) or both.\",\n \"Further, connection to other computing devices such as network input/output devices may be employed.\",\n \"Storage media and computer readable media for containing code, or portions of code, can include any appropriate media known or used in the art, including storage media and communication media, such as, but not limited to, volatile and non-volatile, removable and non-removable media implemented in any method or technology for storage and/or transmission of information such as computer readable instructions, data structures, program modules or other data, including RAM, ROM, Electrically Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory (“EEPROM”), flash memory or other memory technology, Compact Disc Read-Only Memory (“CD-ROM”), digital versatile disk (DVD) or other optical storage, magnetic cassettes, magnetic tape, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices or any other medium which can be used to store the desired information and which can be accessed by the system device.\",\n \"Based on the disclosure and teachings provided herein, a person of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate other ways and/or methods to implement the various embodiments.\",\n \"The specification and drawings are, accordingly, to be regarded in an illustrative rather than a restrictive sense.\",\n \"It will, however, be evident that various modifications and changes may be made thereunto without departing from the broader spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the claims.\",\n \"Other variations are within the spirit of the present disclosure.\",\n \"Thus, while the disclosed techniques are susceptible to various modifications and alternative constructions, certain illustrated embodiments thereof are shown in the drawings and have been described above in detail.\",\n \"It should be understood, however, that there is no intention to limit the invention to the specific form or forms disclosed, but on the contrary, the intention is to cover all modifications, alternative constructions, and equivalents falling within the spirit and scope of the invention, as defined in the appended claims.\",\n \"The use of the terms “a” and “an” and “the” and similar referents in the context of describing the disclosed embodiments (especially in the context of the following claims) are to be construed to cover both the singular and the plural, unless otherwise indicated herein or clearly contradicted by context.\",\n \"The terms “comprising,” “having,” “including,” and “containing” are to be construed as open-ended terms (i.e., meaning “including, but not limited to,”) unless otherwise noted.\",\n \"The term “connected,” when unmodified and referring to physical connections, is to be construed as partly or wholly contained within, attached to, or joined together, even if there is something intervening.\",\n \"Recitation of ranges of values herein are merely intended to serve as a shorthand method of referring individually to each separate value falling within the range, unless otherwise indicated herein and each separate value is incorporated into the specification as if it were individually recited herein.\",\n \"The use of the term “set” (e.g., “a set of items”) or “subset” unless otherwise noted or contradicted by context, is to be construed as a nonempty collection comprising one or more members.\",\n \"Further, unless otherwise noted or contradicted by context, the term “subset” of a corresponding set does not necessarily denote a proper subset of the corresponding set, but the subset and the corresponding set may be equal.\",\n \"Conjunctive language, such as phrases of the form “at least one of A, B, and C,” or “at least one of A, B and C,” unless specifically stated otherwise or otherwise clearly contradicted by context, is otherwise understood with the context as used in general to present that an item, term, etc., may be either A or B or C, or any nonempty subset of the set of A and B and C. For instance, in the illustrative example of a set having three members, the conjunctive phrases “at least one of A, B, and C” and “at least one of A, B and C” refer to any of the following sets: {A}, {B}, {C}, {A, B}, {A, C}, {B, C}, {A, B, C}.\",\n \"Thus, such conjunctive language is not generally intended to imply that certain embodiments require at least one of A, at least one of B and at least one of C each to be present.\",\n \"Operations of processes described herein can be performed in any suitable order unless otherwise indicated herein or otherwise clearly contradicted by context.\",\n \"Processes described herein (or variations and/or combinations thereof) may be performed under the control of one or more computer systems configured with executable instructions and may be implemented as code (e.g., executable instructions, one or more computer programs or one or more applications) executing collectively on one or more processors, by hardware or combinations thereof.\",\n \"The code may be stored on a computer-readable storage medium, for example, in the form of a computer program comprising a plurality of instructions executable by one or more processors.\",\n \"The computer-readable storage medium may be non-transitory.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the code is stored on set of one or more non-transitory computer-readable storage media having stored thereon executable instructions that, when executed (i.e., as a result of being executed) by one or more processors of a computer system, cause the computer system to perform operations described herein.\",\n \"The set of non-transitory computer-readable storage media may comprise multiple non-transitory computer-readable storage media and one or more of individual non-transitory storage media of the multiple non-transitory computer-readable storage media may lack all of the code while the multiple non-transitory computer-readable storage media collectively store all of the code.\",\n \"Accordingly, in some examples, computer systems are configured to implement one or more services that singly or collectively perform operations of processes described herein.\",\n \"Such computer systems may, for instance, be configured with applicable hardware and/or software that enable the performance of the operations.\",\n \"Further, computer systems that implement various embodiments of the present disclosure may, in some examples, be single devices and, in other examples, be distributed computer systems comprising multiple devices that operate differently such that the distributed computer system performs the operations described herein and such that a single device may not perform all operations.\",\n \"The use of any and all examples, or exemplary language (e.g., “such as”) provided herein, is intended merely to better illuminate embodiments of the invention and does not pose a limitation on the scope of the invention unless otherwise claimed.\",\n \"No language in the specification should be construed as indicating any non-claimed element as essential to the practice of the invention.\",\n \"Embodiments of this disclosure are described herein, including the best mode known to the inventors for carrying out the invention.\",\n \"Variations of those embodiments may become apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art upon reading the foregoing description.\",\n \"The inventors expect skilled artisans to employ such variations as appropriate and the inventors intend for embodiments of the present disclosure to be practiced otherwise than as specifically described herein.\",\n \"Accordingly, the scope of the present disclosure includes all modifications and equivalents of the subject matter recited in the claims appended hereto as permitted by applicable law.\",\n \"Moreover, any combination of the above-described elements in all possible variations thereof is encompassed by the scope of the present disclosure unless otherwise indicated herein or otherwise clearly contradicted by context.\",\n \"All references, including publications, patent applications, and patents, cited herein are hereby incorporated by reference to the same extent as if each reference were individually and specifically indicated to be incorporated by reference and were set forth in its entirety herein.\"\n ]\n]"},"source":{"kind":"string","value":"Patent_15875995"}}},{"rowIdx":4495044,"cells":{"text":{"kind":"list like","value":[["PROVIDING PRE-COMPUTED HOTWORD MODELS","Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on a computer storage medium, for obtaining, for each of multiple words or sub-words, audio data corresponding to multiple users speaking the word or sub-word; training, for each of the multiple words or sub-words, a pre-computed hotword model for the word or sub-word based on the audio data for the word or sub-word; receiving a candidate hotword from a computing device; identifying one or more pre-computed hotword models that correspond to the candidate hotword; and providing the identified, pre-computed hotword models to the computing device."],["1.","(canceled) 2.A computer-implemented method comprising: receiving, by a server-based hotword configuration engine, text that a user has typed or entered by touch input into a mobile computing device or digital assistant device for use as a custom hotword, wherein a custom hotword is personalized term that, when spoken in advance of a voice command, initiates a wake up process on the mobile computing device or digital assistant device for processing the voice command; obtaining, by the server-based hotword configuration engine, a hotword detection model that was previously trained to detect the custom hotword being spoken without using any audio samples of the user speaking the custom hotword; and providing, by the server-based hotword configuration engine, the hotword detection model to the mobile computing device or the digital assistant device for use in detecting the custom hotword being spoken by the user.","3.The method of claim 2, wherein the text is typed or entered into the mobile computing device or digital assistant device in response to a prompt.","4.The method of claim 2, wherein the text comprises two or more words.","5.The method of claim 2, wherein the hotword detection model is trained based on portions of audio samples of other users speaking other words that are not the custom hotword.","6.The method of claim 2, wherein the hotword detection model comprises a pre-computed model that was already stored in a vocabulary database when the text was typed or entered.","7.The method of claim 2, comprising receiving and processing a voice command that (i) was preceded by the custom hotword in an utterance that was received by the mobile computing device or the digital assistant device, and (ii) was received after the hotword detection model was provided to the mobile computing device or the digital assistant device.","8.A system comprising: one or more computers; and a non-transitory computer-readable medium coupled to the one or more computers having instructions stored thereon which, when executed by the one or more computers, cause the one or more computers to perform operations comprising: receiving, by a server-based hotword configuration engine, text that a user has typed or entered by touch input into a mobile computing device or digital assistant device for use as a custom hotword, wherein a custom hotword is personalized term that, when spoken in advance of a voice command, initiates a wake up process on the mobile computing device or digital assistant device for processing the voice command; obtaining, by the server-based hotword configuration engine, a hotword detection model that was previously trained to detect the custom hotword being spoken without using any audio samples of the user speaking the custom hotword; and providing, by the server-based hotword configuration engine, the hotword detection model to the mobile computing device or the digital assistant device for use in detecting the custom hotword being spoken by the user.","9.The system of claim 8, wherein the text is typed or entered into the mobile computing device or digital assistant device in response to a prompt.","10.The system of claim 8, wherein the text comprises two or more words.","11.The system of claim 8, wherein the hotword detection model is trained based on portions of audio samples of other users speaking other words that are not the custom hotword.","12.The system of claim 8, wherein the hotword detection model comprises a pre-computed model that was already stored in a vocabulary database when the text was typed or entered.","13.The system of claim 8, comprising receiving and processing a voice command that (i) was preceded by the custom hotword in an utterance that was received by the mobile computing device or the digital assistant device, and (ii) was received after the hotword detection model was provided to the mobile computing device or the digital assistant device.","14.A non-transitory computer storage medium encoded with a computer program, the computer program comprising instructions that when executed by one or more processors cause the one or more processors to perform operations comprising: receiving, by a server-based hotword configuration engine, text that a user has typed or entered by touch input into a mobile computing device or digital assistant device for use as a custom hotword, wherein a custom hotword is personalized term that, when spoken in advance of a voice command, initiates a wake up process on the mobile computing device or digital assistant device for processing the voice command; obtaining, by the server-based hotword configuration engine, a hotword detection model that was previously trained to detect the custom hotword being spoken without using any audio samples of the user speaking the custom hotword; and providing, by the server-based hotword configuration engine, the hotword detection model to the mobile computing device or the digital assistant device for use in detecting the custom hotword being spoken by the user.","15.The medium of claim 14, wherein the text is typed or entered into the mobile computing device or digital assistant device in response to a prompt.","16.The medium of claim 14, wherein the text comprises two or more words.","17.The medium of claim 14, wherein the hotword detection model is trained based on portions of audio samples of other users speaking other words that are not the custom hotword.","18.The medium of claim 14, wherein the hotword detection model comprises a pre-computed model that was already stored in a vocabulary database when the text was typed or entered.","19.The medium of claim 14, comprising receiving and processing a voice command that (i) was preceded by the custom hotword in an utterance that was received by the mobile computing device or the digital assistant device, and (ii) was received after the hotword detection model was provided to the mobile computing device or the digital assistant device."],[" BACKGROUND The reality of a speech-enabled home or other environment—that is, one in which a user need only speak a query or command out loud and a computer-based system will field and answer the query and/or cause the command to be performed—is upon us.","A speech-enabled environment (e.g., home, workplace, school, etc.)","can be implemented using a network of connected microphone devices distributed throughout the various rooms or areas of the environment.","Through such a network of microphones, a user has the power to orally query the system from essentially anywhere in the environment without the need to have a computer or other device in front of him/her or even nearby.","For example, while cooking in the kitchen, a user might ask the system “how many milliliters in three cups?” and, in response, receive an answer from the system, e.g., in the form of synthesized voice output.","Alternatively, a user might ask the system questions such as “when does my nearest gas station close,” or, upon preparing to leave the house, “should I wear a coat today?” Further, a user may ask a query of the system, and/or issue a command, that relates to the user's personal information.","For example, a user might ask the system “when is my meeting with John?” or command the system “remind me to call John when I get back home.” In a speech-enabled environment, a user's manner of interacting with the system is designed to be primarily, if not exclusively, by means of voice input.","Consequently, a system which potentially picks up all utterances made in the environment, including those not directed to the system, must have some way of discerning when any given utterance is directed at the system as opposed, e.g., to being directed an individual present in the environment.","One way to accomplish this is to use a “hotword” (also referred to as an “attention word” or “voice action initiation command”), which by agreement is reserved as a predetermined term that is spoken to invoke the attention of the system.","In one example environment, the hotword used to invoke the system's attention is the word “Google.” Consequently, each time the word “Google” is spoken, it is picked up by one of the microphones, and is conveyed to the system, which performs speech recognition techniques to determine whether the hotword was spoken and, if so, awaits an ensuing command or query.","Accordingly, utterances directed at the system take the general form [HOTWORD] [QUERY], where “HOTWORD” in this example is “Google” and “QUERY” can be any question, command, declaration, or other request that can be speech recognized, parsed and acted on by the system, either alone or in conjunction with a server over network."],[" SUMMARY According to some innovative aspects of the subject matter described in this specification, a system can provide pre-computed hotword models to a mobile computing device, such that the mobile computing device can detect a candidate hotword spoken by a user associated with the mobile computing device through an analysis of the acoustic features of a portion of an utterance, without requiring the portion to be transcribed or semantically interpreted.","The hotword models can be generated based on audio data obtained from multiple users speaking multiple words or sub-words, including words or sub-words that make up the candidate hotword.","In some examples, a user desires to make the words “start computer” a hotword to initiate a “wake up” process on a mobile computing device, such as a smartphone.","The user speaks the words “start computer” and, in response, the system can identify pre-computed hotword models associated with the term “start computer,” or of the constituent words “start” and “computer.” The system can provide the pre-computed hotword models to the mobile computing device such that the mobile computing device can detect whether a further utterance corresponds to the hotword “start computer,” and correspondingly wake up the mobile computing device.","Innovative aspects of the subject matter described in this specification may be embodied in methods that include the actions of obtaining, for each of multiple words or sub-words, audio data corresponding to multiple users speaking the word or sub-word; training, for each of the multiple words or sub-words, a pre-computed hotword model for the word or sub-word based on the audio data for the word or sub-word; receiving a candidate hotword from a computing device; identifying one or more pre-computed hotword models that correspond to the candidate hotword; and providing the identified, pre-computed hotword models to the computing device.","Other embodiments of these aspects include corresponding systems, apparatus, and computer programs, configured to perform the actions of the methods, encoded on computer storage devices.","These and other embodiments may each optionally include one or more of the following features.","For instance, identifying the one or more pre-computed hotword models includes obtaining two or more sub-words that correspond to the candidate hotword; and obtaining, for each of the two or more sub-words that correspond to the candidate hotword, a pre-computed hotword model that corresponds to the sub-word.","Receiving the candidate hotword from the computing device after training, for each of the multiple words or sub-words, the pre-computed hotword model for the word or sub-word.","Receiving the candidate hotword from the mobile computing includes receiving audio data corresponding to the candidate hotword.","Receiving the candidate hotword from the computing device includes receiving the candidate hotword including two or more words from the computing device.","Identifying one or more pre-computed hotword models that correspond to each word of the two or more words of the candidate hotword; and providing the identified, pre-computed hotword models that correspond to each word of the two or more words of the candidate hotword to the computing device.","Providing, to the computing device, instructions defining a processing routine of the identified, pre-computed hotword models that correspond to each word of the two or more words of the candidate hotword.","The instructions include instructions to sequentially process the identified, pre-computed hotword models that correspond to each word of the two or more words of the candidate hotword.","The instructions include a processing order to sequentially process the identified, pre-computed hotword models that correspond to each word of the two or more words of the candidate hotword.","The features further include, for instance, dynamically creating one or more hotword models that correspond to one or more words of the two or more words of the candidate hotword; and providing the dynamically created one or more hotword models that correspond to one or more words of the two or more words of the candidate hotword to the computing device.","Dynamically creating the one or more hotword models that correspond to the one or more words of the two or more words of the candidate hotword after receiving the candidate hotword from the computing device.","Training, for each of the multiple words or sub-words, the pre-computed hotword model for the word or sub-word, further includes for each word or sub-word of the multiple words or sub-words, obtaining, for each user of the multiple users, a transcription of the audio data of the user speaking the word or sub-word; associating, for each user of the multiple users, the audio data of the user speaking the word or sub-word with the transcription of the audio data of the user speaking the word or sub-word; and generating a particular pre-computed hotword model corresponding to the word or sub-word based on i) the audio data corresponding to each of the multiple users speaking the word or sub-word and ii) the transcription associated with the audio data corresponding to each of the multiple users speaking the word or sub-word.","The details of one or more embodiments of the subject matter described in this specification are set forth in the accompanying drawings and the description below.","Other potential features, aspects, and advantages of the subject matter will become apparent from the description, the drawings, and the claims."],["CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser.","No.","15/463,786, filed on Mar.","20, 2017, which is a continuation of U.S. application Ser.","No.","15/288,241, filed on Oct. 7, 2016 (now U.S. Pat.","No.","9,646,612), which is a continuation of U.S. application Ser.","No.","15/001,894, filed on Jan. 20, 2016 (now U.S. Pat.","No.","9,520,130), which is a continuation of U.S. application Ser.","No.","14/340,833, filed on Jul.","25, 2014 (now U.S. Pat.","No.","9,263,042).","The disclosures of the prior applications are considered part of and are incorporated by reference in the disclosure of this application.","FIELD The present disclosure generally relates to speech recognition.","BACKGROUND The reality of a speech-enabled home or other environment—that is, one in which a user need only speak a query or command out loud and a computer-based system will field and answer the query and/or cause the command to be performed—is upon us.","A speech-enabled environment (e.g., home, workplace, school, etc.)","can be implemented using a network of connected microphone devices distributed throughout the various rooms or areas of the environment.","Through such a network of microphones, a user has the power to orally query the system from essentially anywhere in the environment without the need to have a computer or other device in front of him/her or even nearby.","For example, while cooking in the kitchen, a user might ask the system “how many milliliters in three cups?” and, in response, receive an answer from the system, e.g., in the form of synthesized voice output.","Alternatively, a user might ask the system questions such as “when does my nearest gas station close,” or, upon preparing to leave the house, “should I wear a coat today?” Further, a user may ask a query of the system, and/or issue a command, that relates to the user's personal information.","For example, a user might ask the system “when is my meeting with John?” or command the system “remind me to call John when I get back home.” In a speech-enabled environment, a user's manner of interacting with the system is designed to be primarily, if not exclusively, by means of voice input.","Consequently, a system which potentially picks up all utterances made in the environment, including those not directed to the system, must have some way of discerning when any given utterance is directed at the system as opposed, e.g., to being directed an individual present in the environment.","One way to accomplish this is to use a “hotword” (also referred to as an “attention word” or “voice action initiation command”), which by agreement is reserved as a predetermined term that is spoken to invoke the attention of the system.","In one example environment, the hotword used to invoke the system's attention is the word “Google.” Consequently, each time the word “Google” is spoken, it is picked up by one of the microphones, and is conveyed to the system, which performs speech recognition techniques to determine whether the hotword was spoken and, if so, awaits an ensuing command or query.","Accordingly, utterances directed at the system take the general form [HOTWORD] [QUERY], where “HOTWORD” in this example is “Google” and “QUERY” can be any question, command, declaration, or other request that can be speech recognized, parsed and acted on by the system, either alone or in conjunction with a server over network.","SUMMARY According to some innovative aspects of the subject matter described in this specification, a system can provide pre-computed hotword models to a mobile computing device, such that the mobile computing device can detect a candidate hotword spoken by a user associated with the mobile computing device through an analysis of the acoustic features of a portion of an utterance, without requiring the portion to be transcribed or semantically interpreted.","The hotword models can be generated based on audio data obtained from multiple users speaking multiple words or sub-words, including words or sub-words that make up the candidate hotword.","In some examples, a user desires to make the words “start computer” a hotword to initiate a “wake up” process on a mobile computing device, such as a smartphone.","The user speaks the words “start computer” and, in response, the system can identify pre-computed hotword models associated with the term “start computer,” or of the constituent words “start” and “computer.” The system can provide the pre-computed hotword models to the mobile computing device such that the mobile computing device can detect whether a further utterance corresponds to the hotword “start computer,” and correspondingly wake up the mobile computing device.","Innovative aspects of the subject matter described in this specification may be embodied in methods that include the actions of obtaining, for each of multiple words or sub-words, audio data corresponding to multiple users speaking the word or sub-word; training, for each of the multiple words or sub-words, a pre-computed hotword model for the word or sub-word based on the audio data for the word or sub-word; receiving a candidate hotword from a computing device; identifying one or more pre-computed hotword models that correspond to the candidate hotword; and providing the identified, pre-computed hotword models to the computing device.","Other embodiments of these aspects include corresponding systems, apparatus, and computer programs, configured to perform the actions of the methods, encoded on computer storage devices.","These and other embodiments may each optionally include one or more of the following features.","For instance, identifying the one or more pre-computed hotword models includes obtaining two or more sub-words that correspond to the candidate hotword; and obtaining, for each of the two or more sub-words that correspond to the candidate hotword, a pre-computed hotword model that corresponds to the sub-word.","Receiving the candidate hotword from the computing device after training, for each of the multiple words or sub-words, the pre-computed hotword model for the word or sub-word.","Receiving the candidate hotword from the mobile computing includes receiving audio data corresponding to the candidate hotword.","Receiving the candidate hotword from the computing device includes receiving the candidate hotword including two or more words from the computing device.","Identifying one or more pre-computed hotword models that correspond to each word of the two or more words of the candidate hotword; and providing the identified, pre-computed hotword models that correspond to each word of the two or more words of the candidate hotword to the computing device.","Providing, to the computing device, instructions defining a processing routine of the identified, pre-computed hotword models that correspond to each word of the two or more words of the candidate hotword.","The instructions include instructions to sequentially process the identified, pre-computed hotword models that correspond to each word of the two or more words of the candidate hotword.","The instructions include a processing order to sequentially process the identified, pre-computed hotword models that correspond to each word of the two or more words of the candidate hotword.","The features further include, for instance, dynamically creating one or more hotword models that correspond to one or more words of the two or more words of the candidate hotword; and providing the dynamically created one or more hotword models that correspond to one or more words of the two or more words of the candidate hotword to the computing device.","Dynamically creating the one or more hotword models that correspond to the one or more words of the two or more words of the candidate hotword after receiving the candidate hotword from the computing device.","Training, for each of the multiple words or sub-words, the pre-computed hotword model for the word or sub-word, further includes for each word or sub-word of the multiple words or sub-words, obtaining, for each user of the multiple users, a transcription of the audio data of the user speaking the word or sub-word; associating, for each user of the multiple users, the audio data of the user speaking the word or sub-word with the transcription of the audio data of the user speaking the word or sub-word; and generating a particular pre-computed hotword model corresponding to the word or sub-word based on i) the audio data corresponding to each of the multiple users speaking the word or sub-word and ii) the transcription associated with the audio data corresponding to each of the multiple users speaking the word or sub-word.","The details of one or more embodiments of the subject matter described in this specification are set forth in the accompanying drawings and the description below.","Other potential features, aspects, and advantages of the subject matter will become apparent from the description, the drawings, and the claims.","DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS FIG.","1 depicts an example system for providing hotword models.","FIG.","2 depicts an example graphical user interface for identifying a user provided hotword.","FIG.","3 depicts an example flowchart for providing hotword models.","FIG.","4 depicts a computer device and a mobile computer device that may be used to implement the techniques described here.","In the drawings, like reference symbols indicate like elements throughout.","DETAILED DESCRIPTION FIG.","1 depicts a system 100 for providing pre-computed hotword models.","In some examples, the system 100 includes mobile computing devices 102, 104, 106, a speech recognition engine 108, a vocabulary database 110, and a hotword configuration engine 112.In some examples, any of the mobile computing devices 102, 104, 106 may be a portable computer, a smartphone, a tablet-computing device, or a wearable computing device.","Each of the mobile computing devices 102, 104, 106 are associated with a respective user 114, 116, 118.The mobile computing devices 102, 104, 106 can include any audio detection means, e.g., a microphone, for detecting utterances from the respective associated user 114, 116, 118.The mobile computing devices 102 and 104 are in communication with the speech recognition engine 108, e.g., over one or more networks, and the mobile computing device 106 is in communication with the hotword configuration engine 112, e.g., over one or more networks.","In some implementations, the speech recognition engine 108 obtains, for each of multiple words or sub-words, audio data that corresponds to multiple users speaking the word or sub-words, during operation (A).","Specifically, the speech recognition engine 108 obtains audio data from the mobile computing devices 102 and 104 that correspond, respectively, to the users 114 and 116 speaking words or sub-words, e.g., over one or more networks.","In some examples, the user 114 and the user 116 each say one or more words that the mobile computing device 102 and mobile computing device 104, respectively detect.","In some examples, the users 114 and 116 speak the words or sub-words during any interaction with the mobile computing devices 102 and 104, respectively, e.g., submitting voice queries for voice commands.","In some examples, in addition to obtain the audio data associated with the users 114 and 116 speaking the words or sub-words, the speech recognition engine 108 obtains a locale of the users 114 and 116 from the mobile computing device 102 and 104.The locale can include the approximate current location of the user when speaking the words or sub-words, or a location associated with a profile of the user.","For example, the user 114 says the utterance 150 of “start my car” and the user 116 says the utterance 152 of “where do I buy a computer?” The mobile computing device 102 detects the utterance 150 of “start my car” to generate waveform data 120 that represents the detected utterance 150; and the mobile computing device 104 detects the utterance 152 of “where do I buy a computer?” to generate waveform data 122 that represents the detected utterance 152.The mobile computing devices 102 and 104 transmit the waveforms 120 and 122, respectively, to the speech recognition engine 108, e.g., over one or more networks.","In some examples, the speech recognition engine 108, for each word or sub-word of the multiple words or sub-words, obtains, for each user of the multiple users, a transcription of the audio data of the user speaking the word or the sub-word, during operation (B).","Specifically, the speech recognition engine 108 processes the received audio data, including generating a transcription of an utterance of words or sub-words associated with the audio data.","Generating the transcription of the audio data of the user speaking the word or the sub-word can include transcribing the utterance into text or text-related data.","In other words, the speech recognition engine 108 can provide a representation of natural language in written form of the utterance associated with the audio data.","For example, the speech recognition engine 108 transcribes the waveforms 120 and 122, as received from the mobile computing devices 102 and 104, respectively.","That is, the speech recognition engine 108 transcribes the waveform 120 to generate the transcription 124 of “start my car” and transcribes the waveform 122 to generate the transcription 126 of “where do I buy a computer?” In some examples, the speech recognition engine 108, for each word or sub-word of the multiple words or sub-words, associates, for each user of the multiple users, the audio data of the user speaking the word or sub-word with the transcription of the audio data of the user speaking the word or sub-word, during operation (C).","For example, the speech recognition engine 108 associates the waveform 160 with the transcription 124 and associates the waveform 162 with the transcription 126.In some examples, the waveform 160 is substantially the same as the waveform 120, and the waveform 162 is substantially the same as the waveform 122.In some examples, the waveform 160 is a processed version (e.g., by the speech recognition engine 108) of the waveform 120, and the waveform 162 is a processed version (e.g., by the speech recognition engine 108) of the waveform 122.In some examples, the speech recognition engine 108 associates a portion of the waveform 160 with a corresponding portion of the transcription 124.That is, for each word, or sub-word, of the waveform 160, the speech recognition engine 108 associates the corresponding portion of the transcription 124 with the word, or sub-word.","For example, the speech recognition engine 108 associates a portion of the waveform 160 for each of the words “start,” “my,” “car” with the corresponding portion of the transcription 124.Similarly, the speech recognition engine 108 associates a portion of the waveform 162 for each of the words “where,” “do,” “I,” “buy,” “a,” “computer” with the corresponding portion of the transcription 126.In some examples, the speech recognition engine 108 associates a portion of the waveform 160 for each of the sub-words, e.g., phoneme or tri-phone level, of each word, e.g., “st-ah-rt” of the word “start,” with the corresponding portion of the transcription.","Similarly, in some examples, the speech recognition engine 108 associates a portion of the waveform 162 for each of the sub-words, e.g., phoneme or tri-phone level, of each word, e.g., “kom-pyu-ter” of the word “computer,” with the corresponding portion of the transcription.” In some examples, associating the audio data of the user speaking the word or sub-word with the transcription of the audio data of the user speaking the word or sub-word includes storing the association in a database, or a table.","Specifically, the speech recognition engine 108 provides the transcription 124 and the waveform 160 to the vocabulary database 110 such that the vocabulary database 110 stores an association between the waveform 160 and the transcription 124.Similarly, the speech recognition engine 108 provides the transcription 126 and the waveform 162 to the vocabulary database 110 such that the vocabulary database 110 stores an association between the waveform 162 and the transcription 126.In some examples, the speech recognition engine 108 provides the locale associated with the word or sub-words of the transcription 124 (e.g., the locale of the user 114) to the vocabulary database 110 such that the vocabulary database 110 additionally stores an association between the waveform 160, the transcription 124, and the respective locale.","Similarly, the speech recognition engine 108 provides the locale associated with the word or sub-words of the transcription 126 (e.g., the locale of the user 116) to the vocabulary database 110 such that the vocabulary database 110 additionally stores an association between the waveform 162, the transcription 126, and the respective locale In some examples, the vocabulary database 110 indicates an association between a portion of the waveform 160 with a corresponding portion of the transcription 124.That is, for each word, or sub-word, of the waveform 160, the vocabulary database 110 stores an association of the portion of the waveform 160 with a corresponding portion of the transcription 124 with the word, or sub-word.","For example, the vocabulary database 110 stores an association of a portion of the waveform 160 for each of the words “start,” “my,” “car” with the corresponding portion of the transcription 124.Similarly, the vocabulary database 110 stores an association of a portion of the waveform 162 for each of the words “where,” “do,” “I,” “buy,” “a,” “computer” with the corresponding portion of the transcription 126.In some implementations, the hotword configuration engine 112 trains, for each of the multiple words or sub-words, a pre-computed hotword model for the word or sub-word, during operation (D).","Specifically, the hotword configuration engine 112 is in communication with the vocabulary database 110, and obtains, for each word or sub-word stored by the vocabulary database 110, the audio data of each user of the multiple users speaking the word or sub-word and the associated transcription of the audio data.","For example, the hotword configuration engine 112 obtains, from the vocabulary database 110, the waveform 160 and the associated transcription 124, and further obtains the waveform 162 and the associated transcription 126.In some examples, for each word or sub-word stored by the vocabulary database 110, the hotword configuration engine 112 generates a pre-computed hotword model corresponding to the word or sub-word.","Specifically, the hotword configuration engine 112 generates the pre-computed hotword model for each word or sub-word based on i) the audio data corresponding to each of the multiple users speaking the word or sub-word and ii) the transcription associated with the audio data corresponding to each of the multiple users speaking the word or sub-word.","In some examples, the pre-computed hotword model can be a classifier such as a neural network, or a support vector machine (SVM).","For example, the hotword configuration engine 112 generates a pre-computed hotword model corresponding to each word or sub-word of the waveforms 160 and 162.In some examples, for the word “start” of the waveform 160, the hotword configuration engine 112 generates a pre-computed hotword model for the word based on i) the audio data corresponding to the user 114 speaking the word “start” (e.g., the portion of the waveform 160 corresponding to the user 114 speaking the word “start”) and ii) the transcription associated with the audio data corresponding to the user 114 speaking the word “start.” Additionally, the hotword configuration engine 112 can generate a pre-computed hotword model for the remaining words “my” and “car” of the waveform 160, as well as each sub-word (of each word) of the waveform 160, e.g., “st-ah-rt” of the word “start.” Additionally, in some examples, for the word “computer” of the waveform 162, the hotword configuration engine 112 generates a pre-computed hotword model for the word based on i) the audio data corresponding to the user 116 speaking the word “computer” (e.g., the portion of the waveform 162 corresponding to the user 116 speaking the word “computer”) and ii) the transcription associated with the audio data corresponding to the user 116 speaking the word “computer.” Additionally, the hotword configuration engine 112 can generate a pre-computed hotword model for the remaining words “where,” “do,” “I,” “buy” and “a” of the waveform 162, as well as each sub-word of the waveform 160, e.g., “kom-pyu-ter” of the word “computer.” The hotword configuration engine 112, after pre-computing the hotword models for one or more words stored by the vocabulary database 110, provides the pre-computed hotword models 128 to the vocabulary database 110 such that the vocabulary database 110 stores or otherwise indicates an association between the words or sub-words and the corresponding pre-computed hotword models 128.That is, for each word or sub-word of the waveforms 160 and 162, the vocabulary database 110 stores an association between each of the words or sub-words (e.g., of the waveforms 160 and 162) and the corresponding pre-computed hotword models 128.In some examples, the vocabulary database 110 stores, for each word or sub-word of the waveforms 160 and 162, an association between i) the portion of the waveform corresponding to the word or sub-word, ii) the corresponding transcription of the portion of the waveform, and iii) the corresponding pre-computed hotword model.","For example, for the word “start” of the waveform 160, the vocabulary database 110 stores i) an association of a portion of the waveform 160 corresponding to the word “start,” ii) a portion of the transcription 124 corresponding to the word “start,” and iii) a pre-computed hotword model 128 for the word “start.” In some implementations, the hotword configuration engine 112 receives a candidate hotword 129 from the mobile computing device 106, during operation (E).","Specifically, the hotword configuration engine 112 receives, e.g., over one or more networks, data from the mobile computing device 106 that corresponds to the user 118 providing the candidate hotword 129.In some examples, the mobile computing device 106 provides a graphical user interface 180 to the user 118 that provides for display of text 182 to prompt the user 118 to provide a hotword.","For example, the text 182 includes “Please say your desired Hotword.” In response, the user 118 says the candidate hotword 129 that the mobile computing device 106 detects, and transmits to the hotword configuration engine 112.For example, the user 118 says the utterance 170 of “start computer” that corresponds to the candidate hotword 129.The mobile computing device 106 detects the utterance 170 of “start computer” and generates a waveform 130 that represents the detected utterance 170.The mobile computing device 106 transmits the waveform 130 to the hotword configuration engine 112, e.g., over one or more networks.","In some examples, the user 118 provides text-based input to the mobile computing device 106, e.g., via a graphical user interface of the mobile computing device 106, that corresponds to the candidate hotword 129.For example, the user 118 inputs via a keyboard, virtual or tactile, the text of “start computer.” The mobile computing device 106 transmits the text-based candidate hotword 129 of “start computer” to the hotword configuration engine 112, e.g., over one or more networks.","In some examples, the hotword configuration engine 112 receives the candidate hotword from the mobile computing device 106 after training, for each of the multiple words or sub-words, the pre-computed hotword model for the word or sub-word.","Specifically, the hotword configuration engine 112 receives the candidate hotword 129 from the mobile computing device 106 after the hotword configuration engine 112 generates the pre-computed hotword models 128 corresponding to each of the words or sub-words stored by the vocabulary database 110.For example, the hotword configuration engine 112 receives the candidate hotword 129 of “start computer” from the mobile computing device 106 after training, for each of the multiple words or sub-words of the waveforms 160 and 162, the pre-computed hotword models 128 for the word or sub-word.","In some examples, the hotword configuration engine 112 receives the candidate hotword 129 that includes two or more words from the mobile computing device 106.For example, the hotword configuration engine 112 receives the candidate hotword 129 of “start computer” that includes two words (e.g., “start” and “computer”).","In some examples, the hotword configuration engine 112 receives the candidate hotword 129 that includes a single word from the mobile computing device 106.In some examples, the hotword configuration engine 112 obtains two or more sub-words that correspond to the candidate hotword 129.That is, the hotword configuration engine 112 processes the candidate hotword 129 to identify sub-words of the candidate hotword 129.For example, for the candidate hotword 129 of “start computer,” the hotword configuration engine 112 can obtain the sub-words of “st-ah-rt” for the word “start” of the candidate hotword 129 and further obtain the sub-words of “kom-pyu-ter” for the word “computer” of the candidate hotword 129.In some implementations, the hotword configuration engine 112 identifies one or more pre-computed hotword models that correspond to the candidate hotword 129, at operation (F).","Specifically, the hotword configuration engine 112 accesses the vocabulary database 110 to identify one or more of the pre-computed hotword models 128 that are stored by the vocabulary database 110 and that correspond to the candidate hotword 129.The hotword configuration engine 112 retrieves the pre-computed hotword models 128 from the vocabulary database 110, e.g., over one or more networks.","In some examples, the hotword configuration engine 112 identifies the pre-computed hotword models 128 that are associated with the words, or sub-words, of the candidate hotword 129.The hotword configuration engine 112 can identify the pre-computed hotword models 128 by matching the words, or sub-words, of the candidate hotword 129 with the words, or sub-words, that are stored by the vocabulary database 110.In some examples, the hotword configuration engine 112 identifies the pre-computed hotword models 128 that correspond to the utterance 170 of the candidate hotword 129 provided by the user 118.That is, the hotword configuration engine 112 identifies the one or more pre-computed hotword models 128 based on the waveform 130 that represents the detected utterance 170 of the candidate hotword 129.In the illustrated example, the hotword configuration engine 112 identifies one or more pre-computed hotword models 128 stored by the vocabulary database 110 that correspond to the utterance 170 of “start computer.” In some examples, when the candidate hotword includes two or more words, the hotword configuration engine 112 identifies the pre-computed hotword models that correspond to each word of the two or more words.","That is, each word of the two or more words of the candidate hotword 129 corresponds to a pre-computed hotword model 128 stored by the vocabulary database 110.For example, the candidate hotword 129 includes two words, e.g., “start” and “computer.” To that end, the hotword configuration engine 112 identifies a first pre-computed hotword model 128 stored by the vocabulary database 110 corresponding to the word “start” and a second pre-computed hotword model 128 stored by the vocabulary database 110 corresponding to the word “computer.” In some examples, the hotword configuration engine 112 identifies a pre-computed hotword model 128 stored by the vocabulary database 110 corresponding to the both words “start computer.” In some examples, the hotword configuration engine 112 identifies the one or more pre-computed hotword models 128 that correspond to the utterance 170 of the candidate hotword 129 by matching at least a portion of the waveform 130 to at least a portion of waveforms stored by the vocabulary database 110.Matching the waveform 130 to waveforms stored by the vocabulary database 110 can include performing an audio-based comparison between the waveform 130 and the waveforms stored by the vocabulary database 110 to identify a matching waveform stored by the vocabulary database 110 to the waveform 130.In some examples, the audio-based comparison between the waveform 130 and the waveforms stored by the vocabulary database 110 can be performed by an audio processing engine that is in communication with the hotword configuration engine 112, e.g., over one or more networks.","To that end, upon the hotword configuration engine 112 identifying a matching waveform stored by the vocabulary database 110 to the waveform 130, the hotword configuration engine 112 identifies the pre-computed hotword models 128 associated with the matching waveform.","In some examples, the hotword configuration engine 112 identifies the one or more pre-computed hotword models 128 that correspond to the utterance 170 of the candidate hotword 129 by applying one or more of the pre-computed hotword models 128 stored by the vocabulary database 110 to the utterance 170 to identify the pre-computed hotword models 128 corresponding with a highest confidence score relative to the remaining pre-computed hotword models 128.The confidence score indicates the likelihood that the identified pre-computed hotword model 128 corresponds to the utterance 170.For example, the hotword configuration engine 112 can match the waveform 130 to a portion of one or more of the waveforms 160 and 162 that are stored by the vocabulary database 110.Specifically, the hotword configuration engine 112 can match a portion of the waveform 130 that corresponds to the word “start” with a portion of the waveform 160 stored by the vocabulary database 110 that corresponds to the word “start.” Based on this matching, the hotword configuration engine 112 can identify the corresponding pre-computed hotword model 128 that is associated with the portion of the waveform 160 for the word “start.” Similarly, the hotword configuration engine 112 can match a portion of the waveform 130 that corresponds to the word “computer” with a portion of the waveform 162 stored by the vocabulary database 110 that corresponds to the word “computer.” Based on this matching, the hotword configuration engine 112 can identify the corresponding pre-computed hotword model 128 that is associated with the portion of the waveform 162 for the word “computer.” In some examples, the hotword configuration engine 112 identifies the one or more pre-computed hotword models 128 that correspond to the utterance of the candidate hotword 129 by matching at least a portion of a transcription of the waveform 130 to at least a portion of transcriptions stored by the vocabulary database 110.Specifically, the hotword configuration engine 112 can provide the waveform 130 to a speech recognition engine, e.g., the speech recognition engine 108, such that speech recognition engine 108 transcribes the waveform 130.To that end, matching the transcription of the waveform 130 to transcriptions stored by the vocabulary database 110 can include comparing the transcription of the waveform 130 to the transcriptions stored by the vocabulary database 110 to identify a matching transcription stored by the vocabulary database 110 to the waveform 130.To that end, upon the hotword configuration engine 112 identifying a matching transcription stored by the vocabulary database 110 to the transcription of the waveform 130, the hotword configuration engine 112 identifies the pre-computed hotword models 128 associated with the matching transcription.","For example, the hotword configuration engine 112 can match the transcription of the waveform 130 to a portion of one or more of the transcriptions 124 and 126 that are stored by the vocabulary database 110.Specifically, the hotword configuration engine 112 can match a portion of the transcription of the waveform 130 that corresponds to the word “start” with a portion of the transcription 124 stored by the vocabulary database 110 that corresponds to the word “start.” Based on this matching, the hotword configuration engine 112 can identify the corresponding pre-computed hotword model 128 that is associated with the portion of the transcription 124 for the word “start.” Similarly, the hotword configuration engine 112 can match a portion of the transcription of the waveform 130 that corresponds to the word “computer” with a portion of the transcription 126 stored by the vocabulary database 110 that corresponds to the word “computer.” Based on this matching, the hotword configuration engine 112 can identify the corresponding pre-computed hotword model 128 that is associated with the portion of the transcription 126 for the word “computer.” In some examples, matching the words, or sub-words, of the candidate hotword 129 with words, or sub-words, that are stored by the vocabulary database 110 can include determining a full match between the words, or sub-words, of the candidate hotword 129 with words, or sub-words that are stored by the vocabulary database 110.In some examples, matching the words, or sub-words, of the candidate hotword 129 with words, or sub-words, that are stored by the vocabulary database 110 can include determining a partial match between the words, or sub-words, of the candidate hotword 129 with words, or sub-words that are stored by the vocabulary database 110.In some examples, the hotword configuration engine 112 obtains the pre-computed hotword models 128 for the sub-words that correspond to the candidate hotword 129.As mentioned above, for the candidate hotword 129 of “start computer,” the hotword configuration engine 112 identifies the sub-words of “st-ah-rt” for the word “start” of the candidate hotword 129 and further identifies the sub-words of “kom-pyu-ter” for the word “computer” of the candidate hotword 129.To that end, the hotword configuration engine 112 accesses the vocabulary database 110 to identify the pre-computed hotword models 128 that are stored by the vocabulary database 110 and that correspond to the sub-words of the candidate hotword 129.The hotword configuration engine 112 can identify the pre-computed hotword models 128 by matching the sub-words of the candidate hotword 129 with the sub-words that are stored by the vocabulary database 110 and are associated with the pre-computed hotword models 128.For example, the hotword configuration engine 112 identifies the one or more pre-computed hotword models 128 stored by the vocabulary database 110 that correspond to the each of the sub-words of “st-ah-rt” for the word “start” of the candidate hotword 129 and each of the sub-words of “kom-pyu-ter” for the word “computer” of the candidate hotword 129.In some implementations, the hotword configuration engine 112 provides the identified, pre-computed hotword models to the mobile computing device 106, at operation (G).","Specifically, the hotword configuration engine 112 provides the pre-computed hotword models 134, e.g., a subset of the pre-computed hotword models 128, corresponding to the candidate hotword 129 to the mobile computing device 106, e.g., over one or more networks.","For example, the hotword configuration engine 112 can provide the pre-computed hotword models 134 that correspond to the candidate hotword 129 of “start computer” to the mobile computing device 106.In some examples, the hotword configuration engine 112 provides the identified, pre-computed hotword models 134 that correspond to each word of the two or more words of the candidate hotword 129 to the mobile computing device 106.For example, the candidate hotword 129 includes two words, e.g., “start” and “computer,” and the hotword configuration engine 112 provides the pre-computed hotword models 134 that correspond to each word.","That is, the hotword configuration engine 112 provides a first pre-computed hotword model 134 corresponding to the word “start” and a second pre-computed hotword model 134 corresponding to the word “computer” to the mobile computing device 106.In some examples, the identified, pre-computed hotword models 134 are provided to the mobile computing device 106 based on a type of the mobile computing device 106.For example, a lower-end, or lower processing power, mobile computing device is more suitable to receive an appropriate version (e.g., smaller neural network) of the pre-computed hotword models 134 such that the mobile computing device is able to appropriately process the pre-computed hotword models 134.In some examples, the mobile computing device 106 can receive two or more pre-computed hotword models 134 in response to a command (or query) from the user 118.That is, the user 118 can provide a command such as “navigate to coffee house” to the mobile computing device 106.In response, the mobile computing device 106 can receive pre-computed hotword models 134 that correspond to two differing locations of coffee houses that are proximate to the user's 118 current location.","For example, the mobile computing device 106 can receive a pre-computed hotword model 135 for “Palo Alto” and a pre-computed hotword model 134 for “Mountain View.” The mobile computing device 106 can provide both location options to the user 118 (e.g., via sound or the graphical user interface of the mobile computing device 106).","The user 118 can provide an utterance of one of the locations that the mobile computing device 106 can detect via the received pre-computed hotword models 134, as described above.","In some examples, by generating the pre-computed hotword models 128 and providing the same to the vocabulary database 110, the pre-computed hotword models are instantaneously available (or nearly instantaneously available) for identifying hotwords from utterances, e.g., by the mobile computing device 106.For example, the mobile computing device 106 is able to instantaneously obtain the hotword models that correspond to the words “start” and “computer” such that the mobile computing device 106 is able to appropriately process the utterance 170 close to detection of utterance 170.In some examples, by generating the pre-computed hotword models 128 trained on utterances of other users (e.g., users 114 and 116) that are not available to the mobile computing device 106, the pre-computed hotword models 128 employed by the mobile computing device 106 to process the utterance 170 can be more robust as compared to hotword models 128 trained on utterances only provided by the user 118.In some examples, the hotword configuration engine 112 provides, to the mobile computing device 106, instructions 136 that define a processing routine of the pre-computed hotword models 134.That is, the instructions 136 define how the mobile computing device 106 is to appropriately process the pre-computed hotword models 134.In some examples, the pre-computed hotword models 134 detect hotwords (e.g., of utterances) based on an analysis of underlying acoustic features (e.g., mel-frequency cepstrum coefficients) of an input utterance (e.g., utterance 170).","In some examples, the instructions 136 include instructions to sequentially process the hotword models 134, and further include a processing order of the hotword models 134.For example, the instructions 136 can include instructions to initially process the pre-computed hotword model 134 corresponding to the word “start” and subsequently process the pre-computed hotword model 134 corresponding to the word “computer.” In some examples, the instructions 136 include instructions to parallel process the hotword models 134.For example, the instructions 136 can include instructions to process the pre-computed hotword model 134 corresponding to the word “start” and process the pre-computed hotword model 134 corresponding to the word “computer” in parallel, e.g., at substantially the same time.","In some examples, the instructions 136 include instructions to process the hotword models 134 such that a second hotword model 134 corresponding to the word “computer” is processed only when a first hotword model 134 detects the hotword “start.” In other words, upon detection of the word “computer” by the first hotword model 134, the mobile computing device 106 triggers processing of the second hotword model 134 corresponding to the word “computer.” The mobile computing device 106 receives the pre-computed hotword models 134, and in some examples, the instructions 136, from the hotword configuration engine 112, e.g., over one or more networks.","The mobile computing device 106 stores the pre-computed models 134 in memory of the mobile computing device 106.Thus, upon detection of an utterance by the user 118 at a later time (e.g., after receiving the pre-computed hotword models 134), the mobile computing device 106 can appropriately process the utterance in view of the pre-computed hotword models 134 to determine whether the utterance corresponds to the candidate hotword 129.In some further implementations, the hotword configuration engine 112 dynamically creates one or more of the hotword models that correspond to candidate hotword 129.That is, in response to receiving the candidate hotword 129 from the mobile computing device 106, the hotword configuration engine 112 dynamically creates a hotword model that corresponds to one or more words of the candidate hotword 129.In some examples, the hotword configuration engine 112 dynamically creates the hotword models for the candidate hotword 129 based on i) the waveform 130 and ii) an obtained transcription of the waveform 130, e.g., from the speech recognition engine 108.For example, for the word “start” of the waveform 130, the hotword configuration engine 112 dynamically creates a hotword model for the word based on i) a portion of the waveform 130 corresponding to the user 118 speaking the word “start” and ii) a transcription associated with the waveform 130 corresponding to the user 118 speaking the word “start.” In some examples, as mentioned above, the hotword configuration engine 112 matches at least a portion of the waveform 130 to at least a portion of the waveforms stored by the vocabulary database 110.Upon the matching, the hotword configuration engine 112 can further identify a portion of the corresponding transcription associated with the matched waveform that is stored by the vocabulary database 110.To that end, the hotword configuration engine 112 dynamically creates the hotword model corresponding to the candidate hotword 129 based on i) the matched waveform and ii) the corresponding transcription associated with the matched waveform.","For example, the hotword configuration engine 112 can identify a portion of the waveform 160 stored by the vocabulary database 110 corresponding to the word “start” and further identify the corresponding transcription 124 of the portion of the waveform 160 that includes the word “start.” The hotword configuration engine 112 can dynamically create the hotword model for the word “start” of the candidate hotword 129 based on i) the portion of the waveform 160 stored by the vocabulary database 110 corresponding to the word “start” and ii) the corresponding transcription 124 that includes the word “start.” In some examples, as mentioned above, the hotword configuration engine 112 matches at least a portion of a transcription of the waveform 130 to at least a portion of transcriptions stored by the vocabulary database 110.Upon the matching, the hotword configuration engine 112 can further identify the corresponding waveform associated with the matched transcription that is stored by the vocabulary database 110.To that end, the hotword configuration engine 112 dynamically creates the hotword model corresponding to the candidate hotword 129 based on i) the matched transcription and ii) the corresponding waveform associated with the matched transcription.","For example, the hotword configuration engine 112 can identify a portion of the transcription 124 stored by the vocabulary database 110 corresponding to the word “start” and further identify the corresponding portion of the waveform 160 that includes the word “start.” The hotword configuration engine 112 can dynamically create the hotword model for the word “start” of the candidate hotword 129 based on i) the portion of the transcription 124 stored by the vocabulary database 110 corresponding to the word “start” and ii) the corresponding portion of the waveform 160 that includes the word “start.” In some examples, the hotword configuration engine 112 provides the dynamically created hotword models to the mobile computing device 106, e.g., over one or more networks.","For example, the hotword configuration engine 112 can provide dynamically created hotword models 134 that correspond to the word “start” of the candidate hotword “start computer” to the mobile computing device 106.In some examples, the hotword configuration engine 112 can provide i) the dynamically created hotword model that corresponds to the word “start” of the candidate hotword 129 “start computer” and provide ii) the pre-computed hotword model 134 that corresponds to the word “computer” of the candidate hotword 129 “start computer” to the mobile computing device 106.In some examples, the hotword configuration engine 112 dynamically creates the hotword models that correspond to the candidate hotword 129 after receiving the candidate hotword 129 from the mobile computing device 106.For example, the hotword configuration engine 112 dynamically creates the hotword models that correspond to the candidate hotword 129 of “start computer” after receiving the candidate hotword 129 from the mobile computing device 106.FIG.","2 illustrates example graphical user interface (GUI) 202 of a mobile computing device 204 for identifying a user provided hotword.","The mobile computing device 204 can be similar to the mobile computing device 106 of FIG.","1.To that end, the mobile computing device 204 provides a first GUI 202a to a user 206 associated with the mobile computing device 204 that provides for display initiation of the process to identify the user provided hotword to be associated with an action (e.g., a process performed at least partially by the mobile computing device 204).","In some examples, the first GUI 202a includes text 208 indicating to the user 206 to provide a hotword.","For example, the text 208 includes “What would you like your Hotword to be to initiate a web search?” The user 206 provides an utterance 210 that the mobile computing device 204 detects.","For example, the user 206 says the utterance 210 of “go gadget go” that the user 206 desires to be a hotword to initiate a web search.","In response to detecting the utterance 210, the mobile computing device 204 provides a second GUI 202b to the user 206 that provides for display a proposed transcription of the detected utterance 210.In some examples, the second GUI 202b includes text 212 indicating to the user 206 to confirm, or reject, a transcription of the utterance 210.For example, the text 212 includes “We think you said ‘Go gadget go.’ If yes, please hit confirm button.","If no, please hit reject button, and speak Hotword again.” To that end, the second GUI 202b further includes selectable buttons 214 and 216 that the user 206 is able to select to indicate whether to confirm that the transcription is correct, or reject the transcription.","For example, upon selection of the selectable button 214 by the user 206, the mobile computing device 204 receives a confirmation that the transcription of “Go gadget go” corresponds to the utterance 210.Further, for example, upon selection of the selectable button 216 by the user 206, the mobile computing device 204 receives a rejection of the transcription corresponding to the utterance 210, e.g., an incorrect or inaccurate transcription.","In some examples, the proposed transcription of the detected utterance 210 is not provided to the user 206 via the second GUI 202b.","In response to receiving a confirmation that the transcription is correct, the mobile computing device 204 provides a third GUI 202c to the user 206 that provides for display a confirmation of the transcription of the detected utterance 210.In some examples, the third GUI 202c includes text 218 indicating to the user 206 that the user 206 has confirmed that the transcription of the utterance 210 is correct.","For example, the text 218 includes “We have confirmed that your Hotword is ‘Go gadget go.’” Thus, the words “Go gadget go” have been established as associated with a hotword, and further associated with an action of initiating a web search.","After establishing the hotword by the user 206, the user 206 can provide a hotword 220, e.g., via an utterance or text-input, to the mobile computing device 206, e.g., after identifying the user provided hotword.","For example, the hotword 220 can include the words “go gadget go.” Thus, in response to receiving the hotword 220 of “go gadget go,” the mobile computing device 206 causes one or more actions to be performed, including initiating a web search, and provides a fourth GUI 202d to the user 206 that provides for display a description of the action to be taken associated with receiving the hotword 220.In some examples, the fourth GUI 202d includes text 222 of “Starting Search .",".",".",".” FIG.","3 depicts a flowchart of an example process 300 for providing hotword models.","The example process 300 can be executed using one or more computing devices.","For example, the mobile computing device 102, 104, 106, the speech recognition engine 108, and the hotword configuration engine 112 can be used to execute the example process 500.For each of multiple words or sub-words, audio data corresponding to multiple users speaking the word or sub-word is obtained (302).","For example, the speech recognition engine 208 obtains the waveforms 120 and 122 from the mobile computing devices 102 and 104, respectively, that correspond to the user 114 speaking the utterance 150 of “start my car” and the user 116 speaking the utterance 152 of “where do I buy a computer.” For each of the multiple words or sub-words, a pre-computed hotword model for the word or sub-word is trained based on the audio for the word or sub-word (304).","For example, the hotword configuration engine 112 trains a pre-computed hotword model for each word or sub-word based on the waveforms 120 and 122.A candidate hotword is received from a mobile computing device (306).","For example, the hotword configuration engine 112 receives the candidate hotword 129 of “start computer” from the mobile computing device 106.One or more pre-computed hotword models are identified that correspond to the candidate hotword (308).","For example, the hotword configuration engine 112 identifies the pre-computed hotword models 128 stored by the vocabulary database 110 that correspond to the candidate hotword 129 of “start computer.” The identified, pre-computed hotword models are provided to the mobile computing device (310).","For example, the hotword configuration engine 112 provides the pre-computed hotword models 134 to the mobile computing device 106.FIG.","4 shows an example of a generic computer device 400 and a generic mobile computer device 450, which may be used with the techniques described here.","Computing device 400 is intended to represent various forms of digital computers, such as laptops, desktops, workstations, personal digital assistants, servers, blade servers, mainframes, and other appropriate computers.","Computing device 450 is intended to represent various forms of mobile devices, such as personal digital assistants, cellular telephones, smartphones, and other similar computing devices.","The components shown here, their connections and relationships, and their functions, are meant to be exemplary only, and are not meant to limit implementations of the inventions described and/or claimed in this document.","Computing device 400 includes a processor 402, memory 404, a storage device 406, a high-speed interface 408 connecting to memory 404 and high-speed expansion ports 410, and a low speed interface 412 connecting to low speed bus 414 and storage device 406.Each of the components 402, 404, 406, 408, 410, and 412, are interconnected using various busses, and may be mounted on a common motherboard or in other manners as appropriate.","The processor 402 may process instructions for execution within the computing device 400, including instructions stored in the memory 404 or on the storage device 406 to display graphical information for a GUI on an external input/output device, such as display 416 coupled to high speed interface 408.In other implementations, multiple processors and/or multiple buses may be used, as appropriate, along with multiple memories and types of memory.","Also, multiple computing devices 400 may be connected, with each device providing portions of the necessary operations (e.g., as a server bank, a group of blade servers, or a multi-processor system).","The memory 404 stores information within the computing device 400.In one implementation, the memory 404 is a volatile memory unit or units.","In another implementation, the memory 404 is a non-volatile memory unit or units.","The memory 404 may also be another form of computer-readable medium, such as a magnetic or optical disk.","The storage device 406 is capable of providing mass storage for the computing device 400.In one implementation, the storage device 406 may be or contain a computer-readable medium, such as a floppy disk device, a hard disk device, an optical disk device, or a tape device, a flash memory or other similar solid state memory device, or an array of devices, including devices in a storage area network or other configurations.","A computer program product may be tangibly embodied in an information carrier.","The computer program product may also contain instructions that, when executed, perform one or more methods, such as those described above.","The information carrier is a computer- or machine-readable medium, such as the memory 404, the storage device 406, or a memory on processor 402.The high speed controller 408 manages bandwidth-intensive operations for the computing device 400, while the low speed controller 412 manages lower bandwidth-intensive operations.","Such allocation of functions is exemplary only.","In one implementation, the high-speed controller 408 is coupled to memory 404, display 416 (e.g., through a graphics processor or accelerator), and to high-speed expansion ports 410, which may accept various expansion cards (not shown).","In the implementation, low-speed controller 412 is coupled to storage device 406 and low-speed expansion port 414.The low-speed expansion port, which may include various communication ports (e.g., USB, Bluetooth, Ethernet, wireless Ethernet) may be coupled to one or more input/output devices, such as a keyboard, a pointing device, a scanner, or a networking device such as a switch or router, e.g., through a network adapter.","The computing device 400 may be implemented in a number of different forms, as shown in the figure.","For example, it may be implemented as a standard server 420, or multiple times in a group of such servers.","It may also be implemented as part of a rack server system 424.In addition, it may be implemented in a personal computer such as a laptop computer 422.Alternatively, components from computing device 400 may be combined with other components in a mobile device (not shown), such as device 450.Each of such devices may contain one or more of computing device 400, 450, and an entire system may be made up of multiple computing devices 400, 450 communicating with each other.","Computing device 450 includes a processor 452, memory 464, an input/output device such as a display 454, a communication interface 466, and a transceiver 468, among other components.","The device 450 may also be provided with a storage device, such as a microdrive or other device, to provide additional storage.","Each of the components 450, 452, 464, 454, 466, and 468, are interconnected using various buses, and several of the components may be mounted on a common motherboard or in other manners as appropriate.","The processor 452 may execute instructions within the computing device 640, including instructions stored in the memory 464.The processor may be implemented as a chipset of chips that include separate and multiple analog and digital processors.","The processor may provide, for example, for coordination of the other components of the device 450, such as control of user interfaces, applications run by device 450, and wireless communication by device 450.Processor 452 may communicate with a user through control interface 648 and display interface 456 coupled to a display 454.The display 454 may be, for example, a TFT LCD (Thin-Film-Transistor Liquid Crystal Display) or an OLED (Organic Light Emitting Diode) display, or other appropriate display technology.","The display interface 456 may comprise appropriate circuitry for driving the display 454 to present graphical and other information to a user.","The control interface 458 may receive commands from a user and convert them for submission to the processor 452.In addition, an external interface 462 may be provide in communication with processor 452, so as to enable near area communication of device 450 with other devices.","External interface 462 may provide, for example, for wired communication in some implementations, or for wireless communication in other implementations, and multiple interfaces may also be used.","The memory 464 stores information within the computing device 450.The memory 464 may be implemented as one or more of a computer-readable medium or media, a volatile memory unit or units, or a non-volatile memory unit or units.","Expansion memory 454 may also be provided and connected to device 450 through expansion interface 452, which may include, for example, a SIMM (Single In Line Memory Module) card interface.","Such expansion memory 454 may provide extra storage space for device 450, or may also store applications or other information for device 450.Specifically, expansion memory 454 may include instructions to carry out or supplement the processes described above, and may include secure information also.","Thus, for example, expansion memory 454 may be provide as a security module for device 450, and may be programmed with instructions that permit secure use of device 450.In addition, secure applications may be provided via the SIMM cards, along with additional information, such as placing identifying information on the SIMM card in a non-hackable manner.","The memory may include, for example, flash memory and/or NVRAM memory, as discussed below.","In one implementation, a computer program product is tangibly embodied in an information carrier.","The computer program product contains instructions that, when executed, perform one or more methods, such as those described above.","The information carrier is a computer- or machine-readable medium, such as the memory 464, expansion memory 454, memory on processor 452, or a propagated signal that may be received, for example, over transceiver 468 or external interface 462.Device 450 may communicate wirelessly through communication interface 466, which may include digital signal processing circuitry where necessary.","Communication interface 466 may provide for communications under various modes or protocols, such as GSM voice calls, SMS, EMS, or MMS messaging, CDMA, TDMA, PDC, WCDMA, CDMA2000, or GPRS, among others.","Such communication may occur, for example, through radio-frequency transceiver 468.In addition, short-range communication may occur, such as using a Bluetooth, WiFi, or other such transceiver (not shown).","In addition, GPS (Global Positioning System) receiver module 450 may provide additional navigation- and location-related wireless data to device 450, which may be used as appropriate by applications running on device 450.Device 450 may also communicate audibly using audio codec 460, which may receive spoken information from a user and convert it to usable digital information.","Audio codec 460 may likewise generate audible sound for a user, such as through a speaker, e.g., in a handset of device 450.Such sound may include sound from voice telephone calls, may include recorded sound (e.g., voice messages, music files, etc.)","and may also include sound generated by applications operating on device 450.The computing device 450 may be implemented in a number of different forms, as shown in the figure.","For example, it may be implemented as a cellular telephone 480.It may also be implemented as part of a smartphone 482, personal digital assistant, or other similar mobile device.","Various implementations of the systems and techniques described here may be realized in digital electronic circuitry, integrated circuitry, specially designed ASICs (application specific integrated circuits), computer hardware, firmware, software, and/or combinations thereof.","These various implementations may include implementation in one or more computer programs that are executable and/or interpretable on a programmable system including at least one programmable processor, which may be special or general purpose, coupled to receive data and instructions from, and to transmit data and instructions to, a storage system, at least one input device, and at least one output device.","These computer programs (also known as programs, software, software applications or code) include machine instructions for a programmable processor, and may be implemented in a high-level procedural and/or object-oriented programming language, and/or in assembly/machine language.","As used herein, the terms “machine-readable medium” “computer-readable medium” refers to any computer program product, apparatus and/or device (e.g., magnetic discs, optical disks, memory, Programmable Logic Devices (PLDs)) used to provide machine instructions and/or data to a programmable processor, including a machine-readable medium that receives machine instructions as a machine-readable signal.","The term “machine-readable signal” refers to any signal used to provide machine instructions and/or data to a programmable processor.","To provide for interaction with a user, the systems and techniques described here may be implemented on a computer having a display device (e.g., a CRT (cathode ray tube) or LCD (liquid crystal display) monitor) for displaying information to the user and a keyboard and a pointing device (e.g., a mouse or a trackball) by which the user may provide input to the computer.","Other kinds of devices may be used to provide for interaction with a user as well; for example, feedback provided to the user may be any form of sensory feedback (e.g., visual feedback, auditory feedback, or tactile feedback); and input from the user may be received in any form, including acoustic, speech, or tactile input.","The systems and techniques described here may be implemented in a computing system that includes a back end component (e.g., as a data server), or that includes a middleware component (e.g., an application server), or that includes a front end component (e.g., a client computer having a graphical user interface or a Web browser through which a user may interact with an implementation of the systems and techniques described here), or any combination of such back end, middleware, or front end components.","The components of the system may be interconnected by any form or medium of digital data communication (e.g., a communication network).","Examples of communication networks include a local area network (“LAN”), a wide area network (“WAN”), and the Internet.","The computing system may include clients and servers.","A client and server are generally remote from each other and typically interact through a communication network.","The relationship of client and server arises by virtue of computer programs running on the respective computers and having a client-server relationship to each other.","While this disclosure includes some specifics, these should not be construed as limitations on the scope of the disclosure or of what may be claimed, but rather as descriptions of features of example implementations of the disclosure.","Certain features that are described in this disclosure in the context of separate implementations can also be provided in combination in a single implementation.","Conversely, various features that are described in the context of a single implementation can also be provided in multiple implementations separately or in any suitable subcombination.","Moreover, although features may be described above as acting in certain combinations and even initially claimed as such, one or more features from a claimed combination can in some cases be excised from the combination, and the claimed combination may be directed to a subcombination or variation of a subcombination.","Similarly, while operations are depicted in the drawings in a particular order, this should not be understood as requiring that such operations be performed in the particular order shown or in sequential order, or that all illustrated operations be performed, to achieve desirable results.","In certain circumstances, multitasking and parallel processing may be advantageous.","Moreover, the separation of various system components in the implementations described above should not be understood as requiring such separation in all implementations, and it should be understood that the described program components and systems can generally be integrated together in a single software product or packaged into multiple software products.","Thus, particular implementations of the present disclosure have been described.","Other implementations are within the scope of the following claims.","For example, the actions recited in the claims can be performed in a different order and still achieve desirable results.","A number of implementations have been described.","Nevertheless, it will be understood that various modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosure.","For example, various forms of the flows shown above may be used, with steps re-ordered, added, or removed.","Accordingly, other implementations are within the scope of the following claims."]],"string":"[\n [\n \"PROVIDING PRE-COMPUTED HOTWORD MODELS\",\n \"Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on a computer storage medium, for obtaining, for each of multiple words or sub-words, audio data corresponding to multiple users speaking the word or sub-word; training, for each of the multiple words or sub-words, a pre-computed hotword model for the word or sub-word based on the audio data for the word or sub-word; receiving a candidate hotword from a computing device; identifying one or more pre-computed hotword models that correspond to the candidate hotword; and providing the identified, pre-computed hotword models to the computing device.\"\n ],\n [\n \"1.\",\n \"(canceled) 2.A computer-implemented method comprising: receiving, by a server-based hotword configuration engine, text that a user has typed or entered by touch input into a mobile computing device or digital assistant device for use as a custom hotword, wherein a custom hotword is personalized term that, when spoken in advance of a voice command, initiates a wake up process on the mobile computing device or digital assistant device for processing the voice command; obtaining, by the server-based hotword configuration engine, a hotword detection model that was previously trained to detect the custom hotword being spoken without using any audio samples of the user speaking the custom hotword; and providing, by the server-based hotword configuration engine, the hotword detection model to the mobile computing device or the digital assistant device for use in detecting the custom hotword being spoken by the user.\",\n \"3.The method of claim 2, wherein the text is typed or entered into the mobile computing device or digital assistant device in response to a prompt.\",\n \"4.The method of claim 2, wherein the text comprises two or more words.\",\n \"5.The method of claim 2, wherein the hotword detection model is trained based on portions of audio samples of other users speaking other words that are not the custom hotword.\",\n \"6.The method of claim 2, wherein the hotword detection model comprises a pre-computed model that was already stored in a vocabulary database when the text was typed or entered.\",\n \"7.The method of claim 2, comprising receiving and processing a voice command that (i) was preceded by the custom hotword in an utterance that was received by the mobile computing device or the digital assistant device, and (ii) was received after the hotword detection model was provided to the mobile computing device or the digital assistant device.\",\n \"8.A system comprising: one or more computers; and a non-transitory computer-readable medium coupled to the one or more computers having instructions stored thereon which, when executed by the one or more computers, cause the one or more computers to perform operations comprising: receiving, by a server-based hotword configuration engine, text that a user has typed or entered by touch input into a mobile computing device or digital assistant device for use as a custom hotword, wherein a custom hotword is personalized term that, when spoken in advance of a voice command, initiates a wake up process on the mobile computing device or digital assistant device for processing the voice command; obtaining, by the server-based hotword configuration engine, a hotword detection model that was previously trained to detect the custom hotword being spoken without using any audio samples of the user speaking the custom hotword; and providing, by the server-based hotword configuration engine, the hotword detection model to the mobile computing device or the digital assistant device for use in detecting the custom hotword being spoken by the user.\",\n \"9.The system of claim 8, wherein the text is typed or entered into the mobile computing device or digital assistant device in response to a prompt.\",\n \"10.The system of claim 8, wherein the text comprises two or more words.\",\n \"11.The system of claim 8, wherein the hotword detection model is trained based on portions of audio samples of other users speaking other words that are not the custom hotword.\",\n \"12.The system of claim 8, wherein the hotword detection model comprises a pre-computed model that was already stored in a vocabulary database when the text was typed or entered.\",\n \"13.The system of claim 8, comprising receiving and processing a voice command that (i) was preceded by the custom hotword in an utterance that was received by the mobile computing device or the digital assistant device, and (ii) was received after the hotword detection model was provided to the mobile computing device or the digital assistant device.\",\n \"14.A non-transitory computer storage medium encoded with a computer program, the computer program comprising instructions that when executed by one or more processors cause the one or more processors to perform operations comprising: receiving, by a server-based hotword configuration engine, text that a user has typed or entered by touch input into a mobile computing device or digital assistant device for use as a custom hotword, wherein a custom hotword is personalized term that, when spoken in advance of a voice command, initiates a wake up process on the mobile computing device or digital assistant device for processing the voice command; obtaining, by the server-based hotword configuration engine, a hotword detection model that was previously trained to detect the custom hotword being spoken without using any audio samples of the user speaking the custom hotword; and providing, by the server-based hotword configuration engine, the hotword detection model to the mobile computing device or the digital assistant device for use in detecting the custom hotword being spoken by the user.\",\n \"15.The medium of claim 14, wherein the text is typed or entered into the mobile computing device or digital assistant device in response to a prompt.\",\n \"16.The medium of claim 14, wherein the text comprises two or more words.\",\n \"17.The medium of claim 14, wherein the hotword detection model is trained based on portions of audio samples of other users speaking other words that are not the custom hotword.\",\n \"18.The medium of claim 14, wherein the hotword detection model comprises a pre-computed model that was already stored in a vocabulary database when the text was typed or entered.\",\n \"19.The medium of claim 14, comprising receiving and processing a voice command that (i) was preceded by the custom hotword in an utterance that was received by the mobile computing device or the digital assistant device, and (ii) was received after the hotword detection model was provided to the mobile computing device or the digital assistant device.\"\n ],\n [\n \" BACKGROUND The reality of a speech-enabled home or other environment—that is, one in which a user need only speak a query or command out loud and a computer-based system will field and answer the query and/or cause the command to be performed—is upon us.\",\n \"A speech-enabled environment (e.g., home, workplace, school, etc.)\",\n \"can be implemented using a network of connected microphone devices distributed throughout the various rooms or areas of the environment.\",\n \"Through such a network of microphones, a user has the power to orally query the system from essentially anywhere in the environment without the need to have a computer or other device in front of him/her or even nearby.\",\n \"For example, while cooking in the kitchen, a user might ask the system “how many milliliters in three cups?” and, in response, receive an answer from the system, e.g., in the form of synthesized voice output.\",\n \"Alternatively, a user might ask the system questions such as “when does my nearest gas station close,” or, upon preparing to leave the house, “should I wear a coat today?” Further, a user may ask a query of the system, and/or issue a command, that relates to the user's personal information.\",\n \"For example, a user might ask the system “when is my meeting with John?” or command the system “remind me to call John when I get back home.” In a speech-enabled environment, a user's manner of interacting with the system is designed to be primarily, if not exclusively, by means of voice input.\",\n \"Consequently, a system which potentially picks up all utterances made in the environment, including those not directed to the system, must have some way of discerning when any given utterance is directed at the system as opposed, e.g., to being directed an individual present in the environment.\",\n \"One way to accomplish this is to use a “hotword” (also referred to as an “attention word” or “voice action initiation command”), which by agreement is reserved as a predetermined term that is spoken to invoke the attention of the system.\",\n \"In one example environment, the hotword used to invoke the system's attention is the word “Google.” Consequently, each time the word “Google” is spoken, it is picked up by one of the microphones, and is conveyed to the system, which performs speech recognition techniques to determine whether the hotword was spoken and, if so, awaits an ensuing command or query.\",\n \"Accordingly, utterances directed at the system take the general form [HOTWORD] [QUERY], where “HOTWORD” in this example is “Google” and “QUERY” can be any question, command, declaration, or other request that can be speech recognized, parsed and acted on by the system, either alone or in conjunction with a server over network.\"\n ],\n [\n \" SUMMARY According to some innovative aspects of the subject matter described in this specification, a system can provide pre-computed hotword models to a mobile computing device, such that the mobile computing device can detect a candidate hotword spoken by a user associated with the mobile computing device through an analysis of the acoustic features of a portion of an utterance, without requiring the portion to be transcribed or semantically interpreted.\",\n \"The hotword models can be generated based on audio data obtained from multiple users speaking multiple words or sub-words, including words or sub-words that make up the candidate hotword.\",\n \"In some examples, a user desires to make the words “start computer” a hotword to initiate a “wake up” process on a mobile computing device, such as a smartphone.\",\n \"The user speaks the words “start computer” and, in response, the system can identify pre-computed hotword models associated with the term “start computer,” or of the constituent words “start” and “computer.” The system can provide the pre-computed hotword models to the mobile computing device such that the mobile computing device can detect whether a further utterance corresponds to the hotword “start computer,” and correspondingly wake up the mobile computing device.\",\n \"Innovative aspects of the subject matter described in this specification may be embodied in methods that include the actions of obtaining, for each of multiple words or sub-words, audio data corresponding to multiple users speaking the word or sub-word; training, for each of the multiple words or sub-words, a pre-computed hotword model for the word or sub-word based on the audio data for the word or sub-word; receiving a candidate hotword from a computing device; identifying one or more pre-computed hotword models that correspond to the candidate hotword; and providing the identified, pre-computed hotword models to the computing device.\",\n \"Other embodiments of these aspects include corresponding systems, apparatus, and computer programs, configured to perform the actions of the methods, encoded on computer storage devices.\",\n \"These and other embodiments may each optionally include one or more of the following features.\",\n \"For instance, identifying the one or more pre-computed hotword models includes obtaining two or more sub-words that correspond to the candidate hotword; and obtaining, for each of the two or more sub-words that correspond to the candidate hotword, a pre-computed hotword model that corresponds to the sub-word.\",\n \"Receiving the candidate hotword from the computing device after training, for each of the multiple words or sub-words, the pre-computed hotword model for the word or sub-word.\",\n \"Receiving the candidate hotword from the mobile computing includes receiving audio data corresponding to the candidate hotword.\",\n \"Receiving the candidate hotword from the computing device includes receiving the candidate hotword including two or more words from the computing device.\",\n \"Identifying one or more pre-computed hotword models that correspond to each word of the two or more words of the candidate hotword; and providing the identified, pre-computed hotword models that correspond to each word of the two or more words of the candidate hotword to the computing device.\",\n \"Providing, to the computing device, instructions defining a processing routine of the identified, pre-computed hotword models that correspond to each word of the two or more words of the candidate hotword.\",\n \"The instructions include instructions to sequentially process the identified, pre-computed hotword models that correspond to each word of the two or more words of the candidate hotword.\",\n \"The instructions include a processing order to sequentially process the identified, pre-computed hotword models that correspond to each word of the two or more words of the candidate hotword.\",\n \"The features further include, for instance, dynamically creating one or more hotword models that correspond to one or more words of the two or more words of the candidate hotword; and providing the dynamically created one or more hotword models that correspond to one or more words of the two or more words of the candidate hotword to the computing device.\",\n \"Dynamically creating the one or more hotword models that correspond to the one or more words of the two or more words of the candidate hotword after receiving the candidate hotword from the computing device.\",\n \"Training, for each of the multiple words or sub-words, the pre-computed hotword model for the word or sub-word, further includes for each word or sub-word of the multiple words or sub-words, obtaining, for each user of the multiple users, a transcription of the audio data of the user speaking the word or sub-word; associating, for each user of the multiple users, the audio data of the user speaking the word or sub-word with the transcription of the audio data of the user speaking the word or sub-word; and generating a particular pre-computed hotword model corresponding to the word or sub-word based on i) the audio data corresponding to each of the multiple users speaking the word or sub-word and ii) the transcription associated with the audio data corresponding to each of the multiple users speaking the word or sub-word.\",\n \"The details of one or more embodiments of the subject matter described in this specification are set forth in the accompanying drawings and the description below.\",\n \"Other potential features, aspects, and advantages of the subject matter will become apparent from the description, the drawings, and the claims.\"\n ],\n [\n \"CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"15/463,786, filed on Mar.\",\n \"20, 2017, which is a continuation of U.S. application Ser.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"15/288,241, filed on Oct. 7, 2016 (now U.S. Pat.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"9,646,612), which is a continuation of U.S. application Ser.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"15/001,894, filed on Jan. 20, 2016 (now U.S. Pat.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"9,520,130), which is a continuation of U.S. application Ser.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"14/340,833, filed on Jul.\",\n \"25, 2014 (now U.S. Pat.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"9,263,042).\",\n \"The disclosures of the prior applications are considered part of and are incorporated by reference in the disclosure of this application.\",\n \"FIELD The present disclosure generally relates to speech recognition.\",\n \"BACKGROUND The reality of a speech-enabled home or other environment—that is, one in which a user need only speak a query or command out loud and a computer-based system will field and answer the query and/or cause the command to be performed—is upon us.\",\n \"A speech-enabled environment (e.g., home, workplace, school, etc.)\",\n \"can be implemented using a network of connected microphone devices distributed throughout the various rooms or areas of the environment.\",\n \"Through such a network of microphones, a user has the power to orally query the system from essentially anywhere in the environment without the need to have a computer or other device in front of him/her or even nearby.\",\n \"For example, while cooking in the kitchen, a user might ask the system “how many milliliters in three cups?” and, in response, receive an answer from the system, e.g., in the form of synthesized voice output.\",\n \"Alternatively, a user might ask the system questions such as “when does my nearest gas station close,” or, upon preparing to leave the house, “should I wear a coat today?” Further, a user may ask a query of the system, and/or issue a command, that relates to the user's personal information.\",\n \"For example, a user might ask the system “when is my meeting with John?” or command the system “remind me to call John when I get back home.” In a speech-enabled environment, a user's manner of interacting with the system is designed to be primarily, if not exclusively, by means of voice input.\",\n \"Consequently, a system which potentially picks up all utterances made in the environment, including those not directed to the system, must have some way of discerning when any given utterance is directed at the system as opposed, e.g., to being directed an individual present in the environment.\",\n \"One way to accomplish this is to use a “hotword” (also referred to as an “attention word” or “voice action initiation command”), which by agreement is reserved as a predetermined term that is spoken to invoke the attention of the system.\",\n \"In one example environment, the hotword used to invoke the system's attention is the word “Google.” Consequently, each time the word “Google” is spoken, it is picked up by one of the microphones, and is conveyed to the system, which performs speech recognition techniques to determine whether the hotword was spoken and, if so, awaits an ensuing command or query.\",\n \"Accordingly, utterances directed at the system take the general form [HOTWORD] [QUERY], where “HOTWORD” in this example is “Google” and “QUERY” can be any question, command, declaration, or other request that can be speech recognized, parsed and acted on by the system, either alone or in conjunction with a server over network.\",\n \"SUMMARY According to some innovative aspects of the subject matter described in this specification, a system can provide pre-computed hotword models to a mobile computing device, such that the mobile computing device can detect a candidate hotword spoken by a user associated with the mobile computing device through an analysis of the acoustic features of a portion of an utterance, without requiring the portion to be transcribed or semantically interpreted.\",\n \"The hotword models can be generated based on audio data obtained from multiple users speaking multiple words or sub-words, including words or sub-words that make up the candidate hotword.\",\n \"In some examples, a user desires to make the words “start computer” a hotword to initiate a “wake up” process on a mobile computing device, such as a smartphone.\",\n \"The user speaks the words “start computer” and, in response, the system can identify pre-computed hotword models associated with the term “start computer,” or of the constituent words “start” and “computer.” The system can provide the pre-computed hotword models to the mobile computing device such that the mobile computing device can detect whether a further utterance corresponds to the hotword “start computer,” and correspondingly wake up the mobile computing device.\",\n \"Innovative aspects of the subject matter described in this specification may be embodied in methods that include the actions of obtaining, for each of multiple words or sub-words, audio data corresponding to multiple users speaking the word or sub-word; training, for each of the multiple words or sub-words, a pre-computed hotword model for the word or sub-word based on the audio data for the word or sub-word; receiving a candidate hotword from a computing device; identifying one or more pre-computed hotword models that correspond to the candidate hotword; and providing the identified, pre-computed hotword models to the computing device.\",\n \"Other embodiments of these aspects include corresponding systems, apparatus, and computer programs, configured to perform the actions of the methods, encoded on computer storage devices.\",\n \"These and other embodiments may each optionally include one or more of the following features.\",\n \"For instance, identifying the one or more pre-computed hotword models includes obtaining two or more sub-words that correspond to the candidate hotword; and obtaining, for each of the two or more sub-words that correspond to the candidate hotword, a pre-computed hotword model that corresponds to the sub-word.\",\n \"Receiving the candidate hotword from the computing device after training, for each of the multiple words or sub-words, the pre-computed hotword model for the word or sub-word.\",\n \"Receiving the candidate hotword from the mobile computing includes receiving audio data corresponding to the candidate hotword.\",\n \"Receiving the candidate hotword from the computing device includes receiving the candidate hotword including two or more words from the computing device.\",\n \"Identifying one or more pre-computed hotword models that correspond to each word of the two or more words of the candidate hotword; and providing the identified, pre-computed hotword models that correspond to each word of the two or more words of the candidate hotword to the computing device.\",\n \"Providing, to the computing device, instructions defining a processing routine of the identified, pre-computed hotword models that correspond to each word of the two or more words of the candidate hotword.\",\n \"The instructions include instructions to sequentially process the identified, pre-computed hotword models that correspond to each word of the two or more words of the candidate hotword.\",\n \"The instructions include a processing order to sequentially process the identified, pre-computed hotword models that correspond to each word of the two or more words of the candidate hotword.\",\n \"The features further include, for instance, dynamically creating one or more hotword models that correspond to one or more words of the two or more words of the candidate hotword; and providing the dynamically created one or more hotword models that correspond to one or more words of the two or more words of the candidate hotword to the computing device.\",\n \"Dynamically creating the one or more hotword models that correspond to the one or more words of the two or more words of the candidate hotword after receiving the candidate hotword from the computing device.\",\n \"Training, for each of the multiple words or sub-words, the pre-computed hotword model for the word or sub-word, further includes for each word or sub-word of the multiple words or sub-words, obtaining, for each user of the multiple users, a transcription of the audio data of the user speaking the word or sub-word; associating, for each user of the multiple users, the audio data of the user speaking the word or sub-word with the transcription of the audio data of the user speaking the word or sub-word; and generating a particular pre-computed hotword model corresponding to the word or sub-word based on i) the audio data corresponding to each of the multiple users speaking the word or sub-word and ii) the transcription associated with the audio data corresponding to each of the multiple users speaking the word or sub-word.\",\n \"The details of one or more embodiments of the subject matter described in this specification are set forth in the accompanying drawings and the description below.\",\n \"Other potential features, aspects, and advantages of the subject matter will become apparent from the description, the drawings, and the claims.\",\n \"DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS FIG.\",\n \"1 depicts an example system for providing hotword models.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"2 depicts an example graphical user interface for identifying a user provided hotword.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"3 depicts an example flowchart for providing hotword models.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"4 depicts a computer device and a mobile computer device that may be used to implement the techniques described here.\",\n \"In the drawings, like reference symbols indicate like elements throughout.\",\n \"DETAILED DESCRIPTION FIG.\",\n \"1 depicts a system 100 for providing pre-computed hotword models.\",\n \"In some examples, the system 100 includes mobile computing devices 102, 104, 106, a speech recognition engine 108, a vocabulary database 110, and a hotword configuration engine 112.In some examples, any of the mobile computing devices 102, 104, 106 may be a portable computer, a smartphone, a tablet-computing device, or a wearable computing device.\",\n \"Each of the mobile computing devices 102, 104, 106 are associated with a respective user 114, 116, 118.The mobile computing devices 102, 104, 106 can include any audio detection means, e.g., a microphone, for detecting utterances from the respective associated user 114, 116, 118.The mobile computing devices 102 and 104 are in communication with the speech recognition engine 108, e.g., over one or more networks, and the mobile computing device 106 is in communication with the hotword configuration engine 112, e.g., over one or more networks.\",\n \"In some implementations, the speech recognition engine 108 obtains, for each of multiple words or sub-words, audio data that corresponds to multiple users speaking the word or sub-words, during operation (A).\",\n \"Specifically, the speech recognition engine 108 obtains audio data from the mobile computing devices 102 and 104 that correspond, respectively, to the users 114 and 116 speaking words or sub-words, e.g., over one or more networks.\",\n \"In some examples, the user 114 and the user 116 each say one or more words that the mobile computing device 102 and mobile computing device 104, respectively detect.\",\n \"In some examples, the users 114 and 116 speak the words or sub-words during any interaction with the mobile computing devices 102 and 104, respectively, e.g., submitting voice queries for voice commands.\",\n \"In some examples, in addition to obtain the audio data associated with the users 114 and 116 speaking the words or sub-words, the speech recognition engine 108 obtains a locale of the users 114 and 116 from the mobile computing device 102 and 104.The locale can include the approximate current location of the user when speaking the words or sub-words, or a location associated with a profile of the user.\",\n \"For example, the user 114 says the utterance 150 of “start my car” and the user 116 says the utterance 152 of “where do I buy a computer?” The mobile computing device 102 detects the utterance 150 of “start my car” to generate waveform data 120 that represents the detected utterance 150; and the mobile computing device 104 detects the utterance 152 of “where do I buy a computer?” to generate waveform data 122 that represents the detected utterance 152.The mobile computing devices 102 and 104 transmit the waveforms 120 and 122, respectively, to the speech recognition engine 108, e.g., over one or more networks.\",\n \"In some examples, the speech recognition engine 108, for each word or sub-word of the multiple words or sub-words, obtains, for each user of the multiple users, a transcription of the audio data of the user speaking the word or the sub-word, during operation (B).\",\n \"Specifically, the speech recognition engine 108 processes the received audio data, including generating a transcription of an utterance of words or sub-words associated with the audio data.\",\n \"Generating the transcription of the audio data of the user speaking the word or the sub-word can include transcribing the utterance into text or text-related data.\",\n \"In other words, the speech recognition engine 108 can provide a representation of natural language in written form of the utterance associated with the audio data.\",\n \"For example, the speech recognition engine 108 transcribes the waveforms 120 and 122, as received from the mobile computing devices 102 and 104, respectively.\",\n \"That is, the speech recognition engine 108 transcribes the waveform 120 to generate the transcription 124 of “start my car” and transcribes the waveform 122 to generate the transcription 126 of “where do I buy a computer?” In some examples, the speech recognition engine 108, for each word or sub-word of the multiple words or sub-words, associates, for each user of the multiple users, the audio data of the user speaking the word or sub-word with the transcription of the audio data of the user speaking the word or sub-word, during operation (C).\",\n \"For example, the speech recognition engine 108 associates the waveform 160 with the transcription 124 and associates the waveform 162 with the transcription 126.In some examples, the waveform 160 is substantially the same as the waveform 120, and the waveform 162 is substantially the same as the waveform 122.In some examples, the waveform 160 is a processed version (e.g., by the speech recognition engine 108) of the waveform 120, and the waveform 162 is a processed version (e.g., by the speech recognition engine 108) of the waveform 122.In some examples, the speech recognition engine 108 associates a portion of the waveform 160 with a corresponding portion of the transcription 124.That is, for each word, or sub-word, of the waveform 160, the speech recognition engine 108 associates the corresponding portion of the transcription 124 with the word, or sub-word.\",\n \"For example, the speech recognition engine 108 associates a portion of the waveform 160 for each of the words “start,” “my,” “car” with the corresponding portion of the transcription 124.Similarly, the speech recognition engine 108 associates a portion of the waveform 162 for each of the words “where,” “do,” “I,” “buy,” “a,” “computer” with the corresponding portion of the transcription 126.In some examples, the speech recognition engine 108 associates a portion of the waveform 160 for each of the sub-words, e.g., phoneme or tri-phone level, of each word, e.g., “st-ah-rt” of the word “start,” with the corresponding portion of the transcription.\",\n \"Similarly, in some examples, the speech recognition engine 108 associates a portion of the waveform 162 for each of the sub-words, e.g., phoneme or tri-phone level, of each word, e.g., “kom-pyu-ter” of the word “computer,” with the corresponding portion of the transcription.” In some examples, associating the audio data of the user speaking the word or sub-word with the transcription of the audio data of the user speaking the word or sub-word includes storing the association in a database, or a table.\",\n \"Specifically, the speech recognition engine 108 provides the transcription 124 and the waveform 160 to the vocabulary database 110 such that the vocabulary database 110 stores an association between the waveform 160 and the transcription 124.Similarly, the speech recognition engine 108 provides the transcription 126 and the waveform 162 to the vocabulary database 110 such that the vocabulary database 110 stores an association between the waveform 162 and the transcription 126.In some examples, the speech recognition engine 108 provides the locale associated with the word or sub-words of the transcription 124 (e.g., the locale of the user 114) to the vocabulary database 110 such that the vocabulary database 110 additionally stores an association between the waveform 160, the transcription 124, and the respective locale.\",\n \"Similarly, the speech recognition engine 108 provides the locale associated with the word or sub-words of the transcription 126 (e.g., the locale of the user 116) to the vocabulary database 110 such that the vocabulary database 110 additionally stores an association between the waveform 162, the transcription 126, and the respective locale In some examples, the vocabulary database 110 indicates an association between a portion of the waveform 160 with a corresponding portion of the transcription 124.That is, for each word, or sub-word, of the waveform 160, the vocabulary database 110 stores an association of the portion of the waveform 160 with a corresponding portion of the transcription 124 with the word, or sub-word.\",\n \"For example, the vocabulary database 110 stores an association of a portion of the waveform 160 for each of the words “start,” “my,” “car” with the corresponding portion of the transcription 124.Similarly, the vocabulary database 110 stores an association of a portion of the waveform 162 for each of the words “where,” “do,” “I,” “buy,” “a,” “computer” with the corresponding portion of the transcription 126.In some implementations, the hotword configuration engine 112 trains, for each of the multiple words or sub-words, a pre-computed hotword model for the word or sub-word, during operation (D).\",\n \"Specifically, the hotword configuration engine 112 is in communication with the vocabulary database 110, and obtains, for each word or sub-word stored by the vocabulary database 110, the audio data of each user of the multiple users speaking the word or sub-word and the associated transcription of the audio data.\",\n \"For example, the hotword configuration engine 112 obtains, from the vocabulary database 110, the waveform 160 and the associated transcription 124, and further obtains the waveform 162 and the associated transcription 126.In some examples, for each word or sub-word stored by the vocabulary database 110, the hotword configuration engine 112 generates a pre-computed hotword model corresponding to the word or sub-word.\",\n \"Specifically, the hotword configuration engine 112 generates the pre-computed hotword model for each word or sub-word based on i) the audio data corresponding to each of the multiple users speaking the word or sub-word and ii) the transcription associated with the audio data corresponding to each of the multiple users speaking the word or sub-word.\",\n \"In some examples, the pre-computed hotword model can be a classifier such as a neural network, or a support vector machine (SVM).\",\n \"For example, the hotword configuration engine 112 generates a pre-computed hotword model corresponding to each word or sub-word of the waveforms 160 and 162.In some examples, for the word “start” of the waveform 160, the hotword configuration engine 112 generates a pre-computed hotword model for the word based on i) the audio data corresponding to the user 114 speaking the word “start” (e.g., the portion of the waveform 160 corresponding to the user 114 speaking the word “start”) and ii) the transcription associated with the audio data corresponding to the user 114 speaking the word “start.” Additionally, the hotword configuration engine 112 can generate a pre-computed hotword model for the remaining words “my” and “car” of the waveform 160, as well as each sub-word (of each word) of the waveform 160, e.g., “st-ah-rt” of the word “start.” Additionally, in some examples, for the word “computer” of the waveform 162, the hotword configuration engine 112 generates a pre-computed hotword model for the word based on i) the audio data corresponding to the user 116 speaking the word “computer” (e.g., the portion of the waveform 162 corresponding to the user 116 speaking the word “computer”) and ii) the transcription associated with the audio data corresponding to the user 116 speaking the word “computer.” Additionally, the hotword configuration engine 112 can generate a pre-computed hotword model for the remaining words “where,” “do,” “I,” “buy” and “a” of the waveform 162, as well as each sub-word of the waveform 160, e.g., “kom-pyu-ter” of the word “computer.” The hotword configuration engine 112, after pre-computing the hotword models for one or more words stored by the vocabulary database 110, provides the pre-computed hotword models 128 to the vocabulary database 110 such that the vocabulary database 110 stores or otherwise indicates an association between the words or sub-words and the corresponding pre-computed hotword models 128.That is, for each word or sub-word of the waveforms 160 and 162, the vocabulary database 110 stores an association between each of the words or sub-words (e.g., of the waveforms 160 and 162) and the corresponding pre-computed hotword models 128.In some examples, the vocabulary database 110 stores, for each word or sub-word of the waveforms 160 and 162, an association between i) the portion of the waveform corresponding to the word or sub-word, ii) the corresponding transcription of the portion of the waveform, and iii) the corresponding pre-computed hotword model.\",\n \"For example, for the word “start” of the waveform 160, the vocabulary database 110 stores i) an association of a portion of the waveform 160 corresponding to the word “start,” ii) a portion of the transcription 124 corresponding to the word “start,” and iii) a pre-computed hotword model 128 for the word “start.” In some implementations, the hotword configuration engine 112 receives a candidate hotword 129 from the mobile computing device 106, during operation (E).\",\n \"Specifically, the hotword configuration engine 112 receives, e.g., over one or more networks, data from the mobile computing device 106 that corresponds to the user 118 providing the candidate hotword 129.In some examples, the mobile computing device 106 provides a graphical user interface 180 to the user 118 that provides for display of text 182 to prompt the user 118 to provide a hotword.\",\n \"For example, the text 182 includes “Please say your desired Hotword.” In response, the user 118 says the candidate hotword 129 that the mobile computing device 106 detects, and transmits to the hotword configuration engine 112.For example, the user 118 says the utterance 170 of “start computer” that corresponds to the candidate hotword 129.The mobile computing device 106 detects the utterance 170 of “start computer” and generates a waveform 130 that represents the detected utterance 170.The mobile computing device 106 transmits the waveform 130 to the hotword configuration engine 112, e.g., over one or more networks.\",\n \"In some examples, the user 118 provides text-based input to the mobile computing device 106, e.g., via a graphical user interface of the mobile computing device 106, that corresponds to the candidate hotword 129.For example, the user 118 inputs via a keyboard, virtual or tactile, the text of “start computer.” The mobile computing device 106 transmits the text-based candidate hotword 129 of “start computer” to the hotword configuration engine 112, e.g., over one or more networks.\",\n \"In some examples, the hotword configuration engine 112 receives the candidate hotword from the mobile computing device 106 after training, for each of the multiple words or sub-words, the pre-computed hotword model for the word or sub-word.\",\n \"Specifically, the hotword configuration engine 112 receives the candidate hotword 129 from the mobile computing device 106 after the hotword configuration engine 112 generates the pre-computed hotword models 128 corresponding to each of the words or sub-words stored by the vocabulary database 110.For example, the hotword configuration engine 112 receives the candidate hotword 129 of “start computer” from the mobile computing device 106 after training, for each of the multiple words or sub-words of the waveforms 160 and 162, the pre-computed hotword models 128 for the word or sub-word.\",\n \"In some examples, the hotword configuration engine 112 receives the candidate hotword 129 that includes two or more words from the mobile computing device 106.For example, the hotword configuration engine 112 receives the candidate hotword 129 of “start computer” that includes two words (e.g., “start” and “computer”).\",\n \"In some examples, the hotword configuration engine 112 receives the candidate hotword 129 that includes a single word from the mobile computing device 106.In some examples, the hotword configuration engine 112 obtains two or more sub-words that correspond to the candidate hotword 129.That is, the hotword configuration engine 112 processes the candidate hotword 129 to identify sub-words of the candidate hotword 129.For example, for the candidate hotword 129 of “start computer,” the hotword configuration engine 112 can obtain the sub-words of “st-ah-rt” for the word “start” of the candidate hotword 129 and further obtain the sub-words of “kom-pyu-ter” for the word “computer” of the candidate hotword 129.In some implementations, the hotword configuration engine 112 identifies one or more pre-computed hotword models that correspond to the candidate hotword 129, at operation (F).\",\n \"Specifically, the hotword configuration engine 112 accesses the vocabulary database 110 to identify one or more of the pre-computed hotword models 128 that are stored by the vocabulary database 110 and that correspond to the candidate hotword 129.The hotword configuration engine 112 retrieves the pre-computed hotword models 128 from the vocabulary database 110, e.g., over one or more networks.\",\n \"In some examples, the hotword configuration engine 112 identifies the pre-computed hotword models 128 that are associated with the words, or sub-words, of the candidate hotword 129.The hotword configuration engine 112 can identify the pre-computed hotword models 128 by matching the words, or sub-words, of the candidate hotword 129 with the words, or sub-words, that are stored by the vocabulary database 110.In some examples, the hotword configuration engine 112 identifies the pre-computed hotword models 128 that correspond to the utterance 170 of the candidate hotword 129 provided by the user 118.That is, the hotword configuration engine 112 identifies the one or more pre-computed hotword models 128 based on the waveform 130 that represents the detected utterance 170 of the candidate hotword 129.In the illustrated example, the hotword configuration engine 112 identifies one or more pre-computed hotword models 128 stored by the vocabulary database 110 that correspond to the utterance 170 of “start computer.” In some examples, when the candidate hotword includes two or more words, the hotword configuration engine 112 identifies the pre-computed hotword models that correspond to each word of the two or more words.\",\n \"That is, each word of the two or more words of the candidate hotword 129 corresponds to a pre-computed hotword model 128 stored by the vocabulary database 110.For example, the candidate hotword 129 includes two words, e.g., “start” and “computer.” To that end, the hotword configuration engine 112 identifies a first pre-computed hotword model 128 stored by the vocabulary database 110 corresponding to the word “start” and a second pre-computed hotword model 128 stored by the vocabulary database 110 corresponding to the word “computer.” In some examples, the hotword configuration engine 112 identifies a pre-computed hotword model 128 stored by the vocabulary database 110 corresponding to the both words “start computer.” In some examples, the hotword configuration engine 112 identifies the one or more pre-computed hotword models 128 that correspond to the utterance 170 of the candidate hotword 129 by matching at least a portion of the waveform 130 to at least a portion of waveforms stored by the vocabulary database 110.Matching the waveform 130 to waveforms stored by the vocabulary database 110 can include performing an audio-based comparison between the waveform 130 and the waveforms stored by the vocabulary database 110 to identify a matching waveform stored by the vocabulary database 110 to the waveform 130.In some examples, the audio-based comparison between the waveform 130 and the waveforms stored by the vocabulary database 110 can be performed by an audio processing engine that is in communication with the hotword configuration engine 112, e.g., over one or more networks.\",\n \"To that end, upon the hotword configuration engine 112 identifying a matching waveform stored by the vocabulary database 110 to the waveform 130, the hotword configuration engine 112 identifies the pre-computed hotword models 128 associated with the matching waveform.\",\n \"In some examples, the hotword configuration engine 112 identifies the one or more pre-computed hotword models 128 that correspond to the utterance 170 of the candidate hotword 129 by applying one or more of the pre-computed hotword models 128 stored by the vocabulary database 110 to the utterance 170 to identify the pre-computed hotword models 128 corresponding with a highest confidence score relative to the remaining pre-computed hotword models 128.The confidence score indicates the likelihood that the identified pre-computed hotword model 128 corresponds to the utterance 170.For example, the hotword configuration engine 112 can match the waveform 130 to a portion of one or more of the waveforms 160 and 162 that are stored by the vocabulary database 110.Specifically, the hotword configuration engine 112 can match a portion of the waveform 130 that corresponds to the word “start” with a portion of the waveform 160 stored by the vocabulary database 110 that corresponds to the word “start.” Based on this matching, the hotword configuration engine 112 can identify the corresponding pre-computed hotword model 128 that is associated with the portion of the waveform 160 for the word “start.” Similarly, the hotword configuration engine 112 can match a portion of the waveform 130 that corresponds to the word “computer” with a portion of the waveform 162 stored by the vocabulary database 110 that corresponds to the word “computer.” Based on this matching, the hotword configuration engine 112 can identify the corresponding pre-computed hotword model 128 that is associated with the portion of the waveform 162 for the word “computer.” In some examples, the hotword configuration engine 112 identifies the one or more pre-computed hotword models 128 that correspond to the utterance of the candidate hotword 129 by matching at least a portion of a transcription of the waveform 130 to at least a portion of transcriptions stored by the vocabulary database 110.Specifically, the hotword configuration engine 112 can provide the waveform 130 to a speech recognition engine, e.g., the speech recognition engine 108, such that speech recognition engine 108 transcribes the waveform 130.To that end, matching the transcription of the waveform 130 to transcriptions stored by the vocabulary database 110 can include comparing the transcription of the waveform 130 to the transcriptions stored by the vocabulary database 110 to identify a matching transcription stored by the vocabulary database 110 to the waveform 130.To that end, upon the hotword configuration engine 112 identifying a matching transcription stored by the vocabulary database 110 to the transcription of the waveform 130, the hotword configuration engine 112 identifies the pre-computed hotword models 128 associated with the matching transcription.\",\n \"For example, the hotword configuration engine 112 can match the transcription of the waveform 130 to a portion of one or more of the transcriptions 124 and 126 that are stored by the vocabulary database 110.Specifically, the hotword configuration engine 112 can match a portion of the transcription of the waveform 130 that corresponds to the word “start” with a portion of the transcription 124 stored by the vocabulary database 110 that corresponds to the word “start.” Based on this matching, the hotword configuration engine 112 can identify the corresponding pre-computed hotword model 128 that is associated with the portion of the transcription 124 for the word “start.” Similarly, the hotword configuration engine 112 can match a portion of the transcription of the waveform 130 that corresponds to the word “computer” with a portion of the transcription 126 stored by the vocabulary database 110 that corresponds to the word “computer.” Based on this matching, the hotword configuration engine 112 can identify the corresponding pre-computed hotword model 128 that is associated with the portion of the transcription 126 for the word “computer.” In some examples, matching the words, or sub-words, of the candidate hotword 129 with words, or sub-words, that are stored by the vocabulary database 110 can include determining a full match between the words, or sub-words, of the candidate hotword 129 with words, or sub-words that are stored by the vocabulary database 110.In some examples, matching the words, or sub-words, of the candidate hotword 129 with words, or sub-words, that are stored by the vocabulary database 110 can include determining a partial match between the words, or sub-words, of the candidate hotword 129 with words, or sub-words that are stored by the vocabulary database 110.In some examples, the hotword configuration engine 112 obtains the pre-computed hotword models 128 for the sub-words that correspond to the candidate hotword 129.As mentioned above, for the candidate hotword 129 of “start computer,” the hotword configuration engine 112 identifies the sub-words of “st-ah-rt” for the word “start” of the candidate hotword 129 and further identifies the sub-words of “kom-pyu-ter” for the word “computer” of the candidate hotword 129.To that end, the hotword configuration engine 112 accesses the vocabulary database 110 to identify the pre-computed hotword models 128 that are stored by the vocabulary database 110 and that correspond to the sub-words of the candidate hotword 129.The hotword configuration engine 112 can identify the pre-computed hotword models 128 by matching the sub-words of the candidate hotword 129 with the sub-words that are stored by the vocabulary database 110 and are associated with the pre-computed hotword models 128.For example, the hotword configuration engine 112 identifies the one or more pre-computed hotword models 128 stored by the vocabulary database 110 that correspond to the each of the sub-words of “st-ah-rt” for the word “start” of the candidate hotword 129 and each of the sub-words of “kom-pyu-ter” for the word “computer” of the candidate hotword 129.In some implementations, the hotword configuration engine 112 provides the identified, pre-computed hotword models to the mobile computing device 106, at operation (G).\",\n \"Specifically, the hotword configuration engine 112 provides the pre-computed hotword models 134, e.g., a subset of the pre-computed hotword models 128, corresponding to the candidate hotword 129 to the mobile computing device 106, e.g., over one or more networks.\",\n \"For example, the hotword configuration engine 112 can provide the pre-computed hotword models 134 that correspond to the candidate hotword 129 of “start computer” to the mobile computing device 106.In some examples, the hotword configuration engine 112 provides the identified, pre-computed hotword models 134 that correspond to each word of the two or more words of the candidate hotword 129 to the mobile computing device 106.For example, the candidate hotword 129 includes two words, e.g., “start” and “computer,” and the hotword configuration engine 112 provides the pre-computed hotword models 134 that correspond to each word.\",\n \"That is, the hotword configuration engine 112 provides a first pre-computed hotword model 134 corresponding to the word “start” and a second pre-computed hotword model 134 corresponding to the word “computer” to the mobile computing device 106.In some examples, the identified, pre-computed hotword models 134 are provided to the mobile computing device 106 based on a type of the mobile computing device 106.For example, a lower-end, or lower processing power, mobile computing device is more suitable to receive an appropriate version (e.g., smaller neural network) of the pre-computed hotword models 134 such that the mobile computing device is able to appropriately process the pre-computed hotword models 134.In some examples, the mobile computing device 106 can receive two or more pre-computed hotword models 134 in response to a command (or query) from the user 118.That is, the user 118 can provide a command such as “navigate to coffee house” to the mobile computing device 106.In response, the mobile computing device 106 can receive pre-computed hotword models 134 that correspond to two differing locations of coffee houses that are proximate to the user's 118 current location.\",\n \"For example, the mobile computing device 106 can receive a pre-computed hotword model 135 for “Palo Alto” and a pre-computed hotword model 134 for “Mountain View.” The mobile computing device 106 can provide both location options to the user 118 (e.g., via sound or the graphical user interface of the mobile computing device 106).\",\n \"The user 118 can provide an utterance of one of the locations that the mobile computing device 106 can detect via the received pre-computed hotword models 134, as described above.\",\n \"In some examples, by generating the pre-computed hotword models 128 and providing the same to the vocabulary database 110, the pre-computed hotword models are instantaneously available (or nearly instantaneously available) for identifying hotwords from utterances, e.g., by the mobile computing device 106.For example, the mobile computing device 106 is able to instantaneously obtain the hotword models that correspond to the words “start” and “computer” such that the mobile computing device 106 is able to appropriately process the utterance 170 close to detection of utterance 170.In some examples, by generating the pre-computed hotword models 128 trained on utterances of other users (e.g., users 114 and 116) that are not available to the mobile computing device 106, the pre-computed hotword models 128 employed by the mobile computing device 106 to process the utterance 170 can be more robust as compared to hotword models 128 trained on utterances only provided by the user 118.In some examples, the hotword configuration engine 112 provides, to the mobile computing device 106, instructions 136 that define a processing routine of the pre-computed hotword models 134.That is, the instructions 136 define how the mobile computing device 106 is to appropriately process the pre-computed hotword models 134.In some examples, the pre-computed hotword models 134 detect hotwords (e.g., of utterances) based on an analysis of underlying acoustic features (e.g., mel-frequency cepstrum coefficients) of an input utterance (e.g., utterance 170).\",\n \"In some examples, the instructions 136 include instructions to sequentially process the hotword models 134, and further include a processing order of the hotword models 134.For example, the instructions 136 can include instructions to initially process the pre-computed hotword model 134 corresponding to the word “start” and subsequently process the pre-computed hotword model 134 corresponding to the word “computer.” In some examples, the instructions 136 include instructions to parallel process the hotword models 134.For example, the instructions 136 can include instructions to process the pre-computed hotword model 134 corresponding to the word “start” and process the pre-computed hotword model 134 corresponding to the word “computer” in parallel, e.g., at substantially the same time.\",\n \"In some examples, the instructions 136 include instructions to process the hotword models 134 such that a second hotword model 134 corresponding to the word “computer” is processed only when a first hotword model 134 detects the hotword “start.” In other words, upon detection of the word “computer” by the first hotword model 134, the mobile computing device 106 triggers processing of the second hotword model 134 corresponding to the word “computer.” The mobile computing device 106 receives the pre-computed hotword models 134, and in some examples, the instructions 136, from the hotword configuration engine 112, e.g., over one or more networks.\",\n \"The mobile computing device 106 stores the pre-computed models 134 in memory of the mobile computing device 106.Thus, upon detection of an utterance by the user 118 at a later time (e.g., after receiving the pre-computed hotword models 134), the mobile computing device 106 can appropriately process the utterance in view of the pre-computed hotword models 134 to determine whether the utterance corresponds to the candidate hotword 129.In some further implementations, the hotword configuration engine 112 dynamically creates one or more of the hotword models that correspond to candidate hotword 129.That is, in response to receiving the candidate hotword 129 from the mobile computing device 106, the hotword configuration engine 112 dynamically creates a hotword model that corresponds to one or more words of the candidate hotword 129.In some examples, the hotword configuration engine 112 dynamically creates the hotword models for the candidate hotword 129 based on i) the waveform 130 and ii) an obtained transcription of the waveform 130, e.g., from the speech recognition engine 108.For example, for the word “start” of the waveform 130, the hotword configuration engine 112 dynamically creates a hotword model for the word based on i) a portion of the waveform 130 corresponding to the user 118 speaking the word “start” and ii) a transcription associated with the waveform 130 corresponding to the user 118 speaking the word “start.” In some examples, as mentioned above, the hotword configuration engine 112 matches at least a portion of the waveform 130 to at least a portion of the waveforms stored by the vocabulary database 110.Upon the matching, the hotword configuration engine 112 can further identify a portion of the corresponding transcription associated with the matched waveform that is stored by the vocabulary database 110.To that end, the hotword configuration engine 112 dynamically creates the hotword model corresponding to the candidate hotword 129 based on i) the matched waveform and ii) the corresponding transcription associated with the matched waveform.\",\n \"For example, the hotword configuration engine 112 can identify a portion of the waveform 160 stored by the vocabulary database 110 corresponding to the word “start” and further identify the corresponding transcription 124 of the portion of the waveform 160 that includes the word “start.” The hotword configuration engine 112 can dynamically create the hotword model for the word “start” of the candidate hotword 129 based on i) the portion of the waveform 160 stored by the vocabulary database 110 corresponding to the word “start” and ii) the corresponding transcription 124 that includes the word “start.” In some examples, as mentioned above, the hotword configuration engine 112 matches at least a portion of a transcription of the waveform 130 to at least a portion of transcriptions stored by the vocabulary database 110.Upon the matching, the hotword configuration engine 112 can further identify the corresponding waveform associated with the matched transcription that is stored by the vocabulary database 110.To that end, the hotword configuration engine 112 dynamically creates the hotword model corresponding to the candidate hotword 129 based on i) the matched transcription and ii) the corresponding waveform associated with the matched transcription.\",\n \"For example, the hotword configuration engine 112 can identify a portion of the transcription 124 stored by the vocabulary database 110 corresponding to the word “start” and further identify the corresponding portion of the waveform 160 that includes the word “start.” The hotword configuration engine 112 can dynamically create the hotword model for the word “start” of the candidate hotword 129 based on i) the portion of the transcription 124 stored by the vocabulary database 110 corresponding to the word “start” and ii) the corresponding portion of the waveform 160 that includes the word “start.” In some examples, the hotword configuration engine 112 provides the dynamically created hotword models to the mobile computing device 106, e.g., over one or more networks.\",\n \"For example, the hotword configuration engine 112 can provide dynamically created hotword models 134 that correspond to the word “start” of the candidate hotword “start computer” to the mobile computing device 106.In some examples, the hotword configuration engine 112 can provide i) the dynamically created hotword model that corresponds to the word “start” of the candidate hotword 129 “start computer” and provide ii) the pre-computed hotword model 134 that corresponds to the word “computer” of the candidate hotword 129 “start computer” to the mobile computing device 106.In some examples, the hotword configuration engine 112 dynamically creates the hotword models that correspond to the candidate hotword 129 after receiving the candidate hotword 129 from the mobile computing device 106.For example, the hotword configuration engine 112 dynamically creates the hotword models that correspond to the candidate hotword 129 of “start computer” after receiving the candidate hotword 129 from the mobile computing device 106.FIG.\",\n \"2 illustrates example graphical user interface (GUI) 202 of a mobile computing device 204 for identifying a user provided hotword.\",\n \"The mobile computing device 204 can be similar to the mobile computing device 106 of FIG.\",\n \"1.To that end, the mobile computing device 204 provides a first GUI 202a to a user 206 associated with the mobile computing device 204 that provides for display initiation of the process to identify the user provided hotword to be associated with an action (e.g., a process performed at least partially by the mobile computing device 204).\",\n \"In some examples, the first GUI 202a includes text 208 indicating to the user 206 to provide a hotword.\",\n \"For example, the text 208 includes “What would you like your Hotword to be to initiate a web search?” The user 206 provides an utterance 210 that the mobile computing device 204 detects.\",\n \"For example, the user 206 says the utterance 210 of “go gadget go” that the user 206 desires to be a hotword to initiate a web search.\",\n \"In response to detecting the utterance 210, the mobile computing device 204 provides a second GUI 202b to the user 206 that provides for display a proposed transcription of the detected utterance 210.In some examples, the second GUI 202b includes text 212 indicating to the user 206 to confirm, or reject, a transcription of the utterance 210.For example, the text 212 includes “We think you said ‘Go gadget go.’ If yes, please hit confirm button.\",\n \"If no, please hit reject button, and speak Hotword again.” To that end, the second GUI 202b further includes selectable buttons 214 and 216 that the user 206 is able to select to indicate whether to confirm that the transcription is correct, or reject the transcription.\",\n \"For example, upon selection of the selectable button 214 by the user 206, the mobile computing device 204 receives a confirmation that the transcription of “Go gadget go” corresponds to the utterance 210.Further, for example, upon selection of the selectable button 216 by the user 206, the mobile computing device 204 receives a rejection of the transcription corresponding to the utterance 210, e.g., an incorrect or inaccurate transcription.\",\n \"In some examples, the proposed transcription of the detected utterance 210 is not provided to the user 206 via the second GUI 202b.\",\n \"In response to receiving a confirmation that the transcription is correct, the mobile computing device 204 provides a third GUI 202c to the user 206 that provides for display a confirmation of the transcription of the detected utterance 210.In some examples, the third GUI 202c includes text 218 indicating to the user 206 that the user 206 has confirmed that the transcription of the utterance 210 is correct.\",\n \"For example, the text 218 includes “We have confirmed that your Hotword is ‘Go gadget go.’” Thus, the words “Go gadget go” have been established as associated with a hotword, and further associated with an action of initiating a web search.\",\n \"After establishing the hotword by the user 206, the user 206 can provide a hotword 220, e.g., via an utterance or text-input, to the mobile computing device 206, e.g., after identifying the user provided hotword.\",\n \"For example, the hotword 220 can include the words “go gadget go.” Thus, in response to receiving the hotword 220 of “go gadget go,” the mobile computing device 206 causes one or more actions to be performed, including initiating a web search, and provides a fourth GUI 202d to the user 206 that provides for display a description of the action to be taken associated with receiving the hotword 220.In some examples, the fourth GUI 202d includes text 222 of “Starting Search .\",\n \".\",\n \".\",\n \".” FIG.\",\n \"3 depicts a flowchart of an example process 300 for providing hotword models.\",\n \"The example process 300 can be executed using one or more computing devices.\",\n \"For example, the mobile computing device 102, 104, 106, the speech recognition engine 108, and the hotword configuration engine 112 can be used to execute the example process 500.For each of multiple words or sub-words, audio data corresponding to multiple users speaking the word or sub-word is obtained (302).\",\n \"For example, the speech recognition engine 208 obtains the waveforms 120 and 122 from the mobile computing devices 102 and 104, respectively, that correspond to the user 114 speaking the utterance 150 of “start my car” and the user 116 speaking the utterance 152 of “where do I buy a computer.” For each of the multiple words or sub-words, a pre-computed hotword model for the word or sub-word is trained based on the audio for the word or sub-word (304).\",\n \"For example, the hotword configuration engine 112 trains a pre-computed hotword model for each word or sub-word based on the waveforms 120 and 122.A candidate hotword is received from a mobile computing device (306).\",\n \"For example, the hotword configuration engine 112 receives the candidate hotword 129 of “start computer” from the mobile computing device 106.One or more pre-computed hotword models are identified that correspond to the candidate hotword (308).\",\n \"For example, the hotword configuration engine 112 identifies the pre-computed hotword models 128 stored by the vocabulary database 110 that correspond to the candidate hotword 129 of “start computer.” The identified, pre-computed hotword models are provided to the mobile computing device (310).\",\n \"For example, the hotword configuration engine 112 provides the pre-computed hotword models 134 to the mobile computing device 106.FIG.\",\n \"4 shows an example of a generic computer device 400 and a generic mobile computer device 450, which may be used with the techniques described here.\",\n \"Computing device 400 is intended to represent various forms of digital computers, such as laptops, desktops, workstations, personal digital assistants, servers, blade servers, mainframes, and other appropriate computers.\",\n \"Computing device 450 is intended to represent various forms of mobile devices, such as personal digital assistants, cellular telephones, smartphones, and other similar computing devices.\",\n \"The components shown here, their connections and relationships, and their functions, are meant to be exemplary only, and are not meant to limit implementations of the inventions described and/or claimed in this document.\",\n \"Computing device 400 includes a processor 402, memory 404, a storage device 406, a high-speed interface 408 connecting to memory 404 and high-speed expansion ports 410, and a low speed interface 412 connecting to low speed bus 414 and storage device 406.Each of the components 402, 404, 406, 408, 410, and 412, are interconnected using various busses, and may be mounted on a common motherboard or in other manners as appropriate.\",\n \"The processor 402 may process instructions for execution within the computing device 400, including instructions stored in the memory 404 or on the storage device 406 to display graphical information for a GUI on an external input/output device, such as display 416 coupled to high speed interface 408.In other implementations, multiple processors and/or multiple buses may be used, as appropriate, along with multiple memories and types of memory.\",\n \"Also, multiple computing devices 400 may be connected, with each device providing portions of the necessary operations (e.g., as a server bank, a group of blade servers, or a multi-processor system).\",\n \"The memory 404 stores information within the computing device 400.In one implementation, the memory 404 is a volatile memory unit or units.\",\n \"In another implementation, the memory 404 is a non-volatile memory unit or units.\",\n \"The memory 404 may also be another form of computer-readable medium, such as a magnetic or optical disk.\",\n \"The storage device 406 is capable of providing mass storage for the computing device 400.In one implementation, the storage device 406 may be or contain a computer-readable medium, such as a floppy disk device, a hard disk device, an optical disk device, or a tape device, a flash memory or other similar solid state memory device, or an array of devices, including devices in a storage area network or other configurations.\",\n \"A computer program product may be tangibly embodied in an information carrier.\",\n \"The computer program product may also contain instructions that, when executed, perform one or more methods, such as those described above.\",\n \"The information carrier is a computer- or machine-readable medium, such as the memory 404, the storage device 406, or a memory on processor 402.The high speed controller 408 manages bandwidth-intensive operations for the computing device 400, while the low speed controller 412 manages lower bandwidth-intensive operations.\",\n \"Such allocation of functions is exemplary only.\",\n \"In one implementation, the high-speed controller 408 is coupled to memory 404, display 416 (e.g., through a graphics processor or accelerator), and to high-speed expansion ports 410, which may accept various expansion cards (not shown).\",\n \"In the implementation, low-speed controller 412 is coupled to storage device 406 and low-speed expansion port 414.The low-speed expansion port, which may include various communication ports (e.g., USB, Bluetooth, Ethernet, wireless Ethernet) may be coupled to one or more input/output devices, such as a keyboard, a pointing device, a scanner, or a networking device such as a switch or router, e.g., through a network adapter.\",\n \"The computing device 400 may be implemented in a number of different forms, as shown in the figure.\",\n \"For example, it may be implemented as a standard server 420, or multiple times in a group of such servers.\",\n \"It may also be implemented as part of a rack server system 424.In addition, it may be implemented in a personal computer such as a laptop computer 422.Alternatively, components from computing device 400 may be combined with other components in a mobile device (not shown), such as device 450.Each of such devices may contain one or more of computing device 400, 450, and an entire system may be made up of multiple computing devices 400, 450 communicating with each other.\",\n \"Computing device 450 includes a processor 452, memory 464, an input/output device such as a display 454, a communication interface 466, and a transceiver 468, among other components.\",\n \"The device 450 may also be provided with a storage device, such as a microdrive or other device, to provide additional storage.\",\n \"Each of the components 450, 452, 464, 454, 466, and 468, are interconnected using various buses, and several of the components may be mounted on a common motherboard or in other manners as appropriate.\",\n \"The processor 452 may execute instructions within the computing device 640, including instructions stored in the memory 464.The processor may be implemented as a chipset of chips that include separate and multiple analog and digital processors.\",\n \"The processor may provide, for example, for coordination of the other components of the device 450, such as control of user interfaces, applications run by device 450, and wireless communication by device 450.Processor 452 may communicate with a user through control interface 648 and display interface 456 coupled to a display 454.The display 454 may be, for example, a TFT LCD (Thin-Film-Transistor Liquid Crystal Display) or an OLED (Organic Light Emitting Diode) display, or other appropriate display technology.\",\n \"The display interface 456 may comprise appropriate circuitry for driving the display 454 to present graphical and other information to a user.\",\n \"The control interface 458 may receive commands from a user and convert them for submission to the processor 452.In addition, an external interface 462 may be provide in communication with processor 452, so as to enable near area communication of device 450 with other devices.\",\n \"External interface 462 may provide, for example, for wired communication in some implementations, or for wireless communication in other implementations, and multiple interfaces may also be used.\",\n \"The memory 464 stores information within the computing device 450.The memory 464 may be implemented as one or more of a computer-readable medium or media, a volatile memory unit or units, or a non-volatile memory unit or units.\",\n \"Expansion memory 454 may also be provided and connected to device 450 through expansion interface 452, which may include, for example, a SIMM (Single In Line Memory Module) card interface.\",\n \"Such expansion memory 454 may provide extra storage space for device 450, or may also store applications or other information for device 450.Specifically, expansion memory 454 may include instructions to carry out or supplement the processes described above, and may include secure information also.\",\n \"Thus, for example, expansion memory 454 may be provide as a security module for device 450, and may be programmed with instructions that permit secure use of device 450.In addition, secure applications may be provided via the SIMM cards, along with additional information, such as placing identifying information on the SIMM card in a non-hackable manner.\",\n \"The memory may include, for example, flash memory and/or NVRAM memory, as discussed below.\",\n \"In one implementation, a computer program product is tangibly embodied in an information carrier.\",\n \"The computer program product contains instructions that, when executed, perform one or more methods, such as those described above.\",\n \"The information carrier is a computer- or machine-readable medium, such as the memory 464, expansion memory 454, memory on processor 452, or a propagated signal that may be received, for example, over transceiver 468 or external interface 462.Device 450 may communicate wirelessly through communication interface 466, which may include digital signal processing circuitry where necessary.\",\n \"Communication interface 466 may provide for communications under various modes or protocols, such as GSM voice calls, SMS, EMS, or MMS messaging, CDMA, TDMA, PDC, WCDMA, CDMA2000, or GPRS, among others.\",\n \"Such communication may occur, for example, through radio-frequency transceiver 468.In addition, short-range communication may occur, such as using a Bluetooth, WiFi, or other such transceiver (not shown).\",\n \"In addition, GPS (Global Positioning System) receiver module 450 may provide additional navigation- and location-related wireless data to device 450, which may be used as appropriate by applications running on device 450.Device 450 may also communicate audibly using audio codec 460, which may receive spoken information from a user and convert it to usable digital information.\",\n \"Audio codec 460 may likewise generate audible sound for a user, such as through a speaker, e.g., in a handset of device 450.Such sound may include sound from voice telephone calls, may include recorded sound (e.g., voice messages, music files, etc.)\",\n \"and may also include sound generated by applications operating on device 450.The computing device 450 may be implemented in a number of different forms, as shown in the figure.\",\n \"For example, it may be implemented as a cellular telephone 480.It may also be implemented as part of a smartphone 482, personal digital assistant, or other similar mobile device.\",\n \"Various implementations of the systems and techniques described here may be realized in digital electronic circuitry, integrated circuitry, specially designed ASICs (application specific integrated circuits), computer hardware, firmware, software, and/or combinations thereof.\",\n \"These various implementations may include implementation in one or more computer programs that are executable and/or interpretable on a programmable system including at least one programmable processor, which may be special or general purpose, coupled to receive data and instructions from, and to transmit data and instructions to, a storage system, at least one input device, and at least one output device.\",\n \"These computer programs (also known as programs, software, software applications or code) include machine instructions for a programmable processor, and may be implemented in a high-level procedural and/or object-oriented programming language, and/or in assembly/machine language.\",\n \"As used herein, the terms “machine-readable medium” “computer-readable medium” refers to any computer program product, apparatus and/or device (e.g., magnetic discs, optical disks, memory, Programmable Logic Devices (PLDs)) used to provide machine instructions and/or data to a programmable processor, including a machine-readable medium that receives machine instructions as a machine-readable signal.\",\n \"The term “machine-readable signal” refers to any signal used to provide machine instructions and/or data to a programmable processor.\",\n \"To provide for interaction with a user, the systems and techniques described here may be implemented on a computer having a display device (e.g., a CRT (cathode ray tube) or LCD (liquid crystal display) monitor) for displaying information to the user and a keyboard and a pointing device (e.g., a mouse or a trackball) by which the user may provide input to the computer.\",\n \"Other kinds of devices may be used to provide for interaction with a user as well; for example, feedback provided to the user may be any form of sensory feedback (e.g., visual feedback, auditory feedback, or tactile feedback); and input from the user may be received in any form, including acoustic, speech, or tactile input.\",\n \"The systems and techniques described here may be implemented in a computing system that includes a back end component (e.g., as a data server), or that includes a middleware component (e.g., an application server), or that includes a front end component (e.g., a client computer having a graphical user interface or a Web browser through which a user may interact with an implementation of the systems and techniques described here), or any combination of such back end, middleware, or front end components.\",\n \"The components of the system may be interconnected by any form or medium of digital data communication (e.g., a communication network).\",\n \"Examples of communication networks include a local area network (“LAN”), a wide area network (“WAN”), and the Internet.\",\n \"The computing system may include clients and servers.\",\n \"A client and server are generally remote from each other and typically interact through a communication network.\",\n \"The relationship of client and server arises by virtue of computer programs running on the respective computers and having a client-server relationship to each other.\",\n \"While this disclosure includes some specifics, these should not be construed as limitations on the scope of the disclosure or of what may be claimed, but rather as descriptions of features of example implementations of the disclosure.\",\n \"Certain features that are described in this disclosure in the context of separate implementations can also be provided in combination in a single implementation.\",\n \"Conversely, various features that are described in the context of a single implementation can also be provided in multiple implementations separately or in any suitable subcombination.\",\n \"Moreover, although features may be described above as acting in certain combinations and even initially claimed as such, one or more features from a claimed combination can in some cases be excised from the combination, and the claimed combination may be directed to a subcombination or variation of a subcombination.\",\n \"Similarly, while operations are depicted in the drawings in a particular order, this should not be understood as requiring that such operations be performed in the particular order shown or in sequential order, or that all illustrated operations be performed, to achieve desirable results.\",\n \"In certain circumstances, multitasking and parallel processing may be advantageous.\",\n \"Moreover, the separation of various system components in the implementations described above should not be understood as requiring such separation in all implementations, and it should be understood that the described program components and systems can generally be integrated together in a single software product or packaged into multiple software products.\",\n \"Thus, particular implementations of the present disclosure have been described.\",\n \"Other implementations are within the scope of the following claims.\",\n \"For example, the actions recited in the claims can be performed in a different order and still achieve desirable results.\",\n \"A number of implementations have been described.\",\n \"Nevertheless, it will be understood that various modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosure.\",\n \"For example, various forms of the flows shown above may be used, with steps re-ordered, added, or removed.\",\n \"Accordingly, other implementations are within the scope of the following claims.\"\n ]\n]"},"source":{"kind":"string","value":"Patent_15875996"}}},{"rowIdx":4495045,"cells":{"text":{"kind":"list like","value":[["INFORMATION PROCESSING APPARATUS, METHOD FOR CONTROLLING THE SAME, AND STORAGE MEDIUM","An information processing apparatus having a touch panel display includes a first detection unit configured to detect that an object touches the touch panel display, and a second detection unit configured to detect that the object touches an area of a display item on the touch panel display and then detect that the object moves outside the area of the display item while touching the touch panel display.","When the display item is in a flick or drag operation detectable area, the information processing apparatus performs control not to carry out processing associated with the display item in response to the detection by the second detection unit."],["1.An information processing apparatus, comprising: a touch panel display which is able to display a first area and a second area; a detection unit configured to detect that an instruction object touches the touch panel display, and configured to detect that the instruction object having been held in contact with the touch panel display is detached therefrom; and a control unit configured to, in a case where the detection unit detects that an instruction object touches an area of a display item on the touch panel display, select the display item which exists in the touched area, wherein the control unit performs control to carry out processing associated with the selected display item in a case where the selected display item is in the first are, the detection unit detects that the instruction object is detached from the touch panel display without a moving distance of the instruction object reaching a predetermined threshold value, and performs control to carry out processing associated with the selected display item in a case where the selected display item is in the first are, the moving distance of the instruction object reaches the predetermined threshold value without detecting, by the detecting unit, that the instruction object is detached from the touch panel display, and wherein the control unit performs control to carry out processing associated with the selected display item in a case where the selected display item is in the second are, the detection unit detects that the instruction object is detached from the touch panel display without the moving distance of the instruction object reaching the predetermined threshold value, and does not perform control to carry out processing associated with the selected display item in a case where the selected display item is in the second are, the moving distance of the instruction object reaches the predetermined threshold value without detecting, by the detection unit, that the instruction object is detached from the touch panel display.","2.The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein, in a case where the selected display item is in the second are, the moving distance of the instruction object reaches the predetermined threshold value without detecting, by the detecting unit, that the instruction object is detached from the touch panel display, the control unit scrolls the selected display item.","3.The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein, in a case where the selected display item is in the second are, the moving distance of the instruction object reaches the predetermined threshold value without detecting, by the detecting unit, that the instruction object is detached from the touch panel display, the control unit changes the currently displayed page to another page.","4.The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: a display control unit configured to, in a case where the selected display item is in the second are, the detection unit detects that the instruction object touches the area of the selected display item, indicate in an identifiable manner that the display item is selected, wherein, in a case where the selected display item is in the second are, the moving distance of the instruction object reaches the predetermined threshold value, the display control unit indicates in an identifiable manner that the selection of the display item is canceled.","5.The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the first area is an area which can detect a flick operation, and the second area is an area which cannot detect the flick operation.","6.A control method for controlling an information processing apparatus which has a touch panel display which is able to display a first area and a second area, comprising: detecting that an instruction object touches the touch panel display; detecting that the instruction object having been held in contact with the touch panel display is detached therefrom; selecting, in a case where it is detected that an instruction object touches an area of a display item on the touch panel display, the display item which exists in the touched area; carrying out processing associated with the selected display item in a case where the selected display item is in the first are, it is detected that the instruction object is detached from the touch panel display without a moving distance of the instruction object reaching a predetermined threshold value, and carrying out processing associated with the selected display item in a case where the selected display item is in the first are, the moving distance of the instruction object reaches the predetermined threshold value without detecting that the instruction object is detached from the touch panel display; and carrying out processing associated with the selected display item in a case where the selected display item is in the second are, it is detected that the instruction object is detached from the touch panel display without the moving distance of the instruction object reaching the predetermined threshold value, wherein processing associated with the selected display item is not carried out in a case where the selected display item is in the second are, the moving distance of the instruction object reaches the predetermined threshold value without detecting that the instruction object is detached from the touch panel display.","7.A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing a program for causing a computer to execute a method for controlling an information processing apparatus which has a touch panel display which is able to display a first area and a second area, comprising: detecting that an instruction object touches the touch panel display; detecting that the instruction object having been held in contact with the touch panel display is detached therefrom; selecting, in a case where it is detected that an instruction object touches an area of a display item on the touch panel display, the display item which exists in the touched area; carrying out processing associated with the selected display item in a case where the selected display item is in the first are, it is detected that the instruction object is detached from the touch panel display without a moving distance of the instruction object reaching a predetermined threshold value, and carrying out processing associated with the selected display item in a case where the selected display item is in the first are, the moving distance of the instruction object reaches the predetermined threshold value without detecting that the instruction object is detached from the touch panel display; and carrying out processing associated with the selected display item in a case where the selected display item is in the second are, it is detected that the instruction object is detached from the touch panel display without the moving distance of the instruction object reaching the predetermined threshold value, wherein processing associated with the selected display item is not carried out in a case where the selected display item is in the second are, the moving distance of the instruction object reaches the predetermined threshold value without detecting that the instruction object is detached from the touch panel display."],[" BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION "],[" SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present disclosure is directed to preventing selection of a display item from being canceled despite the user's intention and to preventing processing associated with a display item from being performed despite the user's intention when a flick or drag operation is performed on the display item.","According to an aspect of the present disclosure, an information processing apparatus having a touch panel display includes a first detection unit configured to detect that an instruction object touches the touch panel display, a second detection unit configured to detect that the instruction object is moving while touching the touch panel display, and a third detection unit configured to detect that the instruction object having been held in contact with the display is detached therefrom.","The information processing apparatus further includes a control unit configured to, in a case where the first detection unit detects that an instruction object touches an area of a display item on the touch panel display and then the second detection unit detects that the instruction object is moving while touching the touch panel display, perform control to carry out processing associated with the display item when the third detection unit detects that the instruction object is detached from the touch panel display before a moving distance of the instruction object reaches a predetermined threshold value, and not to perform control to carry out processing associated with the display item when the moving distance of the instruction object reaches the predetermined threshold value before the third detection unit detects that the instruction object is detached from the touch panel display.","Further features of the present disclosure will become apparent from the following description of exemplary embodiments with reference to the attached drawings."],["CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION This application is a Continuation of U.S. application Ser.","No.","14/793,442, filed Jul.","7, 2015, which claims the benefit of priority from Japanese Patent Application No.","2014-142729 filed Jul.","10, 2014, which are each hereby incorporated by reference herein in their entireties.","BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention The present disclosure generally relates to information processing and, more particularly, to an information processing apparatus having a touch panel display, a method for controlling the information processing apparatus, and a storage medium.","Description of the Related Art In recent years, image forming apparatuses having a touch panel display have been commonly used.","Such an image forming apparatus is provided with various applications such as copy, print, scan, and FAX transmission.","A user is able to make setting for each application and instruct the apparatus to start processing of each application by performing touch operations on software buttons on the touch panel display.","Button control on a touch panel display will be described below with reference to FIGS.","7A to 7D.","FIG.","7A illustrates an appearance of the touch panel display.","The touch panel display includes a touch panel area 701 which is comprised of a liquid crystal display (LCD) and a touch panel stuck thereon.","The touch panel display further includes software buttons 702 and 703.FIGS.","7B and 7C are sectional views illustrating the touch panel taken along a line 704 illustrated in FIG.","7A, and touch operations by the user.","A section 706 is equivalent to a line 707, and a width 705 of the button 702 in the X direction is equivalent to a button 708.Since the software buttons 702 and 703 on the touch panel display are 2-dimensionally formed, to make determinations in the X and the Y directions, it is necessary to detect a touch position.","However, since these determinations are similarly handled, one-dimensional representations are used to simplify descriptions in FIGS.","7B and 7C.","Generally, there are the following two different cases in button determination: A.","When the apparatus detects that a button area is pressed by the finger of a user, the apparatus performs processing associated with the pressed button.","B.","When the apparatus detects that a button area is pressed by the finger of a user and then the finger is detached from the relevant button area, the apparatus performs processing associated with the pressed button.","In a case of A, since the button operation by the user is input as soon as the user touches the button, the user can feel a light touch input.","For example, when a calculator having large buttons is displayed, the feeling of operation can be improved.","However, in a case of A, even if the user touches a button by mistake, the button operation by the user is input as soon as the button is touched.","To address this problem, the method in a case of B is used to provide accuracy in button depression.","Case B is a case which is a subject of exemplary embodiments of the present invention and will be described in detail below.","FIG.","7B illustrates a case where the user touches a button area (709) with the finger and then detaches the finger from the button area (710).","In this case, when the apparatus detects that the finger touches the button area, the relevant button is put in the selection state.","Then, when the apparatus detects that the finger is detached from the button area, the apparatus performs processing associated with the selected button.","For example, when a copy button on a menu screen is selected, the screen changes to a copy application setting screen.","When a color setting button on the copy application setting screen is selected, the screen changes to a color setting screen.","FIGS.","7C and 7D illustrate a case where the user touches a button area (711) with the finger, moves the finger outside the button area while keeping it in contact with the button area, and then detaches the finger (712).","In this case, when the apparatus detects that the finger has been moved outside the button area as illustrated in FIG.","7C, the button selection is canceled.","Therefore, if the user presses a button by mistake, the user is able to cancel execution of processing associated with the button by moving the finger out of the button area while keeping it in contact with the button area, and then detaching the finger.","However, in a case of a small-sized button such as the button 703, the user's finger may be moved out of the button area by slight motion of the finger although the user thinks the finger is detached from the button area after touching the button inside the button area.","As a result, the execution of processing associated with the button will be canceled despite the user's intention.","To solve such a problem, an image forming apparatus performs control in the following way.","When the apparatus detects that the finger of a user touches a button area and then the finger is moved out of the button area, the apparatus performs processing associated with the button as illustrated in FIG.","7D.","By performing such control, even if the user operates a small-sized button, the execution of processing associated with the button can be prevented from being canceled despite the user's intention.","Lately, some image forming apparatuses have a touch panel display supporting flick operations.","A flick operation refers to an operation in which the user quickly flips the surface of the touch panel display with the finger.","Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No.","2011-210009 discusses an image forming apparatus which is provided with a plurality of applications such as copy and print, and displays a menu screen arranging icons for selecting applications to be used.","Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No.","2011-210009 discusses a technique for smoothly scrolling the screen with a flick operation to change pages when icons do not fit into one page of the menu screen, so that the user can select an arbitrary application out of the plurality of applications provided by the image forming apparatus.","However, when it is enabled to perform flick operations in an image forming apparatus which performs button control as illustrated in FIG.","7D, the following problems will arise.","More specifically, in a case where the user performs the flick operation in a button area, processing associated with the button will be performed when the user moves the finger out of the relevant button area.","As a result, although the user performs a flick operation to change a page, processing associated with the button will be performed despite the user's intention.","Such a problem is not limited to a button, and may commonly arise with any display item which is scrollable by a flick or drag operation and is associated with processing to be performed when pressed by the user.","SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present disclosure is directed to preventing selection of a display item from being canceled despite the user's intention and to preventing processing associated with a display item from being performed despite the user's intention when a flick or drag operation is performed on the display item.","According to an aspect of the present disclosure, an information processing apparatus having a touch panel display includes a first detection unit configured to detect that an instruction object touches the touch panel display, a second detection unit configured to detect that the instruction object is moving while touching the touch panel display, and a third detection unit configured to detect that the instruction object having been held in contact with the display is detached therefrom.","The information processing apparatus further includes a control unit configured to, in a case where the first detection unit detects that an instruction object touches an area of a display item on the touch panel display and then the second detection unit detects that the instruction object is moving while touching the touch panel display, perform control to carry out processing associated with the display item when the third detection unit detects that the instruction object is detached from the touch panel display before a moving distance of the instruction object reaches a predetermined threshold value, and not to perform control to carry out processing associated with the display item when the moving distance of the instruction object reaches the predetermined threshold value before the third detection unit detects that the instruction object is detached from the touch panel display.","Further features of the present disclosure will become apparent from the following description of exemplary embodiments with reference to the attached drawings.","BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG.","1 illustrates a hardware configuration of an image forming apparatus according to exemplary embodiments of the present invention.","FIGS.","2A, 2B, and 2C illustrate examples of a custom menu screen displayed on a display of the image forming apparatus according to exemplary embodiments of the present invention.","FIG.","3 illustrates an example of a copy application setting screen displayed on the display of the image forming apparatus according to exemplary embodiments of the present invention.","FIGS.","4A and 4B illustrate problems of the present invention.","FIG.","5 is a flowchart illustrating operations of an image forming apparatus according to a first exemplary embodiment.","FIG.","6 is a flowchart illustrating operations of an image forming apparatus according to a second exemplary embodiment.","FIGS.","7A, 7B, 7C, and 7D illustrate button control on a touch panel display.","DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS Various exemplary embodiments, features, and aspects of the disclosure will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.","A first exemplary embodiment will be described below.","FIG.","1 illustrates a hardware configuration of an image forming apparatus 101 to which each exemplary embodiment of the present invention is applicable.","A central processing unit (CPU) 111, a random access memory (RAM) 112, a read only memory (ROM) 113, an input unit 114, a display control unit 115, an external memory interface (I/F) 116, a printer I/F 117, a scanner I/F 118, and a communication I/F controller 119 are connected to a system bus 110.Further, a touch panel 120, a display 121, an external memory 122, a printer 123, and a scanner 124 are connected to the system bus 110.Each unit connected to the system bus 110 is configured to enable transmitting and receiving data to/from other units via the system bus 110.As used herein, the term “unit” generally refers to any combination of software, firmware, hardware, or other component, such as circuitry, that is used to effectuate a purpose.","The ROM 113, a nonvolatile memory, stores in respective predetermined areas image data, non-image data, and various programs for operation to be executed by the CPU 111.The RAM 112, a volatile memory, is used as a main memory for the CPU 111 and a temporary storage area such as a work area.","The CPU 111 controls each unit of the image forming apparatus 101, for example, according to a program stored in the ROM 113 by using the RAM 112 as a work memory.","Programs for operation to be executed by the CPU 111 are not necessarily stored in the ROM 113 and may be prestored in the external memory 122, such as a hard disk.","The input unit 114 receives a user operation, generates a control signal according to the operation, and supplies the control signal to the CPU 111.For example, the input unit 114 includes the touch panel 120 as an input device for receiving the user operation.","The touch panel 120 is an input device for outputting coordinates information, for example, according to a touched position on the planarly configured input unit 114.Based on the control signal generated and supplied in response to the user operation performed on the input device, the CPU 111 controls each unit of the image forming apparatus 101 according to programs.","Thus, the CPU 111 is able to instruct the image forming apparatus 101 to perform an operation in response to the user operation.","The display control unit 115 outputs a display signal for displaying an image to the display 121.For example, a display control signal generated by the CPU 111 according to a program is supplied to the display control unit 115.The display control unit 115 generates a display signal based on the display control signal, and outputs the display signal to the display 121.For example, based on the display control signal generated by the CPU 111, the display control unit 115 displays a graphical user interface (GUI) screen on the display 121.The touch panel 120 is configured integrally with the display 121 to function as a touch panel display.","For example, the touch panel 120 is configured so that transmissivity of light does not disturb display of the display 121, and is arranged on the upper layer of the display surface of the display 121.The input coordinates on the touch panel 120 are associated with the display coordinates on the display 121.Thus, a GUI can be configured to allow an operation as if the user directly operates the screen displayed on the display 121.The touch panel 120 may be any type, such as resistance film type, capacitance type, surface acoustic wave type, infrared-ray type, electromagnetic induction type, image recognition type, and optical sensor type.","The external memory 122, such as a hard disk, a compact disc (CD), a digital versatile disc (DVD), and a memory card, can be attached to the external memory I/F 116.Under the control of the CPU 111, the external memory I/F 116 writes and reads data to/from the attached external memory 122.The printer 123 is connected to the printer I/F 117.Under the control of the CPU 111, image data to be printed by the printer 123 is transmitted to the printer 123 via the printer I/F 117 and then printed on a recording medium by the printer 123.The scanner 124 is connected to the scanner I/F 118.Under the control of the CPU 111, the scanner 124 reads an image on a document to generate image data.","The generated image data is stored in the RAM 112 and the ROM 113 via the scanner I/F 118.When the printer 123 performs printing based on the image data generated by the scanner 124, the copy function is achieved.","Under the control of the CPU 111, the communication I/F controller 119 performs communication with a network 102, such as a local area network (LAN), the Internet, and other wired and wireless networks.","For example, image data generated by the scanner 124 can be transmitted to the outside via the network 102, and image data received from the outside via the network 102 can be printed by the printer 123.The CPU 111 is able to detect, for example, the following operations and states of the touch panel 120: having touched the touch panel with the finger or pen (object) (hereinafter referred to as a “touch-down”), moving the finger or pen while keeping it in contact with the touch panel (hereinafter referred to as a “move”), a state where the finger or pen is held in contact with the touch panel (hereinafter referred to as a “touch-on”), and detaching the finger or pen from the touch panel (hereinafter referred to as a “touch-up”).","The CPU 111 is further able to detect a touch-down in a software button area displayed on the display 121 and then detect that the finger or pen is moved out of the software button area while being held in contact with the touch panel (herein after referred to as an “exit”).","The touch panel 120 is a multi-touch detectable touch panel.","More specifically, even when a touch-down, a touch-on, a move, and a touch-up are performed by a plurality of fingers and pens at the same time, the touch panel 120 is able to detect respective operations and states.","These operations and coordinates of a position touched by the finger or pen on the touch panel 120 are transferred to the CPU 111 via the system bus 110.The CPU 111 determines operation performed on the touch panel 120 based on the transferred information.","For a move, the CPU 111 determines the moving direction of the finger or pen on the touch panel 120 based on changes of the position coordinates for each of the vertical and the horizontal components on the touch panel 120.FIGS.","2A, 2B, 2C, and 3 illustrate screens displayed on the display 121 of the image forming apparatus 101.The image forming apparatus 101 is provided with a copy function of optically reading an image of a document of a paper medium, converting the image into electronic data, performing image processing on the data, and printing the data on another paper medium.","The image forming apparatus 101 is further provided with a “scan and send” function (send function) of transmitting the read electronic data to other apparatuses via the network 102.The image forming apparatus 101 is further provided with a “scan and store” function (box function) of storing the read electronic data in the external memory 122.The image forming apparatus 101 is further provided with a web browser function of arranging and displaying a Hyper Text Markup Language (HTML) contents acquired from an external server via the network 102.The image forming apparatus 101 independently stores the above-described functions as different applications in the ROM 113.The CPU 111 executes a required application according to a user's operation.","FIGS.","2A to 2C illustrate custom menu screens displayed on the display 121.The custom menu refers to a function of storing setting values of applications, displaying application buttons on a screen, and, when an application button is pressed, reproducing stored setting values and displaying a relevant application screen.","Referring to FIG.","2A, a button display area 201 displays application buttons for invoking different applications.","Each of the application buttons displayed in the button display area 201 is associated with each application provided by the image forming apparatus 101 and relevant setting values.","When the user presses an application button displayed in the button display area 201, the application screen associated with the relevant button is displayed and setting values associated with the button are reflected therein.","Further, the application buttons displayed in the button display area 201 can also be associated with user information authenticated through user authentication.","A title and a comment can be set to each application button displayed in the button display area 201.The user who registers the button is able to arbitrarily set the title and the comment.","For example, a title “Copy” and a comment “Two-sided, 2 Copies” are displayed on a button 202.More specifically, each button displays an application name and an icon associated with the button, and a title and a comment regarding the setting values.","The button 202 is associated with a copy application and associated with setting values for two-sided printing and 2 copies.","When the user selects the button 202, the screen illustrated in FIG.","3 (described below) is displayed.","A my button 203 is used to display only application buttons associated with the currently authenticated user in the button display area 201.A shared button 204 is used to display only application buttons associated with all users, i.e., application buttons usable by all users in the button display area 201.A page position display mark 205 schematically represents each page with a circle mark, indicating that a plurality of pages is virtually arranged in the horizontal direction.","In this case, the page position display marks 205 indicate that the custom menu includes 3 pages and that the currently displayed screen is the first page (the page virtually arranged at the leftmost position).","The button display area 201 includes page change buttons 206 and 207.The page change button 206 is used to indicate change to the page virtually arranged to the right of the currently displayed page.","The page change button 207 is used to indicate change to the page virtually arranged to the left of the currently displayed page.","If there exists no page to the right or left of the currently displayed page, the page change button 206 or 207 is displayed in grayout (disabled).","For example, referring to FIG.","2A, the button 207 is displayed in grayout because there exists no page to the left of the currently displayed page.","When the user presses the page change button 206 on the screen illustrated in FIG.","2A, the application button list in the button display area 201 scrolls to the left (see FIG.","2B) and the screen illustrated in FIG.","2C is displayed.","On the screen illustrated in FIG.","2C, the page position display mark 205 indicating the currently displayed page has been moved to the middle, which indicates that the second page is currently displayed.","The custom menu screens illustrated in FIGS.","2A to 2C further include a flick operation detectable area 208 in which a flick or drag operation by the user can be detected.","A flick operation is an operation in which the user quickly moves the finger while keeping it in contact with the touch panel over a predetermined distance and then detaches the finger.","In other words, the user flips the surface of the touch panel with a quick movement of the finger.","When the CPU 111 detects a touch-down in the flick operation detectable area 208, a move at a predetermined speed or faster over a predetermined distance or longer, and then a touch-up, the application button list scrolls following the finger motion and then the page changes.","A drag operation is an operation to move the finger over a predetermined distance or longer keeping it in contact with the touch panel.","When the CPU 111 detects a touch-down in the flick operation detectable area 208, a move over a predetermined distance or longer, and then a touch-on, the application button list scrolls following the finger motion and then the page changes.","For example, when the user performs a flick operation from right to left in the flick operation detectable area 208 on the screen illustrated in FIG.","2A, the application button list scrolls to the left (see FIG.","2B) and the screen illustrated in FIG.","2C is displayed.","When the user performs a flick operation from left to right in the flick operation detectable area 208 on the screen illustrated in FIG.","2C, the application button list scrolls to the right and the screen illustrated in FIG.","2A is displayed.","FIG.","3 illustrates a copy application setting screen displayed when the button 202 illustrated in FIG.","2A is selected.","An icon 301 indicates setting of two-sided printing.","An icon 302 indicates that the number of copies is set to 2.The copy application setting screen illustrated in FIG.","3 is a screen in which a flick or drag operation by the user is not detectable.","Therefore, even if the user performs a flick or drag operation on the screen illustrated in FIG.","3, buttons are not scrolled and the screen is not changed.","Thus, screens displayed on the image forming apparatus 101 include screens having an area in which a flick operation is detectable (hereinafter simply referred to as a flickable area) and screens having only an area in which a flick operation is not detectable.","Button control on the touch panel display on the image forming apparatus 101 will be described in detail below.","On the copy application setting screen illustrated in FIG.","3, when a touch-down is detected in a button area, the relevant button is put into a selection state (for example, the button is highlighted), as illustrated in FIG.","7B.","When a touch-up is detected inside the button area, processing associated with the selected button is performed.","Further, on the copy application setting screen illustrated in FIG.","3, button control as illustrated in FIG.","7C is not performed but button control as illustrated in FIG.","7D is performed.","More specifically, when a touch-down is detected in a button area, the relevant button is put into the selection state.","Then, when a move is detected and an exit is subsequently detected, processing associated with the selected button is performed.","Also in each application screen (“scan and send”, “scan and store”, “web browser”, etc.","), similar button control to the one illustrated in FIG.","3 is performed.","Meanwhile, when similar button control is performed on the custom menu screen illustrated in FIGS.","2A to 2C, a problem may arise when a flick or drag operation is performed.","FIGS.","4A and 4B illustrate the relevant problem.","Referring to FIG.","4A, the user performs a flick operation to change pages.","In this case, if the starting position of the flick operation (a touch-down detection position 401) is outside a button area, the application button list is scrolled according to the user's intention and the page is changed.","On the other hand, if the starting position of the flick operation is in a button area, the button is put into the selection state (an application button 402 is highlighted in FIG.","4A) when a touch-down is detected.","Then, when the user's finger is moved by a flick operation 403 outside the button area, an exit is detected and processing associated with the application button 402 will be performed.","As a result, the screen will be changed to the copy application setting screen illustrated in FIG.","4B despite the user's intention to change pages in the custom menu screen.","A similar problem occurs not only in a flick operation but also in a drag operation.","The image forming apparatus 101 according to the present exemplary embodiment performs control not to execute processing associated with the selected button even when a touch-down is detected in a button area in the flickable area, and an exit is subsequently detected.","This enables preventing processing associated with the selected button from being performed despite the user's intention when the user performs a flick operation to change pages.","When an exit is detected, processing associated with the relevant button is not performed and the button selection is not canceled.","The button selection is canceled when a move is detected, i.e., when the CPU 111 detects that the finger moves over a predetermined distance in the horizontal direction (X direction) from the touch-down detection position.","The purpose of performing such control will be described below.","For example, when operating a button having a comparatively small size such as the page change buttons 206 and 207, the finger may be moved outside the button area by slight motion of the finger although the user thinks the finger is placed inside the button area and then is detached from the relevant button area.","In this case, if the button selection is canceled when an exit is detected, the execution of processing is canceled despite the user's intention and the page will not be changed.","Therefore, with the above-described control, even if the finger is placed inside the button area and then moved outside the button area, processing associated with the selected button is performed as long as the operation is a move within a distance shorter than the predetermined distance.","This enables achieving button control reflecting the user's intention.","FIG.","5 is a flowchart performed by the image forming apparatus 101 when a touch operation is performed on the touch panel 120 by the user.","Each step of the flowchart illustrated in FIG.","5 is implemented when the CPU 111 executes a program stored in the ROM 113 or the external memory 122.In step S501, the CPU 111 determines whether a touch-down is detected in a button area.","When a touch-down is detected outside the button area (NO in step S501), the processing proceeds to the step S515.In step S515, the CPU 111 performs processing for the case where the finger is placed outside the button area.","For example, when the CPU 111 detects a touch-down a move at a predetermined speed or faster over a predetermined distance or longer, and then a touch-up in the flickable area (see FIG.","2A), the application button list scrolls following the finger motion and then the page changes.","On the other hand, when the CPU 111 detects a touch-down outside the flickable area, the CPU 111 performs no specific processing.","When a touch-down is detected in a button area (YES in step S501), then in step S502, the CPU 111 sets the relevant button in the selection state.","The display control unit 115 highlights the button in the selection state to enable the user to recognize that the button is selected.","In step S503, the CPU 111 determines whether the button exists in the flickable area.","When it is determined that the button does not exist in the flickable area (for example, a button in the copy application setting screen illustrated in FIG.","3) (NO in step S503), the processing proceeds to step S504.On the other hand, when it is determined that the button exists in the flickable area (for example, a button on the custom menu screen illustrated in FIGS.","2A to 2C) (YES in step S503), the processing proceeds to step S508.When the CPU 111 detects a touch-up (YES in step S504), then in step S505, the CPU 111 performs processing associated with the selected button.","Then, the processing exits the flowchart.","When the CPU 111 does not detect a touch-up (NO in step S504) and detects a move (YES in step S506), then in step S507, the CPU 111 determines whether an exit is detected.","When the CPU 111 detects an exit (YES in step S507), the processing proceeds to step S505.In step S505, the CPU 111 performs processing associated with the selected button.","When the CPU 111 detects a move (YES in step S506), does not detect an exit (NO in step S507), and detects a touch-up (YES in step S504), the processing proceeds to step S505.More specifically, even in the case where the user touches the button area with the finger and then the finger is slightly moved, processing associated with the relevant button is performed when the finger is detached from the touch panel 120 as long as the finger is moved within the relevant button area.","When the CPU 111 detects a touch-up (YES in step S508), then in step S505, the CPU 111 performs processing associated with the selected button.","When the CPU 111 does not detect a touch-up (NO in step S508) and detects a move (YES in step S509), the processing proceeds to step S510.When the CPU 111 detects an exit (YES in step S510), the processing returns to step S508.More specifically, in the case where a button is in the flickable area, even when the finger is moved outside the button area, processing associated with the selected button is not performed.","When the CPU 111 does not detect an exit (NO in step S510) and detects that the distance of a move from the touch-down position has reached a predetermined threshold value (YES in step S511), then in step S512, the CPU 111 cancels the button selection.","The display control unit 115 restores the button in the selection state to the normal display state to enable the user to recognize that the button selection is canceled.","When the user performs a flick or drag operation to change page, the CPU 111 determines that the distance of a move has reached the predetermined threshold value (YES in step S511).","In step S513, the CPU 111 determines whether the currently displayed page is to be changed.","When the CPU 111 determines that the currently displayed page is to be changed (YES in step S513), then in step S514, the CPU 111 performs screen transition as illustrated in FIGS.","2A to 2C.","As described above, when a touch-down is detected in a button area on the touch panel display, the image forming apparatus 101 according to the present exemplary embodiment switches button control methods according to whether the button exists in the flickable area.","More specifically, in the case where a button is in a flick operation undetectable area, the image forming apparatus 101 performs processing associated with the button when the user moves the finger outside the relevant button area.","On the other hand, in the case where a button is in the flickable area, the image forming apparatus 101 performs control not to perform processing associated with the button when the finger is moved outside the relevant button area.","Further, in the case where a button is in the flickable area, the image forming apparatus 101 cancels the button selection when the finger moves over a predetermined distance.","According to the present exemplary embodiment, it is possible to prevent selection of a button from being canceled despite the user's intention and to prevent processing associated with a button from being performed despite the user's intention when the user performs a flick or drag operation on the relevant button.","In the first exemplary embodiment described above, in a case where a touch-down is detected in a button area in the flickable area, processing associated with the button is not performed when the finger is moved outside the relevant button area.","In the present exemplary embodiment, in the case where a button is in the flickable area but is not scrollable by a flick or drag operation, processing associated with the button is performed when the finger is moved out of the relevant button area, similar to a button in a flick operation undetectable area.","Buttons not scrollable by a flick or drag operation are buttons other than the application buttons illustrated in FIGS.","2A to 2C, i.e., not scrollable buttons are the my button 203, the shared button 204, and the page change buttons 206 and 207.A second exemplary embodiment will be described below mainly with respect to differences from the first exemplary embodiment.","FIG.","6 is a flowchart illustrating operations of the image forming apparatus 101 according to the second exemplary embodiment.","Steps identical to those of the flowchart illustrated in FIG.","5 are assigned the same step number.","The flowchart illustrated in FIG.","6 differs from the flowchart illustrated in FIG.","5 in that processing in step S601 is added.","The following descriptions will be made mainly with respect to the difference.","Similar to the flowchart illustrated in FIG.","5, each step of the flowchart illustrated in FIG.","6 is implemented when the CPU 111 executes a program stored in the ROM 113 of the image forming apparatus 101 or the external memory 120.When the button exists in the flickable area (YES in step S503), then in step S601, the CPU 111 determines whether the button is scrollable by a flick or drag operation.","When the button is scrollable by a flick or drag operation (YES in step S601), the processing proceeds to step S508 and subsequent steps.","When the button is not scrollable by a flick or drag operation (NO in step S601), the processing proceeds to step S504 and subsequent steps.","Thus, in the present exemplary embodiment, in the case of a button which is in the flickable area but is not scrollable by a flick or drag operation, processing associated with the button is performed when an exit is detected similar to the case of buttons in a flick operation undetectable area.","Specifically, when a touch-down is detected in the button area, the image forming apparatus 101 according to the present exemplary embodiment switches button control methods according to whether the relevant button is scrollable by a flick or drag operation.","More specifically, in the case of a button not scrollable by a flick or drag operation, the image forming apparatus 101 performs control to carry out processing associated with the button when the user subsequently moves the finger outside the button area.","On the other hand, in the case of a button scrollable by a flick or drag operation, the image forming apparatus 101 performs control not to perform processing associated with the button when the finger is subsequently moved outside the button area.","Then, the image forming apparatus 101 performs control to cancels the button selection when the finger is moved over a predetermined distance.","It is considered that, when the user performs a flick operation, the user generally performs a direct operation on a scrollable button by touching it, and seldom performs a flick operation on a button not scrollable by a flick operation.","Therefore, even in the case of a button which is in the flick operation detectable area 208 but is not scrollable, the user's operability can be improved by performing button control similar to button control in a flick operation undetectable area.","While the present disclosure has specifically been described based on exemplary embodiments, the present disclosure is not limited thereto but can be modified in diverse ways without departing from the spirit and scope thereof.","Further, parts of the above-described exemplary embodiments may be suitably combined.","For example, display items which are in a scrollable manner displayed on the touch panel display are not limited to application buttons in the custom menu screen.","The present disclosure may be applied to buttons which are in a scrollable manner displayed by a flick or drag operation on screens other than the custom menu screen.","In addition to buttons, the present disclosure is also applicable to images, icons, and any other items, as long as it is in a scrollable manner displayed on a screen, and processing associated with the item is performed when a display item is pressed by the user.","The present disclosure is applicable not only to display items which scroll in the horizontal direction but also to display items which scroll in the vertical and oblique directions and display items which scroll in all direction.","Although the above-described exemplary embodiments are described based on the image forming apparatus 101 having a plurality of functions such as a copy function and a scanner function, the present invention is also applicable to an image processing apparatus having only some of these functions.","The present disclosure may be applied to other information processing apparatuses such as personal computers, personal digital assistants (PDAs) mobile phones, facsimiles, cameras, video cameras, and other image viewers.","As described above, according to the present exemplary embodiment, it is possible to prevent selection of a display item from being canceled despite the user's intention and, when a flick or drag operation is performed on a displayed item, to prevent processing associated with the display item from being performed despite the user's intention.","Other Embodiments Embodiment(s) of the present disclosure can also be realized by a computer of a system or apparatus that reads out and executes computer executable instructions (e.g., one or more programs) recorded on a storage medium (which may also be referred to more fully as a ‘non-transitory computer-readable storage medium’) to perform the functions of one or more of the above-described embodiment(s) and/or that includes one or more circuits (e.g., application specific integrated circuit (ASIC)) for performing the functions of one or more of the above-described embodiment(s), and by a method performed by the computer of the system or apparatus by, for example, reading out and executing the computer executable instructions from the storage medium to perform the functions of one or more of the above-described embodiment(s) and/or controlling the one or more circuits to perform the functions of one or more of the above-described embodiment(s).","The computer may comprise one or more processors (e.g., central processing unit (CPU), micro processing unit (MPU)) and may include a network of separate computers or separate processors to read out and execute the computer executable instructions.","The computer executable instructions may be provided to the computer, for example, from a network or the storage medium.","The storage medium may include, for example, one or more of a hard disk, a random-access memory (RAM), a read only memory (ROM), a storage of distributed computing systems, an optical disk (such as a compact disc (CD), digital versatile disc (DVD), or Blu-ray Disc (BD)™), a flash memory device, a memory card, and the like.","While the present disclosure has been described with reference to exemplary embodiments, it is to be understood that the disclosure is not limited to the disclosed exemplary embodiments.","The scope of the following claims is to be accorded the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and equivalent structures and functions."]],"string":"[\n [\n \"INFORMATION PROCESSING APPARATUS, METHOD FOR CONTROLLING THE SAME, AND STORAGE MEDIUM\",\n \"An information processing apparatus having a touch panel display includes a first detection unit configured to detect that an object touches the touch panel display, and a second detection unit configured to detect that the object touches an area of a display item on the touch panel display and then detect that the object moves outside the area of the display item while touching the touch panel display.\",\n \"When the display item is in a flick or drag operation detectable area, the information processing apparatus performs control not to carry out processing associated with the display item in response to the detection by the second detection unit.\"\n ],\n [\n \"1.An information processing apparatus, comprising: a touch panel display which is able to display a first area and a second area; a detection unit configured to detect that an instruction object touches the touch panel display, and configured to detect that the instruction object having been held in contact with the touch panel display is detached therefrom; and a control unit configured to, in a case where the detection unit detects that an instruction object touches an area of a display item on the touch panel display, select the display item which exists in the touched area, wherein the control unit performs control to carry out processing associated with the selected display item in a case where the selected display item is in the first are, the detection unit detects that the instruction object is detached from the touch panel display without a moving distance of the instruction object reaching a predetermined threshold value, and performs control to carry out processing associated with the selected display item in a case where the selected display item is in the first are, the moving distance of the instruction object reaches the predetermined threshold value without detecting, by the detecting unit, that the instruction object is detached from the touch panel display, and wherein the control unit performs control to carry out processing associated with the selected display item in a case where the selected display item is in the second are, the detection unit detects that the instruction object is detached from the touch panel display without the moving distance of the instruction object reaching the predetermined threshold value, and does not perform control to carry out processing associated with the selected display item in a case where the selected display item is in the second are, the moving distance of the instruction object reaches the predetermined threshold value without detecting, by the detection unit, that the instruction object is detached from the touch panel display.\",\n \"2.The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein, in a case where the selected display item is in the second are, the moving distance of the instruction object reaches the predetermined threshold value without detecting, by the detecting unit, that the instruction object is detached from the touch panel display, the control unit scrolls the selected display item.\",\n \"3.The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein, in a case where the selected display item is in the second are, the moving distance of the instruction object reaches the predetermined threshold value without detecting, by the detecting unit, that the instruction object is detached from the touch panel display, the control unit changes the currently displayed page to another page.\",\n \"4.The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: a display control unit configured to, in a case where the selected display item is in the second are, the detection unit detects that the instruction object touches the area of the selected display item, indicate in an identifiable manner that the display item is selected, wherein, in a case where the selected display item is in the second are, the moving distance of the instruction object reaches the predetermined threshold value, the display control unit indicates in an identifiable manner that the selection of the display item is canceled.\",\n \"5.The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the first area is an area which can detect a flick operation, and the second area is an area which cannot detect the flick operation.\",\n \"6.A control method for controlling an information processing apparatus which has a touch panel display which is able to display a first area and a second area, comprising: detecting that an instruction object touches the touch panel display; detecting that the instruction object having been held in contact with the touch panel display is detached therefrom; selecting, in a case where it is detected that an instruction object touches an area of a display item on the touch panel display, the display item which exists in the touched area; carrying out processing associated with the selected display item in a case where the selected display item is in the first are, it is detected that the instruction object is detached from the touch panel display without a moving distance of the instruction object reaching a predetermined threshold value, and carrying out processing associated with the selected display item in a case where the selected display item is in the first are, the moving distance of the instruction object reaches the predetermined threshold value without detecting that the instruction object is detached from the touch panel display; and carrying out processing associated with the selected display item in a case where the selected display item is in the second are, it is detected that the instruction object is detached from the touch panel display without the moving distance of the instruction object reaching the predetermined threshold value, wherein processing associated with the selected display item is not carried out in a case where the selected display item is in the second are, the moving distance of the instruction object reaches the predetermined threshold value without detecting that the instruction object is detached from the touch panel display.\",\n \"7.A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing a program for causing a computer to execute a method for controlling an information processing apparatus which has a touch panel display which is able to display a first area and a second area, comprising: detecting that an instruction object touches the touch panel display; detecting that the instruction object having been held in contact with the touch panel display is detached therefrom; selecting, in a case where it is detected that an instruction object touches an area of a display item on the touch panel display, the display item which exists in the touched area; carrying out processing associated with the selected display item in a case where the selected display item is in the first are, it is detected that the instruction object is detached from the touch panel display without a moving distance of the instruction object reaching a predetermined threshold value, and carrying out processing associated with the selected display item in a case where the selected display item is in the first are, the moving distance of the instruction object reaches the predetermined threshold value without detecting that the instruction object is detached from the touch panel display; and carrying out processing associated with the selected display item in a case where the selected display item is in the second are, it is detected that the instruction object is detached from the touch panel display without the moving distance of the instruction object reaching the predetermined threshold value, wherein processing associated with the selected display item is not carried out in a case where the selected display item is in the second are, the moving distance of the instruction object reaches the predetermined threshold value without detecting that the instruction object is detached from the touch panel display.\"\n ],\n [\n \" BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION \"\n ],\n [\n \" SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present disclosure is directed to preventing selection of a display item from being canceled despite the user's intention and to preventing processing associated with a display item from being performed despite the user's intention when a flick or drag operation is performed on the display item.\",\n \"According to an aspect of the present disclosure, an information processing apparatus having a touch panel display includes a first detection unit configured to detect that an instruction object touches the touch panel display, a second detection unit configured to detect that the instruction object is moving while touching the touch panel display, and a third detection unit configured to detect that the instruction object having been held in contact with the display is detached therefrom.\",\n \"The information processing apparatus further includes a control unit configured to, in a case where the first detection unit detects that an instruction object touches an area of a display item on the touch panel display and then the second detection unit detects that the instruction object is moving while touching the touch panel display, perform control to carry out processing associated with the display item when the third detection unit detects that the instruction object is detached from the touch panel display before a moving distance of the instruction object reaches a predetermined threshold value, and not to perform control to carry out processing associated with the display item when the moving distance of the instruction object reaches the predetermined threshold value before the third detection unit detects that the instruction object is detached from the touch panel display.\",\n \"Further features of the present disclosure will become apparent from the following description of exemplary embodiments with reference to the attached drawings.\"\n ],\n [\n \"CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION This application is a Continuation of U.S. application Ser.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"14/793,442, filed Jul.\",\n \"7, 2015, which claims the benefit of priority from Japanese Patent Application No.\",\n \"2014-142729 filed Jul.\",\n \"10, 2014, which are each hereby incorporated by reference herein in their entireties.\",\n \"BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention The present disclosure generally relates to information processing and, more particularly, to an information processing apparatus having a touch panel display, a method for controlling the information processing apparatus, and a storage medium.\",\n \"Description of the Related Art In recent years, image forming apparatuses having a touch panel display have been commonly used.\",\n \"Such an image forming apparatus is provided with various applications such as copy, print, scan, and FAX transmission.\",\n \"A user is able to make setting for each application and instruct the apparatus to start processing of each application by performing touch operations on software buttons on the touch panel display.\",\n \"Button control on a touch panel display will be described below with reference to FIGS.\",\n \"7A to 7D.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"7A illustrates an appearance of the touch panel display.\",\n \"The touch panel display includes a touch panel area 701 which is comprised of a liquid crystal display (LCD) and a touch panel stuck thereon.\",\n \"The touch panel display further includes software buttons 702 and 703.FIGS.\",\n \"7B and 7C are sectional views illustrating the touch panel taken along a line 704 illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"7A, and touch operations by the user.\",\n \"A section 706 is equivalent to a line 707, and a width 705 of the button 702 in the X direction is equivalent to a button 708.Since the software buttons 702 and 703 on the touch panel display are 2-dimensionally formed, to make determinations in the X and the Y directions, it is necessary to detect a touch position.\",\n \"However, since these determinations are similarly handled, one-dimensional representations are used to simplify descriptions in FIGS.\",\n \"7B and 7C.\",\n \"Generally, there are the following two different cases in button determination: A.\",\n \"When the apparatus detects that a button area is pressed by the finger of a user, the apparatus performs processing associated with the pressed button.\",\n \"B.\",\n \"When the apparatus detects that a button area is pressed by the finger of a user and then the finger is detached from the relevant button area, the apparatus performs processing associated with the pressed button.\",\n \"In a case of A, since the button operation by the user is input as soon as the user touches the button, the user can feel a light touch input.\",\n \"For example, when a calculator having large buttons is displayed, the feeling of operation can be improved.\",\n \"However, in a case of A, even if the user touches a button by mistake, the button operation by the user is input as soon as the button is touched.\",\n \"To address this problem, the method in a case of B is used to provide accuracy in button depression.\",\n \"Case B is a case which is a subject of exemplary embodiments of the present invention and will be described in detail below.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"7B illustrates a case where the user touches a button area (709) with the finger and then detaches the finger from the button area (710).\",\n \"In this case, when the apparatus detects that the finger touches the button area, the relevant button is put in the selection state.\",\n \"Then, when the apparatus detects that the finger is detached from the button area, the apparatus performs processing associated with the selected button.\",\n \"For example, when a copy button on a menu screen is selected, the screen changes to a copy application setting screen.\",\n \"When a color setting button on the copy application setting screen is selected, the screen changes to a color setting screen.\",\n \"FIGS.\",\n \"7C and 7D illustrate a case where the user touches a button area (711) with the finger, moves the finger outside the button area while keeping it in contact with the button area, and then detaches the finger (712).\",\n \"In this case, when the apparatus detects that the finger has been moved outside the button area as illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"7C, the button selection is canceled.\",\n \"Therefore, if the user presses a button by mistake, the user is able to cancel execution of processing associated with the button by moving the finger out of the button area while keeping it in contact with the button area, and then detaching the finger.\",\n \"However, in a case of a small-sized button such as the button 703, the user's finger may be moved out of the button area by slight motion of the finger although the user thinks the finger is detached from the button area after touching the button inside the button area.\",\n \"As a result, the execution of processing associated with the button will be canceled despite the user's intention.\",\n \"To solve such a problem, an image forming apparatus performs control in the following way.\",\n \"When the apparatus detects that the finger of a user touches a button area and then the finger is moved out of the button area, the apparatus performs processing associated with the button as illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"7D.\",\n \"By performing such control, even if the user operates a small-sized button, the execution of processing associated with the button can be prevented from being canceled despite the user's intention.\",\n \"Lately, some image forming apparatuses have a touch panel display supporting flick operations.\",\n \"A flick operation refers to an operation in which the user quickly flips the surface of the touch panel display with the finger.\",\n \"Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No.\",\n \"2011-210009 discusses an image forming apparatus which is provided with a plurality of applications such as copy and print, and displays a menu screen arranging icons for selecting applications to be used.\",\n \"Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No.\",\n \"2011-210009 discusses a technique for smoothly scrolling the screen with a flick operation to change pages when icons do not fit into one page of the menu screen, so that the user can select an arbitrary application out of the plurality of applications provided by the image forming apparatus.\",\n \"However, when it is enabled to perform flick operations in an image forming apparatus which performs button control as illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"7D, the following problems will arise.\",\n \"More specifically, in a case where the user performs the flick operation in a button area, processing associated with the button will be performed when the user moves the finger out of the relevant button area.\",\n \"As a result, although the user performs a flick operation to change a page, processing associated with the button will be performed despite the user's intention.\",\n \"Such a problem is not limited to a button, and may commonly arise with any display item which is scrollable by a flick or drag operation and is associated with processing to be performed when pressed by the user.\",\n \"SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present disclosure is directed to preventing selection of a display item from being canceled despite the user's intention and to preventing processing associated with a display item from being performed despite the user's intention when a flick or drag operation is performed on the display item.\",\n \"According to an aspect of the present disclosure, an information processing apparatus having a touch panel display includes a first detection unit configured to detect that an instruction object touches the touch panel display, a second detection unit configured to detect that the instruction object is moving while touching the touch panel display, and a third detection unit configured to detect that the instruction object having been held in contact with the display is detached therefrom.\",\n \"The information processing apparatus further includes a control unit configured to, in a case where the first detection unit detects that an instruction object touches an area of a display item on the touch panel display and then the second detection unit detects that the instruction object is moving while touching the touch panel display, perform control to carry out processing associated with the display item when the third detection unit detects that the instruction object is detached from the touch panel display before a moving distance of the instruction object reaches a predetermined threshold value, and not to perform control to carry out processing associated with the display item when the moving distance of the instruction object reaches the predetermined threshold value before the third detection unit detects that the instruction object is detached from the touch panel display.\",\n \"Further features of the present disclosure will become apparent from the following description of exemplary embodiments with reference to the attached drawings.\",\n \"BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG.\",\n \"1 illustrates a hardware configuration of an image forming apparatus according to exemplary embodiments of the present invention.\",\n \"FIGS.\",\n \"2A, 2B, and 2C illustrate examples of a custom menu screen displayed on a display of the image forming apparatus according to exemplary embodiments of the present invention.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"3 illustrates an example of a copy application setting screen displayed on the display of the image forming apparatus according to exemplary embodiments of the present invention.\",\n \"FIGS.\",\n \"4A and 4B illustrate problems of the present invention.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"5 is a flowchart illustrating operations of an image forming apparatus according to a first exemplary embodiment.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"6 is a flowchart illustrating operations of an image forming apparatus according to a second exemplary embodiment.\",\n \"FIGS.\",\n \"7A, 7B, 7C, and 7D illustrate button control on a touch panel display.\",\n \"DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS Various exemplary embodiments, features, and aspects of the disclosure will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.\",\n \"A first exemplary embodiment will be described below.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"1 illustrates a hardware configuration of an image forming apparatus 101 to which each exemplary embodiment of the present invention is applicable.\",\n \"A central processing unit (CPU) 111, a random access memory (RAM) 112, a read only memory (ROM) 113, an input unit 114, a display control unit 115, an external memory interface (I/F) 116, a printer I/F 117, a scanner I/F 118, and a communication I/F controller 119 are connected to a system bus 110.Further, a touch panel 120, a display 121, an external memory 122, a printer 123, and a scanner 124 are connected to the system bus 110.Each unit connected to the system bus 110 is configured to enable transmitting and receiving data to/from other units via the system bus 110.As used herein, the term “unit” generally refers to any combination of software, firmware, hardware, or other component, such as circuitry, that is used to effectuate a purpose.\",\n \"The ROM 113, a nonvolatile memory, stores in respective predetermined areas image data, non-image data, and various programs for operation to be executed by the CPU 111.The RAM 112, a volatile memory, is used as a main memory for the CPU 111 and a temporary storage area such as a work area.\",\n \"The CPU 111 controls each unit of the image forming apparatus 101, for example, according to a program stored in the ROM 113 by using the RAM 112 as a work memory.\",\n \"Programs for operation to be executed by the CPU 111 are not necessarily stored in the ROM 113 and may be prestored in the external memory 122, such as a hard disk.\",\n \"The input unit 114 receives a user operation, generates a control signal according to the operation, and supplies the control signal to the CPU 111.For example, the input unit 114 includes the touch panel 120 as an input device for receiving the user operation.\",\n \"The touch panel 120 is an input device for outputting coordinates information, for example, according to a touched position on the planarly configured input unit 114.Based on the control signal generated and supplied in response to the user operation performed on the input device, the CPU 111 controls each unit of the image forming apparatus 101 according to programs.\",\n \"Thus, the CPU 111 is able to instruct the image forming apparatus 101 to perform an operation in response to the user operation.\",\n \"The display control unit 115 outputs a display signal for displaying an image to the display 121.For example, a display control signal generated by the CPU 111 according to a program is supplied to the display control unit 115.The display control unit 115 generates a display signal based on the display control signal, and outputs the display signal to the display 121.For example, based on the display control signal generated by the CPU 111, the display control unit 115 displays a graphical user interface (GUI) screen on the display 121.The touch panel 120 is configured integrally with the display 121 to function as a touch panel display.\",\n \"For example, the touch panel 120 is configured so that transmissivity of light does not disturb display of the display 121, and is arranged on the upper layer of the display surface of the display 121.The input coordinates on the touch panel 120 are associated with the display coordinates on the display 121.Thus, a GUI can be configured to allow an operation as if the user directly operates the screen displayed on the display 121.The touch panel 120 may be any type, such as resistance film type, capacitance type, surface acoustic wave type, infrared-ray type, electromagnetic induction type, image recognition type, and optical sensor type.\",\n \"The external memory 122, such as a hard disk, a compact disc (CD), a digital versatile disc (DVD), and a memory card, can be attached to the external memory I/F 116.Under the control of the CPU 111, the external memory I/F 116 writes and reads data to/from the attached external memory 122.The printer 123 is connected to the printer I/F 117.Under the control of the CPU 111, image data to be printed by the printer 123 is transmitted to the printer 123 via the printer I/F 117 and then printed on a recording medium by the printer 123.The scanner 124 is connected to the scanner I/F 118.Under the control of the CPU 111, the scanner 124 reads an image on a document to generate image data.\",\n \"The generated image data is stored in the RAM 112 and the ROM 113 via the scanner I/F 118.When the printer 123 performs printing based on the image data generated by the scanner 124, the copy function is achieved.\",\n \"Under the control of the CPU 111, the communication I/F controller 119 performs communication with a network 102, such as a local area network (LAN), the Internet, and other wired and wireless networks.\",\n \"For example, image data generated by the scanner 124 can be transmitted to the outside via the network 102, and image data received from the outside via the network 102 can be printed by the printer 123.The CPU 111 is able to detect, for example, the following operations and states of the touch panel 120: having touched the touch panel with the finger or pen (object) (hereinafter referred to as a “touch-down”), moving the finger or pen while keeping it in contact with the touch panel (hereinafter referred to as a “move”), a state where the finger or pen is held in contact with the touch panel (hereinafter referred to as a “touch-on”), and detaching the finger or pen from the touch panel (hereinafter referred to as a “touch-up”).\",\n \"The CPU 111 is further able to detect a touch-down in a software button area displayed on the display 121 and then detect that the finger or pen is moved out of the software button area while being held in contact with the touch panel (herein after referred to as an “exit”).\",\n \"The touch panel 120 is a multi-touch detectable touch panel.\",\n \"More specifically, even when a touch-down, a touch-on, a move, and a touch-up are performed by a plurality of fingers and pens at the same time, the touch panel 120 is able to detect respective operations and states.\",\n \"These operations and coordinates of a position touched by the finger or pen on the touch panel 120 are transferred to the CPU 111 via the system bus 110.The CPU 111 determines operation performed on the touch panel 120 based on the transferred information.\",\n \"For a move, the CPU 111 determines the moving direction of the finger or pen on the touch panel 120 based on changes of the position coordinates for each of the vertical and the horizontal components on the touch panel 120.FIGS.\",\n \"2A, 2B, 2C, and 3 illustrate screens displayed on the display 121 of the image forming apparatus 101.The image forming apparatus 101 is provided with a copy function of optically reading an image of a document of a paper medium, converting the image into electronic data, performing image processing on the data, and printing the data on another paper medium.\",\n \"The image forming apparatus 101 is further provided with a “scan and send” function (send function) of transmitting the read electronic data to other apparatuses via the network 102.The image forming apparatus 101 is further provided with a “scan and store” function (box function) of storing the read electronic data in the external memory 122.The image forming apparatus 101 is further provided with a web browser function of arranging and displaying a Hyper Text Markup Language (HTML) contents acquired from an external server via the network 102.The image forming apparatus 101 independently stores the above-described functions as different applications in the ROM 113.The CPU 111 executes a required application according to a user's operation.\",\n \"FIGS.\",\n \"2A to 2C illustrate custom menu screens displayed on the display 121.The custom menu refers to a function of storing setting values of applications, displaying application buttons on a screen, and, when an application button is pressed, reproducing stored setting values and displaying a relevant application screen.\",\n \"Referring to FIG.\",\n \"2A, a button display area 201 displays application buttons for invoking different applications.\",\n \"Each of the application buttons displayed in the button display area 201 is associated with each application provided by the image forming apparatus 101 and relevant setting values.\",\n \"When the user presses an application button displayed in the button display area 201, the application screen associated with the relevant button is displayed and setting values associated with the button are reflected therein.\",\n \"Further, the application buttons displayed in the button display area 201 can also be associated with user information authenticated through user authentication.\",\n \"A title and a comment can be set to each application button displayed in the button display area 201.The user who registers the button is able to arbitrarily set the title and the comment.\",\n \"For example, a title “Copy” and a comment “Two-sided, 2 Copies” are displayed on a button 202.More specifically, each button displays an application name and an icon associated with the button, and a title and a comment regarding the setting values.\",\n \"The button 202 is associated with a copy application and associated with setting values for two-sided printing and 2 copies.\",\n \"When the user selects the button 202, the screen illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"3 (described below) is displayed.\",\n \"A my button 203 is used to display only application buttons associated with the currently authenticated user in the button display area 201.A shared button 204 is used to display only application buttons associated with all users, i.e., application buttons usable by all users in the button display area 201.A page position display mark 205 schematically represents each page with a circle mark, indicating that a plurality of pages is virtually arranged in the horizontal direction.\",\n \"In this case, the page position display marks 205 indicate that the custom menu includes 3 pages and that the currently displayed screen is the first page (the page virtually arranged at the leftmost position).\",\n \"The button display area 201 includes page change buttons 206 and 207.The page change button 206 is used to indicate change to the page virtually arranged to the right of the currently displayed page.\",\n \"The page change button 207 is used to indicate change to the page virtually arranged to the left of the currently displayed page.\",\n \"If there exists no page to the right or left of the currently displayed page, the page change button 206 or 207 is displayed in grayout (disabled).\",\n \"For example, referring to FIG.\",\n \"2A, the button 207 is displayed in grayout because there exists no page to the left of the currently displayed page.\",\n \"When the user presses the page change button 206 on the screen illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"2A, the application button list in the button display area 201 scrolls to the left (see FIG.\",\n \"2B) and the screen illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"2C is displayed.\",\n \"On the screen illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"2C, the page position display mark 205 indicating the currently displayed page has been moved to the middle, which indicates that the second page is currently displayed.\",\n \"The custom menu screens illustrated in FIGS.\",\n \"2A to 2C further include a flick operation detectable area 208 in which a flick or drag operation by the user can be detected.\",\n \"A flick operation is an operation in which the user quickly moves the finger while keeping it in contact with the touch panel over a predetermined distance and then detaches the finger.\",\n \"In other words, the user flips the surface of the touch panel with a quick movement of the finger.\",\n \"When the CPU 111 detects a touch-down in the flick operation detectable area 208, a move at a predetermined speed or faster over a predetermined distance or longer, and then a touch-up, the application button list scrolls following the finger motion and then the page changes.\",\n \"A drag operation is an operation to move the finger over a predetermined distance or longer keeping it in contact with the touch panel.\",\n \"When the CPU 111 detects a touch-down in the flick operation detectable area 208, a move over a predetermined distance or longer, and then a touch-on, the application button list scrolls following the finger motion and then the page changes.\",\n \"For example, when the user performs a flick operation from right to left in the flick operation detectable area 208 on the screen illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"2A, the application button list scrolls to the left (see FIG.\",\n \"2B) and the screen illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"2C is displayed.\",\n \"When the user performs a flick operation from left to right in the flick operation detectable area 208 on the screen illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"2C, the application button list scrolls to the right and the screen illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"2A is displayed.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"3 illustrates a copy application setting screen displayed when the button 202 illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"2A is selected.\",\n \"An icon 301 indicates setting of two-sided printing.\",\n \"An icon 302 indicates that the number of copies is set to 2.The copy application setting screen illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"3 is a screen in which a flick or drag operation by the user is not detectable.\",\n \"Therefore, even if the user performs a flick or drag operation on the screen illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"3, buttons are not scrolled and the screen is not changed.\",\n \"Thus, screens displayed on the image forming apparatus 101 include screens having an area in which a flick operation is detectable (hereinafter simply referred to as a flickable area) and screens having only an area in which a flick operation is not detectable.\",\n \"Button control on the touch panel display on the image forming apparatus 101 will be described in detail below.\",\n \"On the copy application setting screen illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"3, when a touch-down is detected in a button area, the relevant button is put into a selection state (for example, the button is highlighted), as illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"7B.\",\n \"When a touch-up is detected inside the button area, processing associated with the selected button is performed.\",\n \"Further, on the copy application setting screen illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"3, button control as illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"7C is not performed but button control as illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"7D is performed.\",\n \"More specifically, when a touch-down is detected in a button area, the relevant button is put into the selection state.\",\n \"Then, when a move is detected and an exit is subsequently detected, processing associated with the selected button is performed.\",\n \"Also in each application screen (“scan and send”, “scan and store”, “web browser”, etc.\",\n \"), similar button control to the one illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"3 is performed.\",\n \"Meanwhile, when similar button control is performed on the custom menu screen illustrated in FIGS.\",\n \"2A to 2C, a problem may arise when a flick or drag operation is performed.\",\n \"FIGS.\",\n \"4A and 4B illustrate the relevant problem.\",\n \"Referring to FIG.\",\n \"4A, the user performs a flick operation to change pages.\",\n \"In this case, if the starting position of the flick operation (a touch-down detection position 401) is outside a button area, the application button list is scrolled according to the user's intention and the page is changed.\",\n \"On the other hand, if the starting position of the flick operation is in a button area, the button is put into the selection state (an application button 402 is highlighted in FIG.\",\n \"4A) when a touch-down is detected.\",\n \"Then, when the user's finger is moved by a flick operation 403 outside the button area, an exit is detected and processing associated with the application button 402 will be performed.\",\n \"As a result, the screen will be changed to the copy application setting screen illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"4B despite the user's intention to change pages in the custom menu screen.\",\n \"A similar problem occurs not only in a flick operation but also in a drag operation.\",\n \"The image forming apparatus 101 according to the present exemplary embodiment performs control not to execute processing associated with the selected button even when a touch-down is detected in a button area in the flickable area, and an exit is subsequently detected.\",\n \"This enables preventing processing associated with the selected button from being performed despite the user's intention when the user performs a flick operation to change pages.\",\n \"When an exit is detected, processing associated with the relevant button is not performed and the button selection is not canceled.\",\n \"The button selection is canceled when a move is detected, i.e., when the CPU 111 detects that the finger moves over a predetermined distance in the horizontal direction (X direction) from the touch-down detection position.\",\n \"The purpose of performing such control will be described below.\",\n \"For example, when operating a button having a comparatively small size such as the page change buttons 206 and 207, the finger may be moved outside the button area by slight motion of the finger although the user thinks the finger is placed inside the button area and then is detached from the relevant button area.\",\n \"In this case, if the button selection is canceled when an exit is detected, the execution of processing is canceled despite the user's intention and the page will not be changed.\",\n \"Therefore, with the above-described control, even if the finger is placed inside the button area and then moved outside the button area, processing associated with the selected button is performed as long as the operation is a move within a distance shorter than the predetermined distance.\",\n \"This enables achieving button control reflecting the user's intention.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"5 is a flowchart performed by the image forming apparatus 101 when a touch operation is performed on the touch panel 120 by the user.\",\n \"Each step of the flowchart illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"5 is implemented when the CPU 111 executes a program stored in the ROM 113 or the external memory 122.In step S501, the CPU 111 determines whether a touch-down is detected in a button area.\",\n \"When a touch-down is detected outside the button area (NO in step S501), the processing proceeds to the step S515.In step S515, the CPU 111 performs processing for the case where the finger is placed outside the button area.\",\n \"For example, when the CPU 111 detects a touch-down a move at a predetermined speed or faster over a predetermined distance or longer, and then a touch-up in the flickable area (see FIG.\",\n \"2A), the application button list scrolls following the finger motion and then the page changes.\",\n \"On the other hand, when the CPU 111 detects a touch-down outside the flickable area, the CPU 111 performs no specific processing.\",\n \"When a touch-down is detected in a button area (YES in step S501), then in step S502, the CPU 111 sets the relevant button in the selection state.\",\n \"The display control unit 115 highlights the button in the selection state to enable the user to recognize that the button is selected.\",\n \"In step S503, the CPU 111 determines whether the button exists in the flickable area.\",\n \"When it is determined that the button does not exist in the flickable area (for example, a button in the copy application setting screen illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"3) (NO in step S503), the processing proceeds to step S504.On the other hand, when it is determined that the button exists in the flickable area (for example, a button on the custom menu screen illustrated in FIGS.\",\n \"2A to 2C) (YES in step S503), the processing proceeds to step S508.When the CPU 111 detects a touch-up (YES in step S504), then in step S505, the CPU 111 performs processing associated with the selected button.\",\n \"Then, the processing exits the flowchart.\",\n \"When the CPU 111 does not detect a touch-up (NO in step S504) and detects a move (YES in step S506), then in step S507, the CPU 111 determines whether an exit is detected.\",\n \"When the CPU 111 detects an exit (YES in step S507), the processing proceeds to step S505.In step S505, the CPU 111 performs processing associated with the selected button.\",\n \"When the CPU 111 detects a move (YES in step S506), does not detect an exit (NO in step S507), and detects a touch-up (YES in step S504), the processing proceeds to step S505.More specifically, even in the case where the user touches the button area with the finger and then the finger is slightly moved, processing associated with the relevant button is performed when the finger is detached from the touch panel 120 as long as the finger is moved within the relevant button area.\",\n \"When the CPU 111 detects a touch-up (YES in step S508), then in step S505, the CPU 111 performs processing associated with the selected button.\",\n \"When the CPU 111 does not detect a touch-up (NO in step S508) and detects a move (YES in step S509), the processing proceeds to step S510.When the CPU 111 detects an exit (YES in step S510), the processing returns to step S508.More specifically, in the case where a button is in the flickable area, even when the finger is moved outside the button area, processing associated with the selected button is not performed.\",\n \"When the CPU 111 does not detect an exit (NO in step S510) and detects that the distance of a move from the touch-down position has reached a predetermined threshold value (YES in step S511), then in step S512, the CPU 111 cancels the button selection.\",\n \"The display control unit 115 restores the button in the selection state to the normal display state to enable the user to recognize that the button selection is canceled.\",\n \"When the user performs a flick or drag operation to change page, the CPU 111 determines that the distance of a move has reached the predetermined threshold value (YES in step S511).\",\n \"In step S513, the CPU 111 determines whether the currently displayed page is to be changed.\",\n \"When the CPU 111 determines that the currently displayed page is to be changed (YES in step S513), then in step S514, the CPU 111 performs screen transition as illustrated in FIGS.\",\n \"2A to 2C.\",\n \"As described above, when a touch-down is detected in a button area on the touch panel display, the image forming apparatus 101 according to the present exemplary embodiment switches button control methods according to whether the button exists in the flickable area.\",\n \"More specifically, in the case where a button is in a flick operation undetectable area, the image forming apparatus 101 performs processing associated with the button when the user moves the finger outside the relevant button area.\",\n \"On the other hand, in the case where a button is in the flickable area, the image forming apparatus 101 performs control not to perform processing associated with the button when the finger is moved outside the relevant button area.\",\n \"Further, in the case where a button is in the flickable area, the image forming apparatus 101 cancels the button selection when the finger moves over a predetermined distance.\",\n \"According to the present exemplary embodiment, it is possible to prevent selection of a button from being canceled despite the user's intention and to prevent processing associated with a button from being performed despite the user's intention when the user performs a flick or drag operation on the relevant button.\",\n \"In the first exemplary embodiment described above, in a case where a touch-down is detected in a button area in the flickable area, processing associated with the button is not performed when the finger is moved outside the relevant button area.\",\n \"In the present exemplary embodiment, in the case where a button is in the flickable area but is not scrollable by a flick or drag operation, processing associated with the button is performed when the finger is moved out of the relevant button area, similar to a button in a flick operation undetectable area.\",\n \"Buttons not scrollable by a flick or drag operation are buttons other than the application buttons illustrated in FIGS.\",\n \"2A to 2C, i.e., not scrollable buttons are the my button 203, the shared button 204, and the page change buttons 206 and 207.A second exemplary embodiment will be described below mainly with respect to differences from the first exemplary embodiment.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"6 is a flowchart illustrating operations of the image forming apparatus 101 according to the second exemplary embodiment.\",\n \"Steps identical to those of the flowchart illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"5 are assigned the same step number.\",\n \"The flowchart illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"6 differs from the flowchart illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"5 in that processing in step S601 is added.\",\n \"The following descriptions will be made mainly with respect to the difference.\",\n \"Similar to the flowchart illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"5, each step of the flowchart illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"6 is implemented when the CPU 111 executes a program stored in the ROM 113 of the image forming apparatus 101 or the external memory 120.When the button exists in the flickable area (YES in step S503), then in step S601, the CPU 111 determines whether the button is scrollable by a flick or drag operation.\",\n \"When the button is scrollable by a flick or drag operation (YES in step S601), the processing proceeds to step S508 and subsequent steps.\",\n \"When the button is not scrollable by a flick or drag operation (NO in step S601), the processing proceeds to step S504 and subsequent steps.\",\n \"Thus, in the present exemplary embodiment, in the case of a button which is in the flickable area but is not scrollable by a flick or drag operation, processing associated with the button is performed when an exit is detected similar to the case of buttons in a flick operation undetectable area.\",\n \"Specifically, when a touch-down is detected in the button area, the image forming apparatus 101 according to the present exemplary embodiment switches button control methods according to whether the relevant button is scrollable by a flick or drag operation.\",\n \"More specifically, in the case of a button not scrollable by a flick or drag operation, the image forming apparatus 101 performs control to carry out processing associated with the button when the user subsequently moves the finger outside the button area.\",\n \"On the other hand, in the case of a button scrollable by a flick or drag operation, the image forming apparatus 101 performs control not to perform processing associated with the button when the finger is subsequently moved outside the button area.\",\n \"Then, the image forming apparatus 101 performs control to cancels the button selection when the finger is moved over a predetermined distance.\",\n \"It is considered that, when the user performs a flick operation, the user generally performs a direct operation on a scrollable button by touching it, and seldom performs a flick operation on a button not scrollable by a flick operation.\",\n \"Therefore, even in the case of a button which is in the flick operation detectable area 208 but is not scrollable, the user's operability can be improved by performing button control similar to button control in a flick operation undetectable area.\",\n \"While the present disclosure has specifically been described based on exemplary embodiments, the present disclosure is not limited thereto but can be modified in diverse ways without departing from the spirit and scope thereof.\",\n \"Further, parts of the above-described exemplary embodiments may be suitably combined.\",\n \"For example, display items which are in a scrollable manner displayed on the touch panel display are not limited to application buttons in the custom menu screen.\",\n \"The present disclosure may be applied to buttons which are in a scrollable manner displayed by a flick or drag operation on screens other than the custom menu screen.\",\n \"In addition to buttons, the present disclosure is also applicable to images, icons, and any other items, as long as it is in a scrollable manner displayed on a screen, and processing associated with the item is performed when a display item is pressed by the user.\",\n \"The present disclosure is applicable not only to display items which scroll in the horizontal direction but also to display items which scroll in the vertical and oblique directions and display items which scroll in all direction.\",\n \"Although the above-described exemplary embodiments are described based on the image forming apparatus 101 having a plurality of functions such as a copy function and a scanner function, the present invention is also applicable to an image processing apparatus having only some of these functions.\",\n \"The present disclosure may be applied to other information processing apparatuses such as personal computers, personal digital assistants (PDAs) mobile phones, facsimiles, cameras, video cameras, and other image viewers.\",\n \"As described above, according to the present exemplary embodiment, it is possible to prevent selection of a display item from being canceled despite the user's intention and, when a flick or drag operation is performed on a displayed item, to prevent processing associated with the display item from being performed despite the user's intention.\",\n \"Other Embodiments Embodiment(s) of the present disclosure can also be realized by a computer of a system or apparatus that reads out and executes computer executable instructions (e.g., one or more programs) recorded on a storage medium (which may also be referred to more fully as a ‘non-transitory computer-readable storage medium’) to perform the functions of one or more of the above-described embodiment(s) and/or that includes one or more circuits (e.g., application specific integrated circuit (ASIC)) for performing the functions of one or more of the above-described embodiment(s), and by a method performed by the computer of the system or apparatus by, for example, reading out and executing the computer executable instructions from the storage medium to perform the functions of one or more of the above-described embodiment(s) and/or controlling the one or more circuits to perform the functions of one or more of the above-described embodiment(s).\",\n \"The computer may comprise one or more processors (e.g., central processing unit (CPU), micro processing unit (MPU)) and may include a network of separate computers or separate processors to read out and execute the computer executable instructions.\",\n \"The computer executable instructions may be provided to the computer, for example, from a network or the storage medium.\",\n \"The storage medium may include, for example, one or more of a hard disk, a random-access memory (RAM), a read only memory (ROM), a storage of distributed computing systems, an optical disk (such as a compact disc (CD), digital versatile disc (DVD), or Blu-ray Disc (BD)™), a flash memory device, a memory card, and the like.\",\n \"While the present disclosure has been described with reference to exemplary embodiments, it is to be understood that the disclosure is not limited to the disclosed exemplary embodiments.\",\n \"The scope of the following claims is to be accorded the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and equivalent structures and functions.\"\n ]\n]"},"source":{"kind":"string","value":"Patent_15875998"}}},{"rowIdx":4495046,"cells":{"text":{"kind":"list like","value":[["OFF-AXIS EPITAXIAL LIFT OFF PROCESS","Embodiments described herein provide processes for forming and removing epitaxial films and materials from growth wafers by epitaxial lift off (ELO) processes.","In some embodiments, the growth wafer has edge surfaces with an off-axis orientation which is utilized during the ELO process.","The off-axis orientation of the edge surface provides an additional variable for controlling the etch rate during the ELO process and therefore the etch front may be modulated to prevent the formation of high stress points which reduces or prevents stressing and cracking the epitaxial film stack.","In one embodiment, the growth wafer is rectangular and has an edge surface with an off-axis orientation rotated by an angle greater than 0° and up to 90° relative to an edge orientation of <110> at 0°."],["1.A method for forming an epitaxial film stack during an epitaxial lift off process, the method comprising: providing a growth wafer diced from a piece of semiconductor material, the growth wafer having a plurality of edge surfaces, wherein none of the plurality of edge surfaces has an orientation that is perpendicular to the crystallographic orientation of the piece of semiconductor material, and wherein none of the plurality of edge surfaces has an orientation that is parallel to the crystallographic orientation of the piece of semiconductor material; growing a sacrificial layer over the growth wafer; forming the epitaxial film stack over the sacrificial layer; and removing the sacrificial layer by an etching process, the etching process including a first etch rate of the sacrificial layer near corners of the plurality of edge surfaces that is different than a second etch rate of the sacrificial layer near sides of the plurality of edge surfaces.","2.The method of claim 1, wherein the orientation of each of the edge surfaces includes an off-axis orientation that is at an angle greater than 0° and less than 90° with respect to the crystallographic orientation of the piece of semiconductor material, the crystallographic orientation being a <110> crystal lattice orientation.","3.The method of claim 1, wherein the etching process is a lateral etching process that produces an etch front of a wet etch solution that encompasses the sacrificial layer at an interface of the wet etch solution and the sacrificial layer.","4.The method of claim 3, wherein the etch front forms substantially octagonal geometry comprising alternating sides of a plurality of side edge fronts and corner edge fronts.","5.The method of claim 4, wherein the corner edge fronts advance at the first etch rate of the sacrificial layer near the corners of the plurality of edge surfaces and the side edge fronts advance at the second etch rate of the sacrificial layer near the sides of the plurality of edge surfaces.","6.The method of claim 4, wherein the plurality of side edge fronts and corner edge fronts converge at a center of the sacrificial layer at a same time to complete the removal of the sacrificial layer.","7.The method of claim 3, further comprising: separating the epitaxial film stack from the growth wafer after removal of the sacrificial layer, wherein the geometry of the etch front of the sacrificial layer transitions during the epitaxial lift off process from a substantially rectangular geometry, to a substantially octagonal geometry, and then to a substantially rounded geometry.","8.The method of claim 3, wherein the sacrificial layer has a rectangular geometry and comprises side edges and corners prior to being exposed to the wet etch solution.","9.The method of claim 1, wherein the growth wafer is diced from the piece of semiconductor material at an angle that is 45° and corresponds to an off-axis orientation of the growth wafer relative to the wafer.","10.The method of claim 1, wherein the first etch rate is 1.4 times the second etch rate.","11.The method of claim 1, wherein the first etch rate is faster than the second etch rate.","12.The method of claim 1, wherein each edge surface of the growth wafer is oriented in a direction other than that of a cleavage plane of the piece of semiconductor material that is indicative of the crystallographic orientation of the piece of semiconductor material.","13.The method of claim 1, wherein providing the growth wafer includes dicing the growth wafer from the piece of semiconductor material.","14.The method of claim 1, wherein the piece of semiconductor material is a gallium arsenide (GaAs) wafer.","15.A growth wafer comprising: a single-crystal substrate; a crystalline lattice structure; a front face, a bottom face, and side edges extending between the front and bottom faces and the front and bottom faces; a facial surface with an orientation of <001>, off by up to 12°.","16.The growth wafer of claim 15, wherein the off-axis orientation is rotated by an angle from 0° to 90°.","17.The growth wafer of claim 15, wherein the off-axis orientation is rotated by an angle from about 30° to 60°.","18.In an epitaxial lift off process, a sacrificial layer having edges and corners, wherein the corner edge fronts are etched faster than the side edges.","19.The sacrificial layer of claim 18, wherein the edges are off-axis.","20.The sacrificial layer of claim 18, wherein the edges are approximately 30-60 degrees from a natural cleave plane."],[" BACKGROUND One phase in device fabrication involves handling and packaging of thin films used in photovoltaic, semiconductor, or other devices.","Such thin film devices may be manufactured by utilizing a variety of processes for depositing and removing materials onto a wafer or other substrate.","FIG.","1 shows a typical wafer 101 that is used as a growth substrate.","Wafer 101 has a flat cut 103 which indicates its crystallographic orientation.","This wafer is typically diced into a rectangular or square configuration 105 .","An edge of the rectangle or square 105 aligns with that of a flat cut 103 .","The edges of the rectangle or square 105 are either parallel or perpendicular to flat cut 103 .","This is referred to as an “on-axis” orientation.","One common technique for manufacturing thin film devices is known as the epitaxial lift off (ELO) process.","In an ELO process, an epitaxial material or film, often containing multiple layers, is formed on a sacrificial layer which is deposited on the growth wafer.","The sacrificial layer is etched away and the epitaxial film is separate from the growth wafer.","The isolated thin epitaxial film may then be further processed and incorporated into a final product, such as in photovoltaic, semiconductor, or other devices.","The sacrificial layer is typically very thin and is usually etched away via a wet chemical process.","The speed of the overall process may be limited by the lack of delivery or exposure of reactant to the etch front, which leads to less removal of by products from the etch front.","The etching process is partially a diffusion limited process, and if the films were maintained in their deposited geometries, a very narrow and long opening would form to severely limit the overall speed of the process.","To lessen the transport constraint of the diffusion processes, it may be beneficial to open up the resulting gap created by the etched or removed sacrificial layer and bending the epitaxial film away from the growth wafer.","A crevice is formed between the epitaxial film and growth wafer, providing greater transport of species both towards and away the etch front.","Reactants move towards the etch front while by-products generally move away from the etch front.","Furthermore, the epitaxial films grown on nearly rectangular or square growth wafers, or other wafers having sharp angles, are especially susceptible to developing corner cracks during the ELO processes.","Basically, the diagonal corner regions experience similar or a slightly slower etch rate compared to the straight edges.","This results in the corners of the sacrificial layer 201 becoming narrower, more pointed and pronounced, as depicted in FIG.","2 .","These narrower corners holding down the epitaxial film endure correspondingly increased stresses when the epitaxial film is being separated.","Therefore, there is a need for a method to remove epitaxial films from the growth wafers without tearing the films during an ELO process, as well as to maintain or increase the throughput of the process."],[" SUMMARY An off-axis epitaxial lift off process is disclosed.","The growth wafer has edges oriented in a direction other than that of the natural cleavage plane.","The corners of the growth wafer are etched at a faster rate relative to the edges.","This results in less stress induced on the corners and thereby reduced corner cracking.","This increases the yield."],["CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser.","No.","13/210,138, filed on Aug. 15, 2011, which is incorporated herein its entirety by this reference.","TECHNICAL FIELD Embodiments of the invention generally relate to epitaxial lift off (ELO) processes.","BACKGROUND One phase in device fabrication involves handling and packaging of thin films used in photovoltaic, semiconductor, or other devices.","Such thin film devices may be manufactured by utilizing a variety of processes for depositing and removing materials onto a wafer or other substrate.","FIG.","1 shows a typical wafer 101 that is used as a growth substrate.","Wafer 101 has a flat cut 103 which indicates its crystallographic orientation.","This wafer is typically diced into a rectangular or square configuration 105.An edge of the rectangle or square 105 aligns with that of a flat cut 103.The edges of the rectangle or square 105 are either parallel or perpendicular to flat cut 103.This is referred to as an “on-axis” orientation.","One common technique for manufacturing thin film devices is known as the epitaxial lift off (ELO) process.","In an ELO process, an epitaxial material or film, often containing multiple layers, is formed on a sacrificial layer which is deposited on the growth wafer.","The sacrificial layer is etched away and the epitaxial film is separate from the growth wafer.","The isolated thin epitaxial film may then be further processed and incorporated into a final product, such as in photovoltaic, semiconductor, or other devices.","The sacrificial layer is typically very thin and is usually etched away via a wet chemical process.","The speed of the overall process may be limited by the lack of delivery or exposure of reactant to the etch front, which leads to less removal of by products from the etch front.","The etching process is partially a diffusion limited process, and if the films were maintained in their deposited geometries, a very narrow and long opening would form to severely limit the overall speed of the process.","To lessen the transport constraint of the diffusion processes, it may be beneficial to open up the resulting gap created by the etched or removed sacrificial layer and bending the epitaxial film away from the growth wafer.","A crevice is formed between the epitaxial film and growth wafer, providing greater transport of species both towards and away the etch front.","Reactants move towards the etch front while by-products generally move away from the etch front.","Furthermore, the epitaxial films grown on nearly rectangular or square growth wafers, or other wafers having sharp angles, are especially susceptible to developing corner cracks during the ELO processes.","Basically, the diagonal corner regions experience similar or a slightly slower etch rate compared to the straight edges.","This results in the corners of the sacrificial layer 201 becoming narrower, more pointed and pronounced, as depicted in FIG.","2.These narrower corners holding down the epitaxial film endure correspondingly increased stresses when the epitaxial film is being separated.","Therefore, there is a need for a method to remove epitaxial films from the growth wafers without tearing the films during an ELO process, as well as to maintain or increase the throughput of the process.","SUMMARY An off-axis epitaxial lift off process is disclosed.","The growth wafer has edges oriented in a direction other than that of the natural cleavage plane.","The corners of the growth wafer are etched at a faster rate relative to the edges.","This results in less stress induced on the corners and thereby reduced corner cracking.","This increases the yield.","BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The accompanying drawings are incorporated in and form a part of this specification.","The drawings illustrate embodiments.","Together with the description, the drawings serve to explain the principles of the embodiments.","FIG.","1 shows a prior art on-axis oriented wafer.","FIG.","2 shows a prior art on-axis orientation of a wafer as it is being etched.","FIG.","3 shows an off-axis oriented wafer.","FIG.","4 shows an off-axis orientation of a wafer as it is being etched.","DETAILED DESCRIPTION Embodiments described herein provide processes for forming and removing epitaxial films and materials from growth wafers by epitaxial lift off (ELO) processes.","In some embodiments, the growth wafer has edge surfaces with an off-axis orientation which is utilized during the ELO process.","Off-axis pertains to the rotation of an edge of the wafer from the nearest <110> orientation.","The off-axis orientation of the edge surface provides an additional variable for controlling the etch rate during the ELO process—and therefore the etch front may be modulated to prevent the formation of high stress points between the epitaxial film stack and the growth wafer which reduces or prevents stressing and cracking the epitaxial film stack.","FIG.","3 shows an off-axis orientation of a wafer 301.The circular wafer 301 has a flat cut 302 that indicates its crystallographic orientation.","Sometimes a notch will be used to indicate the crystallographic orientation of the circular wafer 301.This circular wafer is diced or cut into a rectangle or square 303, upon which the ELO process is performed.","Alternatively, a rectangular or square crystal growth wafer 303 is diced out of the crystal boule.","In other words, the edges of the rectangular or square growth wafer 303 are non-parallel and non-perpendicular to the cleavage plane as identified by the primary flat cut 302 or notch.","The growth wafer has an edge that is oriented in a direction other than the natural cleavage plane.","In the currently preferred embodiment, the rectangle or square growth wafer has edges at a 45 degree angle relative to the inherent crystallographic orientation as indicated by the flat cut 302.By dicing the growth wafer at an angle different from that of its natural, inherent crystallographic orientation, the orientation of the growth wafer can be controlled to take advantage of the different etch rates.","In particular, the area(s) more susceptible to stresses and cracking can be oriented towards the faster etch rates.","For rectangles and squares, the corners can be oriented to point towards the faster etch fronts.","FIG.","4 shows a growth wafer having corners that experience relatively faster etch rates and edges that experience relatively slower etch rates.","The square growth wafer 401 is off-axis by approximately 45 degrees.","By virtue of this off-axis configuration, the corners are etched at a faster rate relative to its edges.","In the currently preferred embodiment, the goal is to have corner etch rate of at least 1.4 times that of the edge etch rate.","Because the corners are etched away faster, they become more rounded.","The rounded corners of the sacrificial layer 402 are far more desirable than the narrower, more pointed corners of the prior art because the rounded corners induce less stress during the lift-off process and the epitaxial layer is less susceptible to cracking.","This improves the yield.","In embodiment herein, the method includes growing a sacrificial layer over a growth wafer, forming an epitaxial film stack over the sacrificial layer, and exposing the sacrificial layer to a wet etch solution during the ELO process.","The ELO process includes etching the sacrificial layer, forming a crevice between the growth wafer and the epitaxial film stack, and separating the growth wafer from the epitaxial film stack.","The ELO etch process is a lateral etch process and the geometry or shape of the etch front may be modulated as a function of multiple variables including the crystalline lattice orientation, etch chemistry (e.g.","solution composition), etch conditions (e.g., temperature and pressure), and curvature of the crevice (e.g., dynamic clamping).","The growth wafers described herein have been specifically designed and created in order to have control of the lattice orientation at specified locations on the substrate.","An off-axis orientation having a predetermined angle may be used to change the etch rate at the corners and sides of the sacrificial layer during the ELO process.","For example, the off-axis orientation of the growth substrate provides faster etching planes at the corners of the sacrificial layer.","Therefore, the corners may be etched at a faster rate than the sides of the sacrificial layer in order to provide that the etch front, coming from the corners and sides having corner and side fronts, to converge near the center of the substrate around the same time while forming a singularity between the epitaxial film stack and the growth wafer.","The growth wafers described herein which have edge surfaces with an off-axis orientation rotated by a predetermined angle may be manufactured or otherwise formed from a variety of different growth wafers.","A crystalline wafer may contain various elements, including from Groups III, IV, and V, and initially may have a variety of different crystalline orientations.","In one example, a rectangular growth wafer is cut off-axis from a circular, crystalline, gallium arsenide wafer having a facial orientation of <001>.","The predetermined angle for the rotated off-axis orientation is measured from the <110> flat.","The round wafer may be cut with a saw, such as a dice saw, or other cutting or slicing device used to cut crystalline wafers.","The growth wafer is cut from the round wafer at the predetermined angle relative to the edge flat, such that the previously axis orientation is now rotated by the predetermined angle.","The predetermined angle is greater than 0° and less than 90°.","In embodiments herein, the method includes exposing the sacrificial layer to a wet etch solution during the ELO process.","The ELO process includes etching the sacrificial layer, forming a crevice between the growth wafer and the epitaxial film stack, and separating the growth wafer from the epitaxial film stack.","In another embodiment, the method further includes forming an etch front by exposing the sacrificial layer to the wet etch solution, wherein the etch front encompasses the sacrificial layer at the interface of the wet etch solution and the sacrificial layer.","Prior to being exposed to the wet etch solution, the sacrificial layer has side edges and corners which form a rectangular geometry (e.g., rectangle or square).","Once the sacrificial layer is exposed to the wet etch solution, the etch front advances towards the center of the growth wafer within the crevice while etching the sacrificial layer during the ELO process.","The etch geometry of the sacrificial layer may be controlled to transitions to have substantially octagonal geometry and then to have substantially rounded geometry.","The etch front may have a rectangular geometry, conformal to the sacrificial layer when initially exposed.","However, as the etching process progressed, the etch front generally forms an octagonal geometry containing alternating sides of side edge fronts and corner edge fronts.","The growth wafer, as described herein having an edge surface with an off-axis orientation rotated by an angle greater than 0° and up to 90°, is utilized to etch the sacrificial layer at the corner edge fronts at a faster etch rate than at the side edge fronts.","Therefore, the side edge fronts may be longer than the corner edge fronts during an initial duration of the ELO process, but subsequently, the side edge fronts and the corner edge fronts have the same length or substantially the same length during a later duration of the ELO process.","The geometry of the etch front or the sacrificial layer are controlled and modulated between transitions during the ELO process.","The geometry of the etch front or the sacrificial layer may transition from a substantially rectangular geometry, to a substantially octagonal geometry, and then to a substantially rounded geometry, such as a rounded singularity.","In some examples, the substantially octagonal geometry of the etch front or the sacrificial layer transitions from a non-equilateral octagonal geometry to an equilateral or substantially equilateral octagonal geometry.","From the foregoing, it will be appreciated that specific embodiments of the invention have been described herein for purposes of illustration, but that various modifications may be made without deviating from the scope of the invention.","Accordingly, the invention is not limited except as by the appended claims."]],"string":"[\n [\n \"OFF-AXIS EPITAXIAL LIFT OFF PROCESS\",\n \"Embodiments described herein provide processes for forming and removing epitaxial films and materials from growth wafers by epitaxial lift off (ELO) processes.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the growth wafer has edge surfaces with an off-axis orientation which is utilized during the ELO process.\",\n \"The off-axis orientation of the edge surface provides an additional variable for controlling the etch rate during the ELO process and therefore the etch front may be modulated to prevent the formation of high stress points which reduces or prevents stressing and cracking the epitaxial film stack.\",\n \"In one embodiment, the growth wafer is rectangular and has an edge surface with an off-axis orientation rotated by an angle greater than 0° and up to 90° relative to an edge orientation of <110> at 0°.\"\n ],\n [\n \"1.A method for forming an epitaxial film stack during an epitaxial lift off process, the method comprising: providing a growth wafer diced from a piece of semiconductor material, the growth wafer having a plurality of edge surfaces, wherein none of the plurality of edge surfaces has an orientation that is perpendicular to the crystallographic orientation of the piece of semiconductor material, and wherein none of the plurality of edge surfaces has an orientation that is parallel to the crystallographic orientation of the piece of semiconductor material; growing a sacrificial layer over the growth wafer; forming the epitaxial film stack over the sacrificial layer; and removing the sacrificial layer by an etching process, the etching process including a first etch rate of the sacrificial layer near corners of the plurality of edge surfaces that is different than a second etch rate of the sacrificial layer near sides of the plurality of edge surfaces.\",\n \"2.The method of claim 1, wherein the orientation of each of the edge surfaces includes an off-axis orientation that is at an angle greater than 0° and less than 90° with respect to the crystallographic orientation of the piece of semiconductor material, the crystallographic orientation being a <110> crystal lattice orientation.\",\n \"3.The method of claim 1, wherein the etching process is a lateral etching process that produces an etch front of a wet etch solution that encompasses the sacrificial layer at an interface of the wet etch solution and the sacrificial layer.\",\n \"4.The method of claim 3, wherein the etch front forms substantially octagonal geometry comprising alternating sides of a plurality of side edge fronts and corner edge fronts.\",\n \"5.The method of claim 4, wherein the corner edge fronts advance at the first etch rate of the sacrificial layer near the corners of the plurality of edge surfaces and the side edge fronts advance at the second etch rate of the sacrificial layer near the sides of the plurality of edge surfaces.\",\n \"6.The method of claim 4, wherein the plurality of side edge fronts and corner edge fronts converge at a center of the sacrificial layer at a same time to complete the removal of the sacrificial layer.\",\n \"7.The method of claim 3, further comprising: separating the epitaxial film stack from the growth wafer after removal of the sacrificial layer, wherein the geometry of the etch front of the sacrificial layer transitions during the epitaxial lift off process from a substantially rectangular geometry, to a substantially octagonal geometry, and then to a substantially rounded geometry.\",\n \"8.The method of claim 3, wherein the sacrificial layer has a rectangular geometry and comprises side edges and corners prior to being exposed to the wet etch solution.\",\n \"9.The method of claim 1, wherein the growth wafer is diced from the piece of semiconductor material at an angle that is 45° and corresponds to an off-axis orientation of the growth wafer relative to the wafer.\",\n \"10.The method of claim 1, wherein the first etch rate is 1.4 times the second etch rate.\",\n \"11.The method of claim 1, wherein the first etch rate is faster than the second etch rate.\",\n \"12.The method of claim 1, wherein each edge surface of the growth wafer is oriented in a direction other than that of a cleavage plane of the piece of semiconductor material that is indicative of the crystallographic orientation of the piece of semiconductor material.\",\n \"13.The method of claim 1, wherein providing the growth wafer includes dicing the growth wafer from the piece of semiconductor material.\",\n \"14.The method of claim 1, wherein the piece of semiconductor material is a gallium arsenide (GaAs) wafer.\",\n \"15.A growth wafer comprising: a single-crystal substrate; a crystalline lattice structure; a front face, a bottom face, and side edges extending between the front and bottom faces and the front and bottom faces; a facial surface with an orientation of <001>, off by up to 12°.\",\n \"16.The growth wafer of claim 15, wherein the off-axis orientation is rotated by an angle from 0° to 90°.\",\n \"17.The growth wafer of claim 15, wherein the off-axis orientation is rotated by an angle from about 30° to 60°.\",\n \"18.In an epitaxial lift off process, a sacrificial layer having edges and corners, wherein the corner edge fronts are etched faster than the side edges.\",\n \"19.The sacrificial layer of claim 18, wherein the edges are off-axis.\",\n \"20.The sacrificial layer of claim 18, wherein the edges are approximately 30-60 degrees from a natural cleave plane.\"\n ],\n [\n \" BACKGROUND One phase in device fabrication involves handling and packaging of thin films used in photovoltaic, semiconductor, or other devices.\",\n \"Such thin film devices may be manufactured by utilizing a variety of processes for depositing and removing materials onto a wafer or other substrate.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"1 shows a typical wafer 101 that is used as a growth substrate.\",\n \"Wafer 101 has a flat cut 103 which indicates its crystallographic orientation.\",\n \"This wafer is typically diced into a rectangular or square configuration 105 .\",\n \"An edge of the rectangle or square 105 aligns with that of a flat cut 103 .\",\n \"The edges of the rectangle or square 105 are either parallel or perpendicular to flat cut 103 .\",\n \"This is referred to as an “on-axis” orientation.\",\n \"One common technique for manufacturing thin film devices is known as the epitaxial lift off (ELO) process.\",\n \"In an ELO process, an epitaxial material or film, often containing multiple layers, is formed on a sacrificial layer which is deposited on the growth wafer.\",\n \"The sacrificial layer is etched away and the epitaxial film is separate from the growth wafer.\",\n \"The isolated thin epitaxial film may then be further processed and incorporated into a final product, such as in photovoltaic, semiconductor, or other devices.\",\n \"The sacrificial layer is typically very thin and is usually etched away via a wet chemical process.\",\n \"The speed of the overall process may be limited by the lack of delivery or exposure of reactant to the etch front, which leads to less removal of by products from the etch front.\",\n \"The etching process is partially a diffusion limited process, and if the films were maintained in their deposited geometries, a very narrow and long opening would form to severely limit the overall speed of the process.\",\n \"To lessen the transport constraint of the diffusion processes, it may be beneficial to open up the resulting gap created by the etched or removed sacrificial layer and bending the epitaxial film away from the growth wafer.\",\n \"A crevice is formed between the epitaxial film and growth wafer, providing greater transport of species both towards and away the etch front.\",\n \"Reactants move towards the etch front while by-products generally move away from the etch front.\",\n \"Furthermore, the epitaxial films grown on nearly rectangular or square growth wafers, or other wafers having sharp angles, are especially susceptible to developing corner cracks during the ELO processes.\",\n \"Basically, the diagonal corner regions experience similar or a slightly slower etch rate compared to the straight edges.\",\n \"This results in the corners of the sacrificial layer 201 becoming narrower, more pointed and pronounced, as depicted in FIG.\",\n \"2 .\",\n \"These narrower corners holding down the epitaxial film endure correspondingly increased stresses when the epitaxial film is being separated.\",\n \"Therefore, there is a need for a method to remove epitaxial films from the growth wafers without tearing the films during an ELO process, as well as to maintain or increase the throughput of the process.\"\n ],\n [\n \" SUMMARY An off-axis epitaxial lift off process is disclosed.\",\n \"The growth wafer has edges oriented in a direction other than that of the natural cleavage plane.\",\n \"The corners of the growth wafer are etched at a faster rate relative to the edges.\",\n \"This results in less stress induced on the corners and thereby reduced corner cracking.\",\n \"This increases the yield.\"\n ],\n [\n \"CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"13/210,138, filed on Aug. 15, 2011, which is incorporated herein its entirety by this reference.\",\n \"TECHNICAL FIELD Embodiments of the invention generally relate to epitaxial lift off (ELO) processes.\",\n \"BACKGROUND One phase in device fabrication involves handling and packaging of thin films used in photovoltaic, semiconductor, or other devices.\",\n \"Such thin film devices may be manufactured by utilizing a variety of processes for depositing and removing materials onto a wafer or other substrate.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"1 shows a typical wafer 101 that is used as a growth substrate.\",\n \"Wafer 101 has a flat cut 103 which indicates its crystallographic orientation.\",\n \"This wafer is typically diced into a rectangular or square configuration 105.An edge of the rectangle or square 105 aligns with that of a flat cut 103.The edges of the rectangle or square 105 are either parallel or perpendicular to flat cut 103.This is referred to as an “on-axis” orientation.\",\n \"One common technique for manufacturing thin film devices is known as the epitaxial lift off (ELO) process.\",\n \"In an ELO process, an epitaxial material or film, often containing multiple layers, is formed on a sacrificial layer which is deposited on the growth wafer.\",\n \"The sacrificial layer is etched away and the epitaxial film is separate from the growth wafer.\",\n \"The isolated thin epitaxial film may then be further processed and incorporated into a final product, such as in photovoltaic, semiconductor, or other devices.\",\n \"The sacrificial layer is typically very thin and is usually etched away via a wet chemical process.\",\n \"The speed of the overall process may be limited by the lack of delivery or exposure of reactant to the etch front, which leads to less removal of by products from the etch front.\",\n \"The etching process is partially a diffusion limited process, and if the films were maintained in their deposited geometries, a very narrow and long opening would form to severely limit the overall speed of the process.\",\n \"To lessen the transport constraint of the diffusion processes, it may be beneficial to open up the resulting gap created by the etched or removed sacrificial layer and bending the epitaxial film away from the growth wafer.\",\n \"A crevice is formed between the epitaxial film and growth wafer, providing greater transport of species both towards and away the etch front.\",\n \"Reactants move towards the etch front while by-products generally move away from the etch front.\",\n \"Furthermore, the epitaxial films grown on nearly rectangular or square growth wafers, or other wafers having sharp angles, are especially susceptible to developing corner cracks during the ELO processes.\",\n \"Basically, the diagonal corner regions experience similar or a slightly slower etch rate compared to the straight edges.\",\n \"This results in the corners of the sacrificial layer 201 becoming narrower, more pointed and pronounced, as depicted in FIG.\",\n \"2.These narrower corners holding down the epitaxial film endure correspondingly increased stresses when the epitaxial film is being separated.\",\n \"Therefore, there is a need for a method to remove epitaxial films from the growth wafers without tearing the films during an ELO process, as well as to maintain or increase the throughput of the process.\",\n \"SUMMARY An off-axis epitaxial lift off process is disclosed.\",\n \"The growth wafer has edges oriented in a direction other than that of the natural cleavage plane.\",\n \"The corners of the growth wafer are etched at a faster rate relative to the edges.\",\n \"This results in less stress induced on the corners and thereby reduced corner cracking.\",\n \"This increases the yield.\",\n \"BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The accompanying drawings are incorporated in and form a part of this specification.\",\n \"The drawings illustrate embodiments.\",\n \"Together with the description, the drawings serve to explain the principles of the embodiments.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"1 shows a prior art on-axis oriented wafer.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"2 shows a prior art on-axis orientation of a wafer as it is being etched.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"3 shows an off-axis oriented wafer.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"4 shows an off-axis orientation of a wafer as it is being etched.\",\n \"DETAILED DESCRIPTION Embodiments described herein provide processes for forming and removing epitaxial films and materials from growth wafers by epitaxial lift off (ELO) processes.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the growth wafer has edge surfaces with an off-axis orientation which is utilized during the ELO process.\",\n \"Off-axis pertains to the rotation of an edge of the wafer from the nearest <110> orientation.\",\n \"The off-axis orientation of the edge surface provides an additional variable for controlling the etch rate during the ELO process—and therefore the etch front may be modulated to prevent the formation of high stress points between the epitaxial film stack and the growth wafer which reduces or prevents stressing and cracking the epitaxial film stack.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"3 shows an off-axis orientation of a wafer 301.The circular wafer 301 has a flat cut 302 that indicates its crystallographic orientation.\",\n \"Sometimes a notch will be used to indicate the crystallographic orientation of the circular wafer 301.This circular wafer is diced or cut into a rectangle or square 303, upon which the ELO process is performed.\",\n \"Alternatively, a rectangular or square crystal growth wafer 303 is diced out of the crystal boule.\",\n \"In other words, the edges of the rectangular or square growth wafer 303 are non-parallel and non-perpendicular to the cleavage plane as identified by the primary flat cut 302 or notch.\",\n \"The growth wafer has an edge that is oriented in a direction other than the natural cleavage plane.\",\n \"In the currently preferred embodiment, the rectangle or square growth wafer has edges at a 45 degree angle relative to the inherent crystallographic orientation as indicated by the flat cut 302.By dicing the growth wafer at an angle different from that of its natural, inherent crystallographic orientation, the orientation of the growth wafer can be controlled to take advantage of the different etch rates.\",\n \"In particular, the area(s) more susceptible to stresses and cracking can be oriented towards the faster etch rates.\",\n \"For rectangles and squares, the corners can be oriented to point towards the faster etch fronts.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"4 shows a growth wafer having corners that experience relatively faster etch rates and edges that experience relatively slower etch rates.\",\n \"The square growth wafer 401 is off-axis by approximately 45 degrees.\",\n \"By virtue of this off-axis configuration, the corners are etched at a faster rate relative to its edges.\",\n \"In the currently preferred embodiment, the goal is to have corner etch rate of at least 1.4 times that of the edge etch rate.\",\n \"Because the corners are etched away faster, they become more rounded.\",\n \"The rounded corners of the sacrificial layer 402 are far more desirable than the narrower, more pointed corners of the prior art because the rounded corners induce less stress during the lift-off process and the epitaxial layer is less susceptible to cracking.\",\n \"This improves the yield.\",\n \"In embodiment herein, the method includes growing a sacrificial layer over a growth wafer, forming an epitaxial film stack over the sacrificial layer, and exposing the sacrificial layer to a wet etch solution during the ELO process.\",\n \"The ELO process includes etching the sacrificial layer, forming a crevice between the growth wafer and the epitaxial film stack, and separating the growth wafer from the epitaxial film stack.\",\n \"The ELO etch process is a lateral etch process and the geometry or shape of the etch front may be modulated as a function of multiple variables including the crystalline lattice orientation, etch chemistry (e.g.\",\n \"solution composition), etch conditions (e.g., temperature and pressure), and curvature of the crevice (e.g., dynamic clamping).\",\n \"The growth wafers described herein have been specifically designed and created in order to have control of the lattice orientation at specified locations on the substrate.\",\n \"An off-axis orientation having a predetermined angle may be used to change the etch rate at the corners and sides of the sacrificial layer during the ELO process.\",\n \"For example, the off-axis orientation of the growth substrate provides faster etching planes at the corners of the sacrificial layer.\",\n \"Therefore, the corners may be etched at a faster rate than the sides of the sacrificial layer in order to provide that the etch front, coming from the corners and sides having corner and side fronts, to converge near the center of the substrate around the same time while forming a singularity between the epitaxial film stack and the growth wafer.\",\n \"The growth wafers described herein which have edge surfaces with an off-axis orientation rotated by a predetermined angle may be manufactured or otherwise formed from a variety of different growth wafers.\",\n \"A crystalline wafer may contain various elements, including from Groups III, IV, and V, and initially may have a variety of different crystalline orientations.\",\n \"In one example, a rectangular growth wafer is cut off-axis from a circular, crystalline, gallium arsenide wafer having a facial orientation of <001>.\",\n \"The predetermined angle for the rotated off-axis orientation is measured from the <110> flat.\",\n \"The round wafer may be cut with a saw, such as a dice saw, or other cutting or slicing device used to cut crystalline wafers.\",\n \"The growth wafer is cut from the round wafer at the predetermined angle relative to the edge flat, such that the previously axis orientation is now rotated by the predetermined angle.\",\n \"The predetermined angle is greater than 0° and less than 90°.\",\n \"In embodiments herein, the method includes exposing the sacrificial layer to a wet etch solution during the ELO process.\",\n \"The ELO process includes etching the sacrificial layer, forming a crevice between the growth wafer and the epitaxial film stack, and separating the growth wafer from the epitaxial film stack.\",\n \"In another embodiment, the method further includes forming an etch front by exposing the sacrificial layer to the wet etch solution, wherein the etch front encompasses the sacrificial layer at the interface of the wet etch solution and the sacrificial layer.\",\n \"Prior to being exposed to the wet etch solution, the sacrificial layer has side edges and corners which form a rectangular geometry (e.g., rectangle or square).\",\n \"Once the sacrificial layer is exposed to the wet etch solution, the etch front advances towards the center of the growth wafer within the crevice while etching the sacrificial layer during the ELO process.\",\n \"The etch geometry of the sacrificial layer may be controlled to transitions to have substantially octagonal geometry and then to have substantially rounded geometry.\",\n \"The etch front may have a rectangular geometry, conformal to the sacrificial layer when initially exposed.\",\n \"However, as the etching process progressed, the etch front generally forms an octagonal geometry containing alternating sides of side edge fronts and corner edge fronts.\",\n \"The growth wafer, as described herein having an edge surface with an off-axis orientation rotated by an angle greater than 0° and up to 90°, is utilized to etch the sacrificial layer at the corner edge fronts at a faster etch rate than at the side edge fronts.\",\n \"Therefore, the side edge fronts may be longer than the corner edge fronts during an initial duration of the ELO process, but subsequently, the side edge fronts and the corner edge fronts have the same length or substantially the same length during a later duration of the ELO process.\",\n \"The geometry of the etch front or the sacrificial layer are controlled and modulated between transitions during the ELO process.\",\n \"The geometry of the etch front or the sacrificial layer may transition from a substantially rectangular geometry, to a substantially octagonal geometry, and then to a substantially rounded geometry, such as a rounded singularity.\",\n \"In some examples, the substantially octagonal geometry of the etch front or the sacrificial layer transitions from a non-equilateral octagonal geometry to an equilateral or substantially equilateral octagonal geometry.\",\n \"From the foregoing, it will be appreciated that specific embodiments of the invention have been described herein for purposes of illustration, but that various modifications may be made without deviating from the scope of the invention.\",\n \"Accordingly, the invention is not limited except as by the appended claims.\"\n ]\n]"},"source":{"kind":"string","value":"Patent_15876001"}}},{"rowIdx":4495047,"cells":{"text":{"kind":"list like","value":[["BLOOD PRESSURE METER","A blood pressure meter includes a pump and a first fluid path provided inside a main body.","The first fluid path feeds a fluid from the pump to a fluid bladder or discharges the fluid from the fluid bladder.","A pressure sensor is mounted on a first substrate disposed inside the main body.","A second fluid path that introduces the fluid from the fluid bladder to the pressure sensor is provided.","The second fluid path includes an inlet pipe that is integrally formed with a sensor package that incorporates the pressure sensor, and extends straight between the fluid bladder and the pressure sensor.","A second substrate on which a blood pressure measurement element is mounted is disposed in a space that is located between the first substrate and the fluid bladder in a thickness direction and is adjacent to the second fluid path in a planar direction."],["1.A blood pressure meter that is worn wrapped around a measurement area, the blood pressure meter comprising: a strip-shaped belt that includes a fluid bladder to which a fluid is supplied, and is wrapped around the measurement area; a main body that is provided on an outer surface side of the belt; a pump that is provided inside the main body, and is capable of supplying the fluid to the fluid bladder; a first fluid path that feeds the fluid from the pump to the fluid bladder or discharges the fluid from the fluid bladder; a pressure sensor that is incorporated in a sensor package and mounted on a first substrate disposed inside the main body, and is capable of detecting the pressure in the fluid bladder; and a second fluid path that introduces the fluid from the fluid bladder to the pressure sensor, wherein the second fluid path includes an inlet pipe that is integrally formed with the sensor package as a circumferential wall of the second fluid path, and extends straight between the fluid bladder and the pressure sensor, and wherein a second substrate on which a blood pressure measurement element is mounted is disposed in a space that is located between the first substrate and the fluid bladder in a thickness direction and is adjacent to the second fluid path in a planar direction perpendicular to the thickness direction.","2.The blood pressure meter according to claim 1, wherein the second substrate includes an escaping portion for allowing the second fluid path to pass therethrough in a plane surface extending along the planar direction.","3.The blood pressure meter according to claim 1, wherein the pump is disposed at a position adjacent to the first substrate in the planar direction, wherein the first fluid path includes an outlet pipe of the pump as a circumferential wall of the first fluid path, and extends straight between the pump and the fluid bladder in parallel to the second fluid path, and wherein the second substrate extends in a space that is located between the pump and the fluid bladder in the thickness direction and is adjacent to the first fluid path in the planar direction.","4.The blood pressure meter according to claim 3, wherein the second substrate includes another escaping portion for allowing the first fluid path to pass therethrough in the plane surface extending along the planar direction.","5.The blood pressure meter according to claim 3, wherein a pump driving circuit for driving the pump is mounted on the second substrate, wherein a region of the second substrate in which the pump driving circuit is mounted is provided to be spaced apart, in the planar direction, from a region of the first substrate in which the pressure sensor is mounted and to oppose the pump, and wherein a lead wire that electrically connects the pump driving circuit and the pump is connected to an end portion of the pump, the end portion being on an opposite side of the pressure sensor in the planar direction.","6.The blood pressure meter according to claim 1, wherein a control unit that receives an output of the pressure sensor and performs blood pressure calculation processing is mounted on the first substrate, and wherein a region of the first substrate in which the control unit is mounted is provided adjacent to a region of the first substrate in which the pressure sensor is mounted.","7.The blood pressure meter according to claim 6, wherein at least the region of the first substrate in which the pressure sensor is mounted and the region of the first substrate in which the control unit is mounted are shielded, in the thickness direction, by a display device including a metal plate that is disposed extending outward of the first substrate and the second substrate that is disposed extending inward of the first substrate.","so as to realize hermetic sealing.","8.The blood pressure meter according to claim 1, wherein the main body includes a bottom wall between the second substrate and the fluid bladder, the bottom wall including a through cylindrical portion extending in the thickness direction so as to constitute a portion of the circumferential wall of the second fluid path, and wherein the inlet pipe of the pressure sensor and a nipple that is in communication with the fluid bladder are hermetically attached to the cylindrical portion of the bottom wall.","9.The blood pressure meter according to claim 1, wherein a battery for supplying power to each constituent element of the blood pressure meter is mounted inside the main body, and wherein the battery continuously occupies a range in which at least the first substrate and the second substrate are disposed in the thickness direction.","10.The blood pressure meter according to claim 9, wherein the first substrate, the pump, the second substrate, and the battery form a rectangular parallelepipedal shaped outer contour as a whole.","11.The blood pressure meter according to claim 2, wherein the pump is disposed at a position adjacent to the first substrate in the planar direction, wherein the first fluid path includes an outlet pipe of the pump as a circumferential wall of the first fluid path, and extends straight between the pump and the fluid bladder in parallel to the second fluid path, and wherein the second substrate extends in a space that is located between the pump and the fluid bladder in the thickness direction and is adjacent to the first fluid path in the planar direction.","12.The blood pressure meter according to claim 11, wherein a pump driving circuit for driving the pump is mounted on the second substrate, wherein a region of the second substrate in which the pump driving circuit is mounted is provided to be spaced apart, in the planar direction, from a region of the first substrate in which the pressure sensor is mounted and to oppose the pump, and wherein a lead wire that electrically connects the pump driving circuit and the pump is connected to an end portion of the pump, the end portion being on an opposite side of the pressure sensor in the planar direction."],[" BACKGROUND ART As this type of blood pressure meter, for example, a blood pressure meter as disclosed in Patent Document 1 (JP H09-101220A) is known that includes a pressure sensor module including a tubular inlet pipe integrally formed on a bottom surface of a package incorporating a pressure sensor so as to protrude from the bottom surface.","The pressure sensor module package is attached onto an upper surface of a circuit substrate, with the inlet pipe extending down to the circuit substrate through a through hole formed in advance in the circuit substrate.","The inlet pipe is connected to a cuff via an elongated tube (connecting pipe).","Also, for recent blood pressure meters, in particular, wrist-worn blood pressure meters, there is a growing need to produce miniaturized products.","For example, Patent Document 2 (JP 2013-220187A) discloses a wrist-worn blood pressure meter in which a fluid bladder enclosed in a blood pressure measurement cuff and a pressure sensor are disposed in a stacked manner in a thickness direction, with a fluid path (corresponding to the inlet pipe described above) being provided in a straight manner between the fluid bladder and the pressure sensor.","With this configuration, a miniaturized and thinner product is achieved."],[" SUMMARY OF INVENTION However, with the blood pressure meters disclosed in Patent Document 1 (JP H09-101220A) and Patent Document 2 (JP 2013-220187A), there is a relatively large space around the inlet pipe (or the fluid path) in which a component is not disposed.","Accordingly, there is a possibility that miniaturization of a product, in particular, miniaturization in a planar direction can be further promoted by effectively using the space.","Thus, one or more embodiments of the present invention provide a blood pressure meter that can promote miniaturization of a product, in particular, miniaturization in a planar direction.","A blood pressure meter according to one or more embodiments of the present invention is a blood pressure meter that is worn wrapped around a measurement area, the blood pressure meter including: a strip-shaped belt that includes a fluid bladder to which a fluid is supplied, and is wrapped around the measurement area; a main body that is provided on an outer surface side of the belt; a pump that is provided inside the main body, and is capable of supplying the fluid to the fluid bladder; a first fluid path that feeds the fluid from the pump to the fluid bladder or discharges the fluid from the fluid bladder; a pressure sensor that is incorporated in a sensor package and mounted on a first substrate disposed inside the main body, and is capable of detecting the pressure in the fluid bladder; and a second fluid path that introduces the fluid from the fluid bladder to the pressure sensor, wherein the second fluid path includes an inlet pipe that is integrally formed with the sensor package as a circumferential wall of the second fluid path, and extends straight between the fluid bladder and the pressure sensor, and a second substrate on which a blood pressure measurement element is mounted is disposed in a space that is located between the first substrate and the fluid bladder in a thickness direction and is adjacent to the second fluid path in a planar direction perpendicular to the thickness direction.","In this specification, the term “outer surface” of the strip-shaped belt refers to a surface that is distant from the measurement area.","Also, the expression “the second fluid path .",".",".","extends straight” means that the second fluid path extends straight so as to include a fluid inlet port of the sensor package and a fluid inlet/outlet port of the fluid bladder in a state in which the sensor package and the fluid bladder are disposed to oppose each other in the thickness direction.","Also, the term “thickness direction” refers to a direction vertical to an outer circumferential surface of the measurement area, or in other words, a direction through the strip-shaped belt.","The term “planar direction” refers to a direction in which a surface perpendicular to the thickness direction extends.","Also, the expression “space that is adjacent to the second fluid path in the planar direction” refers to, for example, the entire area around the second fluid path, or may refer to a space that is on one side of the second fluid path.","Also, the term “blood pressure measurement element” encompasses, for example, a pump driving circuit for driving the pump, and the like.","In the blood pressure meter according to one or more embodiments of the present invention, the fluid is fed from the pump provided inside the main body to the fluid bladder through the first fluid path or discharged from the fluid bladder.","With this configuration, the pressure in the fluid bladder is increased or decreased.","Also, the pressure of the fluid supplied to the fluid bladder is detected by the pressure sensor (mounted on the first substrate) through the second fluid path.","Based on the detected pressure, blood pressure values are obtained by using, for example, a known oscillometric method.","Here, in the blood pressure meter, a second substrate on which a blood pressure measurement element is mounted is disposed in a space that is located between the first substrate and the fluid bladder in a thickness direction and is adjacent to the second fluid path in a planar direction perpendicular to the thickness direction.","Accordingly, the space that is adjacent to the second fluid path can be effectively used by the second substrate.","As a result, it is possible to promote miniaturization of the product, in particular, miniaturization in the planar direction.","To be specific, if a configuration is applied in which the blood pressure measurement element that needs to be mounted on the second substrate is mounted on the first substrate in the absence of the second substrate, there is no option but to increase the dimension of the first substrate in the planar direction accordingly (by an amount corresponding to the increased region where the blood pressure measurement element is disposed).","However, with the blood pressure meter according to one or more embodiments of the present invention, the space where a component is not disposed in a conventional blood pressure meter can be effectively used by the second substrate.","As a result, the dimension of the first substrate in the planar direction can be reduced, and miniaturization in the planar direction can be promoted.","With the blood pressure meter according to the embodiment, the second substrate includes an escaping portion for allowing the second fluid path to pass therethrough in a plane surface extending along the planar direction.","The “escaping portion” formed in the second substrate may be a through hole extending through the substrate in the thickness direction, or may be a cut-out portion formed in a peripheral edge of the plane surface.","With the blood pressure meter according to the embodiment, the second substrate includes an escaping portion for allowing the second fluid path to pass therethrough in a plane surface extending along the planar direction.","Accordingly, the second substrate does not interfere with the second fluid path.","With the blood pressure meter according to the embodiment, the pump is disposed at a position adjacent to the first substrate in the planar direction, the first fluid path includes an outlet pipe of the pump as a circumferential wall of the first fluid path, and extends straight between the pump and the fluid bladder in parallel to the second fluid path, and the second substrate extends in a space that is located between the pump and the fluid bladder in the thickness direction and is adjacent to the first fluid path in the planar direction.","In this specification, the expression “the first fluid path .",".",".","extends straight” means that the first fluid path extends straight so as to include a fluid outlet port of the pump and a fluid inlet/outlet port of the fluid bladder in a state in which the pump and the fluid bladder are disposed opposing each other in the thickness direction.","With the blood pressure meter according to the embodiment, the second substrate extends in a space that is located between the pump and the fluid bladder in the thickness direction and is adjacent to the first fluid path in the planar direction.","Accordingly, the space that is adjacent to the first fluid path can be effectively used by the second substrate.","As a result, miniaturization of the product can be further promoted.","With the blood pressure meter according to the embodiment, the second substrate includes another escaping portion for allowing the first fluid path to pass therethrough in the plane surface extending along the planar direction.","With the blood pressure meter according to the embodiment, the second substrate includes another escaping portion for allowing the first fluid path to pass therethrough in the plane surface extending along the planar direction.","Accordingly, the second substrate does not interfere with the first fluid path.","With the blood pressure meter according to the embodiment, a pump driving circuit for driving the pump is mounted on the second substrate, a region of the second substrate in which the pump driving circuit is mounted is provided to be spaced apart, in the planar direction, from a region of the first substrate in which the pressure sensor is mounted and to oppose the pump, and a lead wire that electrically connects the pump driving circuit and the pump is connected to an end portion of the pump, the end portion being on an opposite side of the pressure sensor in the planar direction.","With the blood pressure meter according to the embodiment, a region of the second substrate in which the pump driving circuit is mounted is provided to be spaced apart, in the planar direction, from a region of the first substrate in which the pressure sensor is mounted and to oppose the pump.","Also, a lead wire that electrically connects the pump driving circuit and the pump is connected to an end portion of the pump, the end portion being on an opposite side of the pressure sensor in the planar direction.","Accordingly, heat generated in the pump driving circuit and the lead wire during driving of the pump is unlikely to be transferred to the pressure sensor.","As a result, the output of the pressure sensor is unlikely to be affected by the generated heat, and the accuracy of blood pressure measurement is enhanced.","With the blood pressure meter according to the embodiment, a control unit that receives an output of the pressure sensor and performs blood pressure calculation processing is mounted on the first substrate, and a region of the first substrate in which the control unit is mounted is provided adjacent to a region of the first substrate in which the pressure sensor is mounted.","With the blood pressure meter according to the embodiment, in the first substrate, a region in which the control unit is mounted is provided adjacent to the region in which the pressure sensor is mounted.","Accordingly, the interconnect between the pressure sensor and the control unit is relatively short, which makes it unlikely that noise will be included in the output of the pressure sensor.","As a result, the accuracy of blood pressure measurement is further enhanced.","With the blood pressure meter according to the embodiment, at least the region of the first substrate in which the pressure sensor is mounted and the region of the first substrate in which the control unit is mounted are shielded, in the thickness direction, by a display device including a metal plate that is disposed extending outward of the first substrate and the second substrate that is disposed extending inward of the first substrate.","The expression “outward of the first substrate” refers to a side that is distant from the measurement area.","Likewise, the expression “inward of the first substrate” refers to a side close to the measurement area.","With the blood pressure meter according to the embodiment, at least the region of the first substrate in which the pressure sensor is mounted and the region of the first substrate in which the control unit is mounted are shielded, in the thickness direction, by a display device including a metal plate that is disposed extending outward of the first substrate and the second substrate that is disposed extending inward of the first substrate.","Accordingly, this makes it unlikely that noise will be included in the output of the pressure sensor.","As a result, the accuracy of blood pressure measurement is further enhanced.","With the blood pressure meter according to the embodiment, the main body includes a bottom wall between the second substrate and the fluid bladder, the bottom wall including a through cylindrical portion extending in the thickness direction so as to constitute a portion of the circumferential wall of the second fluid path, and the inlet pipe of the pressure sensor and a nipple that is in communication with the fluid bladder are hermetically attached to the cylindrical portion of the bottom wall.","With the blood pressure meter according to the embodiment, the inlet pipe of the pressure sensor and a nipple that is in communication with the fluid bladder are hermetically attached to the cylindrical portion of the bottom wall.","The second fluid path is thereby constituted.","Here, if a configuration is applied in which the inlet pipe of the pressure sensor and the nipple that is in communication with the fluid bladder can be directly fitted and attached, stress may be applied to the pressure sensor from the nipple via the inlet pipe and the sensor package during assembly, which may compromise the characteristics of the pressure sensor.","However, with the blood pressure meter according to the embodiment, the inlet pipe of the pressure sensor and the nipple that is in communication with the fluid bladder are hermetically attached to the cylindrical portion of the bottom wall.","Accordingly, it is possible to independently perform an operation to attach the inlet pipe of the pressure sensor to the cylindrical portion of the bottom wall and an operation to attach the nipple that is in communication with the fluid bladder to the cylindrical portion of the bottom wall.","Thus, there is no possibility that the characteristics of the pressure sensor will be compromised due to the application of stress from the nipple during assembly.","As a result, the reliability of assembly is enhanced.","With the blood pressure meter according to the embodiment, a battery for supplying power to each constituent element of the blood pressure meter is mounted inside the main body, and the battery continuously occupies a range in which at least the first substrate and the second substrate are disposed in the thickness direction.","With the blood pressure meter according to the embodiment, the battery continuously occupies a range in which at least the first substrate and the second substrate are disposed in the thickness direction.","Accordingly, the dimension in the thickness direction of the battery can be configured to be relatively large.","As a result, it is possible to increase the battery capacity.","With the blood pressure meter according to the embodiment, the first substrate, the pump, the second substrate, and the battery form a rectangular parallelepipedal shaped outer contour as a whole.","With the blood pressure meter according to the embodiment, the first substrate, the pump, the second substrate, and the battery form a rectangular parallelepipedal shaped outer contour as a whole.","That is, these elements are assembled in a compact design.","As a result, miniaturization of the product is further promoted.","As is evident from the above description, with the blood pressure meter according to one or more embodiments of the present invention, it is possible to promote miniaturization of the product, in particular, miniaturization in the planar direction."],["TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a blood pressure meter.","More specifically, the invention relates to an electronic blood pressure meter that detects the pressure of a fluid supplied to a blood pressure measurement cuff by using a pressure sensor through an inlet pipe that is in communication with the cuff and obtains a blood pressure value based on the detected pressure.","BACKGROUND ART As this type of blood pressure meter, for example, a blood pressure meter as disclosed in Patent Document 1 (JP H09-101220A) is known that includes a pressure sensor module including a tubular inlet pipe integrally formed on a bottom surface of a package incorporating a pressure sensor so as to protrude from the bottom surface.","The pressure sensor module package is attached onto an upper surface of a circuit substrate, with the inlet pipe extending down to the circuit substrate through a through hole formed in advance in the circuit substrate.","The inlet pipe is connected to a cuff via an elongated tube (connecting pipe).","Also, for recent blood pressure meters, in particular, wrist-worn blood pressure meters, there is a growing need to produce miniaturized products.","For example, Patent Document 2 (JP 2013-220187A) discloses a wrist-worn blood pressure meter in which a fluid bladder enclosed in a blood pressure measurement cuff and a pressure sensor are disposed in a stacked manner in a thickness direction, with a fluid path (corresponding to the inlet pipe described above) being provided in a straight manner between the fluid bladder and the pressure sensor.","With this configuration, a miniaturized and thinner product is achieved.","CITATION LIST Patent Literature Patent Document 1: JP H09-101220A Patent Document 2: JP 2013-220187A SUMMARY OF INVENTION However, with the blood pressure meters disclosed in Patent Document 1 (JP H09-101220A) and Patent Document 2 (JP 2013-220187A), there is a relatively large space around the inlet pipe (or the fluid path) in which a component is not disposed.","Accordingly, there is a possibility that miniaturization of a product, in particular, miniaturization in a planar direction can be further promoted by effectively using the space.","Thus, one or more embodiments of the present invention provide a blood pressure meter that can promote miniaturization of a product, in particular, miniaturization in a planar direction.","A blood pressure meter according to one or more embodiments of the present invention is a blood pressure meter that is worn wrapped around a measurement area, the blood pressure meter including: a strip-shaped belt that includes a fluid bladder to which a fluid is supplied, and is wrapped around the measurement area; a main body that is provided on an outer surface side of the belt; a pump that is provided inside the main body, and is capable of supplying the fluid to the fluid bladder; a first fluid path that feeds the fluid from the pump to the fluid bladder or discharges the fluid from the fluid bladder; a pressure sensor that is incorporated in a sensor package and mounted on a first substrate disposed inside the main body, and is capable of detecting the pressure in the fluid bladder; and a second fluid path that introduces the fluid from the fluid bladder to the pressure sensor, wherein the second fluid path includes an inlet pipe that is integrally formed with the sensor package as a circumferential wall of the second fluid path, and extends straight between the fluid bladder and the pressure sensor, and a second substrate on which a blood pressure measurement element is mounted is disposed in a space that is located between the first substrate and the fluid bladder in a thickness direction and is adjacent to the second fluid path in a planar direction perpendicular to the thickness direction.","In this specification, the term “outer surface” of the strip-shaped belt refers to a surface that is distant from the measurement area.","Also, the expression “the second fluid path .",".",".","extends straight” means that the second fluid path extends straight so as to include a fluid inlet port of the sensor package and a fluid inlet/outlet port of the fluid bladder in a state in which the sensor package and the fluid bladder are disposed to oppose each other in the thickness direction.","Also, the term “thickness direction” refers to a direction vertical to an outer circumferential surface of the measurement area, or in other words, a direction through the strip-shaped belt.","The term “planar direction” refers to a direction in which a surface perpendicular to the thickness direction extends.","Also, the expression “space that is adjacent to the second fluid path in the planar direction” refers to, for example, the entire area around the second fluid path, or may refer to a space that is on one side of the second fluid path.","Also, the term “blood pressure measurement element” encompasses, for example, a pump driving circuit for driving the pump, and the like.","In the blood pressure meter according to one or more embodiments of the present invention, the fluid is fed from the pump provided inside the main body to the fluid bladder through the first fluid path or discharged from the fluid bladder.","With this configuration, the pressure in the fluid bladder is increased or decreased.","Also, the pressure of the fluid supplied to the fluid bladder is detected by the pressure sensor (mounted on the first substrate) through the second fluid path.","Based on the detected pressure, blood pressure values are obtained by using, for example, a known oscillometric method.","Here, in the blood pressure meter, a second substrate on which a blood pressure measurement element is mounted is disposed in a space that is located between the first substrate and the fluid bladder in a thickness direction and is adjacent to the second fluid path in a planar direction perpendicular to the thickness direction.","Accordingly, the space that is adjacent to the second fluid path can be effectively used by the second substrate.","As a result, it is possible to promote miniaturization of the product, in particular, miniaturization in the planar direction.","To be specific, if a configuration is applied in which the blood pressure measurement element that needs to be mounted on the second substrate is mounted on the first substrate in the absence of the second substrate, there is no option but to increase the dimension of the first substrate in the planar direction accordingly (by an amount corresponding to the increased region where the blood pressure measurement element is disposed).","However, with the blood pressure meter according to one or more embodiments of the present invention, the space where a component is not disposed in a conventional blood pressure meter can be effectively used by the second substrate.","As a result, the dimension of the first substrate in the planar direction can be reduced, and miniaturization in the planar direction can be promoted.","With the blood pressure meter according to the embodiment, the second substrate includes an escaping portion for allowing the second fluid path to pass therethrough in a plane surface extending along the planar direction.","The “escaping portion” formed in the second substrate may be a through hole extending through the substrate in the thickness direction, or may be a cut-out portion formed in a peripheral edge of the plane surface.","With the blood pressure meter according to the embodiment, the second substrate includes an escaping portion for allowing the second fluid path to pass therethrough in a plane surface extending along the planar direction.","Accordingly, the second substrate does not interfere with the second fluid path.","With the blood pressure meter according to the embodiment, the pump is disposed at a position adjacent to the first substrate in the planar direction, the first fluid path includes an outlet pipe of the pump as a circumferential wall of the first fluid path, and extends straight between the pump and the fluid bladder in parallel to the second fluid path, and the second substrate extends in a space that is located between the pump and the fluid bladder in the thickness direction and is adjacent to the first fluid path in the planar direction.","In this specification, the expression “the first fluid path .",".",".","extends straight” means that the first fluid path extends straight so as to include a fluid outlet port of the pump and a fluid inlet/outlet port of the fluid bladder in a state in which the pump and the fluid bladder are disposed opposing each other in the thickness direction.","With the blood pressure meter according to the embodiment, the second substrate extends in a space that is located between the pump and the fluid bladder in the thickness direction and is adjacent to the first fluid path in the planar direction.","Accordingly, the space that is adjacent to the first fluid path can be effectively used by the second substrate.","As a result, miniaturization of the product can be further promoted.","With the blood pressure meter according to the embodiment, the second substrate includes another escaping portion for allowing the first fluid path to pass therethrough in the plane surface extending along the planar direction.","With the blood pressure meter according to the embodiment, the second substrate includes another escaping portion for allowing the first fluid path to pass therethrough in the plane surface extending along the planar direction.","Accordingly, the second substrate does not interfere with the first fluid path.","With the blood pressure meter according to the embodiment, a pump driving circuit for driving the pump is mounted on the second substrate, a region of the second substrate in which the pump driving circuit is mounted is provided to be spaced apart, in the planar direction, from a region of the first substrate in which the pressure sensor is mounted and to oppose the pump, and a lead wire that electrically connects the pump driving circuit and the pump is connected to an end portion of the pump, the end portion being on an opposite side of the pressure sensor in the planar direction.","With the blood pressure meter according to the embodiment, a region of the second substrate in which the pump driving circuit is mounted is provided to be spaced apart, in the planar direction, from a region of the first substrate in which the pressure sensor is mounted and to oppose the pump.","Also, a lead wire that electrically connects the pump driving circuit and the pump is connected to an end portion of the pump, the end portion being on an opposite side of the pressure sensor in the planar direction.","Accordingly, heat generated in the pump driving circuit and the lead wire during driving of the pump is unlikely to be transferred to the pressure sensor.","As a result, the output of the pressure sensor is unlikely to be affected by the generated heat, and the accuracy of blood pressure measurement is enhanced.","With the blood pressure meter according to the embodiment, a control unit that receives an output of the pressure sensor and performs blood pressure calculation processing is mounted on the first substrate, and a region of the first substrate in which the control unit is mounted is provided adjacent to a region of the first substrate in which the pressure sensor is mounted.","With the blood pressure meter according to the embodiment, in the first substrate, a region in which the control unit is mounted is provided adjacent to the region in which the pressure sensor is mounted.","Accordingly, the interconnect between the pressure sensor and the control unit is relatively short, which makes it unlikely that noise will be included in the output of the pressure sensor.","As a result, the accuracy of blood pressure measurement is further enhanced.","With the blood pressure meter according to the embodiment, at least the region of the first substrate in which the pressure sensor is mounted and the region of the first substrate in which the control unit is mounted are shielded, in the thickness direction, by a display device including a metal plate that is disposed extending outward of the first substrate and the second substrate that is disposed extending inward of the first substrate.","The expression “outward of the first substrate” refers to a side that is distant from the measurement area.","Likewise, the expression “inward of the first substrate” refers to a side close to the measurement area.","With the blood pressure meter according to the embodiment, at least the region of the first substrate in which the pressure sensor is mounted and the region of the first substrate in which the control unit is mounted are shielded, in the thickness direction, by a display device including a metal plate that is disposed extending outward of the first substrate and the second substrate that is disposed extending inward of the first substrate.","Accordingly, this makes it unlikely that noise will be included in the output of the pressure sensor.","As a result, the accuracy of blood pressure measurement is further enhanced.","With the blood pressure meter according to the embodiment, the main body includes a bottom wall between the second substrate and the fluid bladder, the bottom wall including a through cylindrical portion extending in the thickness direction so as to constitute a portion of the circumferential wall of the second fluid path, and the inlet pipe of the pressure sensor and a nipple that is in communication with the fluid bladder are hermetically attached to the cylindrical portion of the bottom wall.","With the blood pressure meter according to the embodiment, the inlet pipe of the pressure sensor and a nipple that is in communication with the fluid bladder are hermetically attached to the cylindrical portion of the bottom wall.","The second fluid path is thereby constituted.","Here, if a configuration is applied in which the inlet pipe of the pressure sensor and the nipple that is in communication with the fluid bladder can be directly fitted and attached, stress may be applied to the pressure sensor from the nipple via the inlet pipe and the sensor package during assembly, which may compromise the characteristics of the pressure sensor.","However, with the blood pressure meter according to the embodiment, the inlet pipe of the pressure sensor and the nipple that is in communication with the fluid bladder are hermetically attached to the cylindrical portion of the bottom wall.","Accordingly, it is possible to independently perform an operation to attach the inlet pipe of the pressure sensor to the cylindrical portion of the bottom wall and an operation to attach the nipple that is in communication with the fluid bladder to the cylindrical portion of the bottom wall.","Thus, there is no possibility that the characteristics of the pressure sensor will be compromised due to the application of stress from the nipple during assembly.","As a result, the reliability of assembly is enhanced.","With the blood pressure meter according to the embodiment, a battery for supplying power to each constituent element of the blood pressure meter is mounted inside the main body, and the battery continuously occupies a range in which at least the first substrate and the second substrate are disposed in the thickness direction.","With the blood pressure meter according to the embodiment, the battery continuously occupies a range in which at least the first substrate and the second substrate are disposed in the thickness direction.","Accordingly, the dimension in the thickness direction of the battery can be configured to be relatively large.","As a result, it is possible to increase the battery capacity.","With the blood pressure meter according to the embodiment, the first substrate, the pump, the second substrate, and the battery form a rectangular parallelepipedal shaped outer contour as a whole.","With the blood pressure meter according to the embodiment, the first substrate, the pump, the second substrate, and the battery form a rectangular parallelepipedal shaped outer contour as a whole.","That is, these elements are assembled in a compact design.","As a result, miniaturization of the product is further promoted.","As is evident from the above description, with the blood pressure meter according to one or more embodiments of the present invention, it is possible to promote miniaturization of the product, in particular, miniaturization in the planar direction.","BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS FIG.","1A is a top view showing an external appearance of a blood pressure meter 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention.","FIG.","1B is a vertical cross-sectional view of the blood pressure meter 1 taken along the line B-B shown in FIG.","1A.","FIG.","1C is a vertical cross-sectional view of the blood pressure meter 1 taken along the line A-A shown in FIG.","1A.","FIG.","2 is a bottom view of the blood pressure meter 1 shown in FIG.","1.FIG.","3 is a perspective view of the blood pressure meter 1 shown in FIG.","1 when it is formed into a loop.","FIG.","4 is a diagram illustrating the blood pressure meter 1 shown in FIG.","3 as viewed from a direction vertical to the loop of the belt.","FIG.","5 is an exploded perspective view illustrating a structure of the blood pressure meter 1 shown in FIG.","1A.","FIG.","6A is a schematic perspective view illustrating a first state during operation of a buckle 30 shown in FIG.","5.FIG.","6B is a schematic perspective view illustrating a second state during operation of the buckle 30 shown in FIG.","5.FIG.","7A is a schematic diagram illustrating a first procedure of wearing the blood pressure meter 1 shown in FIG.","1 on a wrist and performing measurement.","FIG.","7B is a schematic diagram illustrating a second procedure of wearing the blood pressure meter 1 shown in FIG.","1 on the wrist and performing measurement.","FIG.","7C is a schematic diagram illustrating a third procedure of wearing the blood pressure meter 1 shown in FIG.","1 on the wrist and performing measurement.","FIG.","8 is a block diagram schematically showing a configuration of a control system provided inside the blood pressure meter 1 shown in FIG.","1.FIG.","9 is a flowchart illustrating blood pressure measurement processing executed by the blood pressure meter 1 shown in FIG.","1.FIG.","10A is an enlarged view of a main body assembly 12 shown in FIG.","5.FIG.","10B is a bottom view of the main body assembly 12 as viewed from the bottom in FIG.","10A.","FIG.","11 is an exploded view of the main body assembly 12 shown in FIG.","10A.","FIG.","12 is a perspective view showing a positional relationship between a sub-assembly 12′ and a fluid bladder 22 in the assembled blood pressure meter 1.FIG.","13 is a diagram showing a state in which the sub-assembly 12′ and the fluid bladder 22 shown in FIG.","12 are spaced apart in a thickness direction (Z direction).","FIG.","14 is a ZX cross-sectional view through a pressure sensor 16, showing, in detail, a configuration of a first fluid path 41 and a second fluid path 42 in the blood pressure meter 1, together with a lower housing 13 provided between the sub-assembly 12′ and the fluid bladder 22.FIG.","15 is a YZ cross-sectional view through the pressure sensor 16, showing, in detail, a configuration of the second fluid path 42 in the blood pressure meter 1, together with the lower housing 13 provided between the sub-assembly 12′ and the fluid bladder 22, so as to realize hermetic sealing.","FIG.","16(A) is a diagram showing, in a laid-out state, an upper substrate 61 and a lower substrate 62 that are connected to each other by an FPC cable 63 before the blood pressure meter 1 is assembled, and shows an upper surface 61a of the upper substrate 61 and a lower surface 62b of the lower substrate 62, so as to realize hermetic sealing.","FIG.","16(B) is a diagram showing, in a laid-out state, the upper substrate 61 and the lower substrate 62 that are connected to each other by the FPC cable 63 before the blood pressure meter 1 is assembled, and corresponds to the back side of FIG.","16(A).","FIG.","17 is a schematic diagram showing a configuration near the pressure sensor 16 mounted on the upper surface 61a of the upper substrate 61.FIG.","18 is a schematic diagram showing a configuration near a pressure sensor 16′ mounted on a lower surface 61b of the upper substrate 61.DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.","In the embodiment given below, the same constituent elements are given the same reference numerals and a description thereof is omitted.","FIG.","1A is a top view showing an external appearance of a blood pressure meter 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention.","FIG.","1B is a vertical cross-sectional view of the blood pressure meter 1 taken along the line B-B shown in FIG.","1A.","FIG.","1C is a vertical cross-sectional view of the blood pressure meter 1 taken along the line A-A shown in FIG.","1A.","FIG.","2 is a bottom view of the blood pressure meter 1 shown in FIG.","1.FIG.","3 is a perspective view of the blood pressure meter 1 shown in FIG.","1 when the blood pressure meter 1 is worn wrapped around a measurement area.","FIG.","4 is a diagram illustrating the blood pressure meter 1 shown in FIG.","3 as viewed from a direction vertical to the loop of the belt.","FIG.","5 is an exploded perspective view illustrating a structure of the blood pressure meter 1 shown in FIG.","1A.","As can be seen from FIG.","3, the blood pressure meter 1 is worn wrapped around a rod-shaped measurement area such as, for example, a user's wrist 90 (see FIGS.","7A to 7C).","The blood pressure meter 1 includes a strip-shaped belt 20 that is wrapped around the measurement area, a main body 10 that is disposed in a base end portion a in a lengthwise direction of the belt 20 on an outer surface side of the belt 20 and includes a blood pressure measurement element, and a buckle 30 for joining the base end portion a and a lead end portion b that is provided on the opposite side of the base end portion a in the lengthwise direction of the belt 20 such that the belt 20 forms a loop.","Here, the belt 20 functions as a blood pressure measurement cuff.","Hereinafter, a structure of the belt 20 will be described.","As can be seen from FIG.","1B, the belt 20 includes a fluid bladder 22 for compressing the measurement area when measuring blood pressure, a reinforcing layer 23 that is provided along an outer surface of the fluid bladder 22 and is for suppressing outward inflation of the fluid bladder 22, and an outer circumferential layer 24 that is provided along an outer surface of the reinforcing layer 23 so as to cover the reinforcing layer 23.Accordingly, because outward inflation of the fluid bladder 22 can be suppressed, it is possible to improve the efficiency of compressing the measurement area and further enhance the accuracy of blood pressure measurement.","On the other hand, a surface of the fluid bladder 22 (the surface serving as an inner surface when worn) has a plurality of irregularities along the lengthwise direction so as to facilitate inflation toward the measurement area.","The reinforcing layer 23 is the hardest, followed by the outer circumferential layer 24 and then the fluid bladder 22.Accordingly, the reinforcing layer 23 suppresses outward inflation of the fluid bladder 22 when the fluid bladder 22 is inflated, and thus the efficiency of compressing the measurement area can be improved.","Accordingly, the accuracy of blood pressure measurement can be further enhanced.","Furthermore, the outer circumferential layer 24 that is not as hard as the reinforcing layer 23 covers an outer circumference of the reinforcing layer 23, and thus feels soft when the user touches the outer circumferential layer 24 of the belt 20 with his/her hand.","As can be clearly seen from FIGS.","1A, 1B, and 3, an operation unit including a blood pressure measurement switch 52B for inputting an instruction to perform a biometric information measurement is disposed in an area (a substantially center portion in this example) that is different from a specific portion (the base end portion a in this example) in which the main body 10 is disposed in the lengthwise direction on the outer surface side of the belt 20.Also, as shown in FIG.","5, the main body 10 includes a frame-shaped upper housing 11, a lower housing 13 that is combined with the upper housing 11, and a main body assembly 12 that is housed between the upper housing 11 and the lower housing 13.The main body assembly 12 includes a display device 50 that is fitted into the frame of the upper housing 11.A FPC (flexible printed circuit) cable 54 for electrically connecting the main body 10 and the operation unit 5 is provided between the fluid bladder 22 and the reinforcing layer 23.Because the main body 10 and the operation unit 52 are electrically connected by the FPC cable 54 as described above, the belt 20 can be configured to be thin.","In the present embodiment, only the operation unit is disposed, but the present invention is not limited thereto, and it is also possible to dispose a communication unit and a display unit.","so as to realize hermetic sealing As can be seen from FIG.","2, magnets 33 are provided on an inner surface side of the base end portion a of the belt 20, and metal projection portions 31 that are attracted to the magnets 33 are provided on a second plate frame member 30b, thereby constituting an attraction mechanism.","With this attraction mechanism, the inner surface side of the base end portion a of the belt 20 or one end portion d of a first plate frame member 30a and another end portion h of the second plate frame member 30b are attracted to each other.","Accordingly, when the main body 10 and the first plate frame member 30a and the second plate frame member 30b of the buckle 30 are folded, an inner surface of the main body 10 and the first plate frame member 30a and the second plate frame member 30b of the buckle 30 are guided to overlap each other.","In addition to or instead of the attraction mechanism, it is desirable to provide a lock mechanism that engages the inner surface side of the base end portion a of the belt 20 or the one end portion d of the first plate frame member 30a with the other end portion h of the second plate frame member 30b.","It is also desirable that the attraction mechanism and/or the lock mechanism include/includes an unlock mechanism for releasing the attraction and/or the engagement.","In this example, a release button 19 (see FIGS.","1A, 2, and 5) for canceling attraction is provided in the main body 10 as the unlock mechanism.","As shown in FIG.","5, the release button 19 is integrally formed with a slide plate 19a.","In response to the release button 19 being pressed toward the inside of the main body 10, the slide plate 19a is inserted between the one end portion d of the first plate frame member 30a and the other end portion h of the second plate frame member 30b shown in FIG.","6B like a wedge so as to cancel the attraction between the first plate frame member 30a and the second plate frame member 30b.","As shown in FIGS.","6A and 6B, a first fixing element including engaging portions 32 having a projection shape is provided on an inner surface of the other end portion h of the second plate frame member 30b, and also as shown in FIGS.","1A, 1B, and 5, a second fixing element including engaged portions 25 having a recessed shape that can be engaged with the engaging portions 32 is provided on an outer surface of the lead end portion b of the belt 20.With this configuration, as shown in FIGS.","3 and 4, the belt 20 can be formed into a loop by engaging the second plate frame member 30b with the lead end portion b of the belt 20.Accordingly, the blood pressure meter 1 can be fixed to the measurement area.","Furthermore, the second fixing element (the engaged portions 25) that has a non-through recessed shape and is configured to be capable of engaging with the first fixing element (the engaging portions 32) having a projection shape is provided on the outer surface of the lead end portion b of the belt 20, and thus these fixing elements do not interfere with the fluid bladder 22.Accordingly, the wrist 90 that serves as the measurement area can be reliably compressed by the fluid bladder 22 while the blood pressure is being measured.","The present embodiment is configured such that the first fixing element having a projection shape and the second fixing element having a recessed shape are used, but the present invention is not limited to this configuration.","It is possible to, for example, use a first fixing element having a recessed shape and a second fixing element having a projection shape.","In this case as well, the same effects of the present embodiment can be obtained.","As can be clearly seen from FIGS.","1A, 1B, and 5, a plurality of engaged portions 25 are formed side by side along the lengthwise direction of the belt 20 such that the attachment position of the other end portion h of the second plate frame member 30b can be adjusted in the lengthwise direction of the belt 20.Accordingly, it is possible to adjust the attachment position of the other end portion h (see FIG.","6B) of the second plate frame member 30b in the lengthwise direction of the belt 20.With this configuration, the length of the loop of the belt 20 can be variably set so as to fit snug to the circumferential length of the wrist 90 that serves as the measurement area.","The engaged portions 25 are also arranged in a plurality of (two in this example) rows along a width direction of the belt 20.Accordingly, even if the belt 20 is slightly twisted, the engagement between the engaging portions 32 and the engaged portions 25 is unlikely to be canceled.","Also, at least the outer surface of the lead end portion b of the belt 20 is made of a flexible material.","Accordingly, the engagement of the engaging portions 32 and the engaged portions 25 can be easily disengaged.","It is also possible to provide a detachment mechanism (not shown) that allows the user to cancel the engagement between the engaging portions 32 and the engaged portions 25.In this case, with the detachment mechanism, the user can cancel the engagement between the engaging portions 32 and the engaged portions 25 while the belt 20 is wrapped around the wrist 90.Accordingly, the belt 20 can be more easily detached.","FIG.","6A is a schematic perspective view illustrating a first state during operation of the buckle 30 shown in FIG.","5, and FIG.","6B is a schematic perspective view illustrating a second state during operation of the buckle 30 shown in FIG.","5.The buckle 30 includes, on the inner surface side of the base end portion a of the belt 20, the first plate frame member 30a that is attached to the one end portion d so as to be capable of pivoting about an axis c that intersects the lengthwise direction of the belt 20.The first plate frame member 30a extends, in a curved form, from the one end portion d to another end portion e that is on the opposite side.","The buckle 30 also includes, on the other end portion e of the first plate frame member 30a, the second plate frame member 30b that is attached to one end portion g so as to be capable of pivoting about an axis f that is parallel to the axis c. The second plate frame member 30b extends, in a curved form, from the one end portion g to the other end portion h that is on the opposite side.","Furthermore, the other end portion h of the second plate frame member 30b is configured to be capable of being attached to the lead end portion b of the belt 20, and the first plate frame member 30a and the second plate frame member 30b respectively have a first opening portion OP1 and a second opening portion OP2 that extend through their plane surfaces.","Here, the first opening portion OP1 of the first plate frame member 30a and the second opening portion OP2 of the second plate frame member 30b are configured to be continuous in the thickness direction of the main body 10 when the inner surface of the main body 10 and the first plate frame member 30a and the second plate frame member 30b of the buckle 30 are folded so as to overlap each other.","Accordingly, it is possible to implement a configuration in which the fluid bladder 22 is disposed on the inner side of the main body 10 so as to compress the measurement area.","The first opening portion OP1 is open toward the other end portion e of the first plate frame member 30a, and the second opening portion OP2 is open toward the one end portion g of the second plate frame member 30b.","Accordingly, the first opening portion OP1 and the second opening portion OP2 are in communication with each other.","That is, the first plate frame member 30a and the second plate frame member 30b are formed to have a substantially angular U shape and are joined to each other on the side on which their opening portions are open.","Also, as can be clearly seen from FIG.","2, the fluid bladder 22 for compressing the measurement area during blood pressure measurement is provided along the lengthwise direction of the belt 20 in the belt 20, and the fluid bladder 22 is in communication with the inside of the main body 10 through a region corresponding to the first opening portion OP1 and the second opening portion OP2 in a folded state.","With this configuration, the fluid bladder 22 can compress a spatially continuous region of the wrist 90 that serves as the measurement area in a circumferential direction thereof, the spatially continuous region extending from a portion corresponding to the inside of the main body 10 toward the lead end portion b of the belt 20.Accordingly, the contact area between the fluid bladder 22 and the measurement area can be increased, and it is therefore possible to improve the efficiency of compressing the arteries.","Accordingly, the accuracy of blood pressure measurement can be further enhanced.","Also, the fluid bladder 22 extends to the lead end portion b of the belt 20 along the lengthwise direction.","When the inner surface of the main body 10 and the first plate frame member 30a and the second plate frame member 30b of the buckle 30 are folded so as to overlap each other, a portion of the main body 10 that is in communication with the fluid bladder 22 overlaps a portion to which the fluid bladder 22 of the belt 20 extends.","With this configuration, the overlapping region of the belt 20 in the lengthwise direction has a thickness thicker than that of the other region of the main body 10 and thus is inflated by an amount corresponding to the thickness.","Accordingly, an excessive amount of pressure applied to compress the arteries is reduced as a result of reducing the distance by which the arteries running through the wrist 90 escape due to being pressed by a region other than the overlapping region.","As a result, the blood pressure values measured through the application of pressure by the fluid bladder can be brought closer to true values, and thus the accuracy of measurement can be enhanced.","The effect of reducing the excessive amount of pressure applied to compress the arteries is also obtained even when the first opening portion OP1 of the first plate frame member 30a and the second opening portion OP2 of the second plate frame member 30b in the buckle 30 are omitted.","FIGS.","7A to 7C are schematic diagrams illustrating a procedure of wearing the blood pressure meter 1 shown in FIG.","1 on the wrist and performing measurement.","When actually wearing the blood pressure meter 1 on the wrist 90, as shown in FIG.","7A, the user first places the belt 20 around the wrist 90, with the main body 10 and the first plate frame member 30a and the second plate frame member 30b of the buckle 30 being open.","Then, the user inserts the lead end portion b of the belt 20 through the second opening portion OP2 (see FIGS.","6A and 6B) of the second plate frame member 30b and engages the engaging portions 32 of the second plate frame member 30b with the engaged portions 25 that are provided on the lead end portion b of the belt 20.By doing so, the belt 20 is formed into a loop and the wrist 90 passes through the loop of the belt 20.In this way, the length of the loop of the belt 20 can be set so as to fit snug to the circumferential length of the wrist 90.Next, as shown in FIG.","7B, the main body 10 is moved closer toward the wrist 90 such that the inner surface of the main body 10 and the first plate frame member 30a and the second plate frame member 30b of the buckle 30 are folded so as to overlap each other.","Then, the projection portions 31 of the second plate frame member 30b are attracted by the magnets 33.The blood pressure meter 1 is thereby worn on the wrist 90.Next, blood pressure measurement starts in response to the user pressing the blood pressure measurement switch 52B as shown in FIG.","7C.","FIG.","8 is a block diagram schematically showing an internal configuration of the blood pressure meter 1 shown in FIG.","1.The main body 10 includes, in addition to the display device 50 and the operation unit 52 described above, a CPU (central processing unit) 100, a memory 51, a battery 53, a piezoresistive pressure sensor 16, a piezoelectric pump 17 that supplies air to the fluid bladder 22 as a fluid, a valve 18 for adjusting a discharge pressure (back pressure) of the piezoelectric pump 17, an oscillation circuit 160 that converts an output from the pressure sensor 16 to a frequency, a pump driving circuit 170 that drives the piezoelectric pump 17, and a valve driving circuit 180 that drives the valve 18.The piezoelectric pump 17 and the valve 18 are connected to the fluid bladder 22 enclosed in the belt 20 via a first fluid path 41, and the pressure sensor 16 is connected to the fluid bladder 22 enclosed in the belt 20 via a second fluid path 42.With this configuration, air flows between the piezoelectric pump 17 and the fluid bladder 22 and between the valve 18 and the fluid bladder 22 via the first fluid path 41.Also, air flows between the pressure sensor 16 and the fluid bladder 22 via the second fluid path 42.The display device 50 includes a display, an indicator and the like, and displays predetermined information in accordance with a control signal from the CPU 100.In the operation unit 52, a power supply switch 52A receives an instruction to turn on or off power supply from the battery 53.The blood pressure measurement switch 52B receives an instruction to start blood pressure measurement and an instruction to display data obtained through measuring blood pressure values, stored in the memory 51 on the display device 50.The switches 52A and 52B input an operation signal corresponding to a user's instruction to the CPU 100.The memory 51 stores therein a program for controlling the blood pressure meter 1, settings data for setting various functions of the blood pressure meter 1, and data obtained as a result of measurement of blood pressure values.","Also, the memory 51 is used a work memory during execution of a program.","In this example, the battery 53 is a secondary battery (lithium ion battery), and supplies power to the CPU 100, the pressure sensor 16, the piezoelectric pump 17, the valve 18, the display device 50, the memory 51, the oscillation circuit 160, the pump driving circuit 170, and the valve driving circuit 180.The battery 53 is configured to be rechargeable via a USB (Universal Serial Bus) terminal 55 (see, for example, FIG.","10B).","The CPU 100 functions as a control unit in accordance with the program for controlling the blood pressure meter 1 stored in the memory 51, and performs control for driving the piezoelectric pump 17 via the pump driving circuit 170 and driving the valve 18 via the valve driving circuit 180 in accordance with an operation signal from the operation unit 52.The valve 18 is opened or closed so as to control the pressure (cuff pressure) in the fluid bladder 22 by discharging or trapping air in the fluid bladder 22.Also, the CPU 100 calculates blood pressure values based on signals from the pressure sensor 16 and controls the display device 50 and the memory 51.The piezoelectric pump 17 supplies air to the fluid bladder 22 via the first fluid path 41 so as to increase the pressure (cuff pressure) in the fluid bladder 22 enclosed in the belt 20.The valve 18 is opened or closed so as to control the cuff pressure by discharging the air in the fluid bladder 22 via the first fluid path 41 or trapping air in the fluid bladder 22.The pump driving circuit 170 drives the piezoelectric pump 17 based on a control signal provided from the CPU 100.The valve driving circuit 180 opens or closes the valve 18 based on a control signal provided from the CPU 100.The pressure sensor 16 and the oscillation circuit 160 operate as a pressure detection unit that detects the cuff pressure.","The pressure sensor 16 is, for example, a piezoresistive pressure sensor, and introduces air from the fluid bladder 22 via the second fluid path 42 and detects the pressure of the introduced air as the cuff pressure.","In this example, the oscillation circuit 160 oscillates based on an electric signal value that is based on a change in electric resistance due to piezoresistance effect from the pressure sensor 16, and outputs a frequency signal having a frequency corresponding to the electric signal value of the pressure sensor 16 to the CPU 100.In this example, it is assumed that the oscillation circuit 160 is included in the CPU 100, and the function of the oscillation circuit 160 is implemented by a program executed by the CPU 100.Hereinafter, a description will be given of operations performed by the blood pressure meter 1 configured as described above.","FIG.","9 is a flowchart of blood pressure measurement processing executed by the blood pressure meter 1 shown in FIG.","1.In general, the following operations are performed when blood pressure measurement is performed according to an ordinary oscillometric method.","To be specific, the cuff is wrapped around the measurement area (wrist or the like) of the user in advance, and during measurement, the pump and the valve are controlled to increase the cuff pressure to be higher than the highest blood pressure and thereafter gradually decrease the cuff pressure.","In the pressure decrease process, the cuff pressure is detected by the pressure sensor, and a variation in arterial volume that occurs in the arteries running through the measurement area is taken as a pulse wave signal.","The highest blood pressure (systolic blood pressure) and the lowest blood pressure (diastolic blood pressure) are calculated based on changes (mainly a leading edge and a trailing edge) in amplitude of the pulse wave signal due to changes in the cuff pressure at that time.","In the blood pressure meter 1, the blood pressure values of the user are measured according to an oscillometric method by the CPU 100 in accordance with the flowchart shown in FIG.","9.To be specific, in response to the blood pressure measurement switch 52B being pressed while the power supply switch 52A is on, as shown in FIG.","9, the blood pressure meter 1 starts blood pressure measurement.","Upon starting a blood pressure measurement, the CPU 100 initializes a processing memory area and outputs a control signal to the valve driving circuit 180.The valve driving circuit 180 opens the valve 18 based on the control signal so as to discharge the air in the fluid bladder 22 of the belt 20.Next, control for adjusting the pressure sensor 16 to 0 mmHg is performed.","In FIG.","9, when blood pressure measurement starts, first, the CPU 100 closes the valve 18 via the valve driving circuit 180, and after that, drives the piezoelectric pump 17 via the pump driving circuit 170 so as to perform processing to increase pressure to send air to the fluid bladder 22.Accordingly, the fluid bladder 22 is inflated and the cuff pressure is gradually increased (step ST101).","When the cuff pressure has increased and reaches a predetermined pressure (YES in step ST102), the CPU 100 performs control for stopping the piezoelectric pump 17 via the pump driving circuit 170 and thereafter gradually opening the valve 18 via the valve driving circuit 180.Accordingly, the fluid bladder 22 contracts and the cuff pressure gradually decreases (step ST103).","As used herein, the predetermined pressure refers to a pressure value that is sufficiently higher than the systolic blood pressure (for example, a systolic blood pressure of +30 mmHg) of the user, and the predetermined pressure is stored in the memory 51 in advance or the CPU 100 determines the predetermined pressure by estimating the systolic blood pressure using a predetermined calculation method while the cuff pressure is increased (see, for example, JP 2001-70263A).","Also, for the pressure decrease speed, a target pressure decrease speed that is a target is set while the cuff pressure is increased, and the CPU 100 controls the opening degree of the valve 18 so as to reach the target pressure decrease speed (see JP 2001-70263A).","In the pressure decrease process, the pressure sensor 16 detects a cuff pressure signal (indicated by a reference sign Pc) representing the pressure of the belt 20 via the belt 20.Based on the cuff pressure signal Pc, the CPU 100 calculates the blood pressure values (systolic blood pressure and diastolic blood pressure) by applying an algorithm, which will be described later, using an oscillometric method (step ST104).","Note that the calculation of the blood pressure values is not limited to being performed in the pressure decrease process, and may be performed in the pressure increase process.","Upon determining the blood pressure values through calculation (YES in step ST105), the CPU 100 performs control for displaying the calculated blood pressure values on the display device 50 (step ST106) and also performs control for storing the calculated blood pressure values in the memory 51 (step ST107).","Next, the CPU 100 performs control for opening the valve 18 via the valve driving circuit 180 so as to discharge the air in the fluid bladder 22 of the belt 20 (step ST108).","After that, in response to the power supply switch 52A being pressed, the blood pressure measurement ends.","When detaching the blood pressure meter 1 from the wrist 90, the user opens the first plate frame member 30a and the second plate frame member 30b of the buckle 30, and releases the wrist 90 from the belt with the loop of the belt 20 being widened.","When wearing the blood pressure meter 1 on the wrist 90 for the second time or more, the user can insert the wrist 90 through the loop of the belt 20, with the first plate frame member 30a and the second plate frame member 30b of the buckle 30 being open, and close the buckle 30.Accordingly, the user can easily wear the blood pressure meter 1 on the wrist 90.FIG.","10A is an enlarged view of the main body assembly 12 shown in FIG.","5.FIG.","10B is a bottom view of the main body assembly 12 as viewed from the bottom in FIG.","10A.","FIG.","11 is an exploded view of the main body assembly 12 shown in FIG.","10A.","In FIG.","11, an XYZ orthogonal coordinate system is also shown where a direction (the thickness direction of the main body assembly 12) that is vertical to the outer circumferential surface of the wrist 90 that serves as the measurement area is defined as a Z direction, a direction corresponding to the width direction of the belt 20 is defined as an X direction, and a direction corresponding to the lengthwise direction of the belt 20 is defined as a Y direction (the same applies to FIGS.","12 to 15, 16(B), 17, and 18, which will be described later).","As can be clearly seen from FIG.","11, the main body assembly 12 includes a sub-assembly 12′ that includes, at a substantially center position, an upper substrate 61 that serves as a first substrate and a lower substrate 62 that serves as a second substrate that opposes the upper substrate 61 and is combined with the upper substrate 61 in the Z direction.","The upper substrate 61 is attached to the lower substrate 62 with a screw 65 or the like via a spacer (not shown in the diagram) so as to provide a fixed spacing with respect to the lower substrate 62 in the Z direction.","As used herein, the terms “upper substrate” and “lower substrate” (as well as the terms “upper surface” and “lower surface” which will be described later) are used for the sake of the description, and thus are not intended to limit the orientation of the blood pressure meter 1 when in use.","On the upper substrate 61, the pressure sensor 16, the CPU 100 (including the oscillation circuit 160) and the memory 51 that were described above and an interconnect are mounted (for the sake of simplification, only the pressure sensor 16 is shown in FIG.","11).","On the lower substrate 62, the piezoelectric pump 17, the pump driving circuit 170, the valve 18 and the valve driving circuit 180 that were described above and an interconnect are mounted (for the sake of simplification, only the piezoelectric pump 17 and the pump driving circuit 170 are shown in FIG.","11).","The interconnect of the upper substrate 61 and the interconnect of the lower substrate 62 are connected to each other by the FPC cable 63.The upper substrate 61 has a dimension in the X direction that is substantially half of the dimension in the X direction of the lower substrate 62.With this configuration, the upper substrate 61 opposes only substantially half of the region of the lower substrate 62 that is on the +X side in the X direction.","The piezoelectric pump 17 includes a main portion 17p having a rectangular parallelepipedal shaped outer contour, and is mounted on substantially half of the region of the lower substrate 62 that is on the −X side in the X direction.","The piezoelectric pump 17 is higher than the upper substrate 61, as a result of which, the piezoelectric pump 17 is located at a position adjacent to the upper substrate 61 on the −X side in a planar direction (XY direction).","Substantially half of the region of the sub-assembly 12′ that is on the −Y side in the Y direction is occupied by a frame-shaped battery holder 53F.","The battery 53 having a rectangular parallelepipedal shaped outer contour is fitted and attached to the battery holder 53F from the −Z direction.","As a result, the upper substrate 61, the piezoelectric pump 17, the lower substrate 62, and the attached battery 53 form a rectangular parallelepipedal shaped outer contour as a whole.","As a result of these elements being assembled in a compact design, it is possible to promote miniaturization of the product.","The main body assembly 12 further includes a USB substrate 55P attached to an edge portion of the upper substrate 61 that is on the −Y side.","The USB substrate 55P incorporates a USB terminal 55 and an interconnect (not shown).","The interconnect of the USB substrate 55P is connected to the interconnect of the upper substrate 61 via an FPC cable 55F.","Also, the main body assembly 12 includes a plate-like joint member 52G that is attached to an edge portion of the lower substrate 62 that is on the +Y side, and is inclined in the −Z direction.","The joint member 52G includes two branched tip ends 52G1 and 52G2.A switch substrate 52P incorporating the power supply switch 52A and an interconnect (not shown) is attached so as to straddle the tip ends 52G1 and 52G2.The interconnect of the switch substrate 52P is connected to the interconnect of the lower substrate 62 via an FPC cable 52F.","Also, the main body assembly 12 includes the substantially flat plate-like display device 50 (an organic EL (electro luminescent) display in this example) that is attached to the outside (on +Z side).","The display device 50 includes a rectangular frame-shaped glass frame 50e extending along a peripheral edge of the display device 50, and also includes a metal plate 50c on a back surface of the display device 50.Also, an FPC cable 50F is attached to an edge portion of the display device 50 that is on the +Y side.","The FPC cable 50F passes through a gap 52Gw (see FIG.","10A) formed between the joint member 52G and the switch substrate 52P, and is connected to the interconnect of the lower substrate 62.As described above, the main body assembly 12 shown in FIGS.","10A and 10B is configured in a compact and substantially rectangular parallelepipedal shape.","FIG.","12 shows a positional relationship between the sub-assembly 12′ and the fluid bladder 22 in the assembled blood pressure meter 1, as viewed obliquely.","FIG.","13 shows a state (state before assembly) in which the sub-assembly 12′ and the fluid bladder 22 shown in FIG.","12 are spaced apart in the Z direction.","For the sake of ease of understanding, in FIGS.","12 and 13, the illustration of the lower housing 13 is omitted.","The fluid bladder 22 includes cylindrical nipples 381 and 382 for allowing air to be supplied into the fluid bladder 22 as a fluid and allowing air to be discharged from the fluid bladder 22.As can be clearly seen from FIG.","13, the pressure sensor 16 is incorporated in a substantially rectangular parallelepipedal shape sensor package 16p and mounted on the upper surface 61a of the upper substrate 61.In this example, the pressure sensor 16 includes a substantially cylindrical inlet pipe 16d that is integrally molded with the sensor package 16p and lead terminals 16e and 16f that protrude from side surfaces of the sensor package 16p.","The lead terminals 16e and 16f are connected to the interconnect (not shown) that is provided on the upper substrate 61.The inlet pipe 16d extends straight in the −Z direction from a bottom surface (a surface that is closer to the upper substrate 61) 16b of the sensor package 16p toward the fluid bladder 22 through a through hole 61x that is formed in the upper substrate 61 and a through hole 62x that is formed in the lower substrate 62 and serves as an escaping portion.","The inlet pipe 16d constitutes a portion of a circumferential wall of the second fluid path 42 described above.","An O ring 394 for hermetic sealing is press fitted around the inlet pipe 16d.","The sensor package 16p and the inlet pipe 16d may be formed separately, and integrally jointed with an adhesive or the like.","The piezoelectric pump 17 is mounted on the lower substrate 62, and, as already described above, is located at a position adjacent to the upper substrate 61 on the −X side in the planar direction (the XY direction).","The piezoelectric pump 17 includes the main portion 17p having a rectangular parallelepipedal shaped outer contour and a substantially cylindrical outlet pipe 17d integrally molded with the main portion 17p.","The outlet pipe 17d extends straight in the −Z direction from a bottom surface of the main portion 17p toward the fluid bladder 22 through a through hole 62w that is formed in the lower substrate 62 and that serves as another escaping portion.","The outlet pipe 17d constitutes a portion of a circumferential wall of the first fluid path 41 described above.","An O ring 393 for hermetic sealing is press fitted around the outlet pipe 17d.","As can be clearly seen from FIG.","12, in the assembled blood pressure meter 1, the nipples 381 and 382 of the fluid bladder 22 are provided around the outlet pipe 17d of the piezoelectric pump 17 and the inlet pipe 16d of the pressure sensor 16 so as to overlap them in the Z direction through the through holes 62w and 62x formed in the lower substrate 62, thereby constituting the first fluid path 41 and the second fluid path 42, respectively.","The through holes 62w and 62x that are formed in the lower substrate 62 and serve as escaping portions are configured to have an inner diameter slightly larger than the outer diameter of outer circumferential cylindrical portions 391a and 392a of the lower housing 13, which will be described later.","FIG.","14 shows, in detail, a configuration of the first fluid path 41 and the second fluid path 42, together with the lower housing 13 provided between the sub-assembly 12′ and the fluid bladder 22, by using a ZX cross-sectional view through the pressure sensor 16.Also, FIG.","15 shows, in detail, a configuration of the second fluid path 42, together with the lower housing 13 provided between the sub-assembly 12′ and the fluid bladder 22, by using a YZ cross-sectional view through the pressure sensor 16.As can be clearly seen from FIG.","14, the lower housing 13 includes double cylindrical portions 391 and 392 at positions corresponding to the outlet pipe 17d of the piezoelectric pump 17 and the inlet pipe 16d of the pressure sensor 16, respectively, on a bottom wall 13b of the lower housing 13.The double cylindrical portion 391 includes an outer circumferential cylindrical portion 391a that stands upright from the bottom wall 13b in the +Z direction, an inner circumferential cylindrical portion 391c that is concentric with the outer circumferential cylindrical portion 391a, and extends in the Z direction through the bottom wall 13b, and an annular joint plate portion 391b that is flat and joins an upper edge of the outer circumferential cylindrical portion 391a and an upper edge of the inner circumferential cylindrical portion 391c to each other.","On the inner circumferential side of the inner circumferential cylindrical portion 391c, an annular engaging plate portion 391f is provided in a protruding manner at a substantially center position in the Z direction so as to reduce the diameter (inner diameter).","The engaging plate portion 391f has an inner circumferential edge 391e configured to have a diameter (inner diameter) slightly larger than the outer diameter of the outlet pipe 17d of the piezoelectric pump 17.Also, the inner circumferential cylindrical portion 391c is configured to have an inner diameter slightly smaller than the outer diameter of the O ring 393.The inner circumferential cylindrical portion 391c is configured to have an outer diameter slightly larger than the inner diameter of the nipple 381.A radial spacing between the inner circumferential cylindrical portion 391c and the outer circumferential cylindrical portion 391a is configured to be sufficiently larger than the thickness of the nipple 381 of the fluid bladder 22 so as to allow insertion of the nipple 381 of the fluid bladder 22 into the spacing.","Likewise, the double cylindrical portion 392 includes an outer circumferential cylindrical portion 392a that stands upright from the bottom wall 13b in the +Z direction, an inner circumferential cylindrical portion 392c that is concentric with the outer circumferential cylindrical portion 392a, and extends in the Z direction through the bottom wall 13b, and an annular joint plate portion 392b that is flat and joins an upper edge of the outer circumferential cylindrical portion 392a and an upper edge of the inner circumferential cylindrical portion 392c to each other.","On the inner circumferential side of the inner circumferential cylindrical portion 392c, an annular engaging plate portion 392f is provided in a protruding manner at a substantially center position in the Z direction so as to reduce the diameter (inner diameter).","The engaging plate portion 392f has an inner circumferential edge 392e configured to have a diameter (inner diameter) slightly larger than the outer diameter of the inlet pipe 16d of the pressure sensor 16.Also, the inner circumferential cylindrical portion 392c is configured to have an inner diameter slightly smaller than the outer diameter of the O ring 394.The inner circumferential cylindrical portion 392c is configured to have an outer diameter slightly larger than the inner diameter of the nipple 382.A radial spacing between the inner circumferential cylindrical portion 392c and the outer circumferential cylindrical portion 392a is configured to be sufficiently larger than the thickness of the nipple 382 of the fluid bladder 22 so as to allow insertion of the nipple 382 of the fluid bladder 22 into the spacing.","With this configuration, in a state in which the blood pressure meter 1 is assembled and the sub-assembly 12′ (the main body assembly 12) is attached to the lower housing 13, the outlet pipe 17d of the piezoelectric pump 17 extends in the −Z direction beyond the inner circumferential edge 391e of the engaging plate portion 391f of the inner circumferential cylindrical portion 391c.","At the same time, the O ring 393 is press fitted into the inner circumferential cylindrical portion 391c so as to realize hermetic sealing between the outlet pipe 17d and the inner circumferential cylindrical portion 391c.","Likewise, the inlet pipe 16d of the pressure sensor 16 extends in the −Z direction beyond the inner circumferential edge 392e of the engaging plate portion 392f of the inner circumferential cylindrical portion 392c.","At the same time, the O ring 394 is press fitted into the inner circumferential cylindrical portion 392c so as to realize hermetic sealing between the inlet pipe 16d and the inner circumferential cylindrical portion 392c Furthermore, in a state in which the fluid bladder 22 is attached to the lower housing 13, the nipple 381 of the fluid bladder 22 is press fitted to an outer circumference of the inner circumferential cylindrical portion 391c so as to realize hermetic sealing between the inner circumferential cylindrical portion 391c and the nipple 381.Likewise, the nipple 382 of the fluid bladder 22 is press fitted to an outer circumference of the inner circumferential cylindrical portion 392c so as to realize hermetic sealing between the inner circumferential cylindrical portion 392c and the nipple 382.With this configuration, in the assembled blood pressure meter 1, the outlet pipe 17d of the piezoelectric pump 17 and the nipple 381 of the fluid bladder 22 are hermetically attached to the inner circumferential cylindrical portion 391c of the bottom wall 13b of the lower housing 13, as a result of which, the first fluid path 41 extending straight in the Z direction is formed between the piezoelectric pump 17 and the fluid bladder 22.Likewise, the inlet pipe 16d of the pressure sensor 16 and the nipple 382 of the fluid bladder 22 are hermetically attached to the inner circumferential cylindrical portion 392c, as a result of which, the second fluid path 42 extending straight in the Z direction is formed between the pressure sensor 16 and the fluid bladder 22.Here, if a configuration is applied in which the inlet pipe 16d of the pressure sensor 16 and the nipple 382 of the fluid bladder 22 can be directly fitted and attached, stress may be applied to the pressure sensor 16 from the nipple 382 via the inlet pipe 16d and the sensor package 16p during assembly, which may compromise the characteristics of the pressure sensor 16.However, with the blood pressure meter 1, the inlet pipe 16d of the pressure sensor 16 and the nipple 382 that is in communication with the fluid bladder 22 are hermetically attached to the inner circumferential cylindrical portion 392c of the bottom wall 13b.","Accordingly, it is possible to independently perform an operation to attach the inlet pipe 16d of the pressure sensor 16 to the inner circumferential cylindrical portion 392c of the bottom wall 13b and an operation to attach the nipple 382 that is in communication with the fluid bladder 22 to the inner circumferential cylindrical portion 392c of the bottom wall 13b.","Thus, there is no possibility that the characteristics of the pressure sensor 16 will be compromised due to the application of stress from the nipple 382 during assembly.","As a result, the reliability of assembly is enhanced.","Also, as described above, the through holes 62w and 62x that are formed in the lower substrate 62 and serve as escaping portions are configured to have an inner diameter slightly larger than the outer diameter of the outer circumferential cylindrical portions 391a and 392a, which will be described later.","Accordingly, the lower substrate 62 does not interfere with the first fluid path 41 and the second fluid path 42.Also, in this example, the lower substrate 62 on which the blood pressure measurement elements 170, 18, 180, .",".",".","are mounted in addition to the piezoelectric pump 17 is disposed in spaces SP1 and SP2 (see FIG.","12) that are located between the upper substrate 61 and the fluid bladder 22 in the Z direction and around the first fluid path 41 and the second fluid path 42 in the XY direction.","Accordingly, the spaces SP1 and SP2 can be effectively used by the lower substrate 62.As a result, it is possible to promote miniaturization of the product, in particular, miniaturization in the planar direction (the XY direction).","To be specific, if a configuration is applied in which the blood pressure measurement elements 17, 170, 18, 180, .",".",".","that need to be mounted on the lower substrate 62 are mounted on the upper substrate 61 in the absence of the lower substrate 62, there is no option but to increase the dimension in the XY direction of the upper substrate 61 accordingly (by an amount corresponding to the increased region where the blood pressure measurement elements are disposed).","However, with the blood pressure meter 1, the spaces SP1 and SP2 where a component is not disposed in a conventional blood pressure meter can be effectively used by the lower substrate 62.As a result, the dimension in the XY direction of the upper substrate 61 can be reduced, and miniaturization in the XY direction can be promoted.","Also, as can be clearly seen from FIG.","15, in this example, the battery 53 continuously occupies a range ΔZ in which at least the upper substrate 61 and the lower substrate 62 are disposed in the Z direction.","As a result, the capacity of the battery 53 can be increased.","FIGS.","16(A) and 16(B) show, in a laid-out state, the upper substrate 61 and the lower substrate 62 that are connected to each other by the FPC cable 63 before the sub-assembly 12′ is assembled.","FIG.","16(A) shows the upper surface 61a of the upper substrate 61 and the lower surface 62b of the lower substrate 62.FIG.","16(B) shows the lower surface 61b of the upper substrate 61 and the upper surface 62a of the lower substrate 62, which corresponds to the back side of FIG.","16(A).","In the sub-assembly 12′ (the main body assembly 12), the upper substrate 61 is disposed above the lower substrate 62 so as to oppose the lower substrate 62 as a result of the FPC cable 63 being bent as indicated by the arrow F in FIG.","16(B).","In FIGS.","16(A) and 16(B), the USB substrate 55P connected to the upper substrate 61 by the FPC cable 55F and the switch substrate 52P connected to the lower substrate 62 by the FPC cable 52F are also shown.","As can be clearly seen from FIG.","16(A), in the upper substrate 61, a region 61u in which the pressure sensor 16 is mounted is provided adjacent to a region 61v in which the CPU 100 (including the oscillation circuit 160) is mounted.","Accordingly, the interconnect between the pressure sensor 16 and the CPU 100 is relatively short, which makes it unlikely that noise will be included in the output of the pressure sensor 16.As a result, the accuracy of blood pressure measurement is enhanced.","The upper substrate 61 includes a substantially rectangular island shaped portion 61s that protrudes in an upper right diagonal direction in FIG.","16(A).","The island shaped portion 61s includes a contact electrode 53s that is connected to the battery 53.Also, as can be clearly seen from FIG.","16(B), a region 62u of the substantially rectangular lower substrate 62 in which the pump driving circuit 170 is mounted is provided to be spaced apart from the region 61u of the upper substrate 61 in which the pressure sensor 16 is mounted in the planar direction (the XY direction) (rather, the region 61u opposes the piezoelectric pump 17 shown in FIG.","12).","Furthermore, in order to transmit a drive current from the pump driving circuit 170 to the piezoelectric pump 17, a lead wire 170e (see FIG.","12) that electrically connects the lower substrate 62 and the piezoelectric pump 17 is connected to an end portion of the piezoelectric pump 17 that is on the opposite side of the pressure sensor 16 in the planar direction (the XY direction).","Accordingly, the distance from the pressure sensor 16 to the pump driving circuit 170 and the lead wire 170e is increased, and thus heat generated in the pump driving circuit 170 and the lead wire 170e due to the electric current that drives the piezoelectric pump 17 is unlikely to be transferred to the pressure sensor 16.As a result, the output of the pressure sensor 16 is unlikely to be affected by the generated heat, and the accuracy of blood pressure measurement is further enhanced.","Also, as can be seen from FIGS.","11 and 10A, in the assembled main body assembly 12, at least the region 61u of the upper substrate 61 in which the pressure sensor 16 is mounted and the region 61v of the upper substrate 61 in which the CPU 100 is mounted shown in FIG.","16(A) are shielded, in the thickness direction (Z direction), by the display device 50 including the metal plate 50c that is disposed extending outward of the upper substrate 61 and the lower substrate 62 that is disposed extending inward of the upper substrate 61.Accordingly, this makes it more unlikely that noise will be included in the output of the pressure sensor 16.As a result, the accuracy of blood pressure measurement is further enhanced.","The embodiment described above is configured such that, as schematically shown in FIG.","17, the pressure sensor 16 is incorporated in the substantially rectangular parallelepipedal shape sensor package 16p and mounted on the upper surface 61a of the upper substrate 61.However, the configuration is not limited thereto.","For example, as shown in FIG.","18, a pressure sensor 16′ may be incorporated in a substantially rectangular parallelepipedal sensor package 16p′ and mounted on the lower surface 61b of the upper substrate 61.In this case, lead terminals 16e′ and 16f′ of the pressure sensor 16′ are connected to an interconnect (not shown) provided on the lower surface 61b of the upper substrate 61.An inlet pipe 16d′ extends straight in the −Z direction from a surface 16a′of the sensor package 16p′ that is distant from the upper substrate 61 toward the fluid bladder 22 through the through hole 62x that is formed in the lower substrate 62 and serves as an escaping portion.","In the example shown in FIG.","18 as well, a space SP2 around the second fluid path 42 (and a space SP1 around the first fluid path 41) where a component is not disposed in a conventional blood pressure meter can be effectively used by the lower substrate 62.As a result, the dimension in the XY direction of the upper substrate 61 can be reduced, and miniaturization in the XY direction can be promoted.","Also, the embodiment described above is configured such that, as shown in, for example, FIGS.","12 and 13, the through holes 62w and 62x that are formed in the plane surface of the lower substrate 62, or in other words, that are formed internally in the planar direction (the XY direction) are used as the escaping portions formed in the lower substrate 62.However, the configuration is not limited thereto.","The escaping portions formed in the lower substrate 62 may be cut-out portions formed in the peripheral edge of the lower substrate 62.Also, the embodiment described above is configured such that the main body 10 of the blood pressure meter 1 is disposed in the base end portion a in the lengthwise direction of the belt 20, but the configuration is not limited thereto.","The main body 10 may be disposed in, for example, a center portion in the lengthwise direction of the belt 20.The above-described embodiment is merely an example, and various modifications are possible without departing from the scope of the present invention.","Also, multiple embodiments described above can be achieved independently or in combination with each other.","Also, various characteristics of different embodiments can be achieved independently or in combination with each other.","REFERENCE NUMERALS LIST 1 Blood pressure meter 10 Main body 16 Pressure sensor 17 Piezoelectric pump 18 Valve 20 Belt 22 Fluid bladder 23 Reinforcing layer 24 Outer circumferential layer 25 Engaged portion 29 Sheet 30 Buckle 30a First plate frame member 30b Second plate frame member 31 Projection portion 32 Engaging portion 33 Magnet 41 First fluid path 42 Second fluid path 50 Display device 51 Memory 52 Operation unit 52A Power supply switch 52B Blood pressure measurement switch 53 Battery 61 Upper substrate 62 Lower substrate 61x, 62w, 62x Through hole 160 Oscillation circuit 170 Pump driving circuit 180 Valve driving circuit 100 CPU"]],"string":"[\n [\n \"BLOOD PRESSURE METER\",\n \"A blood pressure meter includes a pump and a first fluid path provided inside a main body.\",\n \"The first fluid path feeds a fluid from the pump to a fluid bladder or discharges the fluid from the fluid bladder.\",\n \"A pressure sensor is mounted on a first substrate disposed inside the main body.\",\n \"A second fluid path that introduces the fluid from the fluid bladder to the pressure sensor is provided.\",\n \"The second fluid path includes an inlet pipe that is integrally formed with a sensor package that incorporates the pressure sensor, and extends straight between the fluid bladder and the pressure sensor.\",\n \"A second substrate on which a blood pressure measurement element is mounted is disposed in a space that is located between the first substrate and the fluid bladder in a thickness direction and is adjacent to the second fluid path in a planar direction.\"\n ],\n [\n \"1.A blood pressure meter that is worn wrapped around a measurement area, the blood pressure meter comprising: a strip-shaped belt that includes a fluid bladder to which a fluid is supplied, and is wrapped around the measurement area; a main body that is provided on an outer surface side of the belt; a pump that is provided inside the main body, and is capable of supplying the fluid to the fluid bladder; a first fluid path that feeds the fluid from the pump to the fluid bladder or discharges the fluid from the fluid bladder; a pressure sensor that is incorporated in a sensor package and mounted on a first substrate disposed inside the main body, and is capable of detecting the pressure in the fluid bladder; and a second fluid path that introduces the fluid from the fluid bladder to the pressure sensor, wherein the second fluid path includes an inlet pipe that is integrally formed with the sensor package as a circumferential wall of the second fluid path, and extends straight between the fluid bladder and the pressure sensor, and wherein a second substrate on which a blood pressure measurement element is mounted is disposed in a space that is located between the first substrate and the fluid bladder in a thickness direction and is adjacent to the second fluid path in a planar direction perpendicular to the thickness direction.\",\n \"2.The blood pressure meter according to claim 1, wherein the second substrate includes an escaping portion for allowing the second fluid path to pass therethrough in a plane surface extending along the planar direction.\",\n \"3.The blood pressure meter according to claim 1, wherein the pump is disposed at a position adjacent to the first substrate in the planar direction, wherein the first fluid path includes an outlet pipe of the pump as a circumferential wall of the first fluid path, and extends straight between the pump and the fluid bladder in parallel to the second fluid path, and wherein the second substrate extends in a space that is located between the pump and the fluid bladder in the thickness direction and is adjacent to the first fluid path in the planar direction.\",\n \"4.The blood pressure meter according to claim 3, wherein the second substrate includes another escaping portion for allowing the first fluid path to pass therethrough in the plane surface extending along the planar direction.\",\n \"5.The blood pressure meter according to claim 3, wherein a pump driving circuit for driving the pump is mounted on the second substrate, wherein a region of the second substrate in which the pump driving circuit is mounted is provided to be spaced apart, in the planar direction, from a region of the first substrate in which the pressure sensor is mounted and to oppose the pump, and wherein a lead wire that electrically connects the pump driving circuit and the pump is connected to an end portion of the pump, the end portion being on an opposite side of the pressure sensor in the planar direction.\",\n \"6.The blood pressure meter according to claim 1, wherein a control unit that receives an output of the pressure sensor and performs blood pressure calculation processing is mounted on the first substrate, and wherein a region of the first substrate in which the control unit is mounted is provided adjacent to a region of the first substrate in which the pressure sensor is mounted.\",\n \"7.The blood pressure meter according to claim 6, wherein at least the region of the first substrate in which the pressure sensor is mounted and the region of the first substrate in which the control unit is mounted are shielded, in the thickness direction, by a display device including a metal plate that is disposed extending outward of the first substrate and the second substrate that is disposed extending inward of the first substrate.\",\n \"so as to realize hermetic sealing.\",\n \"8.The blood pressure meter according to claim 1, wherein the main body includes a bottom wall between the second substrate and the fluid bladder, the bottom wall including a through cylindrical portion extending in the thickness direction so as to constitute a portion of the circumferential wall of the second fluid path, and wherein the inlet pipe of the pressure sensor and a nipple that is in communication with the fluid bladder are hermetically attached to the cylindrical portion of the bottom wall.\",\n \"9.The blood pressure meter according to claim 1, wherein a battery for supplying power to each constituent element of the blood pressure meter is mounted inside the main body, and wherein the battery continuously occupies a range in which at least the first substrate and the second substrate are disposed in the thickness direction.\",\n \"10.The blood pressure meter according to claim 9, wherein the first substrate, the pump, the second substrate, and the battery form a rectangular parallelepipedal shaped outer contour as a whole.\",\n \"11.The blood pressure meter according to claim 2, wherein the pump is disposed at a position adjacent to the first substrate in the planar direction, wherein the first fluid path includes an outlet pipe of the pump as a circumferential wall of the first fluid path, and extends straight between the pump and the fluid bladder in parallel to the second fluid path, and wherein the second substrate extends in a space that is located between the pump and the fluid bladder in the thickness direction and is adjacent to the first fluid path in the planar direction.\",\n \"12.The blood pressure meter according to claim 11, wherein a pump driving circuit for driving the pump is mounted on the second substrate, wherein a region of the second substrate in which the pump driving circuit is mounted is provided to be spaced apart, in the planar direction, from a region of the first substrate in which the pressure sensor is mounted and to oppose the pump, and wherein a lead wire that electrically connects the pump driving circuit and the pump is connected to an end portion of the pump, the end portion being on an opposite side of the pressure sensor in the planar direction.\"\n ],\n [\n \" BACKGROUND ART As this type of blood pressure meter, for example, a blood pressure meter as disclosed in Patent Document 1 (JP H09-101220A) is known that includes a pressure sensor module including a tubular inlet pipe integrally formed on a bottom surface of a package incorporating a pressure sensor so as to protrude from the bottom surface.\",\n \"The pressure sensor module package is attached onto an upper surface of a circuit substrate, with the inlet pipe extending down to the circuit substrate through a through hole formed in advance in the circuit substrate.\",\n \"The inlet pipe is connected to a cuff via an elongated tube (connecting pipe).\",\n \"Also, for recent blood pressure meters, in particular, wrist-worn blood pressure meters, there is a growing need to produce miniaturized products.\",\n \"For example, Patent Document 2 (JP 2013-220187A) discloses a wrist-worn blood pressure meter in which a fluid bladder enclosed in a blood pressure measurement cuff and a pressure sensor are disposed in a stacked manner in a thickness direction, with a fluid path (corresponding to the inlet pipe described above) being provided in a straight manner between the fluid bladder and the pressure sensor.\",\n \"With this configuration, a miniaturized and thinner product is achieved.\"\n ],\n [\n \" SUMMARY OF INVENTION However, with the blood pressure meters disclosed in Patent Document 1 (JP H09-101220A) and Patent Document 2 (JP 2013-220187A), there is a relatively large space around the inlet pipe (or the fluid path) in which a component is not disposed.\",\n \"Accordingly, there is a possibility that miniaturization of a product, in particular, miniaturization in a planar direction can be further promoted by effectively using the space.\",\n \"Thus, one or more embodiments of the present invention provide a blood pressure meter that can promote miniaturization of a product, in particular, miniaturization in a planar direction.\",\n \"A blood pressure meter according to one or more embodiments of the present invention is a blood pressure meter that is worn wrapped around a measurement area, the blood pressure meter including: a strip-shaped belt that includes a fluid bladder to which a fluid is supplied, and is wrapped around the measurement area; a main body that is provided on an outer surface side of the belt; a pump that is provided inside the main body, and is capable of supplying the fluid to the fluid bladder; a first fluid path that feeds the fluid from the pump to the fluid bladder or discharges the fluid from the fluid bladder; a pressure sensor that is incorporated in a sensor package and mounted on a first substrate disposed inside the main body, and is capable of detecting the pressure in the fluid bladder; and a second fluid path that introduces the fluid from the fluid bladder to the pressure sensor, wherein the second fluid path includes an inlet pipe that is integrally formed with the sensor package as a circumferential wall of the second fluid path, and extends straight between the fluid bladder and the pressure sensor, and a second substrate on which a blood pressure measurement element is mounted is disposed in a space that is located between the first substrate and the fluid bladder in a thickness direction and is adjacent to the second fluid path in a planar direction perpendicular to the thickness direction.\",\n \"In this specification, the term “outer surface” of the strip-shaped belt refers to a surface that is distant from the measurement area.\",\n \"Also, the expression “the second fluid path .\",\n \".\",\n \".\",\n \"extends straight” means that the second fluid path extends straight so as to include a fluid inlet port of the sensor package and a fluid inlet/outlet port of the fluid bladder in a state in which the sensor package and the fluid bladder are disposed to oppose each other in the thickness direction.\",\n \"Also, the term “thickness direction” refers to a direction vertical to an outer circumferential surface of the measurement area, or in other words, a direction through the strip-shaped belt.\",\n \"The term “planar direction” refers to a direction in which a surface perpendicular to the thickness direction extends.\",\n \"Also, the expression “space that is adjacent to the second fluid path in the planar direction” refers to, for example, the entire area around the second fluid path, or may refer to a space that is on one side of the second fluid path.\",\n \"Also, the term “blood pressure measurement element” encompasses, for example, a pump driving circuit for driving the pump, and the like.\",\n \"In the blood pressure meter according to one or more embodiments of the present invention, the fluid is fed from the pump provided inside the main body to the fluid bladder through the first fluid path or discharged from the fluid bladder.\",\n \"With this configuration, the pressure in the fluid bladder is increased or decreased.\",\n \"Also, the pressure of the fluid supplied to the fluid bladder is detected by the pressure sensor (mounted on the first substrate) through the second fluid path.\",\n \"Based on the detected pressure, blood pressure values are obtained by using, for example, a known oscillometric method.\",\n \"Here, in the blood pressure meter, a second substrate on which a blood pressure measurement element is mounted is disposed in a space that is located between the first substrate and the fluid bladder in a thickness direction and is adjacent to the second fluid path in a planar direction perpendicular to the thickness direction.\",\n \"Accordingly, the space that is adjacent to the second fluid path can be effectively used by the second substrate.\",\n \"As a result, it is possible to promote miniaturization of the product, in particular, miniaturization in the planar direction.\",\n \"To be specific, if a configuration is applied in which the blood pressure measurement element that needs to be mounted on the second substrate is mounted on the first substrate in the absence of the second substrate, there is no option but to increase the dimension of the first substrate in the planar direction accordingly (by an amount corresponding to the increased region where the blood pressure measurement element is disposed).\",\n \"However, with the blood pressure meter according to one or more embodiments of the present invention, the space where a component is not disposed in a conventional blood pressure meter can be effectively used by the second substrate.\",\n \"As a result, the dimension of the first substrate in the planar direction can be reduced, and miniaturization in the planar direction can be promoted.\",\n \"With the blood pressure meter according to the embodiment, the second substrate includes an escaping portion for allowing the second fluid path to pass therethrough in a plane surface extending along the planar direction.\",\n \"The “escaping portion” formed in the second substrate may be a through hole extending through the substrate in the thickness direction, or may be a cut-out portion formed in a peripheral edge of the plane surface.\",\n \"With the blood pressure meter according to the embodiment, the second substrate includes an escaping portion for allowing the second fluid path to pass therethrough in a plane surface extending along the planar direction.\",\n \"Accordingly, the second substrate does not interfere with the second fluid path.\",\n \"With the blood pressure meter according to the embodiment, the pump is disposed at a position adjacent to the first substrate in the planar direction, the first fluid path includes an outlet pipe of the pump as a circumferential wall of the first fluid path, and extends straight between the pump and the fluid bladder in parallel to the second fluid path, and the second substrate extends in a space that is located between the pump and the fluid bladder in the thickness direction and is adjacent to the first fluid path in the planar direction.\",\n \"In this specification, the expression “the first fluid path .\",\n \".\",\n \".\",\n \"extends straight” means that the first fluid path extends straight so as to include a fluid outlet port of the pump and a fluid inlet/outlet port of the fluid bladder in a state in which the pump and the fluid bladder are disposed opposing each other in the thickness direction.\",\n \"With the blood pressure meter according to the embodiment, the second substrate extends in a space that is located between the pump and the fluid bladder in the thickness direction and is adjacent to the first fluid path in the planar direction.\",\n \"Accordingly, the space that is adjacent to the first fluid path can be effectively used by the second substrate.\",\n \"As a result, miniaturization of the product can be further promoted.\",\n \"With the blood pressure meter according to the embodiment, the second substrate includes another escaping portion for allowing the first fluid path to pass therethrough in the plane surface extending along the planar direction.\",\n \"With the blood pressure meter according to the embodiment, the second substrate includes another escaping portion for allowing the first fluid path to pass therethrough in the plane surface extending along the planar direction.\",\n \"Accordingly, the second substrate does not interfere with the first fluid path.\",\n \"With the blood pressure meter according to the embodiment, a pump driving circuit for driving the pump is mounted on the second substrate, a region of the second substrate in which the pump driving circuit is mounted is provided to be spaced apart, in the planar direction, from a region of the first substrate in which the pressure sensor is mounted and to oppose the pump, and a lead wire that electrically connects the pump driving circuit and the pump is connected to an end portion of the pump, the end portion being on an opposite side of the pressure sensor in the planar direction.\",\n \"With the blood pressure meter according to the embodiment, a region of the second substrate in which the pump driving circuit is mounted is provided to be spaced apart, in the planar direction, from a region of the first substrate in which the pressure sensor is mounted and to oppose the pump.\",\n \"Also, a lead wire that electrically connects the pump driving circuit and the pump is connected to an end portion of the pump, the end portion being on an opposite side of the pressure sensor in the planar direction.\",\n \"Accordingly, heat generated in the pump driving circuit and the lead wire during driving of the pump is unlikely to be transferred to the pressure sensor.\",\n \"As a result, the output of the pressure sensor is unlikely to be affected by the generated heat, and the accuracy of blood pressure measurement is enhanced.\",\n \"With the blood pressure meter according to the embodiment, a control unit that receives an output of the pressure sensor and performs blood pressure calculation processing is mounted on the first substrate, and a region of the first substrate in which the control unit is mounted is provided adjacent to a region of the first substrate in which the pressure sensor is mounted.\",\n \"With the blood pressure meter according to the embodiment, in the first substrate, a region in which the control unit is mounted is provided adjacent to the region in which the pressure sensor is mounted.\",\n \"Accordingly, the interconnect between the pressure sensor and the control unit is relatively short, which makes it unlikely that noise will be included in the output of the pressure sensor.\",\n \"As a result, the accuracy of blood pressure measurement is further enhanced.\",\n \"With the blood pressure meter according to the embodiment, at least the region of the first substrate in which the pressure sensor is mounted and the region of the first substrate in which the control unit is mounted are shielded, in the thickness direction, by a display device including a metal plate that is disposed extending outward of the first substrate and the second substrate that is disposed extending inward of the first substrate.\",\n \"The expression “outward of the first substrate” refers to a side that is distant from the measurement area.\",\n \"Likewise, the expression “inward of the first substrate” refers to a side close to the measurement area.\",\n \"With the blood pressure meter according to the embodiment, at least the region of the first substrate in which the pressure sensor is mounted and the region of the first substrate in which the control unit is mounted are shielded, in the thickness direction, by a display device including a metal plate that is disposed extending outward of the first substrate and the second substrate that is disposed extending inward of the first substrate.\",\n \"Accordingly, this makes it unlikely that noise will be included in the output of the pressure sensor.\",\n \"As a result, the accuracy of blood pressure measurement is further enhanced.\",\n \"With the blood pressure meter according to the embodiment, the main body includes a bottom wall between the second substrate and the fluid bladder, the bottom wall including a through cylindrical portion extending in the thickness direction so as to constitute a portion of the circumferential wall of the second fluid path, and the inlet pipe of the pressure sensor and a nipple that is in communication with the fluid bladder are hermetically attached to the cylindrical portion of the bottom wall.\",\n \"With the blood pressure meter according to the embodiment, the inlet pipe of the pressure sensor and a nipple that is in communication with the fluid bladder are hermetically attached to the cylindrical portion of the bottom wall.\",\n \"The second fluid path is thereby constituted.\",\n \"Here, if a configuration is applied in which the inlet pipe of the pressure sensor and the nipple that is in communication with the fluid bladder can be directly fitted and attached, stress may be applied to the pressure sensor from the nipple via the inlet pipe and the sensor package during assembly, which may compromise the characteristics of the pressure sensor.\",\n \"However, with the blood pressure meter according to the embodiment, the inlet pipe of the pressure sensor and the nipple that is in communication with the fluid bladder are hermetically attached to the cylindrical portion of the bottom wall.\",\n \"Accordingly, it is possible to independently perform an operation to attach the inlet pipe of the pressure sensor to the cylindrical portion of the bottom wall and an operation to attach the nipple that is in communication with the fluid bladder to the cylindrical portion of the bottom wall.\",\n \"Thus, there is no possibility that the characteristics of the pressure sensor will be compromised due to the application of stress from the nipple during assembly.\",\n \"As a result, the reliability of assembly is enhanced.\",\n \"With the blood pressure meter according to the embodiment, a battery for supplying power to each constituent element of the blood pressure meter is mounted inside the main body, and the battery continuously occupies a range in which at least the first substrate and the second substrate are disposed in the thickness direction.\",\n \"With the blood pressure meter according to the embodiment, the battery continuously occupies a range in which at least the first substrate and the second substrate are disposed in the thickness direction.\",\n \"Accordingly, the dimension in the thickness direction of the battery can be configured to be relatively large.\",\n \"As a result, it is possible to increase the battery capacity.\",\n \"With the blood pressure meter according to the embodiment, the first substrate, the pump, the second substrate, and the battery form a rectangular parallelepipedal shaped outer contour as a whole.\",\n \"With the blood pressure meter according to the embodiment, the first substrate, the pump, the second substrate, and the battery form a rectangular parallelepipedal shaped outer contour as a whole.\",\n \"That is, these elements are assembled in a compact design.\",\n \"As a result, miniaturization of the product is further promoted.\",\n \"As is evident from the above description, with the blood pressure meter according to one or more embodiments of the present invention, it is possible to promote miniaturization of the product, in particular, miniaturization in the planar direction.\"\n ],\n [\n \"TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a blood pressure meter.\",\n \"More specifically, the invention relates to an electronic blood pressure meter that detects the pressure of a fluid supplied to a blood pressure measurement cuff by using a pressure sensor through an inlet pipe that is in communication with the cuff and obtains a blood pressure value based on the detected pressure.\",\n \"BACKGROUND ART As this type of blood pressure meter, for example, a blood pressure meter as disclosed in Patent Document 1 (JP H09-101220A) is known that includes a pressure sensor module including a tubular inlet pipe integrally formed on a bottom surface of a package incorporating a pressure sensor so as to protrude from the bottom surface.\",\n \"The pressure sensor module package is attached onto an upper surface of a circuit substrate, with the inlet pipe extending down to the circuit substrate through a through hole formed in advance in the circuit substrate.\",\n \"The inlet pipe is connected to a cuff via an elongated tube (connecting pipe).\",\n \"Also, for recent blood pressure meters, in particular, wrist-worn blood pressure meters, there is a growing need to produce miniaturized products.\",\n \"For example, Patent Document 2 (JP 2013-220187A) discloses a wrist-worn blood pressure meter in which a fluid bladder enclosed in a blood pressure measurement cuff and a pressure sensor are disposed in a stacked manner in a thickness direction, with a fluid path (corresponding to the inlet pipe described above) being provided in a straight manner between the fluid bladder and the pressure sensor.\",\n \"With this configuration, a miniaturized and thinner product is achieved.\",\n \"CITATION LIST Patent Literature Patent Document 1: JP H09-101220A Patent Document 2: JP 2013-220187A SUMMARY OF INVENTION However, with the blood pressure meters disclosed in Patent Document 1 (JP H09-101220A) and Patent Document 2 (JP 2013-220187A), there is a relatively large space around the inlet pipe (or the fluid path) in which a component is not disposed.\",\n \"Accordingly, there is a possibility that miniaturization of a product, in particular, miniaturization in a planar direction can be further promoted by effectively using the space.\",\n \"Thus, one or more embodiments of the present invention provide a blood pressure meter that can promote miniaturization of a product, in particular, miniaturization in a planar direction.\",\n \"A blood pressure meter according to one or more embodiments of the present invention is a blood pressure meter that is worn wrapped around a measurement area, the blood pressure meter including: a strip-shaped belt that includes a fluid bladder to which a fluid is supplied, and is wrapped around the measurement area; a main body that is provided on an outer surface side of the belt; a pump that is provided inside the main body, and is capable of supplying the fluid to the fluid bladder; a first fluid path that feeds the fluid from the pump to the fluid bladder or discharges the fluid from the fluid bladder; a pressure sensor that is incorporated in a sensor package and mounted on a first substrate disposed inside the main body, and is capable of detecting the pressure in the fluid bladder; and a second fluid path that introduces the fluid from the fluid bladder to the pressure sensor, wherein the second fluid path includes an inlet pipe that is integrally formed with the sensor package as a circumferential wall of the second fluid path, and extends straight between the fluid bladder and the pressure sensor, and a second substrate on which a blood pressure measurement element is mounted is disposed in a space that is located between the first substrate and the fluid bladder in a thickness direction and is adjacent to the second fluid path in a planar direction perpendicular to the thickness direction.\",\n \"In this specification, the term “outer surface” of the strip-shaped belt refers to a surface that is distant from the measurement area.\",\n \"Also, the expression “the second fluid path .\",\n \".\",\n \".\",\n \"extends straight” means that the second fluid path extends straight so as to include a fluid inlet port of the sensor package and a fluid inlet/outlet port of the fluid bladder in a state in which the sensor package and the fluid bladder are disposed to oppose each other in the thickness direction.\",\n \"Also, the term “thickness direction” refers to a direction vertical to an outer circumferential surface of the measurement area, or in other words, a direction through the strip-shaped belt.\",\n \"The term “planar direction” refers to a direction in which a surface perpendicular to the thickness direction extends.\",\n \"Also, the expression “space that is adjacent to the second fluid path in the planar direction” refers to, for example, the entire area around the second fluid path, or may refer to a space that is on one side of the second fluid path.\",\n \"Also, the term “blood pressure measurement element” encompasses, for example, a pump driving circuit for driving the pump, and the like.\",\n \"In the blood pressure meter according to one or more embodiments of the present invention, the fluid is fed from the pump provided inside the main body to the fluid bladder through the first fluid path or discharged from the fluid bladder.\",\n \"With this configuration, the pressure in the fluid bladder is increased or decreased.\",\n \"Also, the pressure of the fluid supplied to the fluid bladder is detected by the pressure sensor (mounted on the first substrate) through the second fluid path.\",\n \"Based on the detected pressure, blood pressure values are obtained by using, for example, a known oscillometric method.\",\n \"Here, in the blood pressure meter, a second substrate on which a blood pressure measurement element is mounted is disposed in a space that is located between the first substrate and the fluid bladder in a thickness direction and is adjacent to the second fluid path in a planar direction perpendicular to the thickness direction.\",\n \"Accordingly, the space that is adjacent to the second fluid path can be effectively used by the second substrate.\",\n \"As a result, it is possible to promote miniaturization of the product, in particular, miniaturization in the planar direction.\",\n \"To be specific, if a configuration is applied in which the blood pressure measurement element that needs to be mounted on the second substrate is mounted on the first substrate in the absence of the second substrate, there is no option but to increase the dimension of the first substrate in the planar direction accordingly (by an amount corresponding to the increased region where the blood pressure measurement element is disposed).\",\n \"However, with the blood pressure meter according to one or more embodiments of the present invention, the space where a component is not disposed in a conventional blood pressure meter can be effectively used by the second substrate.\",\n \"As a result, the dimension of the first substrate in the planar direction can be reduced, and miniaturization in the planar direction can be promoted.\",\n \"With the blood pressure meter according to the embodiment, the second substrate includes an escaping portion for allowing the second fluid path to pass therethrough in a plane surface extending along the planar direction.\",\n \"The “escaping portion” formed in the second substrate may be a through hole extending through the substrate in the thickness direction, or may be a cut-out portion formed in a peripheral edge of the plane surface.\",\n \"With the blood pressure meter according to the embodiment, the second substrate includes an escaping portion for allowing the second fluid path to pass therethrough in a plane surface extending along the planar direction.\",\n \"Accordingly, the second substrate does not interfere with the second fluid path.\",\n \"With the blood pressure meter according to the embodiment, the pump is disposed at a position adjacent to the first substrate in the planar direction, the first fluid path includes an outlet pipe of the pump as a circumferential wall of the first fluid path, and extends straight between the pump and the fluid bladder in parallel to the second fluid path, and the second substrate extends in a space that is located between the pump and the fluid bladder in the thickness direction and is adjacent to the first fluid path in the planar direction.\",\n \"In this specification, the expression “the first fluid path .\",\n \".\",\n \".\",\n \"extends straight” means that the first fluid path extends straight so as to include a fluid outlet port of the pump and a fluid inlet/outlet port of the fluid bladder in a state in which the pump and the fluid bladder are disposed opposing each other in the thickness direction.\",\n \"With the blood pressure meter according to the embodiment, the second substrate extends in a space that is located between the pump and the fluid bladder in the thickness direction and is adjacent to the first fluid path in the planar direction.\",\n \"Accordingly, the space that is adjacent to the first fluid path can be effectively used by the second substrate.\",\n \"As a result, miniaturization of the product can be further promoted.\",\n \"With the blood pressure meter according to the embodiment, the second substrate includes another escaping portion for allowing the first fluid path to pass therethrough in the plane surface extending along the planar direction.\",\n \"With the blood pressure meter according to the embodiment, the second substrate includes another escaping portion for allowing the first fluid path to pass therethrough in the plane surface extending along the planar direction.\",\n \"Accordingly, the second substrate does not interfere with the first fluid path.\",\n \"With the blood pressure meter according to the embodiment, a pump driving circuit for driving the pump is mounted on the second substrate, a region of the second substrate in which the pump driving circuit is mounted is provided to be spaced apart, in the planar direction, from a region of the first substrate in which the pressure sensor is mounted and to oppose the pump, and a lead wire that electrically connects the pump driving circuit and the pump is connected to an end portion of the pump, the end portion being on an opposite side of the pressure sensor in the planar direction.\",\n \"With the blood pressure meter according to the embodiment, a region of the second substrate in which the pump driving circuit is mounted is provided to be spaced apart, in the planar direction, from a region of the first substrate in which the pressure sensor is mounted and to oppose the pump.\",\n \"Also, a lead wire that electrically connects the pump driving circuit and the pump is connected to an end portion of the pump, the end portion being on an opposite side of the pressure sensor in the planar direction.\",\n \"Accordingly, heat generated in the pump driving circuit and the lead wire during driving of the pump is unlikely to be transferred to the pressure sensor.\",\n \"As a result, the output of the pressure sensor is unlikely to be affected by the generated heat, and the accuracy of blood pressure measurement is enhanced.\",\n \"With the blood pressure meter according to the embodiment, a control unit that receives an output of the pressure sensor and performs blood pressure calculation processing is mounted on the first substrate, and a region of the first substrate in which the control unit is mounted is provided adjacent to a region of the first substrate in which the pressure sensor is mounted.\",\n \"With the blood pressure meter according to the embodiment, in the first substrate, a region in which the control unit is mounted is provided adjacent to the region in which the pressure sensor is mounted.\",\n \"Accordingly, the interconnect between the pressure sensor and the control unit is relatively short, which makes it unlikely that noise will be included in the output of the pressure sensor.\",\n \"As a result, the accuracy of blood pressure measurement is further enhanced.\",\n \"With the blood pressure meter according to the embodiment, at least the region of the first substrate in which the pressure sensor is mounted and the region of the first substrate in which the control unit is mounted are shielded, in the thickness direction, by a display device including a metal plate that is disposed extending outward of the first substrate and the second substrate that is disposed extending inward of the first substrate.\",\n \"The expression “outward of the first substrate” refers to a side that is distant from the measurement area.\",\n \"Likewise, the expression “inward of the first substrate” refers to a side close to the measurement area.\",\n \"With the blood pressure meter according to the embodiment, at least the region of the first substrate in which the pressure sensor is mounted and the region of the first substrate in which the control unit is mounted are shielded, in the thickness direction, by a display device including a metal plate that is disposed extending outward of the first substrate and the second substrate that is disposed extending inward of the first substrate.\",\n \"Accordingly, this makes it unlikely that noise will be included in the output of the pressure sensor.\",\n \"As a result, the accuracy of blood pressure measurement is further enhanced.\",\n \"With the blood pressure meter according to the embodiment, the main body includes a bottom wall between the second substrate and the fluid bladder, the bottom wall including a through cylindrical portion extending in the thickness direction so as to constitute a portion of the circumferential wall of the second fluid path, and the inlet pipe of the pressure sensor and a nipple that is in communication with the fluid bladder are hermetically attached to the cylindrical portion of the bottom wall.\",\n \"With the blood pressure meter according to the embodiment, the inlet pipe of the pressure sensor and a nipple that is in communication with the fluid bladder are hermetically attached to the cylindrical portion of the bottom wall.\",\n \"The second fluid path is thereby constituted.\",\n \"Here, if a configuration is applied in which the inlet pipe of the pressure sensor and the nipple that is in communication with the fluid bladder can be directly fitted and attached, stress may be applied to the pressure sensor from the nipple via the inlet pipe and the sensor package during assembly, which may compromise the characteristics of the pressure sensor.\",\n \"However, with the blood pressure meter according to the embodiment, the inlet pipe of the pressure sensor and the nipple that is in communication with the fluid bladder are hermetically attached to the cylindrical portion of the bottom wall.\",\n \"Accordingly, it is possible to independently perform an operation to attach the inlet pipe of the pressure sensor to the cylindrical portion of the bottom wall and an operation to attach the nipple that is in communication with the fluid bladder to the cylindrical portion of the bottom wall.\",\n \"Thus, there is no possibility that the characteristics of the pressure sensor will be compromised due to the application of stress from the nipple during assembly.\",\n \"As a result, the reliability of assembly is enhanced.\",\n \"With the blood pressure meter according to the embodiment, a battery for supplying power to each constituent element of the blood pressure meter is mounted inside the main body, and the battery continuously occupies a range in which at least the first substrate and the second substrate are disposed in the thickness direction.\",\n \"With the blood pressure meter according to the embodiment, the battery continuously occupies a range in which at least the first substrate and the second substrate are disposed in the thickness direction.\",\n \"Accordingly, the dimension in the thickness direction of the battery can be configured to be relatively large.\",\n \"As a result, it is possible to increase the battery capacity.\",\n \"With the blood pressure meter according to the embodiment, the first substrate, the pump, the second substrate, and the battery form a rectangular parallelepipedal shaped outer contour as a whole.\",\n \"With the blood pressure meter according to the embodiment, the first substrate, the pump, the second substrate, and the battery form a rectangular parallelepipedal shaped outer contour as a whole.\",\n \"That is, these elements are assembled in a compact design.\",\n \"As a result, miniaturization of the product is further promoted.\",\n \"As is evident from the above description, with the blood pressure meter according to one or more embodiments of the present invention, it is possible to promote miniaturization of the product, in particular, miniaturization in the planar direction.\",\n \"BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS FIG.\",\n \"1A is a top view showing an external appearance of a blood pressure meter 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"1B is a vertical cross-sectional view of the blood pressure meter 1 taken along the line B-B shown in FIG.\",\n \"1A.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"1C is a vertical cross-sectional view of the blood pressure meter 1 taken along the line A-A shown in FIG.\",\n \"1A.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"2 is a bottom view of the blood pressure meter 1 shown in FIG.\",\n \"1.FIG.\",\n \"3 is a perspective view of the blood pressure meter 1 shown in FIG.\",\n \"1 when it is formed into a loop.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"4 is a diagram illustrating the blood pressure meter 1 shown in FIG.\",\n \"3 as viewed from a direction vertical to the loop of the belt.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"5 is an exploded perspective view illustrating a structure of the blood pressure meter 1 shown in FIG.\",\n \"1A.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"6A is a schematic perspective view illustrating a first state during operation of a buckle 30 shown in FIG.\",\n \"5.FIG.\",\n \"6B is a schematic perspective view illustrating a second state during operation of the buckle 30 shown in FIG.\",\n \"5.FIG.\",\n \"7A is a schematic diagram illustrating a first procedure of wearing the blood pressure meter 1 shown in FIG.\",\n \"1 on a wrist and performing measurement.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"7B is a schematic diagram illustrating a second procedure of wearing the blood pressure meter 1 shown in FIG.\",\n \"1 on the wrist and performing measurement.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"7C is a schematic diagram illustrating a third procedure of wearing the blood pressure meter 1 shown in FIG.\",\n \"1 on the wrist and performing measurement.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"8 is a block diagram schematically showing a configuration of a control system provided inside the blood pressure meter 1 shown in FIG.\",\n \"1.FIG.\",\n \"9 is a flowchart illustrating blood pressure measurement processing executed by the blood pressure meter 1 shown in FIG.\",\n \"1.FIG.\",\n \"10A is an enlarged view of a main body assembly 12 shown in FIG.\",\n \"5.FIG.\",\n \"10B is a bottom view of the main body assembly 12 as viewed from the bottom in FIG.\",\n \"10A.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"11 is an exploded view of the main body assembly 12 shown in FIG.\",\n \"10A.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"12 is a perspective view showing a positional relationship between a sub-assembly 12′ and a fluid bladder 22 in the assembled blood pressure meter 1.FIG.\",\n \"13 is a diagram showing a state in which the sub-assembly 12′ and the fluid bladder 22 shown in FIG.\",\n \"12 are spaced apart in a thickness direction (Z direction).\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"14 is a ZX cross-sectional view through a pressure sensor 16, showing, in detail, a configuration of a first fluid path 41 and a second fluid path 42 in the blood pressure meter 1, together with a lower housing 13 provided between the sub-assembly 12′ and the fluid bladder 22.FIG.\",\n \"15 is a YZ cross-sectional view through the pressure sensor 16, showing, in detail, a configuration of the second fluid path 42 in the blood pressure meter 1, together with the lower housing 13 provided between the sub-assembly 12′ and the fluid bladder 22, so as to realize hermetic sealing.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"16(A) is a diagram showing, in a laid-out state, an upper substrate 61 and a lower substrate 62 that are connected to each other by an FPC cable 63 before the blood pressure meter 1 is assembled, and shows an upper surface 61a of the upper substrate 61 and a lower surface 62b of the lower substrate 62, so as to realize hermetic sealing.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"16(B) is a diagram showing, in a laid-out state, the upper substrate 61 and the lower substrate 62 that are connected to each other by the FPC cable 63 before the blood pressure meter 1 is assembled, and corresponds to the back side of FIG.\",\n \"16(A).\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"17 is a schematic diagram showing a configuration near the pressure sensor 16 mounted on the upper surface 61a of the upper substrate 61.FIG.\",\n \"18 is a schematic diagram showing a configuration near a pressure sensor 16′ mounted on a lower surface 61b of the upper substrate 61.DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.\",\n \"In the embodiment given below, the same constituent elements are given the same reference numerals and a description thereof is omitted.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"1A is a top view showing an external appearance of a blood pressure meter 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"1B is a vertical cross-sectional view of the blood pressure meter 1 taken along the line B-B shown in FIG.\",\n \"1A.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"1C is a vertical cross-sectional view of the blood pressure meter 1 taken along the line A-A shown in FIG.\",\n \"1A.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"2 is a bottom view of the blood pressure meter 1 shown in FIG.\",\n \"1.FIG.\",\n \"3 is a perspective view of the blood pressure meter 1 shown in FIG.\",\n \"1 when the blood pressure meter 1 is worn wrapped around a measurement area.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"4 is a diagram illustrating the blood pressure meter 1 shown in FIG.\",\n \"3 as viewed from a direction vertical to the loop of the belt.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"5 is an exploded perspective view illustrating a structure of the blood pressure meter 1 shown in FIG.\",\n \"1A.\",\n \"As can be seen from FIG.\",\n \"3, the blood pressure meter 1 is worn wrapped around a rod-shaped measurement area such as, for example, a user's wrist 90 (see FIGS.\",\n \"7A to 7C).\",\n \"The blood pressure meter 1 includes a strip-shaped belt 20 that is wrapped around the measurement area, a main body 10 that is disposed in a base end portion a in a lengthwise direction of the belt 20 on an outer surface side of the belt 20 and includes a blood pressure measurement element, and a buckle 30 for joining the base end portion a and a lead end portion b that is provided on the opposite side of the base end portion a in the lengthwise direction of the belt 20 such that the belt 20 forms a loop.\",\n \"Here, the belt 20 functions as a blood pressure measurement cuff.\",\n \"Hereinafter, a structure of the belt 20 will be described.\",\n \"As can be seen from FIG.\",\n \"1B, the belt 20 includes a fluid bladder 22 for compressing the measurement area when measuring blood pressure, a reinforcing layer 23 that is provided along an outer surface of the fluid bladder 22 and is for suppressing outward inflation of the fluid bladder 22, and an outer circumferential layer 24 that is provided along an outer surface of the reinforcing layer 23 so as to cover the reinforcing layer 23.Accordingly, because outward inflation of the fluid bladder 22 can be suppressed, it is possible to improve the efficiency of compressing the measurement area and further enhance the accuracy of blood pressure measurement.\",\n \"On the other hand, a surface of the fluid bladder 22 (the surface serving as an inner surface when worn) has a plurality of irregularities along the lengthwise direction so as to facilitate inflation toward the measurement area.\",\n \"The reinforcing layer 23 is the hardest, followed by the outer circumferential layer 24 and then the fluid bladder 22.Accordingly, the reinforcing layer 23 suppresses outward inflation of the fluid bladder 22 when the fluid bladder 22 is inflated, and thus the efficiency of compressing the measurement area can be improved.\",\n \"Accordingly, the accuracy of blood pressure measurement can be further enhanced.\",\n \"Furthermore, the outer circumferential layer 24 that is not as hard as the reinforcing layer 23 covers an outer circumference of the reinforcing layer 23, and thus feels soft when the user touches the outer circumferential layer 24 of the belt 20 with his/her hand.\",\n \"As can be clearly seen from FIGS.\",\n \"1A, 1B, and 3, an operation unit including a blood pressure measurement switch 52B for inputting an instruction to perform a biometric information measurement is disposed in an area (a substantially center portion in this example) that is different from a specific portion (the base end portion a in this example) in which the main body 10 is disposed in the lengthwise direction on the outer surface side of the belt 20.Also, as shown in FIG.\",\n \"5, the main body 10 includes a frame-shaped upper housing 11, a lower housing 13 that is combined with the upper housing 11, and a main body assembly 12 that is housed between the upper housing 11 and the lower housing 13.The main body assembly 12 includes a display device 50 that is fitted into the frame of the upper housing 11.A FPC (flexible printed circuit) cable 54 for electrically connecting the main body 10 and the operation unit 5 is provided between the fluid bladder 22 and the reinforcing layer 23.Because the main body 10 and the operation unit 52 are electrically connected by the FPC cable 54 as described above, the belt 20 can be configured to be thin.\",\n \"In the present embodiment, only the operation unit is disposed, but the present invention is not limited thereto, and it is also possible to dispose a communication unit and a display unit.\",\n \"so as to realize hermetic sealing As can be seen from FIG.\",\n \"2, magnets 33 are provided on an inner surface side of the base end portion a of the belt 20, and metal projection portions 31 that are attracted to the magnets 33 are provided on a second plate frame member 30b, thereby constituting an attraction mechanism.\",\n \"With this attraction mechanism, the inner surface side of the base end portion a of the belt 20 or one end portion d of a first plate frame member 30a and another end portion h of the second plate frame member 30b are attracted to each other.\",\n \"Accordingly, when the main body 10 and the first plate frame member 30a and the second plate frame member 30b of the buckle 30 are folded, an inner surface of the main body 10 and the first plate frame member 30a and the second plate frame member 30b of the buckle 30 are guided to overlap each other.\",\n \"In addition to or instead of the attraction mechanism, it is desirable to provide a lock mechanism that engages the inner surface side of the base end portion a of the belt 20 or the one end portion d of the first plate frame member 30a with the other end portion h of the second plate frame member 30b.\",\n \"It is also desirable that the attraction mechanism and/or the lock mechanism include/includes an unlock mechanism for releasing the attraction and/or the engagement.\",\n \"In this example, a release button 19 (see FIGS.\",\n \"1A, 2, and 5) for canceling attraction is provided in the main body 10 as the unlock mechanism.\",\n \"As shown in FIG.\",\n \"5, the release button 19 is integrally formed with a slide plate 19a.\",\n \"In response to the release button 19 being pressed toward the inside of the main body 10, the slide plate 19a is inserted between the one end portion d of the first plate frame member 30a and the other end portion h of the second plate frame member 30b shown in FIG.\",\n \"6B like a wedge so as to cancel the attraction between the first plate frame member 30a and the second plate frame member 30b.\",\n \"As shown in FIGS.\",\n \"6A and 6B, a first fixing element including engaging portions 32 having a projection shape is provided on an inner surface of the other end portion h of the second plate frame member 30b, and also as shown in FIGS.\",\n \"1A, 1B, and 5, a second fixing element including engaged portions 25 having a recessed shape that can be engaged with the engaging portions 32 is provided on an outer surface of the lead end portion b of the belt 20.With this configuration, as shown in FIGS.\",\n \"3 and 4, the belt 20 can be formed into a loop by engaging the second plate frame member 30b with the lead end portion b of the belt 20.Accordingly, the blood pressure meter 1 can be fixed to the measurement area.\",\n \"Furthermore, the second fixing element (the engaged portions 25) that has a non-through recessed shape and is configured to be capable of engaging with the first fixing element (the engaging portions 32) having a projection shape is provided on the outer surface of the lead end portion b of the belt 20, and thus these fixing elements do not interfere with the fluid bladder 22.Accordingly, the wrist 90 that serves as the measurement area can be reliably compressed by the fluid bladder 22 while the blood pressure is being measured.\",\n \"The present embodiment is configured such that the first fixing element having a projection shape and the second fixing element having a recessed shape are used, but the present invention is not limited to this configuration.\",\n \"It is possible to, for example, use a first fixing element having a recessed shape and a second fixing element having a projection shape.\",\n \"In this case as well, the same effects of the present embodiment can be obtained.\",\n \"As can be clearly seen from FIGS.\",\n \"1A, 1B, and 5, a plurality of engaged portions 25 are formed side by side along the lengthwise direction of the belt 20 such that the attachment position of the other end portion h of the second plate frame member 30b can be adjusted in the lengthwise direction of the belt 20.Accordingly, it is possible to adjust the attachment position of the other end portion h (see FIG.\",\n \"6B) of the second plate frame member 30b in the lengthwise direction of the belt 20.With this configuration, the length of the loop of the belt 20 can be variably set so as to fit snug to the circumferential length of the wrist 90 that serves as the measurement area.\",\n \"The engaged portions 25 are also arranged in a plurality of (two in this example) rows along a width direction of the belt 20.Accordingly, even if the belt 20 is slightly twisted, the engagement between the engaging portions 32 and the engaged portions 25 is unlikely to be canceled.\",\n \"Also, at least the outer surface of the lead end portion b of the belt 20 is made of a flexible material.\",\n \"Accordingly, the engagement of the engaging portions 32 and the engaged portions 25 can be easily disengaged.\",\n \"It is also possible to provide a detachment mechanism (not shown) that allows the user to cancel the engagement between the engaging portions 32 and the engaged portions 25.In this case, with the detachment mechanism, the user can cancel the engagement between the engaging portions 32 and the engaged portions 25 while the belt 20 is wrapped around the wrist 90.Accordingly, the belt 20 can be more easily detached.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"6A is a schematic perspective view illustrating a first state during operation of the buckle 30 shown in FIG.\",\n \"5, and FIG.\",\n \"6B is a schematic perspective view illustrating a second state during operation of the buckle 30 shown in FIG.\",\n \"5.The buckle 30 includes, on the inner surface side of the base end portion a of the belt 20, the first plate frame member 30a that is attached to the one end portion d so as to be capable of pivoting about an axis c that intersects the lengthwise direction of the belt 20.The first plate frame member 30a extends, in a curved form, from the one end portion d to another end portion e that is on the opposite side.\",\n \"The buckle 30 also includes, on the other end portion e of the first plate frame member 30a, the second plate frame member 30b that is attached to one end portion g so as to be capable of pivoting about an axis f that is parallel to the axis c. The second plate frame member 30b extends, in a curved form, from the one end portion g to the other end portion h that is on the opposite side.\",\n \"Furthermore, the other end portion h of the second plate frame member 30b is configured to be capable of being attached to the lead end portion b of the belt 20, and the first plate frame member 30a and the second plate frame member 30b respectively have a first opening portion OP1 and a second opening portion OP2 that extend through their plane surfaces.\",\n \"Here, the first opening portion OP1 of the first plate frame member 30a and the second opening portion OP2 of the second plate frame member 30b are configured to be continuous in the thickness direction of the main body 10 when the inner surface of the main body 10 and the first plate frame member 30a and the second plate frame member 30b of the buckle 30 are folded so as to overlap each other.\",\n \"Accordingly, it is possible to implement a configuration in which the fluid bladder 22 is disposed on the inner side of the main body 10 so as to compress the measurement area.\",\n \"The first opening portion OP1 is open toward the other end portion e of the first plate frame member 30a, and the second opening portion OP2 is open toward the one end portion g of the second plate frame member 30b.\",\n \"Accordingly, the first opening portion OP1 and the second opening portion OP2 are in communication with each other.\",\n \"That is, the first plate frame member 30a and the second plate frame member 30b are formed to have a substantially angular U shape and are joined to each other on the side on which their opening portions are open.\",\n \"Also, as can be clearly seen from FIG.\",\n \"2, the fluid bladder 22 for compressing the measurement area during blood pressure measurement is provided along the lengthwise direction of the belt 20 in the belt 20, and the fluid bladder 22 is in communication with the inside of the main body 10 through a region corresponding to the first opening portion OP1 and the second opening portion OP2 in a folded state.\",\n \"With this configuration, the fluid bladder 22 can compress a spatially continuous region of the wrist 90 that serves as the measurement area in a circumferential direction thereof, the spatially continuous region extending from a portion corresponding to the inside of the main body 10 toward the lead end portion b of the belt 20.Accordingly, the contact area between the fluid bladder 22 and the measurement area can be increased, and it is therefore possible to improve the efficiency of compressing the arteries.\",\n \"Accordingly, the accuracy of blood pressure measurement can be further enhanced.\",\n \"Also, the fluid bladder 22 extends to the lead end portion b of the belt 20 along the lengthwise direction.\",\n \"When the inner surface of the main body 10 and the first plate frame member 30a and the second plate frame member 30b of the buckle 30 are folded so as to overlap each other, a portion of the main body 10 that is in communication with the fluid bladder 22 overlaps a portion to which the fluid bladder 22 of the belt 20 extends.\",\n \"With this configuration, the overlapping region of the belt 20 in the lengthwise direction has a thickness thicker than that of the other region of the main body 10 and thus is inflated by an amount corresponding to the thickness.\",\n \"Accordingly, an excessive amount of pressure applied to compress the arteries is reduced as a result of reducing the distance by which the arteries running through the wrist 90 escape due to being pressed by a region other than the overlapping region.\",\n \"As a result, the blood pressure values measured through the application of pressure by the fluid bladder can be brought closer to true values, and thus the accuracy of measurement can be enhanced.\",\n \"The effect of reducing the excessive amount of pressure applied to compress the arteries is also obtained even when the first opening portion OP1 of the first plate frame member 30a and the second opening portion OP2 of the second plate frame member 30b in the buckle 30 are omitted.\",\n \"FIGS.\",\n \"7A to 7C are schematic diagrams illustrating a procedure of wearing the blood pressure meter 1 shown in FIG.\",\n \"1 on the wrist and performing measurement.\",\n \"When actually wearing the blood pressure meter 1 on the wrist 90, as shown in FIG.\",\n \"7A, the user first places the belt 20 around the wrist 90, with the main body 10 and the first plate frame member 30a and the second plate frame member 30b of the buckle 30 being open.\",\n \"Then, the user inserts the lead end portion b of the belt 20 through the second opening portion OP2 (see FIGS.\",\n \"6A and 6B) of the second plate frame member 30b and engages the engaging portions 32 of the second plate frame member 30b with the engaged portions 25 that are provided on the lead end portion b of the belt 20.By doing so, the belt 20 is formed into a loop and the wrist 90 passes through the loop of the belt 20.In this way, the length of the loop of the belt 20 can be set so as to fit snug to the circumferential length of the wrist 90.Next, as shown in FIG.\",\n \"7B, the main body 10 is moved closer toward the wrist 90 such that the inner surface of the main body 10 and the first plate frame member 30a and the second plate frame member 30b of the buckle 30 are folded so as to overlap each other.\",\n \"Then, the projection portions 31 of the second plate frame member 30b are attracted by the magnets 33.The blood pressure meter 1 is thereby worn on the wrist 90.Next, blood pressure measurement starts in response to the user pressing the blood pressure measurement switch 52B as shown in FIG.\",\n \"7C.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"8 is a block diagram schematically showing an internal configuration of the blood pressure meter 1 shown in FIG.\",\n \"1.The main body 10 includes, in addition to the display device 50 and the operation unit 52 described above, a CPU (central processing unit) 100, a memory 51, a battery 53, a piezoresistive pressure sensor 16, a piezoelectric pump 17 that supplies air to the fluid bladder 22 as a fluid, a valve 18 for adjusting a discharge pressure (back pressure) of the piezoelectric pump 17, an oscillation circuit 160 that converts an output from the pressure sensor 16 to a frequency, a pump driving circuit 170 that drives the piezoelectric pump 17, and a valve driving circuit 180 that drives the valve 18.The piezoelectric pump 17 and the valve 18 are connected to the fluid bladder 22 enclosed in the belt 20 via a first fluid path 41, and the pressure sensor 16 is connected to the fluid bladder 22 enclosed in the belt 20 via a second fluid path 42.With this configuration, air flows between the piezoelectric pump 17 and the fluid bladder 22 and between the valve 18 and the fluid bladder 22 via the first fluid path 41.Also, air flows between the pressure sensor 16 and the fluid bladder 22 via the second fluid path 42.The display device 50 includes a display, an indicator and the like, and displays predetermined information in accordance with a control signal from the CPU 100.In the operation unit 52, a power supply switch 52A receives an instruction to turn on or off power supply from the battery 53.The blood pressure measurement switch 52B receives an instruction to start blood pressure measurement and an instruction to display data obtained through measuring blood pressure values, stored in the memory 51 on the display device 50.The switches 52A and 52B input an operation signal corresponding to a user's instruction to the CPU 100.The memory 51 stores therein a program for controlling the blood pressure meter 1, settings data for setting various functions of the blood pressure meter 1, and data obtained as a result of measurement of blood pressure values.\",\n \"Also, the memory 51 is used a work memory during execution of a program.\",\n \"In this example, the battery 53 is a secondary battery (lithium ion battery), and supplies power to the CPU 100, the pressure sensor 16, the piezoelectric pump 17, the valve 18, the display device 50, the memory 51, the oscillation circuit 160, the pump driving circuit 170, and the valve driving circuit 180.The battery 53 is configured to be rechargeable via a USB (Universal Serial Bus) terminal 55 (see, for example, FIG.\",\n \"10B).\",\n \"The CPU 100 functions as a control unit in accordance with the program for controlling the blood pressure meter 1 stored in the memory 51, and performs control for driving the piezoelectric pump 17 via the pump driving circuit 170 and driving the valve 18 via the valve driving circuit 180 in accordance with an operation signal from the operation unit 52.The valve 18 is opened or closed so as to control the pressure (cuff pressure) in the fluid bladder 22 by discharging or trapping air in the fluid bladder 22.Also, the CPU 100 calculates blood pressure values based on signals from the pressure sensor 16 and controls the display device 50 and the memory 51.The piezoelectric pump 17 supplies air to the fluid bladder 22 via the first fluid path 41 so as to increase the pressure (cuff pressure) in the fluid bladder 22 enclosed in the belt 20.The valve 18 is opened or closed so as to control the cuff pressure by discharging the air in the fluid bladder 22 via the first fluid path 41 or trapping air in the fluid bladder 22.The pump driving circuit 170 drives the piezoelectric pump 17 based on a control signal provided from the CPU 100.The valve driving circuit 180 opens or closes the valve 18 based on a control signal provided from the CPU 100.The pressure sensor 16 and the oscillation circuit 160 operate as a pressure detection unit that detects the cuff pressure.\",\n \"The pressure sensor 16 is, for example, a piezoresistive pressure sensor, and introduces air from the fluid bladder 22 via the second fluid path 42 and detects the pressure of the introduced air as the cuff pressure.\",\n \"In this example, the oscillation circuit 160 oscillates based on an electric signal value that is based on a change in electric resistance due to piezoresistance effect from the pressure sensor 16, and outputs a frequency signal having a frequency corresponding to the electric signal value of the pressure sensor 16 to the CPU 100.In this example, it is assumed that the oscillation circuit 160 is included in the CPU 100, and the function of the oscillation circuit 160 is implemented by a program executed by the CPU 100.Hereinafter, a description will be given of operations performed by the blood pressure meter 1 configured as described above.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"9 is a flowchart of blood pressure measurement processing executed by the blood pressure meter 1 shown in FIG.\",\n \"1.In general, the following operations are performed when blood pressure measurement is performed according to an ordinary oscillometric method.\",\n \"To be specific, the cuff is wrapped around the measurement area (wrist or the like) of the user in advance, and during measurement, the pump and the valve are controlled to increase the cuff pressure to be higher than the highest blood pressure and thereafter gradually decrease the cuff pressure.\",\n \"In the pressure decrease process, the cuff pressure is detected by the pressure sensor, and a variation in arterial volume that occurs in the arteries running through the measurement area is taken as a pulse wave signal.\",\n \"The highest blood pressure (systolic blood pressure) and the lowest blood pressure (diastolic blood pressure) are calculated based on changes (mainly a leading edge and a trailing edge) in amplitude of the pulse wave signal due to changes in the cuff pressure at that time.\",\n \"In the blood pressure meter 1, the blood pressure values of the user are measured according to an oscillometric method by the CPU 100 in accordance with the flowchart shown in FIG.\",\n \"9.To be specific, in response to the blood pressure measurement switch 52B being pressed while the power supply switch 52A is on, as shown in FIG.\",\n \"9, the blood pressure meter 1 starts blood pressure measurement.\",\n \"Upon starting a blood pressure measurement, the CPU 100 initializes a processing memory area and outputs a control signal to the valve driving circuit 180.The valve driving circuit 180 opens the valve 18 based on the control signal so as to discharge the air in the fluid bladder 22 of the belt 20.Next, control for adjusting the pressure sensor 16 to 0 mmHg is performed.\",\n \"In FIG.\",\n \"9, when blood pressure measurement starts, first, the CPU 100 closes the valve 18 via the valve driving circuit 180, and after that, drives the piezoelectric pump 17 via the pump driving circuit 170 so as to perform processing to increase pressure to send air to the fluid bladder 22.Accordingly, the fluid bladder 22 is inflated and the cuff pressure is gradually increased (step ST101).\",\n \"When the cuff pressure has increased and reaches a predetermined pressure (YES in step ST102), the CPU 100 performs control for stopping the piezoelectric pump 17 via the pump driving circuit 170 and thereafter gradually opening the valve 18 via the valve driving circuit 180.Accordingly, the fluid bladder 22 contracts and the cuff pressure gradually decreases (step ST103).\",\n \"As used herein, the predetermined pressure refers to a pressure value that is sufficiently higher than the systolic blood pressure (for example, a systolic blood pressure of +30 mmHg) of the user, and the predetermined pressure is stored in the memory 51 in advance or the CPU 100 determines the predetermined pressure by estimating the systolic blood pressure using a predetermined calculation method while the cuff pressure is increased (see, for example, JP 2001-70263A).\",\n \"Also, for the pressure decrease speed, a target pressure decrease speed that is a target is set while the cuff pressure is increased, and the CPU 100 controls the opening degree of the valve 18 so as to reach the target pressure decrease speed (see JP 2001-70263A).\",\n \"In the pressure decrease process, the pressure sensor 16 detects a cuff pressure signal (indicated by a reference sign Pc) representing the pressure of the belt 20 via the belt 20.Based on the cuff pressure signal Pc, the CPU 100 calculates the blood pressure values (systolic blood pressure and diastolic blood pressure) by applying an algorithm, which will be described later, using an oscillometric method (step ST104).\",\n \"Note that the calculation of the blood pressure values is not limited to being performed in the pressure decrease process, and may be performed in the pressure increase process.\",\n \"Upon determining the blood pressure values through calculation (YES in step ST105), the CPU 100 performs control for displaying the calculated blood pressure values on the display device 50 (step ST106) and also performs control for storing the calculated blood pressure values in the memory 51 (step ST107).\",\n \"Next, the CPU 100 performs control for opening the valve 18 via the valve driving circuit 180 so as to discharge the air in the fluid bladder 22 of the belt 20 (step ST108).\",\n \"After that, in response to the power supply switch 52A being pressed, the blood pressure measurement ends.\",\n \"When detaching the blood pressure meter 1 from the wrist 90, the user opens the first plate frame member 30a and the second plate frame member 30b of the buckle 30, and releases the wrist 90 from the belt with the loop of the belt 20 being widened.\",\n \"When wearing the blood pressure meter 1 on the wrist 90 for the second time or more, the user can insert the wrist 90 through the loop of the belt 20, with the first plate frame member 30a and the second plate frame member 30b of the buckle 30 being open, and close the buckle 30.Accordingly, the user can easily wear the blood pressure meter 1 on the wrist 90.FIG.\",\n \"10A is an enlarged view of the main body assembly 12 shown in FIG.\",\n \"5.FIG.\",\n \"10B is a bottom view of the main body assembly 12 as viewed from the bottom in FIG.\",\n \"10A.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"11 is an exploded view of the main body assembly 12 shown in FIG.\",\n \"10A.\",\n \"In FIG.\",\n \"11, an XYZ orthogonal coordinate system is also shown where a direction (the thickness direction of the main body assembly 12) that is vertical to the outer circumferential surface of the wrist 90 that serves as the measurement area is defined as a Z direction, a direction corresponding to the width direction of the belt 20 is defined as an X direction, and a direction corresponding to the lengthwise direction of the belt 20 is defined as a Y direction (the same applies to FIGS.\",\n \"12 to 15, 16(B), 17, and 18, which will be described later).\",\n \"As can be clearly seen from FIG.\",\n \"11, the main body assembly 12 includes a sub-assembly 12′ that includes, at a substantially center position, an upper substrate 61 that serves as a first substrate and a lower substrate 62 that serves as a second substrate that opposes the upper substrate 61 and is combined with the upper substrate 61 in the Z direction.\",\n \"The upper substrate 61 is attached to the lower substrate 62 with a screw 65 or the like via a spacer (not shown in the diagram) so as to provide a fixed spacing with respect to the lower substrate 62 in the Z direction.\",\n \"As used herein, the terms “upper substrate” and “lower substrate” (as well as the terms “upper surface” and “lower surface” which will be described later) are used for the sake of the description, and thus are not intended to limit the orientation of the blood pressure meter 1 when in use.\",\n \"On the upper substrate 61, the pressure sensor 16, the CPU 100 (including the oscillation circuit 160) and the memory 51 that were described above and an interconnect are mounted (for the sake of simplification, only the pressure sensor 16 is shown in FIG.\",\n \"11).\",\n \"On the lower substrate 62, the piezoelectric pump 17, the pump driving circuit 170, the valve 18 and the valve driving circuit 180 that were described above and an interconnect are mounted (for the sake of simplification, only the piezoelectric pump 17 and the pump driving circuit 170 are shown in FIG.\",\n \"11).\",\n \"The interconnect of the upper substrate 61 and the interconnect of the lower substrate 62 are connected to each other by the FPC cable 63.The upper substrate 61 has a dimension in the X direction that is substantially half of the dimension in the X direction of the lower substrate 62.With this configuration, the upper substrate 61 opposes only substantially half of the region of the lower substrate 62 that is on the +X side in the X direction.\",\n \"The piezoelectric pump 17 includes a main portion 17p having a rectangular parallelepipedal shaped outer contour, and is mounted on substantially half of the region of the lower substrate 62 that is on the −X side in the X direction.\",\n \"The piezoelectric pump 17 is higher than the upper substrate 61, as a result of which, the piezoelectric pump 17 is located at a position adjacent to the upper substrate 61 on the −X side in a planar direction (XY direction).\",\n \"Substantially half of the region of the sub-assembly 12′ that is on the −Y side in the Y direction is occupied by a frame-shaped battery holder 53F.\",\n \"The battery 53 having a rectangular parallelepipedal shaped outer contour is fitted and attached to the battery holder 53F from the −Z direction.\",\n \"As a result, the upper substrate 61, the piezoelectric pump 17, the lower substrate 62, and the attached battery 53 form a rectangular parallelepipedal shaped outer contour as a whole.\",\n \"As a result of these elements being assembled in a compact design, it is possible to promote miniaturization of the product.\",\n \"The main body assembly 12 further includes a USB substrate 55P attached to an edge portion of the upper substrate 61 that is on the −Y side.\",\n \"The USB substrate 55P incorporates a USB terminal 55 and an interconnect (not shown).\",\n \"The interconnect of the USB substrate 55P is connected to the interconnect of the upper substrate 61 via an FPC cable 55F.\",\n \"Also, the main body assembly 12 includes a plate-like joint member 52G that is attached to an edge portion of the lower substrate 62 that is on the +Y side, and is inclined in the −Z direction.\",\n \"The joint member 52G includes two branched tip ends 52G1 and 52G2.A switch substrate 52P incorporating the power supply switch 52A and an interconnect (not shown) is attached so as to straddle the tip ends 52G1 and 52G2.The interconnect of the switch substrate 52P is connected to the interconnect of the lower substrate 62 via an FPC cable 52F.\",\n \"Also, the main body assembly 12 includes the substantially flat plate-like display device 50 (an organic EL (electro luminescent) display in this example) that is attached to the outside (on +Z side).\",\n \"The display device 50 includes a rectangular frame-shaped glass frame 50e extending along a peripheral edge of the display device 50, and also includes a metal plate 50c on a back surface of the display device 50.Also, an FPC cable 50F is attached to an edge portion of the display device 50 that is on the +Y side.\",\n \"The FPC cable 50F passes through a gap 52Gw (see FIG.\",\n \"10A) formed between the joint member 52G and the switch substrate 52P, and is connected to the interconnect of the lower substrate 62.As described above, the main body assembly 12 shown in FIGS.\",\n \"10A and 10B is configured in a compact and substantially rectangular parallelepipedal shape.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"12 shows a positional relationship between the sub-assembly 12′ and the fluid bladder 22 in the assembled blood pressure meter 1, as viewed obliquely.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"13 shows a state (state before assembly) in which the sub-assembly 12′ and the fluid bladder 22 shown in FIG.\",\n \"12 are spaced apart in the Z direction.\",\n \"For the sake of ease of understanding, in FIGS.\",\n \"12 and 13, the illustration of the lower housing 13 is omitted.\",\n \"The fluid bladder 22 includes cylindrical nipples 381 and 382 for allowing air to be supplied into the fluid bladder 22 as a fluid and allowing air to be discharged from the fluid bladder 22.As can be clearly seen from FIG.\",\n \"13, the pressure sensor 16 is incorporated in a substantially rectangular parallelepipedal shape sensor package 16p and mounted on the upper surface 61a of the upper substrate 61.In this example, the pressure sensor 16 includes a substantially cylindrical inlet pipe 16d that is integrally molded with the sensor package 16p and lead terminals 16e and 16f that protrude from side surfaces of the sensor package 16p.\",\n \"The lead terminals 16e and 16f are connected to the interconnect (not shown) that is provided on the upper substrate 61.The inlet pipe 16d extends straight in the −Z direction from a bottom surface (a surface that is closer to the upper substrate 61) 16b of the sensor package 16p toward the fluid bladder 22 through a through hole 61x that is formed in the upper substrate 61 and a through hole 62x that is formed in the lower substrate 62 and serves as an escaping portion.\",\n \"The inlet pipe 16d constitutes a portion of a circumferential wall of the second fluid path 42 described above.\",\n \"An O ring 394 for hermetic sealing is press fitted around the inlet pipe 16d.\",\n \"The sensor package 16p and the inlet pipe 16d may be formed separately, and integrally jointed with an adhesive or the like.\",\n \"The piezoelectric pump 17 is mounted on the lower substrate 62, and, as already described above, is located at a position adjacent to the upper substrate 61 on the −X side in the planar direction (the XY direction).\",\n \"The piezoelectric pump 17 includes the main portion 17p having a rectangular parallelepipedal shaped outer contour and a substantially cylindrical outlet pipe 17d integrally molded with the main portion 17p.\",\n \"The outlet pipe 17d extends straight in the −Z direction from a bottom surface of the main portion 17p toward the fluid bladder 22 through a through hole 62w that is formed in the lower substrate 62 and that serves as another escaping portion.\",\n \"The outlet pipe 17d constitutes a portion of a circumferential wall of the first fluid path 41 described above.\",\n \"An O ring 393 for hermetic sealing is press fitted around the outlet pipe 17d.\",\n \"As can be clearly seen from FIG.\",\n \"12, in the assembled blood pressure meter 1, the nipples 381 and 382 of the fluid bladder 22 are provided around the outlet pipe 17d of the piezoelectric pump 17 and the inlet pipe 16d of the pressure sensor 16 so as to overlap them in the Z direction through the through holes 62w and 62x formed in the lower substrate 62, thereby constituting the first fluid path 41 and the second fluid path 42, respectively.\",\n \"The through holes 62w and 62x that are formed in the lower substrate 62 and serve as escaping portions are configured to have an inner diameter slightly larger than the outer diameter of outer circumferential cylindrical portions 391a and 392a of the lower housing 13, which will be described later.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"14 shows, in detail, a configuration of the first fluid path 41 and the second fluid path 42, together with the lower housing 13 provided between the sub-assembly 12′ and the fluid bladder 22, by using a ZX cross-sectional view through the pressure sensor 16.Also, FIG.\",\n \"15 shows, in detail, a configuration of the second fluid path 42, together with the lower housing 13 provided between the sub-assembly 12′ and the fluid bladder 22, by using a YZ cross-sectional view through the pressure sensor 16.As can be clearly seen from FIG.\",\n \"14, the lower housing 13 includes double cylindrical portions 391 and 392 at positions corresponding to the outlet pipe 17d of the piezoelectric pump 17 and the inlet pipe 16d of the pressure sensor 16, respectively, on a bottom wall 13b of the lower housing 13.The double cylindrical portion 391 includes an outer circumferential cylindrical portion 391a that stands upright from the bottom wall 13b in the +Z direction, an inner circumferential cylindrical portion 391c that is concentric with the outer circumferential cylindrical portion 391a, and extends in the Z direction through the bottom wall 13b, and an annular joint plate portion 391b that is flat and joins an upper edge of the outer circumferential cylindrical portion 391a and an upper edge of the inner circumferential cylindrical portion 391c to each other.\",\n \"On the inner circumferential side of the inner circumferential cylindrical portion 391c, an annular engaging plate portion 391f is provided in a protruding manner at a substantially center position in the Z direction so as to reduce the diameter (inner diameter).\",\n \"The engaging plate portion 391f has an inner circumferential edge 391e configured to have a diameter (inner diameter) slightly larger than the outer diameter of the outlet pipe 17d of the piezoelectric pump 17.Also, the inner circumferential cylindrical portion 391c is configured to have an inner diameter slightly smaller than the outer diameter of the O ring 393.The inner circumferential cylindrical portion 391c is configured to have an outer diameter slightly larger than the inner diameter of the nipple 381.A radial spacing between the inner circumferential cylindrical portion 391c and the outer circumferential cylindrical portion 391a is configured to be sufficiently larger than the thickness of the nipple 381 of the fluid bladder 22 so as to allow insertion of the nipple 381 of the fluid bladder 22 into the spacing.\",\n \"Likewise, the double cylindrical portion 392 includes an outer circumferential cylindrical portion 392a that stands upright from the bottom wall 13b in the +Z direction, an inner circumferential cylindrical portion 392c that is concentric with the outer circumferential cylindrical portion 392a, and extends in the Z direction through the bottom wall 13b, and an annular joint plate portion 392b that is flat and joins an upper edge of the outer circumferential cylindrical portion 392a and an upper edge of the inner circumferential cylindrical portion 392c to each other.\",\n \"On the inner circumferential side of the inner circumferential cylindrical portion 392c, an annular engaging plate portion 392f is provided in a protruding manner at a substantially center position in the Z direction so as to reduce the diameter (inner diameter).\",\n \"The engaging plate portion 392f has an inner circumferential edge 392e configured to have a diameter (inner diameter) slightly larger than the outer diameter of the inlet pipe 16d of the pressure sensor 16.Also, the inner circumferential cylindrical portion 392c is configured to have an inner diameter slightly smaller than the outer diameter of the O ring 394.The inner circumferential cylindrical portion 392c is configured to have an outer diameter slightly larger than the inner diameter of the nipple 382.A radial spacing between the inner circumferential cylindrical portion 392c and the outer circumferential cylindrical portion 392a is configured to be sufficiently larger than the thickness of the nipple 382 of the fluid bladder 22 so as to allow insertion of the nipple 382 of the fluid bladder 22 into the spacing.\",\n \"With this configuration, in a state in which the blood pressure meter 1 is assembled and the sub-assembly 12′ (the main body assembly 12) is attached to the lower housing 13, the outlet pipe 17d of the piezoelectric pump 17 extends in the −Z direction beyond the inner circumferential edge 391e of the engaging plate portion 391f of the inner circumferential cylindrical portion 391c.\",\n \"At the same time, the O ring 393 is press fitted into the inner circumferential cylindrical portion 391c so as to realize hermetic sealing between the outlet pipe 17d and the inner circumferential cylindrical portion 391c.\",\n \"Likewise, the inlet pipe 16d of the pressure sensor 16 extends in the −Z direction beyond the inner circumferential edge 392e of the engaging plate portion 392f of the inner circumferential cylindrical portion 392c.\",\n \"At the same time, the O ring 394 is press fitted into the inner circumferential cylindrical portion 392c so as to realize hermetic sealing between the inlet pipe 16d and the inner circumferential cylindrical portion 392c Furthermore, in a state in which the fluid bladder 22 is attached to the lower housing 13, the nipple 381 of the fluid bladder 22 is press fitted to an outer circumference of the inner circumferential cylindrical portion 391c so as to realize hermetic sealing between the inner circumferential cylindrical portion 391c and the nipple 381.Likewise, the nipple 382 of the fluid bladder 22 is press fitted to an outer circumference of the inner circumferential cylindrical portion 392c so as to realize hermetic sealing between the inner circumferential cylindrical portion 392c and the nipple 382.With this configuration, in the assembled blood pressure meter 1, the outlet pipe 17d of the piezoelectric pump 17 and the nipple 381 of the fluid bladder 22 are hermetically attached to the inner circumferential cylindrical portion 391c of the bottom wall 13b of the lower housing 13, as a result of which, the first fluid path 41 extending straight in the Z direction is formed between the piezoelectric pump 17 and the fluid bladder 22.Likewise, the inlet pipe 16d of the pressure sensor 16 and the nipple 382 of the fluid bladder 22 are hermetically attached to the inner circumferential cylindrical portion 392c, as a result of which, the second fluid path 42 extending straight in the Z direction is formed between the pressure sensor 16 and the fluid bladder 22.Here, if a configuration is applied in which the inlet pipe 16d of the pressure sensor 16 and the nipple 382 of the fluid bladder 22 can be directly fitted and attached, stress may be applied to the pressure sensor 16 from the nipple 382 via the inlet pipe 16d and the sensor package 16p during assembly, which may compromise the characteristics of the pressure sensor 16.However, with the blood pressure meter 1, the inlet pipe 16d of the pressure sensor 16 and the nipple 382 that is in communication with the fluid bladder 22 are hermetically attached to the inner circumferential cylindrical portion 392c of the bottom wall 13b.\",\n \"Accordingly, it is possible to independently perform an operation to attach the inlet pipe 16d of the pressure sensor 16 to the inner circumferential cylindrical portion 392c of the bottom wall 13b and an operation to attach the nipple 382 that is in communication with the fluid bladder 22 to the inner circumferential cylindrical portion 392c of the bottom wall 13b.\",\n \"Thus, there is no possibility that the characteristics of the pressure sensor 16 will be compromised due to the application of stress from the nipple 382 during assembly.\",\n \"As a result, the reliability of assembly is enhanced.\",\n \"Also, as described above, the through holes 62w and 62x that are formed in the lower substrate 62 and serve as escaping portions are configured to have an inner diameter slightly larger than the outer diameter of the outer circumferential cylindrical portions 391a and 392a, which will be described later.\",\n \"Accordingly, the lower substrate 62 does not interfere with the first fluid path 41 and the second fluid path 42.Also, in this example, the lower substrate 62 on which the blood pressure measurement elements 170, 18, 180, .\",\n \".\",\n \".\",\n \"are mounted in addition to the piezoelectric pump 17 is disposed in spaces SP1 and SP2 (see FIG.\",\n \"12) that are located between the upper substrate 61 and the fluid bladder 22 in the Z direction and around the first fluid path 41 and the second fluid path 42 in the XY direction.\",\n \"Accordingly, the spaces SP1 and SP2 can be effectively used by the lower substrate 62.As a result, it is possible to promote miniaturization of the product, in particular, miniaturization in the planar direction (the XY direction).\",\n \"To be specific, if a configuration is applied in which the blood pressure measurement elements 17, 170, 18, 180, .\",\n \".\",\n \".\",\n \"that need to be mounted on the lower substrate 62 are mounted on the upper substrate 61 in the absence of the lower substrate 62, there is no option but to increase the dimension in the XY direction of the upper substrate 61 accordingly (by an amount corresponding to the increased region where the blood pressure measurement elements are disposed).\",\n \"However, with the blood pressure meter 1, the spaces SP1 and SP2 where a component is not disposed in a conventional blood pressure meter can be effectively used by the lower substrate 62.As a result, the dimension in the XY direction of the upper substrate 61 can be reduced, and miniaturization in the XY direction can be promoted.\",\n \"Also, as can be clearly seen from FIG.\",\n \"15, in this example, the battery 53 continuously occupies a range ΔZ in which at least the upper substrate 61 and the lower substrate 62 are disposed in the Z direction.\",\n \"As a result, the capacity of the battery 53 can be increased.\",\n \"FIGS.\",\n \"16(A) and 16(B) show, in a laid-out state, the upper substrate 61 and the lower substrate 62 that are connected to each other by the FPC cable 63 before the sub-assembly 12′ is assembled.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"16(A) shows the upper surface 61a of the upper substrate 61 and the lower surface 62b of the lower substrate 62.FIG.\",\n \"16(B) shows the lower surface 61b of the upper substrate 61 and the upper surface 62a of the lower substrate 62, which corresponds to the back side of FIG.\",\n \"16(A).\",\n \"In the sub-assembly 12′ (the main body assembly 12), the upper substrate 61 is disposed above the lower substrate 62 so as to oppose the lower substrate 62 as a result of the FPC cable 63 being bent as indicated by the arrow F in FIG.\",\n \"16(B).\",\n \"In FIGS.\",\n \"16(A) and 16(B), the USB substrate 55P connected to the upper substrate 61 by the FPC cable 55F and the switch substrate 52P connected to the lower substrate 62 by the FPC cable 52F are also shown.\",\n \"As can be clearly seen from FIG.\",\n \"16(A), in the upper substrate 61, a region 61u in which the pressure sensor 16 is mounted is provided adjacent to a region 61v in which the CPU 100 (including the oscillation circuit 160) is mounted.\",\n \"Accordingly, the interconnect between the pressure sensor 16 and the CPU 100 is relatively short, which makes it unlikely that noise will be included in the output of the pressure sensor 16.As a result, the accuracy of blood pressure measurement is enhanced.\",\n \"The upper substrate 61 includes a substantially rectangular island shaped portion 61s that protrudes in an upper right diagonal direction in FIG.\",\n \"16(A).\",\n \"The island shaped portion 61s includes a contact electrode 53s that is connected to the battery 53.Also, as can be clearly seen from FIG.\",\n \"16(B), a region 62u of the substantially rectangular lower substrate 62 in which the pump driving circuit 170 is mounted is provided to be spaced apart from the region 61u of the upper substrate 61 in which the pressure sensor 16 is mounted in the planar direction (the XY direction) (rather, the region 61u opposes the piezoelectric pump 17 shown in FIG.\",\n \"12).\",\n \"Furthermore, in order to transmit a drive current from the pump driving circuit 170 to the piezoelectric pump 17, a lead wire 170e (see FIG.\",\n \"12) that electrically connects the lower substrate 62 and the piezoelectric pump 17 is connected to an end portion of the piezoelectric pump 17 that is on the opposite side of the pressure sensor 16 in the planar direction (the XY direction).\",\n \"Accordingly, the distance from the pressure sensor 16 to the pump driving circuit 170 and the lead wire 170e is increased, and thus heat generated in the pump driving circuit 170 and the lead wire 170e due to the electric current that drives the piezoelectric pump 17 is unlikely to be transferred to the pressure sensor 16.As a result, the output of the pressure sensor 16 is unlikely to be affected by the generated heat, and the accuracy of blood pressure measurement is further enhanced.\",\n \"Also, as can be seen from FIGS.\",\n \"11 and 10A, in the assembled main body assembly 12, at least the region 61u of the upper substrate 61 in which the pressure sensor 16 is mounted and the region 61v of the upper substrate 61 in which the CPU 100 is mounted shown in FIG.\",\n \"16(A) are shielded, in the thickness direction (Z direction), by the display device 50 including the metal plate 50c that is disposed extending outward of the upper substrate 61 and the lower substrate 62 that is disposed extending inward of the upper substrate 61.Accordingly, this makes it more unlikely that noise will be included in the output of the pressure sensor 16.As a result, the accuracy of blood pressure measurement is further enhanced.\",\n \"The embodiment described above is configured such that, as schematically shown in FIG.\",\n \"17, the pressure sensor 16 is incorporated in the substantially rectangular parallelepipedal shape sensor package 16p and mounted on the upper surface 61a of the upper substrate 61.However, the configuration is not limited thereto.\",\n \"For example, as shown in FIG.\",\n \"18, a pressure sensor 16′ may be incorporated in a substantially rectangular parallelepipedal sensor package 16p′ and mounted on the lower surface 61b of the upper substrate 61.In this case, lead terminals 16e′ and 16f′ of the pressure sensor 16′ are connected to an interconnect (not shown) provided on the lower surface 61b of the upper substrate 61.An inlet pipe 16d′ extends straight in the −Z direction from a surface 16a′of the sensor package 16p′ that is distant from the upper substrate 61 toward the fluid bladder 22 through the through hole 62x that is formed in the lower substrate 62 and serves as an escaping portion.\",\n \"In the example shown in FIG.\",\n \"18 as well, a space SP2 around the second fluid path 42 (and a space SP1 around the first fluid path 41) where a component is not disposed in a conventional blood pressure meter can be effectively used by the lower substrate 62.As a result, the dimension in the XY direction of the upper substrate 61 can be reduced, and miniaturization in the XY direction can be promoted.\",\n \"Also, the embodiment described above is configured such that, as shown in, for example, FIGS.\",\n \"12 and 13, the through holes 62w and 62x that are formed in the plane surface of the lower substrate 62, or in other words, that are formed internally in the planar direction (the XY direction) are used as the escaping portions formed in the lower substrate 62.However, the configuration is not limited thereto.\",\n \"The escaping portions formed in the lower substrate 62 may be cut-out portions formed in the peripheral edge of the lower substrate 62.Also, the embodiment described above is configured such that the main body 10 of the blood pressure meter 1 is disposed in the base end portion a in the lengthwise direction of the belt 20, but the configuration is not limited thereto.\",\n \"The main body 10 may be disposed in, for example, a center portion in the lengthwise direction of the belt 20.The above-described embodiment is merely an example, and various modifications are possible without departing from the scope of the present invention.\",\n \"Also, multiple embodiments described above can be achieved independently or in combination with each other.\",\n \"Also, various characteristics of different embodiments can be achieved independently or in combination with each other.\",\n \"REFERENCE NUMERALS LIST 1 Blood pressure meter 10 Main body 16 Pressure sensor 17 Piezoelectric pump 18 Valve 20 Belt 22 Fluid bladder 23 Reinforcing layer 24 Outer circumferential layer 25 Engaged portion 29 Sheet 30 Buckle 30a First plate frame member 30b Second plate frame member 31 Projection portion 32 Engaging portion 33 Magnet 41 First fluid path 42 Second fluid path 50 Display device 51 Memory 52 Operation unit 52A Power supply switch 52B Blood pressure measurement switch 53 Battery 61 Upper substrate 62 Lower substrate 61x, 62w, 62x Through hole 160 Oscillation circuit 170 Pump driving circuit 180 Valve driving circuit 100 CPU\"\n ]\n]"},"source":{"kind":"string","value":"Patent_15876002"}}},{"rowIdx":4495048,"cells":{"text":{"kind":"list like","value":[["UPRIGHT AND INVERTED MICROSCOPE","A dual-configuration microscope is provided that may be converted into an upright or inverted microscope.","The microscope includes a body having a plurality of planar surfaces, each planar surface configured to support the body on a working surface as the body is tilted between the upright and inverted configurations.","The microscope further includes an objective, a condenser, a stage positioned between the objective and the condenser, and a portable display device to display a specimem."],["1.A microscope comprising: a body configured to be converted from an upright to inverted configuration; wherein the body comprises a plurality of planar surfaces, each planar surface configured to support the body on a working surface as the body is tilted between the upright and inverted configurations; an objective disposed on the body for viewing a specimen; a condenser disposed on the body for illuminating the specimen; a stage disposed between the objective and the condenser for supporting the specimen; and an internal camera disposed within the body, the internal camera configured to capture an image of the specimen; wherein when the body is in the upright configuration, the objective is disposed vertically above the condenser; and wherein when the body is in the inverted configuration, the condenser is disposed vertically above the objective.","2.The microscope of claim 1, wherein the stage comprises a first specimen supporting surface and a second specimen supporting surface, wherein the second specimen supporting surface is positioned opposite the first specimen supporting surface.","3.The microscope of claim 1, wherein the plurality of planar surfaces comprise a first, second, and third planar surface.","4.The microscope of claim 1, wherein the plurality of planar surfaces comprise a first, second, third, and fourth planar surface.","5.The microscope of claim 1, wherein the plurality of planar surfaces comprise a first, second, third, fourth, and fifth planar surface.","6.The microscope of claim 1, further comprising a plurality of focus knob receptacles disposed on the body, wherein each focus knob receptacle is configured to receive a removable focus knob.","7.The microscope of claim 6, wherein the removable focus knob is further configured to receive user input for controlling an operation of the microscope.","8.The microscope of claim 7, wherein the operation comprises a focusing operation using the objective.","9.The microscope of claim 1, further comprising a portable display device configured to display the image of the specimen captured by the internal camera.","10.The microscope of claim 9, further comprising a first supporting slot disposed on a first planar surface of the plurality of planar surfaces, the first supporting slot configured to support the portable display device on the body.","11.The microscope of claim 10, further comprising a second supporting slot disposed on a second planar surface of the plurality of planar surfaces, the second supporting slot disposed opposite the first supporting slot and configured to support the portable display device on the body.","12.The microscope of claim 11, further comprising a first rotating stand disposed on the first planar surface of the plurality of planar surfaces, the first rotating stand configured to support the portable display device on the body.","13.The microscope of claim 12, further comprising a second rotating stand disposed on the second planar surface of the plurality of planar surfaces, the second rotating stand disposed opposite the first rotating stand and configured to support the portable display device on the body.","14.The microscope of claim 1, further comprising a communications module configured to transmit data representing the image of the specimen captured by the internal camera to the portable display device.","15.A method for converting a microscope from an upright to inverted configuration, the method comprising: tilting a body from an upright configuration to a first intermediate position on a working surface, the body comprising a plurality of planar surfaces, each planar surface configured to support the body on a working surface as the body is tilted between the upright configuration and an inverted configuration, the body further comprising: an objective disposed on the body for viewing a specimen; a condenser disposed on the body for illuminating the specimen; and a stage disposed between the objective and the condenser for supporting the specimen; wherein when the body is in the upright configuration, the objective is disposed vertically above the condenser; and wherein when the body is in the inverted configuration, the condenser is disposed vertically above the objective; tilting the body from the first intermediate position to a second intermediate position on the working surface; tilting the body from the second intermediate position to a third intermediate position on the working surface; and tilting the body from the third intermediate position to the inverted configuration.","16.The method of claim 15, wherein the body further comprises a portable display device disposed on the body and configured to display the specimen.","17.The method of claim 15, wherein the plurality of planar surfaces comprise a first, second, third, fourth, and fifth planar surface.","18.The method of claim 15, further comprising mounting a portable display device onto a slot, wherein the slot is disposed on one planar surface of the plurality of planar surfaces.","19.The method of claim 15, further comprising inserting a removable focus knob into one of a plurality of focus knob receptacles, the plurality of focus knob receptacles disposed on the body and each configured to receive the removable focus knob.","20.The method of claim 15, further comprising rotating a first stand disposed on the body to a deployed position, the first stand configured to rotate between the deployed position and a stowed position; wherein when in the deployed position, the first stand supports a portable display device on the body; and wherein when in the stowed position, the an outer surface of the first stand is flush with the body."],[" BACKGROUND Conventionally, there are two types of microscope configurations, upright and inverted.","Generally, upright and inverted microscopes differ in the manner by which a specimen, an objective, and a light source are arranged with respect to each other.","For example, in an upright microscope, the objective is arranged so that it is disposed vertically above the specimen and the light source is disposed vertically below the specimen.","In an inverted microscope, the objective is arranged so that it is disposed vertically below the specimen and the objective is disposed vertically above the specimen.","Accordingly, an optic train, that is the arrangement of lenses generally housed within a housing and used to reflect light from the light source and specimen to a user, is arranged either above or below the specimen along with the objective.","In both upright and inverted microscopes, focusing of the specimen is accomplished by way of a corresponding positioning of the specimen relative to the objective, specifically in such a way that a region of the specimen to be observed is arranged in a focal plane of the objective.","In one example, the position of the specimen relative to the objective may be adjusted by moving the objective along an optical axis relative to the specimen.","In this case, the specimen may be mounted on a conventional specimen slide or dish that is secured to a corresponding specimen holder on a microscope stage.","In this example, the microscope stage may be fixed such that it does not move in the direction of the optical axis of the objective.","In another example, the position of the specimen relative to the objective may be adjusted by mechanically moving the stage along the optical axis in order to focus on the desired specimen region.","In this example, the position of the objective would be fixed along the direction of its optical axis.","In both examples, the stage may also be configured so that it may horizontally move relative to a microscope body along a single plane in at least two directions, such as in an X and a Y direction.","In both examples, focusing of the specimen region is usually performed by the user by operating an interface element arranged on the microscope body, as a result of which either the objective or the microscope stage is positioned along the optical axis.","The interface element may comprise a rotary knob.","Rotation of the rotary knob by the user causes linear motion of the objective or the stage along the optical axis.","Typically, the rotary knob is arranged proximal to a working surface on which the microscope rests."],[" BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide further understanding of the subject technology and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate aspects of the subject technology and together with the description serve to explain the principles of the subject technology.","FIG.","1 illustrates an embodiment of a rotating microscope positioned in an upright configuration.","FIG.","2 illustrates an embodiment of a rotating microscope positioned in an example of an intermediate configuration.","FIG.","3A illustrates a cross section view of an embodiment of a rotational coupling of a rotating microscope.","FIG.","3B illustrates a cross section view of an embodiment of a stage.","FIG.","4A illustrates an embodiment of a height compensator in a first position.","FIG.","4B illustrates an embodiment of the height compensator of FIG.","4A in a second position.","FIG.","5 illustrates an embodiment of a rotating microscope positioned in an inverted configuration.","FIG.","6 illustrates an embodiment of a flipping microscope in an upright configuration.","FIG.","7 illustrates an embodiment of a flipping microscope in an inverted configuration.","FIG.","8 illustrates an embodiment of a reconfigurable microscope in an upright configuration.","FIG.","9 illustrates an embodiment of the reconfigurable microscope of FIG.","8 in an inverted configuration.","FIG.","10A illustrates an embodiment of a mounting feature.","FIG.","10B illustrates an embodiment of an interchangeable component.","FIGS.","11A-11C illustrate an embodiment of a modular microscope in an upright configuration.","FIGS.","12A-12C illustrate an embodiment of the modular microscope of FIGS.","11A-11C in an inverted configuration.","FIGS.","13A-13B illustrate an embodiment of a base of a modular microscope.","FIG.","14A-14B illustrate a condenser module of a modular microscope.","FIG.","14C-14D illustrate an objective module of a modular microscope.","FIG.","15 illustrates an embodiment of a swing arm microscope.","FIG.","16A illustrates an embodiment of an upper swing arm.","FIG.","16B illustrates an embodiment of a lower swing arm.","FIGS.","17A-17B illustrate an embodiment of a laterally rotating microscope.","FIG.","18 illustrates a high-level schematic block diagram of an embodiment of an electronic system for use with a reconfigurable microscope as described herein.","FIG.","19 illustrates and example of a user interface provided on a mobile computing device configured to cooperate with a dual-configuration microscope.","FIGS.","20A-20B illustrate an embodiment of a stage for use with a dual-configuration microscope.","FIGS.","21A-21B illustrate an embodiment of a rotating microscope in an upright configuration.","FIG.","21C illustrates an embodiment of the rotating microscope of FIGS.","21A-21B in an inverted configuration.","FIG.","21D illustrates an embodiment of a Dove prism housing.","FIG.","22 illustrates an embodiment of a tilting microscope.","FIG.","23A illustrates an embodiment of a tilting microscope positioned in an upright configuration.","FIG.","23B illustrates an embodiment of a tilting microscope positioned in an upright configuration.","FIG.","24A illustrates an embodiment of a tilting microscope positioned in an inverted configuration.","FIG.","24B illustrates an embodiment of a tilting microscope positioned in an inverted configuration.","FIG.","25A illustrates an embodiment of a tilting microscope positioned in an upright configuration.","FIG.","25B illustrates an embodiment of a tilting microscope positioned in an intermediate configuration.","FIG.","25C illustrates an embodiment of a tilting microscope positioned in an intermediate configuration.","FIG.","25D illustrates an embodiment of a tilting microscope positioned in an intermediate configuration.","FIG.","25E illustrates an embodiment of a tilting microscope positioned in an inverted configuration.","detailed-description description=\"Detailed Description\" end=\"lead\"?"],["CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application is a continuation-in-part of non-provisional application Ser.","No.","15/682,423, filed Aug. 21, 2017, which is a continuation of non-provisional application Ser.","No.","15/238,593, filed Aug. 16, 2016, now U.S. Pat.","No.","9,746,657, which is a continuation of non-provisional application Ser.","No.","15/003,694, filed Jan. 21, 2016, now U.S. Pat.","No.","9,435,990, which is a continuation of non-provisional application Ser.","No.","14/832,694, filed Aug. 21, 2015, now U.S. Pat.","No.","9,348,129, which is a continuation of non-provisional application Ser.","No.","14/494,519, filed Sep. 23, 2014, now U.S. Pat.","No.","9,140,885, which is a continuation of International Patent Application No.","PCT/US2014/044707, filed Jun.","27, 2014, which claims priority to U.S.","Provisional Patent Application Ser.","No.","61/841,229, filed Jun.","28, 2013, the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.","TECHNICAL FIELD The systems and methods disclosed herein generally relate to microscopes, and more particularly to a microscope configured to be used in both an upright configuration and an inverted configuration.","BACKGROUND Conventionally, there are two types of microscope configurations, upright and inverted.","Generally, upright and inverted microscopes differ in the manner by which a specimen, an objective, and a light source are arranged with respect to each other.","For example, in an upright microscope, the objective is arranged so that it is disposed vertically above the specimen and the light source is disposed vertically below the specimen.","In an inverted microscope, the objective is arranged so that it is disposed vertically below the specimen and the objective is disposed vertically above the specimen.","Accordingly, an optic train, that is the arrangement of lenses generally housed within a housing and used to reflect light from the light source and specimen to a user, is arranged either above or below the specimen along with the objective.","In both upright and inverted microscopes, focusing of the specimen is accomplished by way of a corresponding positioning of the specimen relative to the objective, specifically in such a way that a region of the specimen to be observed is arranged in a focal plane of the objective.","In one example, the position of the specimen relative to the objective may be adjusted by moving the objective along an optical axis relative to the specimen.","In this case, the specimen may be mounted on a conventional specimen slide or dish that is secured to a corresponding specimen holder on a microscope stage.","In this example, the microscope stage may be fixed such that it does not move in the direction of the optical axis of the objective.","In another example, the position of the specimen relative to the objective may be adjusted by mechanically moving the stage along the optical axis in order to focus on the desired specimen region.","In this example, the position of the objective would be fixed along the direction of its optical axis.","In both examples, the stage may also be configured so that it may horizontally move relative to a microscope body along a single plane in at least two directions, such as in an X and a Y direction.","In both examples, focusing of the specimen region is usually performed by the user by operating an interface element arranged on the microscope body, as a result of which either the objective or the microscope stage is positioned along the optical axis.","The interface element may comprise a rotary knob.","Rotation of the rotary knob by the user causes linear motion of the objective or the stage along the optical axis.","Typically, the rotary knob is arranged proximal to a working surface on which the microscope rests.","BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide further understanding of the subject technology and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate aspects of the subject technology and together with the description serve to explain the principles of the subject technology.","FIG.","1 illustrates an embodiment of a rotating microscope positioned in an upright configuration.","FIG.","2 illustrates an embodiment of a rotating microscope positioned in an example of an intermediate configuration.","FIG.","3A illustrates a cross section view of an embodiment of a rotational coupling of a rotating microscope.","FIG.","3B illustrates a cross section view of an embodiment of a stage.","FIG.","4A illustrates an embodiment of a height compensator in a first position.","FIG.","4B illustrates an embodiment of the height compensator of FIG.","4A in a second position.","FIG.","5 illustrates an embodiment of a rotating microscope positioned in an inverted configuration.","FIG.","6 illustrates an embodiment of a flipping microscope in an upright configuration.","FIG.","7 illustrates an embodiment of a flipping microscope in an inverted configuration.","FIG.","8 illustrates an embodiment of a reconfigurable microscope in an upright configuration.","FIG.","9 illustrates an embodiment of the reconfigurable microscope of FIG.","8 in an inverted configuration.","FIG.","10A illustrates an embodiment of a mounting feature.","FIG.","10B illustrates an embodiment of an interchangeable component.","FIGS.","11A-11C illustrate an embodiment of a modular microscope in an upright configuration.","FIGS.","12A-12C illustrate an embodiment of the modular microscope of FIGS.","11A-11C in an inverted configuration.","FIGS.","13A-13B illustrate an embodiment of a base of a modular microscope.","FIG.","14A-14B illustrate a condenser module of a modular microscope.","FIG.","14C-14D illustrate an objective module of a modular microscope.","FIG.","15 illustrates an embodiment of a swing arm microscope.","FIG.","16A illustrates an embodiment of an upper swing arm.","FIG.","16B illustrates an embodiment of a lower swing arm.","FIGS.","17A-17B illustrate an embodiment of a laterally rotating microscope.","FIG.","18 illustrates a high-level schematic block diagram of an embodiment of an electronic system for use with a reconfigurable microscope as described herein.","FIG.","19 illustrates and example of a user interface provided on a mobile computing device configured to cooperate with a dual-configuration microscope.","FIGS.","20A-20B illustrate an embodiment of a stage for use with a dual-configuration microscope.","FIGS.","21A-21B illustrate an embodiment of a rotating microscope in an upright configuration.","FIG.","21C illustrates an embodiment of the rotating microscope of FIGS.","21A-21B in an inverted configuration.","FIG.","21D illustrates an embodiment of a Dove prism housing.","FIG.","22 illustrates an embodiment of a tilting microscope.","FIG.","23A illustrates an embodiment of a tilting microscope positioned in an upright configuration.","FIG.","23B illustrates an embodiment of a tilting microscope positioned in an upright configuration.","FIG.","24A illustrates an embodiment of a tilting microscope positioned in an inverted configuration.","FIG.","24B illustrates an embodiment of a tilting microscope positioned in an inverted configuration.","FIG.","25A illustrates an embodiment of a tilting microscope positioned in an upright configuration.","FIG.","25B illustrates an embodiment of a tilting microscope positioned in an intermediate configuration.","FIG.","25C illustrates an embodiment of a tilting microscope positioned in an intermediate configuration.","FIG.","25D illustrates an embodiment of a tilting microscope positioned in an intermediate configuration.","FIG.","25E illustrates an embodiment of a tilting microscope positioned in an inverted configuration.","DETAILED DESCRIPTION As discussed above, there conventionally are two types of microscope configurations, upright and inverted.","These two types of microscopes are separate from one another and if a user desires to utilize an upright and inverted microscope, the user must have two separate microscopes at their disposal.","Having two separate microscopes thereby increases the equipment and maintenance costs to the user and further, requires additional physical space to store and use the separate microscopes.","The dual-configuration microscopes of the subject technology address the foregoing problems, among others, by allowing the user to convert a single microscope from an upright configuration into an inverted configuration, and vice versa.","Rotating Embodiment FIGS.","1-5 illustrate an example of a rotating microscope 100.Referring to FIG.","1, the microscope 100 is depicted in an upright configuration.","The microscope 100 comprises a unitary base 102 and a body 104.The base 102 comprises a lower portion 102A and an upper portion 102B.","The lower portion 102A extends in a substantially horizontal plane and the upper portion 102B extends in a substantially vertical plane.","The upper portion 102B may be disposed at about a 90 degree angle from the lower portion 102A and may further, be manufactured as a single component.","Alternatively, the lower portion 102A and upper portion 102B may be formed of two or more separate components and attached, fastened, or otherwise coupled together to form the base 102.The lower portion 102A is configured to support the microscope 100 on a working surface 10.The base 102 may be formed of a metal alloy, composite, polymer, or other sufficiently rigid material that is capable of supporting the weight and proper use of the microscope 100, as known by those having ordinary skill in the art.","The body 104 comprises a first portion 104A, a second portion 104B, and an intermediate portion 104C extending between the first and second portions, 104A and 104B respectively.","The intermediate portion 104C may be rotatably coupled to the upper portion 102B of the base 102 at a rotational coupling (shown in FIG.","3A).","The rotational coupling 130 allows the body 104 to rotate with respect to the base 102 along a rotating axis 120 that extends in a longitudinal direction with respect to the microscope 100, as shown in FIG.","2.To facilitate rotation of the body 104 with respect to the base 102, in some embodiments an outer surface 152A (see, for example, FIG.","1) of the first portion 104A and an outer surface 152B (see, for example, FIGS.","2 and 5) of the second portion 104B may each have a convex profile that corresponds to a concave profile of an outer surface 153 of the lower portion 102A.","The convex and concave outer surfaces thereby prevent interference between the body 104 and the base 102 during rotation.","FIG.","3A illustrates a cross section view of one embodiment of the rotational coupling 130 of the microscope 100.The rotational coupling 130 may comprise a shaft 132 extending longitudinally from the upper portion 102B of the base 102 and a corresponding bore 134 disposed within the intermediate portion 104C of the body 104.The shaft 132 and bore 134 are arranged to permit the body 104 to rotate about the rotating axis 120, as shown in FIG.","2.The rotational coupling 130 is provided as one example of a suitable coupling between the base 102 and the body 104.In other embodiments, variations of rotational couplings from the illustrated coupling in FIG.","3A can be used to facilitate rotation of the body 104 around the rotating axis 120.For example, a ball bearing coupling, a rigid coupling between a first rotating shaft of the body 104 and a second rotating shaft of the base 102, a wheel and axle, or other suitable couplings allowing rotation may be used to permit rotation of the body 104 relative to the base 102.In some embodiments, the rotational coupling may be coated or treated to reduce friction.","In some embodiments, the rotational coupling may be configured to stop or lock when the body 104 is in the inverted and upright positions.","Referring to FIG.","1, the body 104 is configured to support, directly or indirectly, at least one objective 113, a stage 114, a condenser 116, and/or a light source (not shown).","The body 104 may be formed of a metal alloy, composite, polymer, or other sufficiently rigid material capable of supporting the objective 113, stage 114, condenser 116, and/or light source.","The body 104 may be manufactured as a single component or may comprise a multitude of components that are attached, fastened, or otherwise assembled together, as known by those having ordinary skill in the art.","The objective 113 may be mounted to a nosepiece 112 and is disposed proximal to the first portion 104A of the body 104.The objective 113 comprises a cylinder containing one or more lenses configured to collect light from a specimen being observed.","The objective 113 further defines an optical axis 124 that, when in a working position, runs perpendicular to the stage 114.The stage 114 supports the specimen being observed on a specimen supporting surface 119A, as discussed further below.","The condenser 116 and light source may be disposed proximal to the second portion 104B of the body 104.Particularly, the condenser 116 may be mounted on the second portion 104B and the light source may be mounted within the body 104.The condenser 116 includes a lens that serves to concentrate light from the light source into a cone of light that illuminates the specimen.","The stage 114 is a platform configured to support the specimen being observed.","The stage 114 may include an opening aligned with the condenser 116, to allow light to pass through the stage 114 and illuminate the specimen.","In one example, the stage 114 may be configured to be removably attached to the intermediate portion 104C of the body 104.For example, the stage 114 may include a substantially horizontal rail that is configured to slide within a substantially horizontal channel disposed within the intermediate portion 104C of the body 104.The stage 114 may thus, be attached to the body 104 by sliding the stage 114 horizontally toward the body 104.To remove the stage 114, the stage 114 may be slid horizontally away from the body 104, thereby disengaging the channel and rail assembly.","In this example, the channel of the body 104 is configured to receive the rail of the stage 114 when the microscope 100 is in either the upright or inverted configuration.","Accordingly, the channel of the body 104 and the rail of the stage 114 may have horizontally symmetrical profiles, such as a round, oval, rectangular, square or any combination thereof.","In another example, the rail of the stage 114 may be configured to be inserted into a first or second substantially horizontal channel disposed within the intermediate portion 104C of the body 104.In this example, the rail of the stage 114 may be inserted into the first channel of the body 104 when the microscope 100 is in the upright configuration and into the second channel of the body 104 when the microscope 100 is in the inverted configuration.","In some embodiments, the first and second channels of the body 104 and the rail of the stage 114 may not have horizontally symmetrical profiles in order to aid the user in knowing into which of the first or second channels to insert the rail of the stage 114.In some embodiments, the first and second channels of the body 104 can be arranged to maintain a distance between a specimen supporting surface 119A of the stage 114 and an outer surface of a lens of the objective 113, regardless of whether the microscope 100 is in the upright or inverted configuration.","In particular, when the microscope 100 is in the upright configuration, the stage 114 can be inserted into the first channel.","When in the first channel, the specimen supporting surface 119A is at a first distance away from the outer surface of the lens of the objective 113.When the microscope 100 is in the inverted configuration, the stage 114 can be inserted into the second channel.","When in the second channel, the specimen supporting surface 119A is at a second distance away from the outer surface of the lens of the objective 113.The first and second channels are arranged on the body 104 so that the first and second distances are the same.","Alternatively, the stage 114 may be mounted to a height compensator 115 that is disposed proximal to the intermediate portion 104C of the body 104.As shown in FIG.","1, the stage 114 may be disposed between the objective 113 and the condenser 116.Other embodiments of stage configurations are discussed in more detail below.","FIGS.","4A and 4B illustrate a detail view of the height compensator 115 and the stage 114 in the first and second positions, respectively.","The height compensator 115 may comprise at least one rail 117A that is configured to engage a corresponding channel 117B disposed within the stage 114.The rail 117A and the channel 117B are configured to permit the stage 114 to slide between a first position (shown in FIG.","4A) and a second position (shown in FIG.","4B) along the optical axis 124.Although a rail and channel arrangement are shown in FIGS.","4A and 4B, it is known by those having ordinary skill in the art that other mechanisms may be used to permit sliding of the stage between the first and second positions.","When the stage is in the first position (shown in FIG.","4A), the microscope 100 is in the upright configuration (as shown in FIG.","1).","When the stage is in the second position (shown in FIG.","4B), the microscope is in the inverted configuration (as shown in FIG.","5).","In one embodiment, the stage 114 slides between the first and second positions based on gravity.","Accordingly, the stage 114 may move between the first and second positions automatically when the body 104 is rotated from the upright configuration to the inverted configuration.","Similarly, the stage 114 may move between the second and first positions automatically when the body 104 is rotated from the inverted configuration to the upright configuration.","Movement of the stage between the first and second position can maintain a focal distance between the objective and the specimen-supporting (e.g., upward-facing) surface of the stage when the body 104 is rotated between the inverted configuration and the upright configuration.","Similarly, movement of the stage between the first and second position can maintain a working distance between the condenser and the specimen-supporting (e.g., upward-facing) surface of the stage when the body 104 is rotated between the inverted configuration and the upright configuration.","In some aspects, the stage 114 comprises, on an outer surface, a first specimen supporting surface 119A and at an opposite surface, a second specimen supporting surface 119B.","When the microscope 100 is in the upright configuration and thus, the stage 114 is in the first position, the first specimen supporting surface 119A is facing upward and therefore configured to support the specimen.","When the microscope 100 is in the inverted configuration and thus, the stage 114 is in the second position, the second specimen supporting surface 119B is facing upward and therefore configured to support the specimen.","In some aspects, each of the first and second specimen supporting surfaces, 119A and 119B respectively, may comprise a specimen securing element 143 that is configured to secure a specimen.","The specimen securing element 143 may secure the specimen through mechanical, magnetic, or electromechanical means.","For example, the specimen securing element 143 may comprise stage clips to mechanically secure the specimen to the stage.","Alternatively, each of the first and second specimen supporting surfaces, 119A and 119B respectively, may comprise a recessed pocket 144 that is configured to accept an interchangeable insert 145.The interchangeable insert 145 may be selected based on the type of specimen to be observed, such as a specimen slide or specimen petri dish.","In this example, the interchangeable insert 145 itself, supports the specimen.","In some aspects, when the stage 114 is in the first position, the first specimen supporting surface 119A is positioned at a distance “D1” from an outer surface of a lens of the objective 113 and a distance “D3” from an outer surface of the condenser 116.Likewise, when the stage 114 is in the second position, the second specimen supporting surface 119B is positioned at a distance “D2” from the outer surface of the lens of the objective 113 and a distance “D4” from an outer surface of the condenser 116.To maintain the appropriate distance between the specimen supporting surface and the lens of the objective 113 and/or condenser 116, the height compensator 115 allows the stage 114 to move between the first and second positions, as discussed above.","By doing so, the height compensator 115 allows D2 to be the same value as D1 when the microscope 100 is converted from the upright configuration to the inverted configuration.","Likewise, the height compensator 115 allows D1 to be the same value as D2 when the microscope 100 is converted from the inverted configuration to the upright configuration.","Similarly, the height compensator 115 allows D3 to be the same value as D4 when the microscope 100 is converted from the upright configuration to the inverted configuration.","Likewise, the height compensator 115 allows D4 to be the same value as D3 when the microscope 100 is converted from the inverted configuration to the upright configuration.","In other words, the height compensator 115 maintains the distance (D1 or D2) between the appropriate specimen supporting surface (119A or 119B) and the lens of the objective 113, and/or the distance (D3 or D4) between the appropriate specimen supporting surface (119A or 119B) and the lens of the condenser 116, regardless of whether the microscope 100 is in the upright configuration or the inverted configuration.","Accordingly, the position of a focal plane of the objective 113, with respect to the appropriate specimen supporting surface (119A or 119B), remains unchanged.","Likewise, the position of the condenser 116, with respect to the appropriate specimen supporting surface (119A or 119B)—the distance of which is generally referred to as the working distance—remains unchanged.","FIG.","3B illustrates a cross section view of the stage 114.In some aspects, the stage 114 comprises a removable and repositionable stage displacement handle 126.Rotation of the handle causes the displacement of the stage 114 in the X and Y directions, both of which are generally horizontal and parallel to the working surface 10 that supports the microscope 100.The handle 126 comprises a shaft 127 having a first gear 128A and a second gear 128B disposed at a distal portion of the shaft 127, and a first knob 129A and a second knob 129B disposed at a proximal portion of the shaft 127.Rotation of the first knob 129A causes rotation of the first gear 128A.","Rotation of the first gear 128A causes displacement of the stage 114 in the X direction.","Rotation of the second knob 129B causes rotation of the second gear 128B.","Rotation of the second gear 128B causes displacement of the stage 114 in the Y direction.","The stage 114 further comprises at least one receptacle 140A configured to receive the distal portion of the shaft 127 and the first and second gears, 128A and 128B, respectively.","In one aspect, the receptacle 140A is configured to receive the distal portion of the shaft 127 from either the first or second specimen supporting surfaces 119A, 119B.","In other words, the distal portion of shaft 127 may be inserted into the receptacle 140A from either the first specimen supporting surface 119A side, or the second specimen supporting surface 119B side.","In this way, when the microscope 100 is rotated from the upright configuration to the inverted configuration, the handle 126 may be removed from the receptacle 140A, such as from the second specimen supporting surface 119B side, and reinserted into the receptacle 140A from the first specimen supporting surface 119A side, thereby repositioning the handle 126 so that it remains proximal to the working surface 10 that supports the microscope 100.Similarly, when the microscope 100 is rotated from the inverted configuration to upright configuration, the handle 126 may be removed from the receptacle 140A, such as from the first specimen supporting surface 119A side, and reinserted into the receptacle 140A from the second specimen supporting surface 119B side, thereby repositioning the handle 126 so that it remains proximal to the working surface 10 that supports the microscope 100.In some aspects, the stage 114 may include a second receptacle 140B that is disposed laterally away from the first receptacle 140A.","Upon conversion of the microscope 100 from the upright configuration to the inverted configuration, the handle 126 may, for example, be removed from the first receptacle 140A and inserted into the second receptacle 140B, thereby allowing the handle 126 to remain on the right side of the microscope 100.Accordingly, the first and second receptacles, 140A and 140B respectively, provide for the handle 126 to remain on a common side of the microscope 100, regardless of whether the microscope 100 is in the upright configuration or in the inverted configuration.","Referring to FIG.","3B, upon insertion of the handle 126 into the receptacle 140A, 140B the first gear 128A engages a corresponding third gear 128C disposed within the stage 114 and the second gear 128B engages a corresponding fourth gear 128D disposed within the stage 114.Although the use of gears are discussed herein with reference to displacing the stage 114 in the X and Y directions, it is understood that other mechanical methods may be used to control the displacement of the stage in the X and Y directions, such as the use of hexagonal shaped shafts, square shaped shafts, use of friction or snap fits, or any other mechanical methods as known by those having ordinary skill in the art.","The handle 126 may further comprise a stop 141 that is configured to engage the first or second specimen supporting surfaces 119A, 119B.","When engaged, the physical contact between the stop 141 and the first or second specimen supporting surfaces 119A, 119B prevents further insertion of the handle 126 into the receptacle 140A, 140B by mechanically preventing further movement of the handle 126 in a direction toward the stage 114.In some aspects, to prevent the handle 126 from inadvertently disengaging the receptacle 140A, 140B the handle 126 may comprise a magnetic element 142A that is configured to engage one or more corresponding magnetic elements 142B disposed within the stage 114.In particular, the magnetic elements 142B may be disposed proximate to the first and second specimen supporting surfaces, 119A and 119B respectively.","The magnetic elements 142A, 142B maintain engagement of the shaft 127 within the receptacle 140A, 140B through a magnetic force acting between the magnetic elements 142A and 142B.","Although the use of a magnetic force is discussed herein with reference to maintaining the shaft 127 within the receptacle 140A, 140B, it is understood that other methods may be used to maintain the shaft 127 within the receptacle 140A, 140B, such as the use of interference, friction or snap fits, or any other mechanical or electromechanical methods as known by those having ordinary skill in the art.","Referring to FIG.","1, the microscope 100 may further comprise an optical arm 106 disposed proximal to the first portion 104A of the body 104.The optical arm 106 may comprise an elongated housing forming an optical pathway therein, the optical pathway having an optical input at one end of the optical arm 106 and an optical output at an opposite end of the optical arm 106.The optical input of the of the optical arm 106 is configured to receive light that has entered the objective 113 and has been reflected toward the optical input of the optical arm 106 via one or more mirrors disposed within the first portion 104A of the body 104.Light entering the optical input of the optical arm 106 is then reflected to the optical output of the optical arm 106 via one or more mirrors disposed within the optical arm 106 and/or body 104.The optical arm 106, therefore, forms a portion of the optical path of the microscope 100.In another example, the optical arm 106 may be disposed proximal to the intermediate portion 104C of the body 104.In this example, the optical arm 106 may be disposed adjacent to the stage 114 and configured to direct light entering the objective to the optical output of the optical arm 106 via one or more mirrors disposed within the optical arm 106 and/or body 104.In yet another example, the optical arm 106 may be disposed proximal to the second portion 104B of the body 104.In this example, the optical arm 106 may be disposed adjacent to the working surface 10 and configured to direct light entering the objective to the optical output of the optical arm 106 via one or more mirrors disposed within the optical arm 106 and/or body 104.In some aspects, the optical arm 106 may be pivotably coupled to the first portion 104A of the body 104, thereby allowing the optical arm 106 to rotate about a pivoting axis 122.The pivoting axis 122 may extend in a lateral direction with respect to the microscope 100.The optical arm 106 may be configured to be positioned at varying angles, or at one or more predetermined angles.","In one aspect, the optical arm 106 may be mechanically connected to a brake that prevents the body 104 from rotating.","Accordingly, in order to rotate the body 104 and thereby convert the microscope 100 from an upright configuration to an inverted configuration, or from an inverted configuration to an upright configuration, the optical arm 106 must first be rotated towards the rotating axis 120 or toward the stage 114 in order to disengage the brake.","In this way, the possibility of damaging the optical arm 106 or other related component through inadvertent collision with the lower portion 102A during rotation of the body 104, is reduced because the optical arm 106 is moved toward the rotating axis 120 and away from the lower base 102A, as shown in FIG.","2.Referring to FIG.","1, in some aspects the microscope 100 may further comprise a cradle 108 disposed at a distal portion of the optical arm 106 and proximal to the optical output of the optical arm 106.The cradle 108 is configured to receive and secure an electronic device 110 that is capable of acquiring images.","Particularly, the cradle 108 aligns an optical input of the electronic device 110, such as a lens of a camera, with the optical output of the optical arm 106.The electronic device may comprise a mobile device, camera, tablet computer, laptop computer, PDA, portable computer, or other device that is capable of receiving light or other optical data, or acquiring an image.","The electronic device 110 may further comprise a touch-sensitive screen display or other input mechanisms, such as buttons or keys, that are capable of receiving user input.","In some aspects, a user may control operations of the microscope, such as focusing of a specimen, positioning of a specimen with respect to the objective 113, operation of the light source, control of the condenser 116, acquisition of an image, processing of an image, sending of an image to another device, altering light pathways and illumination settings, automated X-Y stage movement, controlling external hardware devices (e.g., camera), controlling other computer devices (e.g., onboard mini-computer, onboard controllers), communicating with other devices (such as through local area networks, wide area networks, broadband, Bluetooth, WiFi, or other wireless or wired communication methods), and other microscope related operations, by using the input mechanisms of the electronic device 110.The microscope 100 may further comprise a first and second focus knob 118A, 118B disposed laterally on the body 104.The first focus knob 118A may be disposed proximal to the first portion 104A of the body 104 and the second focus knob 118B may be disposed proximal to the second portion 104B of the body 104.The first and second focus knobs 118A, 118B may be configured to adjust a position of the objective 113 along the optical axis 124 to thereby position the specimen in a focal plane of the objective 113.Alternatively, the first and second focus knobs 118A, 118B may be configured to adjust a position of the height compensator 115 and stage 114, together, along the optical axis 124 to thereby position the specimen in a focal plane of the objective 113.A method for converting the microscope 100 from an upright configuration into an inverted configuration will now be discussed with reference to FIGS.","1-5.To convert the microscope 100 from the upright configuration into the inverted configuration, the user may first rotate the optical arm 106 toward the stage 114.Rotation of the optical arm 106 towards the stage 114 may cause the brake to disengage, thereby allowing the body 104 to rotate about the rotating axis 120.Alternatively, the optical arm 106 may be configured to rotate towards the stage 114 upon rotation of the body 104.Rotating the optical arm 106 towards the stage 114 during rotation of the body 104 minimizes the likelihood that the optical arm 106 will be damaged during conversion of the microscope 100.The optical arm 106 may be configured to automatically rotate towards the stage 114 by, for example, mechanically coupling the optical arm 106 to the rotational coupling 130 via a cable and pulley system.","In this example, upon rotation of the body 104, the cable is placed in tension thereby causing the optical arm 106 to rotate towards the stage 114.In another example, a stepper motor or solenoid may be coupled to the optical arm 106 and configured to actuate the optical arm 106 towards the stage 114 upon sensing rotation of the body 104.The user may then rotate the body 104 with respect to the base 102 in either a clockwise or counterclockwise direction along the rotating axis 120, as shown in FIG.","2.The body 104 is rotated until the first portion 104A is adjacent to the lower portion 102A, as shown in FIG.","5.As illustrated by FIG.","2 and FIG.","5, the body of the microscope occupies substantially the same three-dimensional area in the inverted configuration and in the upright configuration, and faces substantially the same direction in the inverted configuration and in the upright configuration.","In the inverted configuration, the objective occupies substantially the same space as the condenser occupies in the upright configuration.","Similarly, in the inverted configuration, the condenser occupies substantially the same space as the objective occupies in the upright configuration.","This can provide a seamless user experience when converting the microscope between the upright and inverted configurations, as the microscope occupies substantially the same space above the workspace upon which the microscope is placed in both configurations, and also faces the same direction in both configurations.","As the body 104 is rotated from the upright configuration into the inverted configuration, the stage 114 may automatically slide from the first position (as shown in FIG.","4A), to the second position (as shown in FIG.","4B), in a direction along the optical axis 124.As a result, referring to FIGS.","4A and 4B, the distance between the specimen supporting surface (119A and 119B) and the outer surface of the lens of the objective 113 is maintained.","In other words, the distance D2 is the same as the distance D1.The user may then rotate the optical arm 106 along the pivoting axis 122 to attain a desirable viewing angle.","In some aspects, to prevent the body 104 from inadvertently moving or otherwise rotating with respect to the base 102, the body 104 may be fixed, secured, or otherwise prevented from moving by either mechanically, electromechanically, or electrically locking the body 104 in the second, inverted configuration.","For example, as discussed above, the body 104 may be fixed in the inverted configuration by activating the brake.","The brake may be activated manually by the user or automatically through the use of a controller which is configured to detect the position of the upper or lower portions 104A, 104B of the body 104.When the upper or lower portions 104A, 104B of the body 104 are adjacent to the lower portion 102B of the base 102, the controller activates the brake thereby fixing the body 104 in the inverted configuration.","The brake may comprise a solenoid, magnetic, electrical, or mechanical brake.","Alternatively, a pin may be engaged to lock the body 104 to the base 102 in the inverted configuration.","The user may further remove the handle 126 from either the first or second receptacle 140A, 140B and reinsert the handle 126 in the other receptacle 140A, 140B, as desired.","The handle 126 may also be inserted into the desired receptacle 140A, 140B from either side of the first or second specimen supporting surfaces 119A, 119B.","Accordingly, the handle may be arranged so that its position with respect to the user, remains the same (e.g., lower right side of the microscope 100, lower left side of the microscope 100, upper right side of the microscope 100, or upper left side of the microscope 100).","Once in the inverted configuration, the user may wish to rotate the nose piece 112 in order to utilize a different objective 113.In one aspect, in order to allow the nose piece 112 to freely rotate with sufficient clearance from the stage 114, the stage 114 may be moved from the second position (shown in FIG.","4B) to the first position (shown in FIG.","4A).","In one example, the stage 114 may be moved into the first position by the user.","In this example, the stage may be mechanically linked to a lever disposed on a sidewall of the body.","By manipulating the lever, the stage 114 may be moved into the first position.","In another example, the nosepiece 112 may be mechanically coupled to the stage 114 such that rotation of the nose piece 112 causes the stage 114 to move toward the first position.","In this example, the nosepiece 112 may be coupled to a rack and pinion mechanism that converts the rotational movement of the nosepiece into a linear displacement of the stage 114.In yet another example, the stage may be coupled to a solenoid that is actuated when rotation of the nosepiece 112 is detected.","In this example, a controller senses rotation of the nosepiece 112 which in turn causes a signal to be sent to an actuator, such as the solenoid, to thereby actuate the stage 114 away from the objective and into the first position.","A method for converting the microscope 100 from the inverted configuration into the upright configuration will now be discussed with reference to FIGS.","1-5.To convert the microscope 100 from the inverted configuration into the upright configuration, the user may first disengage the brake thereby allowing the body 104 to rotate about the rotating axis 120.The user may then rotate the body 104 with respect to the base 102 in either a clockwise or counterclockwise direction along the rotating axis 120, as shown in FIG.","2.The body 104 is rotated until the second portion 104B is adjacent to the lower portion 102A, as shown in FIG.","1.As the body 104 is rotated from the inverted configuration into the upright configuration, the stage 114 may automatically slide from the second position (as shown in FIG.","4B), to the first position (as shown in FIG.","4A), in a direction along the optical axis 124.As a result, referring to FIGS.","4A and 4B, the distance between the specimen supporting surface (119A and 119B) and the outer surface of the lens of the objective 113 is maintained.","In other words, the distance D1 is the same as the distance D2.The user may then rotate the optical arm 106 along the pivoting axis 122 to attain a desirable viewing angle.","In some aspects, to prevent the body 104 from inadvertently moving or otherwise rotating with respect to the base 102, the body 104 may be locked in the first inverted configuration, as discussed above.","The user may further remove the handle 126 from either the first or second receptacle 140A, 140B and reinsert the handle 126 in the other receptacle 140A, 140B, as desired.","The handle 126 may also be inserted into the desired receptacle 140A, 140B from either side of the first or second specimen supporting surfaces 119A, 119B.","Accordingly, the handle may be arranged so that its position with respect to the user, remains the same (e.g., lower right side of the microscope 100, lower left side of the microscope 100, upper right side of the microscope 100, or upper left side of the microscope 100).","Flipping Embodiment FIGS.","6 and 7 illustrate an example of a flipping microscope 200.Similar reference numerals refer to similar or identical structure to the first embodiment 100.Referring to FIG.","6, the microscope 200 is depicted in an upright configuration.","The microscope 200 comprises a body 204.The body 204 is configured to support, directly or indirectly, at least one objective 213, a condenser 216, and a light source (not shown).","The body 204 may further be configured to support a stage 214.The body 204 is configured to be picked up and flipped in order to convert the microscope 200 from an upright configuration (shown in FIG.","6) to an inverted configuration (shown in FIG.","7), and vice versa.","Accordingly, the body 204 comprises flattened upper and lower surfaces, 252A and 252B respectively, that are configured to support the microscope 200 on a working surface 20.The stage 214, if mounted to the body 204, may be mounted to one or more horizontal channels, a mounting block, or a height compensator as described above with reference to the microscope 100.If the stage 214 is mounted to the height compensator 215, the height compensator 215 may be disposed between the objective 213 and the condenser 216.As also described above with reference to the microscope 100, the stage 214 includes an opening aligned with the condenser 216, to allow light to pass through the stage 214 and illuminate the specimen.","The height compensator 215 permits the stage 214 to slide between a first position and a second position along an optical axis 224, defined by the objective 213.The stage 214 comprises, on an outer surface, a first specimen supporting surface 219A and at an opposite surface, a second specimen supporting surface 219B.","When the microscope 200 is in the upright configuration the stage 214 is in the first position and the first specimen supporting surface 219A is configured to support the specimen.","When the microscope 200 is in the inverted configuration the stage 214 is in the second position and the second specimen supporting surface 219B is configured to support the specimen.","As described above with reference to the microscope 100, when the stage 214 is in the first position, the first specimen supporting surface 219A is positioned at a distance “D1” from an outer surface of a lens of the objective 213.Likewise, when the stage 214 is in the second position, the second specimen supporting surface 219B is positioned at a distance “D2” from the outer surface of the lens of the objective 213.To maintain the appropriate distance between the specimen supporting surface and the objective 213, the height compensator 215 allows the stage 214 to move between the first and second positions.","By doing so, the height compensator 215 allows D2 to be the same value as D1 when the microscope 200 is flipped from the upright configuration to the inverted configuration.","Likewise, the height compensator 215 allows D1 to be the same value as D2 when the microscope 200 is flipped from the inverted configuration to the upright configuration.","In other words, the height compensator 215 maintains the distance (D1 or D2) between the appropriate specimen supporting surface (219A or 219B) and the objective 213, regardless of whether the microscope 200 is in the upright configuration or the inverted configuration.","Accordingly, the position of a focal plane of the objective 213, with respect to the appropriate specimen supporting surface (219A or 219B), remains unchanged.","The microscope 200 may further comprise an optical arm 206.The optical arm 206 may be pivotably coupled to the body 204, thereby allowing the optical arm 206 to rotate about a pivoting axis 222.The microscope 200 may further comprise a cradle 208 disposed at a distal portion of the optical arm 206.The cradle 208 is configured to receive and secure an electronic device 210 that is capable of acquiring images.","A method for flipping the microscope 200 to thereby convert the microscope 200 from an upright configuration into an inverted configuration will now be discussed with reference to FIGS.","6 and 7.To convert the microscope 200 from the upright configuration (as shown in FIG.","6) into the inverted configuration (as shown in FIG.","7), the user picks up and flips the body 204 so that the upper surface 252A makes contact with the working surface 20.The stage 214 automatically slides from the first position to the second position, in a direction along the optical axis 224, as the body 204 is flipped from the upright configuration into the inverted configuration.","As a result, the distance between the specimen supporting surface (219A and 219B) and the outer surface of the lens of the objective 213 is maintained.","In other words, the distance D2 is the same as the distance D1.As discussed above with reference to the microscope 100, the user may remove and reposition the handle 226 from either the first or second receptacle 240A, 240B and reinsert the handle 226 in the other receptacle 240A, 240B, as desired.","The handle 226 may further be inserted into the desired receptacle 240A, 240B from either side of the first or second specimen supporting surfaces 219A, 219B.","Accordingly, the handle may be arranged so that its position with respect to the user, remains the same (e.g., lower right side of the microscope 200, lower left side of the microscope 200, upper right side of the microscope 200, or upper left side of the microscope 200).","A method for flipping the microscope 200 to thereby convert the microscope 200 from the inverted configuration into the upright configuration will now be discussed with reference to FIGS.","6 and 7.To convert the microscope 200 from the inverted configuration (as shown in FIG.","7) into the upright configuration (as shown in FIG.","6), the user picks up and flips the body 204 so that the lower surface 252B makes contact with the working surface 20.The stage 214 automatically slides from the second position to the first position, in a direction along the optical axis 224, as the body 204 is flipped from the inverted configuration into the upright configuration.","As a result, the distance between the specimen supporting surface (219A and 219B) and the outer surface of the lens of the objective 213 is maintained.","In other words, the distance D1 is the same as the distance D2.The user may remove and reposition the handle 226 from either the first or second receptacle 240A, 240B and reinsert the handle 226 in the other receptacle 240A, 240B, as desired.","The handle 226 may further be inserted into the desired receptacle 240A, 240B from either side of the first or second specimen supporting surfaces 219A, 219B.","Accordingly, the handle may be arranged so that its position with respect to the user, remains the same (e.g., lower right side of the microscope 200, lower left side of the microscope 200, upper right side of the microscope 200, or upper left side of the microscope 200).","Reconfigurable Embodiment FIGS.","8-10B illustrate an example of a reconfigurable microscope 300.Similar reference numerals refer to similar or identical structure to the first embodiment 100.Referring to FIG.","8, the microscope 300 comprises a frame or body 304 having a first portion 304A, a second portion 304B and an intermediate portion 304C.","The intermediate portion 304C is disposed between the first and second portions, 304A and 304B respectively.","The intermediate portion 304C may be configured to mount a stage 314.The first portion 304A includes a first mounting feature 360A and the second portion 304B includes a second mounting feature 360B.","Referring to FIG.","10A, the first and second mounting features, 360A and 360B respectively, each comprise a channel 361 configured to receive interchangeable components.","The interchangeable components may comprise a nose piece 312 having at least one objective 313, an objective 313, or a light source and condenser assembly 316.Referring to FIG.","10B, each of the interchangeable components comprises a rail 362 configured to engage the channel 361 of the first and second mounting features, 360A and 360B respectively.","Accordingly, any of the interchangeable components may engage the first and second mounting features, 360A and 360B respectively.","Although a channel and rail arrangement is used to mount the interchangeable components to the body 304, it is understood that other methods may be used to mount the interchangeable components to the body 304, such as the use of interference, friction or snap fits, or any other mechanical or electromechanical methods as known by those having ordinary skill in the art.","Referring to FIGS.","10A and 10B, in some aspects, each of the first and second mounting features, 360A and 360B respectively, may include a lock 363 configured to mechanically engage the interchangeable components.","The lock 363 may comprise a tab configured to engage a corresponding indent 364 disposed on each of the interchangeable components.","The lock 363 may be further configured to automatically engage the indent 364 upon insertion of the interchangeable component into the mounting features 360A and 360B.","To disengage the lock 363, the tab may be moved to clear the indent 364 while simultaneously moving the interchangeable component away from the body 304.In one aspect, each of the first and second mounting features, 360A and 360B respectively, may include an electrode 366A configured to provide electrical power to those interchangeable components that require power, such as the condenser assembly 316.For example, upon insertion of the condenser assembly 316 into the first or second mounting features, 360A and 360B respectively, a corresponding electrode 366B disposed within the condenser assembly 316 engages the electrode 366A, thereby energizing the light source of the condenser assembly 316.Referring to FIG.","8, to configure the microscope 300 into an upright configuration, the nose piece 312 may be mounted in the first mounting feature 360A and the condenser assembly 316 may be mounted in the second mounting feature 360B.","Referring to FIG.","9, to configure the microscope 300 into an inverted configuration, the nose piece 312 may be mounted in the second mounting feature 360B and the condenser assembly 316 may be mounted in the first mounting feature 360A.","In some aspects, the nose piece assembly 312 may further comprises an optical arm 306 pivotably coupled to the nose piece 312.The optical arm 306 may therefore, rotate about a pivoting axis 322.The optical arm 306 may further comprise a cradle 308 disposed at a distal portion of the optical arm 306.The cradle 308 is configured to receive and secure an electronic device 310 that is capable of acquiring images.","Modular Embodiment FIG.","11A illustrates an isometric view of a modular microscope 400 in the upright configuration.","FIG.","11B illustrates an isometric view of the modular microscope 400 in the upright configuration, where dashed lines illustrate interior components.","FIG.","11C illustrates a cross-sectional view of the modular microscope 400 in the upright configuration.","FIG.","12A illustrates an isometric view of the modular microscope 400 in the inverted configuration FIG.","12B illustrates an isometric view of the modular microscope 400 in the inverted configuration, where dashed lines illustrate interior components.","FIG.","12C illustrates a cross-sectional view of the modular microscope 400 in the inverted configuration.","Similar reference numerals refer to similar or identical structure to the first embodiment 100.Referring to FIGS.","11A-11C, the microscope 400 comprises a body 404 having a first portion 404A, a second portion 404B and an intermediate portion 404C.","The intermediate portion 404C is disposed between the first and second portions, 404A and 404B respectively.","The intermediate portion 404C may be configured to mount a stage 414.The first portion 404A includes a first mounting feature 460A and the second portion 404B includes a second mounting feature 460B.","Each of the first and second mounting features, 460A and 460B respectively, are configured to receive an objective module 413 and a condenser module 416.The objective module 413 houses the nose piece 412 and the condenser module 416 houses the condenser 415.The nose piece 412 may be coupled to one or more objectives 412A-C.","Referring to FIGS.","13A-13B and 14A-14D, each of the first and second mounting features, 460A and 460B respectively, may comprise slots 461 that are configured to receive corresponding posts 462 disposed in each of the objective and condenser modules, 413 and 416 respectively.","In some aspects, each of the posts 462 include a latch pin hole 464 that is configured to receive a corresponding latch pin 463 disposed on the body 404.The latch pins 463 provide proper optical alignment of the objective and condenser modules, 413 and 416 respectively, along an optical axis 424 defined by the objective 413.Referring to FIGS.","13A-13B, the body 404 includes an upper optical port 472A disposed proximate to the first portion 404A and a lower optical port 472B disposed proximate to the second portion 404B.","Referring to FIGS.","11A-11C, 12A-12C, and 14C-14D, the upper and lower optical ports, 472A and 472B respectively, are arranged to be aligned with a corresponding optical port 472C of the objective module 413 (shown in FIGS.","14C-14D) when the microscope 400 is in either the upright configuration (as shown in FIGS.","11A-11C) or the inverted configuration (as shown in FIGS.","12A-12C).","Accordingly, light entering the objective module 413 through nose piece 412 is reflected off of a fixed mirror 480 towards the optical port 472C of the objective module 413 and into the upper or lower optical ports, 472A and 472B respectively.","Referring to FIGS.","13A-13B, the body 404 includes an internal optical path 474 that is in communication with the upper and lower optical ports, 472A and 472B respectively.","The optical path 474 includes a retractable mirror 476A and a fixed mirror 476B.","The retractable mirror 476A is disposed proximal to the upper optical port 472A and when the retractable mirror 472A is in a first, engaged position, the retractable mirror 472A reflects light entering the upper optical port 472A toward an output port 472D.","When the retractable mirror 472A is in a second, retracted position, the retractable mirror 472A is moved away from the optical path 474 and does not reflect light in the optical path 474.The fixed mirror 476B is disposed proximal to the lower optical port 472B and is arranged to reflect light entering the lower optical port 472B toward the output port 472D.","The output port 472D may include supporting optics, such as an ocular lens.","In other aspects, the output port 472D may comprise a cradle configured to receive an electronic device.","The electronic device can comprise one of a mobile communications device (e.g., smartphone), tablet computer, laptop computer, PDA, digital camera, portable gaming console, or other portable computing device.","In one aspect, the retractable mirror 476A may be actuated mechanically or electrically.","For example, a lever may be manipulated by the user to move the retractable mirror 476A to the first, engaged position or the second, retracted position.","Alternatively, the retractable mirror 476A may be automatically actuated through detection of the arrangement of the objective module 413 and/or the condenser module 416.For example, each of the objective and condenser modules, 413 and 416 respectively, may have a unique electrical signal that enables a controller to detect whether the objective module 413 or the condenser module 416 is disposed within the first or second mounting features, 460A and 460B respectively.","Should the controller detect that the objective module 413 is disposed within the first mounting feature 460A, then the retractable mirror 476A is positioned in the first, engaged position.","Shall the controller detect that the objective module 413 is disposed within the second mounting feature 460B, then the retractable mirror 476A is positioned in the second, retracted position.","In another example, the retractable mirror 476A may be actuated automatically through an electrical connection made between a particular slot 461 and post 462.For instance, one of the posts 462 may be configured to provide electrical power to a predefined slot 461 that is electrically coupled to a motor or actuator.","Energizing the motor or actuator thereby causes the retractable mirror 476A to be actuated to the first, engaged position or to the second, retracted position, depending on the arrangement of the objective and condenser modules.","In another example, the retractable mirror 476A may be actuated through activation of one or more buttons or keys that are disposed on the body 404.In this example, the user may depressed the button or key to cause the retractable mirror 476A to be positioned in the first, engaged position or the second, retracted position via actuation of a motor or actuator coupled to the retractable mirror 476A.","It is understood that other mechanical or electrical methods, as known by those having ordinary skill in the art, may be used to position the retractable mirror 476A in the first, engaged position or the second, retracted position.","Referring to FIGS.","11A-11C, when the microscope 400 is in the upright configuration, the retractable mirror 476A is positioned in the engaged position and reflects light directed from the objective module 413 to the fixed mirror 480 toward the output port 472D.","Referring to FIGS.","12A-12C, when the microscope 400 is in the inverted configuration, the retractable mirror 476A is positioned in the retracted position and does not reflect light in the optical path 474.Rather, in the inverted configuration, another fixed mirror 476B reflects light entering the objective module 413 toward the output port 472D.","Retractable mirror 476A can be coupled to a hinge or pivot 485 to pivot the mirror between the engaged position and the retracted position.","Referring to FIG.","14A-14B, the condenser module 416 comprises a structure housing a condenser 415 and light source.","Referring to FIG.","14C-14D, the objective module 413 comprises a nose piece 412 onto which at least one objective 412A-C is mounted.","As discussed above, the objective and condenser modules, 413 and 416 respectively, each comprise posts 462 that are held within corresponding slots 461 in the base 404 by latch pins 463 that are engaged into corresponding latch pin holes 464.In some aspects, the condenser module 416 may be electrically coupled to the base 404 to provide power to the light source.","In other aspects, the objective module 413 may be electrically coupled to the base 404 to power a focusing mechanism.","Alternatively, the objective and condenser modules, 413 and 416 respectively, may be self-powered by a battery housed within each of the objective and condenser modules, 413 and 416 respectively.","Swing Arm Embodiment FIGS.","15-16B illustrate an example of a swing arm microscope 500.Similar reference numerals refer to similar or identical structure to the first embodiment 100.Referring to FIG.","15, the microscope 500 comprises a base 502 having an upper portion 502A, a lower portion 502B and an intermediate portion 502C.","The intermediate portion 502C is disposed between the upper and lower portions, 502A and 502B respectively.","The intermediate portion 502C may be configured to mount a stage 514.The upper portion 502A includes a first slot 584A and the lower portion 502B includes a second slot 584B.","The first slot 584A is configured to receive an upper swing arm 504A and the second slot 584B is configured to receive a lower swing arm 504B.","Each of the upper and lower swing arms, 504A and 504B respectively, are configured to swing within their corresponding slots, 584A and 584B respectively, along a pivoting axis 588 defined by a spindle 582.In one aspect, the pivoting axis is disposed along a plane of symmetry of the upper and lower swing arms 504A, 504B.","Referring to FIG.","15, the spindle 582 is disposed within the base 502.The upper and lower swing arms, 504A and 504B respectively, are pivotably coupled to the spindle 582 via rotational mounts 583 (as shown in FIGS.","16A and 16B).","In one aspect, the upper and lower swing arms, 504A and 504B respectively, swing together because each is coupled to the same spindle 582.Accordingly, the upper and lower swing arms, 504A and 504B respectively, move together about the pivoting axis 588.Referring to FIGS.","16A and 16B, each of the upper and lower swing arms 504A, 504B include an objective 513 and a condenser 516.The upper and lower swing arms 504A, 504B may have similar profiles such as, for example, an “L” shaped, square shaped, or round shaped profile.","Although the objective 513 and the condenser 516 of each swing arm 504A, 504B are depicted as being 90 degrees apart, it is understood that other angles may be used without departing from the scope of this disclosure.","For example, the objective 513 and the condenser 516 of each swing arm 504A, 504B may be disposed at any angle ranging from 10-180 degrees.","In some aspects, the pivoting axis 588 may be disposed between the objective 513 and the condenser 516 of the upper and lower swing arms 504A, 504B.","Referring to FIG.","16A, the upper swing arm 504A includes a first optical port 577A and a second optical port 577C.","The first optical port 577A includes a mirror 576A that is configured to reflect light entering the objective 513 of the upper swing arm 504A toward an optical path 574 disposed within the base 504 (shown in FIG.","15).","The second optical port 577C comprises a through hole that allows light entering the objective 513 of the lower swing arm 504B to exit an output port 572.Referring to FIG.","15, the output port 572 may include supporting optics, such as an ocular lens and may comprise a cradle configured to receive an electronic device.","Referring to FIG.","16B, the lower swing arm 504B includes an optical port 577B.","The optical port 577B includes a pair of mirrors 576A, 576B that is configured to reflect light entering the objective 513 of the lower swing arm 504B toward the optical path 574 of the base 504 (shown in FIG.","15).","In one aspect, because each swing arm 504A, 504B includes an objective 513 and condenser 516, conversion of the microscope 500 from an upright configuration to an inverted configuration, or vice versa, simply requires that the swing arms 504A, 504B be arranged so that the objective 513 and condenser 516 are positioned according to the desired configuration.","For example, shall the user desire to use the microscope 500 in an upright configuration, the user would position the swing arms 504A, 504B so that the objective 513 of the upper swing arm 504A is disposed above the specimen to be observed and the condenser 516 of the lower swing arm 504B is disposed below the specimen to be observed.","As discussed above, because the upper and lower swing arms, 504A and 504B, are coupled to the same spindle 582, rotation of one of the swing arms 504A, 504B causes rotation of the other swing arm 504A, 504B.","In this example, after light enters the objective 513 of the upper swing arm 504A, light is reflected and directed toward the first optical port 577A via the mirror 576A.","Light exiting the first optical port 577A enters the optical path 574 of the base 504 and exits from the output port 572.In another example, should the user desire to use the microscope 500 in an inverted configuration, the user would position the swing arms 504A, 504B so that the objective 513 of the lower swing arm 504B is disposed below the specimen to be observed and the condenser 516 of the upper swing arm 504A is disposed above the specimen to be observed.","Again, because the upper and lower swing arms, 504A and 504B, are coupled to the same spindle 582, rotation of one of the swing arms 504A, 504B causes rotation of the other swing arm 504A, 504B.","In this example, after light enters the objective 513 of the lower swing arm 504B, light is reflected and directed toward the optical port 577B via the mirror 576B.","Light exiting the optical port 577B enters the optical path 574 of the base 504, passes through the second optical port 577C of the upper swing arm 504A, and ultimately exits from the output port 572.The cradle 608 configured to receive and secure an electronic device 610 that is capable of acquiring images, and to align an optical element of the electronic device 610 with the output port 572.The electronic device 610 can be a portable personal computing device including an optical element (e.g., a camera), for example a mobile communications device (e.g., smartphone), tablet computing device, laptop, PDA, portable gaming device, camera, or other portable computing device with imaging capabilities.","Accordingly, the objective 513 of the upper swing arm 504A is used when the microscope 500 is in the upright configuration and the condenser 516 of the upper swing arm 504A is used when the microscope 500 is in the inverted configuration.","Similarly, the objective 513 of the lower swing arm 504B is used when the microscope 500 is in the inverted configuration and the condenser 516 of the lower swing arm 504B is used when the microscope 500 is in the upright configuration.","Laterally Rotating Embodiment FIG.","17A illustrates an example of a laterally rotating microscope 600 in an upright configuration, and FIG.","17B illustrates an example of the laterally rotating microscope 600 in an inverted configuration.","Similar reference numerals refer to similar or identical structure to the first embodiment 100.Referring to FIGS.","17A-17B, the microscope 600 comprises a base 602 and a rotating assembly 604.The rotating assembly 604 may include an objective 613, an optical arm 606, a cradle 608, a stage 614, and a condenser 616, that are all configured to rotate together as a single assembly, along a rotating axis 620 that extends along a lateral direction with respect to the microscope 600.The rotating axis 620 is defined by rotational couplings disposed at opposite ends of the stage 614.In one aspect, the optical arm 606 may be coupled to the objective 613 and configured to reflect light entering the objective 613 toward an optical input of an electronic device 610.The electronic device 610 may be removably attached to the optical arm 606 via the cradle 608.The objective 613 and the condenser 616 are connected by a structural arm 692.The structure arm 692 supports and arranges the objective 613 and the condenser 616 with respect to the stage 614.As shown in FIGS.","17A-17B, the objective 613 and condenser 616 may be arranged at opposing ends of the structure arm 692.To convert the microscope 600 into an inverted configuration, a handle 694 of the rotating assembly 604 is rotated along the rotating axis 620 until the handle 694 engages a slot 696 disposed within the base 602.As a result of such rotation, the rotating assembly 604 is rotated about 180 degrees, thereby positioning the objective 613 below the stage 614 and the condenser 616 above the stage 614.As discussed above with reference to the stage 114, the stage 614 may be configured to support a specimen on both a first and second specimen supporting surface.","Overview of Example Controller and User Interface Components FIG.","18 is a block diagram illustrating components of controller 1000 that can be used to manage a dual-use microscope.","The controller 1000 can be integral to the microscope in some embodiments.","In other embodiments, the controller 1000 can be separate from the microscope, for example the controller 1000 can be included in a user portable computing device (e.g., smartphone, tablet, laptop, personal digital assistant, or the like) configured to communicate and/or cooperate with the microscope.","In further embodiments, aspects of the controller 1000 can be integral to the microscope and aspects of the controller 1000 can be separate from the microscope.","Controller 1000 comprises user interface module 1020, processor module 1004, storage module 1010, input/output (I/O) module 1008, memory module 1006, and bus 1002.Bus 1002 may be any suitable communication mechanism for communicating information.","Processor module 1004, storage module 1010, I/O module 1008, and memory module 1006 are coupled with bus 1002 for communicating information between any of the modules of controller 1000 and/or information between any module of controller 1000 and a device external to controller 1000.For example, information communicated between any of the modules of controller 1000 may include instructions and/or data.","In some aspects, bus 1002 may be a universal serial bus.","In some aspects, bus 302 may provide Ethernet connectivity.","User interface module 1020 can generate a graphical user interface for enabling user interaction with the dual-configuration microscope and/or image data gathered from the dual-configuration microscope, and includes image parameters adjustment module 1022 and file management module 1024.User interface module 1020 can be available as a set of software instructions, for example an application that can be downloaded or otherwise provided to an electronic device configured to be received by the cradle of the optical arm of the dual-configuration microscope to acquire images.","The image parameters adjustment module 1022 can provide functionality for a user to adjust the brightness, contrast, and color settings of acquired images.","The file management module 1024 can provide functionality for naming and archiving of acquired images.","For example, for archiving the file management module 1024 can provide controls for naming a file, naming an album, and choosing which file type to use for saving an acquired image (e.g., .jpeg, .tiff, .png).","For example, for file sharing the file management module 1024 can provide functionality to send an acquired image by email or other electronic communication, to interface with and upload to a local network server, or to share using global network filesharing services.","In some aspects, processor module 1004 may comprise one or more processors, where each processor may perform different functions or execute different instructions and/or processes.","For example, one or more processors may execute instructions for focusing on a specimen, positioning a specimen with respect to an objective, operating of a light source, controlling of a condenser, acquiring an image, processing an image, sending an image to another device, altering light pathways and illumination settings, automated X-Y stage movement, controlling external hardware devices (e.g., camera), controlling other computer devices (e.g., onboard mini-computer, onboard controllers), communicating with another device, and one or more processors may execute instructions for input/output functions.","Memory module 1006 may be random access memory (“RAM”) or other dynamic storage devices for storing information and instructions to be executed by processor module 1004.Memory module 1006 may also be used for storing temporary variables or other intermediate information during execution of instructions by processor 1004.In some aspects, memory module 1006 may comprise battery-powered static RAM, which stores information without requiring power to maintain the stored information.","Storage module 1010 may be a magnetic disk or optical disk and may also store information and instructions.","In some aspects, storage module 1010 may comprise hard disk storage or electronic memory storage (e.g., flash memory).","In some aspects, memory module 1006 and storage module 1010 are both a machine-readable medium.","Controller 1000 is coupled via I/O module 1008 to a user interface for providing information to and receiving information from a user controlling functions of a microscope, operations of a microscope, or for causing actuation of certain components of a microscope (e.g., movement of a retractable mirror, stage, or objective).","For example, the user interface may be a cathode ray tube (“CRT”), LCD monitor, or touch-screen display for displaying information to an operator.","The user interface may also include, for example, a keyboard, a mouse, or a touch-screen device coupled to controller 1000 via I/O module 1008 for communicating information and command selections to processor module 1004.According to various aspects of the subject disclosure, methods described herein are executed by controller 1000.Specifically, processor module 1004 executes one or more sequences of instructions contained in memory module 1006 and/or storage module 1010.In one example, instructions may be read into memory module 1006 from another machine-readable medium, such as storage module 1010.In another example, instructions may be read directly into memory module 1006 from I/O module 1008, for example from a user controlling functions of a microscope, operations of a microscope, or for causing actuation of certain components of a microscope (e.g., movement of a retractable mirror, stage, or objective) via the user interface.","Execution of the sequences of instructions contained in memory module 1006 and/or storage module 1010 causes processor module 1004 to control functions of the microscope, operations of the microscope, or actuation of certain components of the microscope (e.g., movement of a retractable mirror, stage, or objective).","For example, focusing operations, image processing and acquisition, and component actuation instructions may be stored in memory module 1006 and/or storage module 1010 as one or more sequences of instructions.","Information such as the distance between a specimen supporting surface and a condenser, or position of an objective or condenser with respect to a specimen may be communicated from processor module 1004 to memory module 1006 and/or storage module 1010 via bus 1002 for storage.","In some aspects, the information may be communicated from processor module 1004, memory module 1006, and/or storage module 1010 to I/O module 1008 via bus 1002.The information may then be communicated from I/O module 1008 to a user operating the microscope.","One or more processors in a multi-processing arrangement may also be employed to execute the sequences of instructions contained in memory module 1006 and/or storage module 1010.In some aspects, hard-wired circuitry may be used in place of or in combination with software instructions to implement various aspects of the subject disclosure.","Thus, aspects of the subject disclosure are not limited to any specific combination of hardware circuitry and software.","The term “machine-readable medium,” or “computer-readable medium,” as used herein, refers to any medium that participates in providing instructions to processor module 1004 for execution.","Such a medium may take many forms, including, but not limited to, non-volatile media, volatile media, and transmission media.","Non-volatile media include, for example, optical or magnetic disks, such as storage module 1010.Volatile media include dynamic memory, such as memory module 1006.Common forms of machine-readable media or computer-readable media include, for example, floppy disk, a flexible disk, hard disk, magnetic tape, any other magnetic medium, a CD-ROM, DVD, any other optical medium, punch cards, paper tape, any other physical mediums with patterns of holes, a RAM, a PROM, an EPROM, a FLASH EPROM, any other memory chip or cartridge, or any other medium from which a processor can read.","FIG.","19 illustrates and example of a user interface 1900 provided on a computing device configured to cooperate, at least optically and in some examples electronically, with a dual-configuration microscope.","The user interface 1900 can be generated in some embodiments by the user interface module 1020 of the controller 1000.As illustrated, the user interface includes a specimen display area 1930, an image parameter control panel 1910, and file naming controls 1920, 1925.The specimen display area 1930 displays to a user a visual representation of the specimen positioned in the optical path of the microscope.","In some embodiments, the visual representation can be adjusted by the user, for example by zooming, rotating, or using other adjustment controls presented in the image parameter control panel 1910.In other aspects, the visual representation of the specimen can be received by a camera of the device used to present the interface 1900.For example, an electronic device positioned in the cradle of a microscope, as described above, may convert the visual representation of the specimen into a digital representation, and present that digital representation in the specimen display area 1930 via a touch sensitive display panel.","Image parameter control panel 1910 can provide functionality for a user to change the visual appearance of one or more image parameters of the specimen image including, for example, brightness controls 1912, contrast controls 1914, and color option selections 1916, among others.","The image parameter control panel 1910 can also provide a file type selection functionality 1918 for a user to change a file type to be used for storage of a snapshot of the visual representation of the specimen.","The user may capture a snapshot of the visual representation of the specimen by activating a shutter button.","For example, the interface 1900 can be presented on a touch-sensitive display panel in some embodiments, and a user may capture a snapshot of the visual representation of the specimen by touching a digital shutter button.","For archiving, the interface 1900 may provide controls for naming the file 1925, naming the album 1930, and choosing which file type to save as (.jpeg, .tiff, .png) as described above.","Such functionality can beneficially enable a user of the microscope to organize snapshots using a personalized system to enable easier retrieval of a desired specimen snapshot stored in an electronic database after storage, for example by naming the album based on session date, specimen type, or others, and by naming the files based on sample characteristics, image parameters, or the like, to name just a few examples.","Although not illustrated, the interface 1900 can provide for file sharing capabilities, for example enabling a user to send specimen snapshot images by email, directly upload to and interface with a local network server, or share using a networked file-sharing service.","The interface 1900 can, in some embodiments, provide post processing tools for editing specimen snapshots after image capture, for example by cropping and making image parameter adjustments.","The interface 1900 can also include analysis tools, for example for counting, labeling, rotating, and/or making measurements on captured specimen snapshots.","Overview of Additional Components of Rotating Embodiments FIG.","20A illustrates a top, left, and front perspective view of a stage 2000 and FIG.","20B illustrates a bottom, right, and front perspective view of the stage 2000.As illustrated in FIGS.","20A-20B, an embodiment of an X-Y stage 2000 for use with a dual-configuration microscope such as is described herein may include a mounting block 2005 configured to be inserted into a corresponding pocket 2010 disposed within the intermediate portion 104C of the body of a dual-configuration microscope.","In some embodiments, the X-Y stage 2000 can be used with any of the dual-configuration microscopes described herein, for example the rotatable microscope embodiments, modular microscope embodiments, and reconfigurable microscope embodiments discussed herein.","In the illustrated example, the mounting block 2005 of the stage 2000 can be inserted into the pocket 2010 and held into position by a quick release mechanism 2015.The quick release mechanism 2015 may comprise, in the illustrated embodiment, a chamfered rotating member 2020 and handle 2025, wherein the chamfered rotating member 2020 is configured to securely engage a corresponding chamfer 2030 on the mounting block 2005.As the quick release mechanism 2015 is rotated, a contact force between the chamfers 2020 and 2030 increases to thereby securely engage and maintain the mounting block 2005 in position.","Other suitable releasable securing mechanisms can be used in other embodiments.","As illustrated in FIGS.","21B and 21C, the specimen supporting surface 2035 of the stage 2000 is mounted at or below a horizontal central axis 2040 of the mounting block 2005.The central axis 2040 of the mounting block 2005 passes through the vertical center of the mounting block 2005.In some aspects, the spatial relationship between the horizontal central axis 2040 of the mounting block 2005 and the specimen supporting surface 2035 enables a spacing between the specimen supporting surface 2035 of the stage 2000 and an outer surface of a lens of the objective and/or an outer surface of the condenser to be maintained, regardless of whether the microscope is in the upright or inverted configuration, as discussed above with reference to FIGS.","4A and 4B.","To illustrate, when the microscope is in the upright configuration and after the stage 2000 is inserted into the pocket 2010 and secured, the specimen supporting surface 2035 is positioned a distance away from the outer surface of the lens of the objective 2125 and/or the outer surface of the condenser 2130 (represented by D5).","When the microscope is in the inverted configuration and the stage 2000 is inserted into the pocket 2010 and secured, the specimen supporting surface 2035 is positioned substantially the same distance away from the outer surface of the lens of the objective 2125 and/or the outer surface of the condenser 2130 (represented by D6).","Distances D5 and D6 may be equal or substantially equal.","Thereby, the focal distance between the specimen supporting surface 2035 and outer surface of the lens of the objective can be maintained in some embodiments regardless of whether the microscope is in the upright or inverted configuration.","In some embodiments, the spatial relationship between the horizontal central axis 2040 of the mounting block 2005 and the specimen supporting surface 2035 enables a spacing or working distance between the specimen supporting surface 2035 of the stage 2000 and an outer surface of a lens of the condenser 2130 of the microscope to be maintained regardless of whether the microscope is in the upright or inverted configuration.","As illustrated by FIG.","21B and FIG.","21C, the body of the microscope occupies substantially the same three-dimensional area in the inverted configuration and in the upright configuration, and faces substantially the same direction in the inverted configuration and in the upright configuration.","In the inverted configuration, the objective occupies substantially the same space as the condenser occupies in the upright configuration.","Similarly, in the inverted configuration, the condenser occupies substantially the same space as the objective occupies in the upright configuration.","This can provide a seamless user experience when converting the microscope between the upright and inverted configurations, as the microscope occupies substantially the same space above the workspace upon which the microscope is placed in both configurations, and also faces the same direction in both configurations As in the illustrated embodiment, the stage 1900 can be configured to be removed during transition of the microscope between the inverted and upright configurations.","In other embodiments, the stage 2000 and pocket 2010 can be coupled to the base of the microscope such that the body of the microscope can rotate between the inverted and upright configurations without removal of the stage 2000.The illustrated specimen supporting surface 2035 of the stage 2000 includes an insert 2045 for holding two standard sized slides for an inverted microscope.","In other embodiments, different slide inserts can be used instead of the illustrated insert 2045.The insert can be removable, and can be replaced with an insert for holding a specimen dish or container when the microscope is in the upright configuration.","The stage 2000 can be controlled in some embodiments by rotation of a Y-axis knob 2050 and an X-axis knob 2055 for driving belt 2060 for laterally positioning at least an upper structure 2065 of the stage 2000 in the Y and X directions, respectively, enabling acquisition of images of different portions of the samples supported by the insert 2045.Upper structure 2065 may comprise belts, gears, or other comparable mechanisms that enable at least the specimen supporting surface 2035 to move in the Y and X directions.","In other embodiments, the stage 2000 can be additionally or alternatively controlled through use of a digital controller, for example through controller 1000 communicating with X and Y drive motors (not illustrated) of the stage 2000.FIGS.","21A through 21C illustrate another embodiment of rotating microscope 2100 comprising a body rotatably coupled with a unitary base.","The body 2105 includes at least one contoured surface.","For example, the upper and lower surfaces of the body 2105 may each have a convex profile that corresponds to a concave profile of an outer surface of the lower portion of the base, facilitating smooth rotation of the body.","FIG.","21A illustrates an isometric view of the microscope 2100 with the body in an upright configuration.","The body 2100 includes the stage 2000 described above, and an optical arm 2110 with a rotatable collar 2199, a first geared focus module 2115 for the objective 2125, and a second geared focus module 2120 for the condenser 2130.FIG.","21B illustrates a front view of the rotatable microscope 2100 in the upright configuration with the first geared focus module 2115 and a lower casing of the optical arm 2110 removed to reveal the components of the optical path 2190 inside of the optical arm 2110.The optical arm 2110 includes a rotatable collar 2199 and a Dove prism 2135 (shown in FIG.","21D) positioned to receive light representing acquired images and pass the light to the reflective surface 2140, which then redirects the light through the eyepiece 2155 of the optical arm 2110.The optical arm 2110 can be rotatably coupled to the body 2105 in some embodiments.","Due to rotation of the optical arm 2110 around the optical path 2190 passing through the optical arm 2110, the acquired specimen image can be rotated when viewed by an imaging device in optical communication with the eyepiece 2155 of the optical arm 2110.Advantageously, the Dove prism 2135 is located in the optical path 2190 and can be longitudinal rotated, automatically and/or manually, in order to correct for rotation of the acquired image.","For example, the Dove prism 2135 can be manually rotated in some embodiments by rotation of the collar 2199.FIG.","21C illustrates an embodiment of the rotatable microscope 2100 with the body positioned in an inverted configuration.","FIG.","21D illustrates a close up view of the Dove prism 2135 within a housing 2175.The housing 2175 may rotate at a different rate than the optical arm 2110 in some embodiments.","The Dove prism 2135 is a type of reflective prism which can be used to invert an image.","The Dove prism 2135 is shaped from a truncated right-angle prism.","A beam of light entering a first face 2160 of the sloped faces of the prism undergoes total internal reflection from the inside of the longest face 2165 and emerges from the opposite sloped face 2170.Images passing through the prism 2135 are flipped, and because only one reflection takes place, the image is inverted but not laterally transposed.","Properties of the Dove prism 2135 make it useful as a beam rotator, as when the prism 2135 is rotated along its longitudinal axis 2195, the transmitted image rotates at twice the rate of the prism 2135.Accordingly, longitudinal rotations of the prism 2135 can cause double the rotation of the acquired image to correct for rotation of visual representations of specimens due to rotation of the microscope and/or optical arm.","The longitudinal axis 2195 of the Dove prism 2135 can be aligned with the optical path 2190 in some embodiments.","In some embodiments, the Dove prism 2135 is disposed within the housing 2175 comprising an inner tube, the inner tube 2175 is disposed within an outer tube 2185.The inner tube 2175 and outer tube 2185 are coaxially arranged.","Rotation of the inner tube 2175 can be accomplished by rotation of a collar 2199 that may be disposed at substantially one end of the inner tube 2175.In some aspects, the collar 2199 may be coupled to the inner tube 2175 via a threaded engagement, press fit, or other comparable mechanical coupling methods know to a person of ordinary skill.","Rotation of the collar 2199 thereby causes rotation of the inner tube 2175, which in turn causes rotation of the Dove prism 2135.Additionally or alternatively, the Dove prism 2135 may be rotated automatically with the use of gears that are arranged to rotate the inner tube 2175 as the optical arm 2110 is rotated.","As one example, the gears may be arranged to provide a gearing ratio of 2:1, where one full rotation of the optical arm 2110 causes one-half rotation of the Dove prism 2135.Other gearing ratios may be acceptable, depending on the intended design.","In other aspects, a user may further manually rotate the inner tube 2175 to attain a desired rotation of the acquired image.","In other aspects, rotation of the Dove prism 2135 may be accomplished via a stepper, rotational, or linear motor, for example, driven by controller 1000.In yet another example, a stepper, rotational, or linear motor may be actuated based on an accelerometer reading of the electronic device coupled to the optical arm 2110.In some embodiments, the Dove prism 2135 as described above can be used with any of the dual-configuration microscopes described herein, for example the rotatable microscope embodiments, modular microscope embodiments, and reconfigurable microscope embodiments discussed herein.","Tilting Embodiment FIGS.","22-25E illustrate an example of a tilting microscope 2200 having a plurality of planar surfaces 2204A-E.","Similar reference numerals refer to similar or identical structure to the first embodiment 100.Referring to FIG.","22, the microscope 2200 comprises a body 2202.The body 2202 is configured to support, directly or indirectly, a nosepiece 2212, at least one objective 2213, a condenser 2216, and a light source (not shown).","The body 2202 may further be configured to support a stage 2214.In some aspects, the condenser 2216 of the microscope 2200 may be selected based on the configuration of the microscope 2200.The condenser 2216 may be one of a high-resolution or upright condenser having a focal length of 1-4 mm, a long working distance condenser having a focal length of 35-2 mm, or an ultra-long working distance condenser having a focal length of 70-73 mm, depending on the configuration of the microscope 2200.For example, if the microscope 2200 is in an upright configuration, the condenser 2216 may be a high-resolution condenser.","If the microscope 2200 is in an inverted configuration, the condenser 2216 may be replaced with a long working distance condenser.","The stage 2214 comprises, on an outer surface, a first specimen supporting surface 2219A and at an opposite outer surface, a second specimen supporting surface 2219B.","When the microscope 2200 is in the upright configuration (as shown in FIGS.","23A-B) the first specimen supporting surface 2219A is configured to support a specimen.","When the microscope 2200 is in the inverted configuration (as shown in FIGS.","24A-B) the second specimen supporting surface 2219B is configured to support the specimen.","In one aspect, the stage 2214 may be configured to removably receive an X-Y adaptor that allows the specimen to move in a controlled fashion along the X and Y axes.","The removable X-Y adaptor may be configured to attach to the stage 2214 to allow use of the first specimen supporting surface 2219A or the second specimen supporting surface 2219B, depending on the configuration of the microscope 2200 and the surface of the stage 2214 upon which the removable X-Y adaptor is mounted or attached.","The microscope 2200 may further comprise a first and second mounting slot 2206A, B, with the first mounting slot 2206A disposed on a first planar surface 2204A and the second mounting slot 2206B disposed opposite of the first mounting slot 2206A, on a planar surface, such as planar surface 2204E.","Each of the mounting slots 2206A, B are configured to receive and support a portable display device, such as portable display device 2210 as shown in FIGS.","23A and 24A.","For example, each mounting slot 2206A, B may be configured to receive a side or end of the portable display device and support the portable display device to enable a user to view and use the portable display device, as desired.","In one aspect, the microscope 2200 may further comprise a first and second rotating stand 2208A, B, as shown in FIGS.","22, 23B and 24B.","The first rotating stand 2208A may be disposed on the first planar surface 2204A and the second rotating stand 2208B may be disposed opposite of the first mounting rotating stand 2208A, on a planar surface, such as planar surface 2204E.","Each of the rotating stands 2208A, B are configured to support a portable display device, such as portable display device 2210 as shown in FIGS.","23A-24B, when positioned in a deployed configuration.","Each rotating stand 2208A, B may be pivotably coupled to the body 2202 and configured to rotate between the deployed configuration and a stowed configuration.","When in the deployed configuration, each rotating stand 2208A, B mechanically supports the portable display device.","When in the stowed configuration, each rotating stand 2208A, B lays substantially flush with its respective surrounding surface, 2204A, E. In one aspect, each rotating stand 2208A, B may be biased to the stowed position via a spring or other mechanism as would be known by a person of ordinary skill, to ensure that each rotating stand 2208A, B is maintained in the stowed configuration when the microscope 2200 is titled between an upright to inverted configuration, and vice versa.","Referring to FIGS.","23A-24B, in some aspects, the portable display device 2210 may comprise a mobile device, camera, tablet computer, laptop computer, PDA, portable computer, or other device that is capable of displaying images.","The portable display device 2210 may further comprise a touch-sensitive screen display or other input mechanisms, such as buttons or keys, that are capable of receiving user input.","In some aspects, a user may control operations of the microscope 2200, such as focusing of a specimen, positioning of a specimen with respect to the objective 2213, operation of the light source, control of the condenser 2216, acquisition of an image, processing of an image, storing of an image, sending of an image to another device, altering light pathways and illumination settings, automated X-Y stage movement, automated nosepiece movement, controlling external hardware devices (e.g., camera), controlling other computer devices (e.g., onboard mini-computer, onboard controllers), communicating with other devices (such as through local area networks, wide area networks, broadband, Bluetooth, WiFi, or other wireless or wired communication methods), and other microscope related operations, by using the input mechanisms of the electronic device 110.In one aspect, the microscope 2200 may comprise an internal camera or light sensor (not shown) that is configured to receive light that has entered the objective 2213.The internal camera or light sensor may be configured to detect and convey information that constitutes an image by converting variable attenuation of light waves as they pass through or reflect off of the specimen into digital signals.","The internal camera or light sensor may comprise a semiconductor charge-coupled device (CCD), active pixel sensor in complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS), or an N-type metal-oxide-semiconductor (NMOS, Live MOS).","In one aspect, the internal camera or image sensor may be coupled to a communications module that is configured to receive data representing the light received by the camera or sensor and transmit the data to the portable display device 2210.The data may be transmitted to the portable display device via a wired or wireless connection.","The data received by the portable display device 2210 may then be displayed to the user as one or more images.","The microscope 2200 further comprises a plurality of planar surfaces 2204A-E that are each configured to support the microscope 2200 on a working surface as the microscope 2200 is converted from an upright configuration to an inverted configuration, and vice versa.","For example, the plurality of planar surfaces 2204A-E may be configured to facilitate tilting of the microscope 2200 as the microscope is converted from an upright configuration (as shown in FIGS.","23A-B) to an inverted configuration (as shown in FIGS.","24A-B), and vice versa, as illustrated in FIGS.","25A-E.","The plurality of planar surfaces 2204A-E may be disposed on the body 2202 and configured to support the microscope 2200 and allow tilting of the microscope 2200 as the microscope 2200 is tilted from one planar surface, to an adjacent planar surface.","For example, the microscope 2200 may comprise five planar surfaces, with a first planar surface 2204A disposed parallel to the stage 2214, a second planar surface 2204B disposed at an angle less than 90 degrees from the first planar surface 2204A, a third planar surface 2204C disposed perpendicularly from the first planar surface 2204A, a fourth planar surface 2204D disposed at an angle less than 90 degrees from the third planar surface 2204C, and a fifth planar surface 2204E disposed parallel to the stage 2214.In one example, the angle between the first planar surface 2204A and the second planar surface 2204B may be 30 degrees, 45 degrees, 60 degrees, or any angle there between.","In another example, the angle between the fourth planar surface 2204D and the third planar surface 2204C may be 30 degrees, 45 degrees, 60 degrees, or any angle there between.","In yet another example, the angle between the first planar surface 2204A and the second planar surface 2204B may be substantially the same angle as an angle between the fifth planar surface 2204E and the fourth planar surface 2204D.","The microscope 2200 may further comprise a plurality of focus knob receptacles 2217-D that are each configured to receive a removable focus knob 2218 (shown in FIGS.","22 and 23A-24B).","The focus knob receptacles 2217A-D may be disposed laterally on both outward sides of the body 2202.For example, referring to FIGS.","22 and 23A, B, a first focus knob receptacle 2217A may be disposed proximal to the nosepiece 2212 and right side of the body 2202, and a second focus knob receptacle 2217B may be disposed proximal to the condenser 2216 and right side of the body 2202.Referring to FIGS.","24A, B, a third focus knob receptacle 2217C may be disposed proximal to the condenser 2216 and opposite side of the body 2202, and a fourth focus knob receptacle 2217D may be disposed proximal to the nosepiece 2212 and opposite side of the body 2202.In one aspect, depending on the configuration of the microscope 2200 and preference of the user, the focus knob 2218 may be inserted in any of the focus knob receptacles 2217A-D to adjust a position of the objective 2213, adjust a position of the stage 2214, adjust the position of the condenser 2216, or control operations of the microscope 2200.The focus knob 2218 may further comprise one or more buttons or user input mechanisms to receive user input or commands for controlling or operating the microscope.","In some aspects, a user may use the focus knob 2218 to focus a specimen, position a specimen with respect to the objective 2213, operate a light source, control the condenser 2216, acquire an image, process an image, send an image to another device, alter light pathways and illumination settings, control external hardware devices (e.g., camera), control other computer devices (e.g., onboard mini-computer, onboard controllers), communicate with other devices (such as through local area networks, wide area networks, broadband, Bluetooth, WiFi, or other wireless or wired communication methods), and other microscope related operations, by using the input mechanisms of the focus knob 2218.The focus knob 2218 may further comprise an internal rechargeable battery and wireless communication module that enables the focus knob 2218 to communicate with the microscope 2200 and/or portable display device 2210.FIGS.","23A and 23B illustrate the microscope 2200 positioned in the upright configuration.","In the upright configuration, the body is positioned such that the nosepiece assembly 2212 is positioned vertically above the stage 2214 and the condenser is positioned vertically below the stage 2214.The first specimen supporting surface 2219A is positioned to support the specimen.","While any focus knob receptacle 2217A-D may be used to mount the focus knob 2218, for ergonomic purposes and depending on whether the user prefers to use their right or left hand, the second focus knob receptacle 2217B or third focus knob receptacle 2217C may be used to mount the focus knob 2218.First mounting slot 2206A and first rotating stand 2208A may be used to mount and support the portable display device 2210.FIGS.","24A and 24B illustrate the microscope 2200 positioned in the inverted configuration.","In the inverted configuration, the body is positioned such that the nosepiece assembly 2212 is positioned vertically below the stage 2214 and the condenser is positioned vertically above the stage 2214.The second specimen supporting surface 2219B is positioned to support the specimen.","While any focus knob receptacle 2217A-D may be used to mount the focus knob 2218, for ergonomic purposes and depending on whether the user prefers to use their right or left hand, the first focus knob receptacle 2217A and fourth focus knob receptacle 2217D may be used to mount the focus knob 2218.Second mounting slot 2206B and second rotating stand 2208B may be used to mount and support the portable display device 2210.A method for converting the microscope 2200 from the upright configuration into the inverted configuration will now be discussed with reference to FIGS.","25A-E. To convert the microscope 2200, the portable display device 2210 is dismounted, thereby allowing the rotating stand 2208A to move to the stowed position.","Referring to FIG.","25A, while in the upright configuration the microscope 2200 is supported by the fifth planar surface 2204E.","To convert the microscope 2200 from the upright configuration into the inverted configuration, the user first tilts the microscope 2200 toward the fourth planar surface 2204D.","Referring to FIG.","25B, the microscope 2200 is shown in an intermediate position as the microscope 2200 rests on the fourth planar surface 2204D.","The user then continues the conversion process by titling the microscope 2200 toward the third planar surface 2204C.","Referring to FIG.","25C, the microscope 2200 is shown in an intermediate position as the microscope 2200 rests on the third planar surface 2204C.","The user then continues the conversion process by titling the microscope 2200 toward the second planar surface 2204B.","Referring to FIG.","25D, the microscope 2200 is shown in an intermediate position as the microscope 2200 rests on the second planar surface 2204B.","The user then finishes the conversion process by titling the microscope 2200 toward the first planar surface 2204A.","Referring to FIG.","25E, the microscope 2200 is shown in the inverted position as the microscope 2200 rests on the first planar surface 2204A.","The user may then mount the portable display device 2210 to the microscope 2200 by using the second mounting slot 2206B and positioning the second rotating stand 2208B to the deployed configuration.","The user may further reposition the focus knob 2218 to whichever focus knob receptacle 2217A-D is desired.","While this example conversion of the microscope may involve tilting the microscope 2200 up to four instances and using five planar surfaces 2204A-E, it is understood that fewer or more tilting instances and planar surfaces may be used to convert the microscope from the upright configuration to the inverted configuration without departing from the scope of the invention.","A method for converting the microscope 2200 from the inverted configuration into the upright configuration will now be discussed with reference to FIGS.","25A-E. To convert the microscope 2200, the portable display device 2210 is dismounted, thereby allowing the rotating stand 2208B to move to the stowed position.","Referring to FIG.","25E, while in the inverted configuration the microscope 2200 is supported by the first planar surface 2204A.","To convert the microscope 2200 from the inverted configuration into the upright configuration, the user first tilts the microscope 2200 toward the second planar surface 2204B.","Referring to FIG.","25D, the microscope 2200 is shown in an intermediate position as the microscope 2200 rests on the second planar surface 2204B.","The user then continues the conversion process by titling the microscope 2200 toward the third planar surface 2204C.","Referring to FIG.","25C, the microscope 2200 is shown in an intermediate position as the microscope 2200 rests on the third planar surface 2204C.","The user then continues the conversion process by titling the microscope 2200 toward the fourth planar surface 2204D.","Referring to FIG.","25B, the microscope 2200 is shown in an intermediate position as the microscope 2200 rests on the fourth planar surface 2204D.","The user then finishes the conversion process by titling the microscope 2200 toward the fifth planar surface 2204E.","Referring to FIG.","25A, the microscope 2200 is shown in the upright position as the microscope 2200 rests on the fifth planar surface 2204E.","The user may then mount the portable display device 2210 to the microscope 2200 by using the first mounting slot 2206A and positioning the first rotating stand 2208A in the deployed configuration.","The user may further reposition the focus knob 2218 to whichever focus knob receptacle 2217A-D is desired.","While in this example conversion of the microscope may involve tilting the microscope 2200 up to four instances and using five planar surfaces 2204A-E, it is understood that fewer or more tilting instances and planar surfaces may be used to convert the microscope from the inverted configuration to the upright configuration without departing from the scope of the invention.","Terminology The foregoing description is provided to enable a person skilled in the art to practice the various configurations described herein.","While the subject technology has been particularly described with reference to the various figures and configurations, it should be understood that these are for illustration purposes only and should not be taken as limiting the scope of the subject technology.","There may be many other ways to implement the subject technology.","Various functions and elements described herein may be partitioned differently from those shown without departing from the scope of the subject technology.","Various modifications to these configurations will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and generic principles defined herein may be applied to other configurations.","Thus, many changes and modifications may be made to the subject technology, by one having ordinary skill in the art, without departing from the scope of the subject technology.","It is understood that the specific order or hierarchy of steps in the processes disclosed is an illustration of exemplary approaches.","Based upon design preferences, it is understood that the specific order or hierarchy of steps in the processes may be rearranged.","Some of the steps may be performed simultaneously.","The accompanying method claims present elements of the various steps in a sample order, and are not meant to be limited to the specific order or hierarchy presented.","A phrase such as an “aspect” does not imply that such aspect is essential to the subject technology or that such aspect applies to all configurations of the subject technology.","A disclosure relating to an aspect may apply to all configurations, or one or more configurations.","A phrase such as an aspect may refer to one or more aspects and vice versa.","A phrase such as an “embodiment” does not imply that such embodiment is essential to the subject technology or that such embodiment applies to all configurations of the subject technology.","A disclosure relating to an embodiment may apply to all embodiments, or one or more embodiments.","A phrase such an embodiment may refer to one or more embodiments and vice versa.","Furthermore, to the extent that the term “include,” “have,” or the like is used in the description or the claims, such term is intended to be inclusive in a manner similar to the term “comprise” as “comprise” is interpreted when employed as a transitional word in a claim.","The word “exemplary” is used herein to mean “serving as an example, instance, or illustration.” Any embodiment described herein as “exemplary” is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other embodiments.","A reference to an element in the singular is not intended to mean “one and only one” unless specifically stated, but rather “one or more.” The term “some” refers to one or more.","All structural and functional equivalents to the elements of the various configurations described throughout this disclosure that are known or later come to be known to those of ordinary skill in the art are expressly incorporated herein by reference and intended to be encompassed by the subject technology.","Moreover, nothing disclosed herein is intended to be dedicated to the public regardless of whether such disclosure is explicitly recited in the above description."]],"string":"[\n [\n \"UPRIGHT AND INVERTED MICROSCOPE\",\n \"A dual-configuration microscope is provided that may be converted into an upright or inverted microscope.\",\n \"The microscope includes a body having a plurality of planar surfaces, each planar surface configured to support the body on a working surface as the body is tilted between the upright and inverted configurations.\",\n \"The microscope further includes an objective, a condenser, a stage positioned between the objective and the condenser, and a portable display device to display a specimem.\"\n ],\n [\n \"1.A microscope comprising: a body configured to be converted from an upright to inverted configuration; wherein the body comprises a plurality of planar surfaces, each planar surface configured to support the body on a working surface as the body is tilted between the upright and inverted configurations; an objective disposed on the body for viewing a specimen; a condenser disposed on the body for illuminating the specimen; a stage disposed between the objective and the condenser for supporting the specimen; and an internal camera disposed within the body, the internal camera configured to capture an image of the specimen; wherein when the body is in the upright configuration, the objective is disposed vertically above the condenser; and wherein when the body is in the inverted configuration, the condenser is disposed vertically above the objective.\",\n \"2.The microscope of claim 1, wherein the stage comprises a first specimen supporting surface and a second specimen supporting surface, wherein the second specimen supporting surface is positioned opposite the first specimen supporting surface.\",\n \"3.The microscope of claim 1, wherein the plurality of planar surfaces comprise a first, second, and third planar surface.\",\n \"4.The microscope of claim 1, wherein the plurality of planar surfaces comprise a first, second, third, and fourth planar surface.\",\n \"5.The microscope of claim 1, wherein the plurality of planar surfaces comprise a first, second, third, fourth, and fifth planar surface.\",\n \"6.The microscope of claim 1, further comprising a plurality of focus knob receptacles disposed on the body, wherein each focus knob receptacle is configured to receive a removable focus knob.\",\n \"7.The microscope of claim 6, wherein the removable focus knob is further configured to receive user input for controlling an operation of the microscope.\",\n \"8.The microscope of claim 7, wherein the operation comprises a focusing operation using the objective.\",\n \"9.The microscope of claim 1, further comprising a portable display device configured to display the image of the specimen captured by the internal camera.\",\n \"10.The microscope of claim 9, further comprising a first supporting slot disposed on a first planar surface of the plurality of planar surfaces, the first supporting slot configured to support the portable display device on the body.\",\n \"11.The microscope of claim 10, further comprising a second supporting slot disposed on a second planar surface of the plurality of planar surfaces, the second supporting slot disposed opposite the first supporting slot and configured to support the portable display device on the body.\",\n \"12.The microscope of claim 11, further comprising a first rotating stand disposed on the first planar surface of the plurality of planar surfaces, the first rotating stand configured to support the portable display device on the body.\",\n \"13.The microscope of claim 12, further comprising a second rotating stand disposed on the second planar surface of the plurality of planar surfaces, the second rotating stand disposed opposite the first rotating stand and configured to support the portable display device on the body.\",\n \"14.The microscope of claim 1, further comprising a communications module configured to transmit data representing the image of the specimen captured by the internal camera to the portable display device.\",\n \"15.A method for converting a microscope from an upright to inverted configuration, the method comprising: tilting a body from an upright configuration to a first intermediate position on a working surface, the body comprising a plurality of planar surfaces, each planar surface configured to support the body on a working surface as the body is tilted between the upright configuration and an inverted configuration, the body further comprising: an objective disposed on the body for viewing a specimen; a condenser disposed on the body for illuminating the specimen; and a stage disposed between the objective and the condenser for supporting the specimen; wherein when the body is in the upright configuration, the objective is disposed vertically above the condenser; and wherein when the body is in the inverted configuration, the condenser is disposed vertically above the objective; tilting the body from the first intermediate position to a second intermediate position on the working surface; tilting the body from the second intermediate position to a third intermediate position on the working surface; and tilting the body from the third intermediate position to the inverted configuration.\",\n \"16.The method of claim 15, wherein the body further comprises a portable display device disposed on the body and configured to display the specimen.\",\n \"17.The method of claim 15, wherein the plurality of planar surfaces comprise a first, second, third, fourth, and fifth planar surface.\",\n \"18.The method of claim 15, further comprising mounting a portable display device onto a slot, wherein the slot is disposed on one planar surface of the plurality of planar surfaces.\",\n \"19.The method of claim 15, further comprising inserting a removable focus knob into one of a plurality of focus knob receptacles, the plurality of focus knob receptacles disposed on the body and each configured to receive the removable focus knob.\",\n \"20.The method of claim 15, further comprising rotating a first stand disposed on the body to a deployed position, the first stand configured to rotate between the deployed position and a stowed position; wherein when in the deployed position, the first stand supports a portable display device on the body; and wherein when in the stowed position, the an outer surface of the first stand is flush with the body.\"\n ],\n [\n \" BACKGROUND Conventionally, there are two types of microscope configurations, upright and inverted.\",\n \"Generally, upright and inverted microscopes differ in the manner by which a specimen, an objective, and a light source are arranged with respect to each other.\",\n \"For example, in an upright microscope, the objective is arranged so that it is disposed vertically above the specimen and the light source is disposed vertically below the specimen.\",\n \"In an inverted microscope, the objective is arranged so that it is disposed vertically below the specimen and the objective is disposed vertically above the specimen.\",\n \"Accordingly, an optic train, that is the arrangement of lenses generally housed within a housing and used to reflect light from the light source and specimen to a user, is arranged either above or below the specimen along with the objective.\",\n \"In both upright and inverted microscopes, focusing of the specimen is accomplished by way of a corresponding positioning of the specimen relative to the objective, specifically in such a way that a region of the specimen to be observed is arranged in a focal plane of the objective.\",\n \"In one example, the position of the specimen relative to the objective may be adjusted by moving the objective along an optical axis relative to the specimen.\",\n \"In this case, the specimen may be mounted on a conventional specimen slide or dish that is secured to a corresponding specimen holder on a microscope stage.\",\n \"In this example, the microscope stage may be fixed such that it does not move in the direction of the optical axis of the objective.\",\n \"In another example, the position of the specimen relative to the objective may be adjusted by mechanically moving the stage along the optical axis in order to focus on the desired specimen region.\",\n \"In this example, the position of the objective would be fixed along the direction of its optical axis.\",\n \"In both examples, the stage may also be configured so that it may horizontally move relative to a microscope body along a single plane in at least two directions, such as in an X and a Y direction.\",\n \"In both examples, focusing of the specimen region is usually performed by the user by operating an interface element arranged on the microscope body, as a result of which either the objective or the microscope stage is positioned along the optical axis.\",\n \"The interface element may comprise a rotary knob.\",\n \"Rotation of the rotary knob by the user causes linear motion of the objective or the stage along the optical axis.\",\n \"Typically, the rotary knob is arranged proximal to a working surface on which the microscope rests.\"\n ],\n [\n \" BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide further understanding of the subject technology and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate aspects of the subject technology and together with the description serve to explain the principles of the subject technology.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"1 illustrates an embodiment of a rotating microscope positioned in an upright configuration.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"2 illustrates an embodiment of a rotating microscope positioned in an example of an intermediate configuration.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"3A illustrates a cross section view of an embodiment of a rotational coupling of a rotating microscope.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"3B illustrates a cross section view of an embodiment of a stage.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"4A illustrates an embodiment of a height compensator in a first position.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"4B illustrates an embodiment of the height compensator of FIG.\",\n \"4A in a second position.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"5 illustrates an embodiment of a rotating microscope positioned in an inverted configuration.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"6 illustrates an embodiment of a flipping microscope in an upright configuration.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"7 illustrates an embodiment of a flipping microscope in an inverted configuration.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"8 illustrates an embodiment of a reconfigurable microscope in an upright configuration.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"9 illustrates an embodiment of the reconfigurable microscope of FIG.\",\n \"8 in an inverted configuration.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"10A illustrates an embodiment of a mounting feature.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"10B illustrates an embodiment of an interchangeable component.\",\n \"FIGS.\",\n \"11A-11C illustrate an embodiment of a modular microscope in an upright configuration.\",\n \"FIGS.\",\n \"12A-12C illustrate an embodiment of the modular microscope of FIGS.\",\n \"11A-11C in an inverted configuration.\",\n \"FIGS.\",\n \"13A-13B illustrate an embodiment of a base of a modular microscope.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"14A-14B illustrate a condenser module of a modular microscope.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"14C-14D illustrate an objective module of a modular microscope.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"15 illustrates an embodiment of a swing arm microscope.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"16A illustrates an embodiment of an upper swing arm.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"16B illustrates an embodiment of a lower swing arm.\",\n \"FIGS.\",\n \"17A-17B illustrate an embodiment of a laterally rotating microscope.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"18 illustrates a high-level schematic block diagram of an embodiment of an electronic system for use with a reconfigurable microscope as described herein.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"19 illustrates and example of a user interface provided on a mobile computing device configured to cooperate with a dual-configuration microscope.\",\n \"FIGS.\",\n \"20A-20B illustrate an embodiment of a stage for use with a dual-configuration microscope.\",\n \"FIGS.\",\n \"21A-21B illustrate an embodiment of a rotating microscope in an upright configuration.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"21C illustrates an embodiment of the rotating microscope of FIGS.\",\n \"21A-21B in an inverted configuration.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"21D illustrates an embodiment of a Dove prism housing.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"22 illustrates an embodiment of a tilting microscope.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"23A illustrates an embodiment of a tilting microscope positioned in an upright configuration.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"23B illustrates an embodiment of a tilting microscope positioned in an upright configuration.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"24A illustrates an embodiment of a tilting microscope positioned in an inverted configuration.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"24B illustrates an embodiment of a tilting microscope positioned in an inverted configuration.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"25A illustrates an embodiment of a tilting microscope positioned in an upright configuration.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"25B illustrates an embodiment of a tilting microscope positioned in an intermediate configuration.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"25C illustrates an embodiment of a tilting microscope positioned in an intermediate configuration.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"25D illustrates an embodiment of a tilting microscope positioned in an intermediate configuration.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"25E illustrates an embodiment of a tilting microscope positioned in an inverted configuration.\",\n \"detailed-description description=\\\"Detailed Description\\\" end=\\\"lead\\\"?\"\n ],\n [\n \"CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application is a continuation-in-part of non-provisional application Ser.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"15/682,423, filed Aug. 21, 2017, which is a continuation of non-provisional application Ser.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"15/238,593, filed Aug. 16, 2016, now U.S. Pat.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"9,746,657, which is a continuation of non-provisional application Ser.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"15/003,694, filed Jan. 21, 2016, now U.S. Pat.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"9,435,990, which is a continuation of non-provisional application Ser.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"14/832,694, filed Aug. 21, 2015, now U.S. Pat.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"9,348,129, which is a continuation of non-provisional application Ser.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"14/494,519, filed Sep. 23, 2014, now U.S. Pat.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"9,140,885, which is a continuation of International Patent Application No.\",\n \"PCT/US2014/044707, filed Jun.\",\n \"27, 2014, which claims priority to U.S.\",\n \"Provisional Patent Application Ser.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"61/841,229, filed Jun.\",\n \"28, 2013, the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.\",\n \"TECHNICAL FIELD The systems and methods disclosed herein generally relate to microscopes, and more particularly to a microscope configured to be used in both an upright configuration and an inverted configuration.\",\n \"BACKGROUND Conventionally, there are two types of microscope configurations, upright and inverted.\",\n \"Generally, upright and inverted microscopes differ in the manner by which a specimen, an objective, and a light source are arranged with respect to each other.\",\n \"For example, in an upright microscope, the objective is arranged so that it is disposed vertically above the specimen and the light source is disposed vertically below the specimen.\",\n \"In an inverted microscope, the objective is arranged so that it is disposed vertically below the specimen and the objective is disposed vertically above the specimen.\",\n \"Accordingly, an optic train, that is the arrangement of lenses generally housed within a housing and used to reflect light from the light source and specimen to a user, is arranged either above or below the specimen along with the objective.\",\n \"In both upright and inverted microscopes, focusing of the specimen is accomplished by way of a corresponding positioning of the specimen relative to the objective, specifically in such a way that a region of the specimen to be observed is arranged in a focal plane of the objective.\",\n \"In one example, the position of the specimen relative to the objective may be adjusted by moving the objective along an optical axis relative to the specimen.\",\n \"In this case, the specimen may be mounted on a conventional specimen slide or dish that is secured to a corresponding specimen holder on a microscope stage.\",\n \"In this example, the microscope stage may be fixed such that it does not move in the direction of the optical axis of the objective.\",\n \"In another example, the position of the specimen relative to the objective may be adjusted by mechanically moving the stage along the optical axis in order to focus on the desired specimen region.\",\n \"In this example, the position of the objective would be fixed along the direction of its optical axis.\",\n \"In both examples, the stage may also be configured so that it may horizontally move relative to a microscope body along a single plane in at least two directions, such as in an X and a Y direction.\",\n \"In both examples, focusing of the specimen region is usually performed by the user by operating an interface element arranged on the microscope body, as a result of which either the objective or the microscope stage is positioned along the optical axis.\",\n \"The interface element may comprise a rotary knob.\",\n \"Rotation of the rotary knob by the user causes linear motion of the objective or the stage along the optical axis.\",\n \"Typically, the rotary knob is arranged proximal to a working surface on which the microscope rests.\",\n \"BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide further understanding of the subject technology and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate aspects of the subject technology and together with the description serve to explain the principles of the subject technology.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"1 illustrates an embodiment of a rotating microscope positioned in an upright configuration.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"2 illustrates an embodiment of a rotating microscope positioned in an example of an intermediate configuration.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"3A illustrates a cross section view of an embodiment of a rotational coupling of a rotating microscope.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"3B illustrates a cross section view of an embodiment of a stage.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"4A illustrates an embodiment of a height compensator in a first position.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"4B illustrates an embodiment of the height compensator of FIG.\",\n \"4A in a second position.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"5 illustrates an embodiment of a rotating microscope positioned in an inverted configuration.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"6 illustrates an embodiment of a flipping microscope in an upright configuration.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"7 illustrates an embodiment of a flipping microscope in an inverted configuration.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"8 illustrates an embodiment of a reconfigurable microscope in an upright configuration.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"9 illustrates an embodiment of the reconfigurable microscope of FIG.\",\n \"8 in an inverted configuration.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"10A illustrates an embodiment of a mounting feature.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"10B illustrates an embodiment of an interchangeable component.\",\n \"FIGS.\",\n \"11A-11C illustrate an embodiment of a modular microscope in an upright configuration.\",\n \"FIGS.\",\n \"12A-12C illustrate an embodiment of the modular microscope of FIGS.\",\n \"11A-11C in an inverted configuration.\",\n \"FIGS.\",\n \"13A-13B illustrate an embodiment of a base of a modular microscope.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"14A-14B illustrate a condenser module of a modular microscope.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"14C-14D illustrate an objective module of a modular microscope.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"15 illustrates an embodiment of a swing arm microscope.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"16A illustrates an embodiment of an upper swing arm.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"16B illustrates an embodiment of a lower swing arm.\",\n \"FIGS.\",\n \"17A-17B illustrate an embodiment of a laterally rotating microscope.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"18 illustrates a high-level schematic block diagram of an embodiment of an electronic system for use with a reconfigurable microscope as described herein.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"19 illustrates and example of a user interface provided on a mobile computing device configured to cooperate with a dual-configuration microscope.\",\n \"FIGS.\",\n \"20A-20B illustrate an embodiment of a stage for use with a dual-configuration microscope.\",\n \"FIGS.\",\n \"21A-21B illustrate an embodiment of a rotating microscope in an upright configuration.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"21C illustrates an embodiment of the rotating microscope of FIGS.\",\n \"21A-21B in an inverted configuration.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"21D illustrates an embodiment of a Dove prism housing.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"22 illustrates an embodiment of a tilting microscope.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"23A illustrates an embodiment of a tilting microscope positioned in an upright configuration.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"23B illustrates an embodiment of a tilting microscope positioned in an upright configuration.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"24A illustrates an embodiment of a tilting microscope positioned in an inverted configuration.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"24B illustrates an embodiment of a tilting microscope positioned in an inverted configuration.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"25A illustrates an embodiment of a tilting microscope positioned in an upright configuration.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"25B illustrates an embodiment of a tilting microscope positioned in an intermediate configuration.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"25C illustrates an embodiment of a tilting microscope positioned in an intermediate configuration.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"25D illustrates an embodiment of a tilting microscope positioned in an intermediate configuration.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"25E illustrates an embodiment of a tilting microscope positioned in an inverted configuration.\",\n \"DETAILED DESCRIPTION As discussed above, there conventionally are two types of microscope configurations, upright and inverted.\",\n \"These two types of microscopes are separate from one another and if a user desires to utilize an upright and inverted microscope, the user must have two separate microscopes at their disposal.\",\n \"Having two separate microscopes thereby increases the equipment and maintenance costs to the user and further, requires additional physical space to store and use the separate microscopes.\",\n \"The dual-configuration microscopes of the subject technology address the foregoing problems, among others, by allowing the user to convert a single microscope from an upright configuration into an inverted configuration, and vice versa.\",\n \"Rotating Embodiment FIGS.\",\n \"1-5 illustrate an example of a rotating microscope 100.Referring to FIG.\",\n \"1, the microscope 100 is depicted in an upright configuration.\",\n \"The microscope 100 comprises a unitary base 102 and a body 104.The base 102 comprises a lower portion 102A and an upper portion 102B.\",\n \"The lower portion 102A extends in a substantially horizontal plane and the upper portion 102B extends in a substantially vertical plane.\",\n \"The upper portion 102B may be disposed at about a 90 degree angle from the lower portion 102A and may further, be manufactured as a single component.\",\n \"Alternatively, the lower portion 102A and upper portion 102B may be formed of two or more separate components and attached, fastened, or otherwise coupled together to form the base 102.The lower portion 102A is configured to support the microscope 100 on a working surface 10.The base 102 may be formed of a metal alloy, composite, polymer, or other sufficiently rigid material that is capable of supporting the weight and proper use of the microscope 100, as known by those having ordinary skill in the art.\",\n \"The body 104 comprises a first portion 104A, a second portion 104B, and an intermediate portion 104C extending between the first and second portions, 104A and 104B respectively.\",\n \"The intermediate portion 104C may be rotatably coupled to the upper portion 102B of the base 102 at a rotational coupling (shown in FIG.\",\n \"3A).\",\n \"The rotational coupling 130 allows the body 104 to rotate with respect to the base 102 along a rotating axis 120 that extends in a longitudinal direction with respect to the microscope 100, as shown in FIG.\",\n \"2.To facilitate rotation of the body 104 with respect to the base 102, in some embodiments an outer surface 152A (see, for example, FIG.\",\n \"1) of the first portion 104A and an outer surface 152B (see, for example, FIGS.\",\n \"2 and 5) of the second portion 104B may each have a convex profile that corresponds to a concave profile of an outer surface 153 of the lower portion 102A.\",\n \"The convex and concave outer surfaces thereby prevent interference between the body 104 and the base 102 during rotation.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"3A illustrates a cross section view of one embodiment of the rotational coupling 130 of the microscope 100.The rotational coupling 130 may comprise a shaft 132 extending longitudinally from the upper portion 102B of the base 102 and a corresponding bore 134 disposed within the intermediate portion 104C of the body 104.The shaft 132 and bore 134 are arranged to permit the body 104 to rotate about the rotating axis 120, as shown in FIG.\",\n \"2.The rotational coupling 130 is provided as one example of a suitable coupling between the base 102 and the body 104.In other embodiments, variations of rotational couplings from the illustrated coupling in FIG.\",\n \"3A can be used to facilitate rotation of the body 104 around the rotating axis 120.For example, a ball bearing coupling, a rigid coupling between a first rotating shaft of the body 104 and a second rotating shaft of the base 102, a wheel and axle, or other suitable couplings allowing rotation may be used to permit rotation of the body 104 relative to the base 102.In some embodiments, the rotational coupling may be coated or treated to reduce friction.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the rotational coupling may be configured to stop or lock when the body 104 is in the inverted and upright positions.\",\n \"Referring to FIG.\",\n \"1, the body 104 is configured to support, directly or indirectly, at least one objective 113, a stage 114, a condenser 116, and/or a light source (not shown).\",\n \"The body 104 may be formed of a metal alloy, composite, polymer, or other sufficiently rigid material capable of supporting the objective 113, stage 114, condenser 116, and/or light source.\",\n \"The body 104 may be manufactured as a single component or may comprise a multitude of components that are attached, fastened, or otherwise assembled together, as known by those having ordinary skill in the art.\",\n \"The objective 113 may be mounted to a nosepiece 112 and is disposed proximal to the first portion 104A of the body 104.The objective 113 comprises a cylinder containing one or more lenses configured to collect light from a specimen being observed.\",\n \"The objective 113 further defines an optical axis 124 that, when in a working position, runs perpendicular to the stage 114.The stage 114 supports the specimen being observed on a specimen supporting surface 119A, as discussed further below.\",\n \"The condenser 116 and light source may be disposed proximal to the second portion 104B of the body 104.Particularly, the condenser 116 may be mounted on the second portion 104B and the light source may be mounted within the body 104.The condenser 116 includes a lens that serves to concentrate light from the light source into a cone of light that illuminates the specimen.\",\n \"The stage 114 is a platform configured to support the specimen being observed.\",\n \"The stage 114 may include an opening aligned with the condenser 116, to allow light to pass through the stage 114 and illuminate the specimen.\",\n \"In one example, the stage 114 may be configured to be removably attached to the intermediate portion 104C of the body 104.For example, the stage 114 may include a substantially horizontal rail that is configured to slide within a substantially horizontal channel disposed within the intermediate portion 104C of the body 104.The stage 114 may thus, be attached to the body 104 by sliding the stage 114 horizontally toward the body 104.To remove the stage 114, the stage 114 may be slid horizontally away from the body 104, thereby disengaging the channel and rail assembly.\",\n \"In this example, the channel of the body 104 is configured to receive the rail of the stage 114 when the microscope 100 is in either the upright or inverted configuration.\",\n \"Accordingly, the channel of the body 104 and the rail of the stage 114 may have horizontally symmetrical profiles, such as a round, oval, rectangular, square or any combination thereof.\",\n \"In another example, the rail of the stage 114 may be configured to be inserted into a first or second substantially horizontal channel disposed within the intermediate portion 104C of the body 104.In this example, the rail of the stage 114 may be inserted into the first channel of the body 104 when the microscope 100 is in the upright configuration and into the second channel of the body 104 when the microscope 100 is in the inverted configuration.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the first and second channels of the body 104 and the rail of the stage 114 may not have horizontally symmetrical profiles in order to aid the user in knowing into which of the first or second channels to insert the rail of the stage 114.In some embodiments, the first and second channels of the body 104 can be arranged to maintain a distance between a specimen supporting surface 119A of the stage 114 and an outer surface of a lens of the objective 113, regardless of whether the microscope 100 is in the upright or inverted configuration.\",\n \"In particular, when the microscope 100 is in the upright configuration, the stage 114 can be inserted into the first channel.\",\n \"When in the first channel, the specimen supporting surface 119A is at a first distance away from the outer surface of the lens of the objective 113.When the microscope 100 is in the inverted configuration, the stage 114 can be inserted into the second channel.\",\n \"When in the second channel, the specimen supporting surface 119A is at a second distance away from the outer surface of the lens of the objective 113.The first and second channels are arranged on the body 104 so that the first and second distances are the same.\",\n \"Alternatively, the stage 114 may be mounted to a height compensator 115 that is disposed proximal to the intermediate portion 104C of the body 104.As shown in FIG.\",\n \"1, the stage 114 may be disposed between the objective 113 and the condenser 116.Other embodiments of stage configurations are discussed in more detail below.\",\n \"FIGS.\",\n \"4A and 4B illustrate a detail view of the height compensator 115 and the stage 114 in the first and second positions, respectively.\",\n \"The height compensator 115 may comprise at least one rail 117A that is configured to engage a corresponding channel 117B disposed within the stage 114.The rail 117A and the channel 117B are configured to permit the stage 114 to slide between a first position (shown in FIG.\",\n \"4A) and a second position (shown in FIG.\",\n \"4B) along the optical axis 124.Although a rail and channel arrangement are shown in FIGS.\",\n \"4A and 4B, it is known by those having ordinary skill in the art that other mechanisms may be used to permit sliding of the stage between the first and second positions.\",\n \"When the stage is in the first position (shown in FIG.\",\n \"4A), the microscope 100 is in the upright configuration (as shown in FIG.\",\n \"1).\",\n \"When the stage is in the second position (shown in FIG.\",\n \"4B), the microscope is in the inverted configuration (as shown in FIG.\",\n \"5).\",\n \"In one embodiment, the stage 114 slides between the first and second positions based on gravity.\",\n \"Accordingly, the stage 114 may move between the first and second positions automatically when the body 104 is rotated from the upright configuration to the inverted configuration.\",\n \"Similarly, the stage 114 may move between the second and first positions automatically when the body 104 is rotated from the inverted configuration to the upright configuration.\",\n \"Movement of the stage between the first and second position can maintain a focal distance between the objective and the specimen-supporting (e.g., upward-facing) surface of the stage when the body 104 is rotated between the inverted configuration and the upright configuration.\",\n \"Similarly, movement of the stage between the first and second position can maintain a working distance between the condenser and the specimen-supporting (e.g., upward-facing) surface of the stage when the body 104 is rotated between the inverted configuration and the upright configuration.\",\n \"In some aspects, the stage 114 comprises, on an outer surface, a first specimen supporting surface 119A and at an opposite surface, a second specimen supporting surface 119B.\",\n \"When the microscope 100 is in the upright configuration and thus, the stage 114 is in the first position, the first specimen supporting surface 119A is facing upward and therefore configured to support the specimen.\",\n \"When the microscope 100 is in the inverted configuration and thus, the stage 114 is in the second position, the second specimen supporting surface 119B is facing upward and therefore configured to support the specimen.\",\n \"In some aspects, each of the first and second specimen supporting surfaces, 119A and 119B respectively, may comprise a specimen securing element 143 that is configured to secure a specimen.\",\n \"The specimen securing element 143 may secure the specimen through mechanical, magnetic, or electromechanical means.\",\n \"For example, the specimen securing element 143 may comprise stage clips to mechanically secure the specimen to the stage.\",\n \"Alternatively, each of the first and second specimen supporting surfaces, 119A and 119B respectively, may comprise a recessed pocket 144 that is configured to accept an interchangeable insert 145.The interchangeable insert 145 may be selected based on the type of specimen to be observed, such as a specimen slide or specimen petri dish.\",\n \"In this example, the interchangeable insert 145 itself, supports the specimen.\",\n \"In some aspects, when the stage 114 is in the first position, the first specimen supporting surface 119A is positioned at a distance “D1” from an outer surface of a lens of the objective 113 and a distance “D3” from an outer surface of the condenser 116.Likewise, when the stage 114 is in the second position, the second specimen supporting surface 119B is positioned at a distance “D2” from the outer surface of the lens of the objective 113 and a distance “D4” from an outer surface of the condenser 116.To maintain the appropriate distance between the specimen supporting surface and the lens of the objective 113 and/or condenser 116, the height compensator 115 allows the stage 114 to move between the first and second positions, as discussed above.\",\n \"By doing so, the height compensator 115 allows D2 to be the same value as D1 when the microscope 100 is converted from the upright configuration to the inverted configuration.\",\n \"Likewise, the height compensator 115 allows D1 to be the same value as D2 when the microscope 100 is converted from the inverted configuration to the upright configuration.\",\n \"Similarly, the height compensator 115 allows D3 to be the same value as D4 when the microscope 100 is converted from the upright configuration to the inverted configuration.\",\n \"Likewise, the height compensator 115 allows D4 to be the same value as D3 when the microscope 100 is converted from the inverted configuration to the upright configuration.\",\n \"In other words, the height compensator 115 maintains the distance (D1 or D2) between the appropriate specimen supporting surface (119A or 119B) and the lens of the objective 113, and/or the distance (D3 or D4) between the appropriate specimen supporting surface (119A or 119B) and the lens of the condenser 116, regardless of whether the microscope 100 is in the upright configuration or the inverted configuration.\",\n \"Accordingly, the position of a focal plane of the objective 113, with respect to the appropriate specimen supporting surface (119A or 119B), remains unchanged.\",\n \"Likewise, the position of the condenser 116, with respect to the appropriate specimen supporting surface (119A or 119B)—the distance of which is generally referred to as the working distance—remains unchanged.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"3B illustrates a cross section view of the stage 114.In some aspects, the stage 114 comprises a removable and repositionable stage displacement handle 126.Rotation of the handle causes the displacement of the stage 114 in the X and Y directions, both of which are generally horizontal and parallel to the working surface 10 that supports the microscope 100.The handle 126 comprises a shaft 127 having a first gear 128A and a second gear 128B disposed at a distal portion of the shaft 127, and a first knob 129A and a second knob 129B disposed at a proximal portion of the shaft 127.Rotation of the first knob 129A causes rotation of the first gear 128A.\",\n \"Rotation of the first gear 128A causes displacement of the stage 114 in the X direction.\",\n \"Rotation of the second knob 129B causes rotation of the second gear 128B.\",\n \"Rotation of the second gear 128B causes displacement of the stage 114 in the Y direction.\",\n \"The stage 114 further comprises at least one receptacle 140A configured to receive the distal portion of the shaft 127 and the first and second gears, 128A and 128B, respectively.\",\n \"In one aspect, the receptacle 140A is configured to receive the distal portion of the shaft 127 from either the first or second specimen supporting surfaces 119A, 119B.\",\n \"In other words, the distal portion of shaft 127 may be inserted into the receptacle 140A from either the first specimen supporting surface 119A side, or the second specimen supporting surface 119B side.\",\n \"In this way, when the microscope 100 is rotated from the upright configuration to the inverted configuration, the handle 126 may be removed from the receptacle 140A, such as from the second specimen supporting surface 119B side, and reinserted into the receptacle 140A from the first specimen supporting surface 119A side, thereby repositioning the handle 126 so that it remains proximal to the working surface 10 that supports the microscope 100.Similarly, when the microscope 100 is rotated from the inverted configuration to upright configuration, the handle 126 may be removed from the receptacle 140A, such as from the first specimen supporting surface 119A side, and reinserted into the receptacle 140A from the second specimen supporting surface 119B side, thereby repositioning the handle 126 so that it remains proximal to the working surface 10 that supports the microscope 100.In some aspects, the stage 114 may include a second receptacle 140B that is disposed laterally away from the first receptacle 140A.\",\n \"Upon conversion of the microscope 100 from the upright configuration to the inverted configuration, the handle 126 may, for example, be removed from the first receptacle 140A and inserted into the second receptacle 140B, thereby allowing the handle 126 to remain on the right side of the microscope 100.Accordingly, the first and second receptacles, 140A and 140B respectively, provide for the handle 126 to remain on a common side of the microscope 100, regardless of whether the microscope 100 is in the upright configuration or in the inverted configuration.\",\n \"Referring to FIG.\",\n \"3B, upon insertion of the handle 126 into the receptacle 140A, 140B the first gear 128A engages a corresponding third gear 128C disposed within the stage 114 and the second gear 128B engages a corresponding fourth gear 128D disposed within the stage 114.Although the use of gears are discussed herein with reference to displacing the stage 114 in the X and Y directions, it is understood that other mechanical methods may be used to control the displacement of the stage in the X and Y directions, such as the use of hexagonal shaped shafts, square shaped shafts, use of friction or snap fits, or any other mechanical methods as known by those having ordinary skill in the art.\",\n \"The handle 126 may further comprise a stop 141 that is configured to engage the first or second specimen supporting surfaces 119A, 119B.\",\n \"When engaged, the physical contact between the stop 141 and the first or second specimen supporting surfaces 119A, 119B prevents further insertion of the handle 126 into the receptacle 140A, 140B by mechanically preventing further movement of the handle 126 in a direction toward the stage 114.In some aspects, to prevent the handle 126 from inadvertently disengaging the receptacle 140A, 140B the handle 126 may comprise a magnetic element 142A that is configured to engage one or more corresponding magnetic elements 142B disposed within the stage 114.In particular, the magnetic elements 142B may be disposed proximate to the first and second specimen supporting surfaces, 119A and 119B respectively.\",\n \"The magnetic elements 142A, 142B maintain engagement of the shaft 127 within the receptacle 140A, 140B through a magnetic force acting between the magnetic elements 142A and 142B.\",\n \"Although the use of a magnetic force is discussed herein with reference to maintaining the shaft 127 within the receptacle 140A, 140B, it is understood that other methods may be used to maintain the shaft 127 within the receptacle 140A, 140B, such as the use of interference, friction or snap fits, or any other mechanical or electromechanical methods as known by those having ordinary skill in the art.\",\n \"Referring to FIG.\",\n \"1, the microscope 100 may further comprise an optical arm 106 disposed proximal to the first portion 104A of the body 104.The optical arm 106 may comprise an elongated housing forming an optical pathway therein, the optical pathway having an optical input at one end of the optical arm 106 and an optical output at an opposite end of the optical arm 106.The optical input of the of the optical arm 106 is configured to receive light that has entered the objective 113 and has been reflected toward the optical input of the optical arm 106 via one or more mirrors disposed within the first portion 104A of the body 104.Light entering the optical input of the optical arm 106 is then reflected to the optical output of the optical arm 106 via one or more mirrors disposed within the optical arm 106 and/or body 104.The optical arm 106, therefore, forms a portion of the optical path of the microscope 100.In another example, the optical arm 106 may be disposed proximal to the intermediate portion 104C of the body 104.In this example, the optical arm 106 may be disposed adjacent to the stage 114 and configured to direct light entering the objective to the optical output of the optical arm 106 via one or more mirrors disposed within the optical arm 106 and/or body 104.In yet another example, the optical arm 106 may be disposed proximal to the second portion 104B of the body 104.In this example, the optical arm 106 may be disposed adjacent to the working surface 10 and configured to direct light entering the objective to the optical output of the optical arm 106 via one or more mirrors disposed within the optical arm 106 and/or body 104.In some aspects, the optical arm 106 may be pivotably coupled to the first portion 104A of the body 104, thereby allowing the optical arm 106 to rotate about a pivoting axis 122.The pivoting axis 122 may extend in a lateral direction with respect to the microscope 100.The optical arm 106 may be configured to be positioned at varying angles, or at one or more predetermined angles.\",\n \"In one aspect, the optical arm 106 may be mechanically connected to a brake that prevents the body 104 from rotating.\",\n \"Accordingly, in order to rotate the body 104 and thereby convert the microscope 100 from an upright configuration to an inverted configuration, or from an inverted configuration to an upright configuration, the optical arm 106 must first be rotated towards the rotating axis 120 or toward the stage 114 in order to disengage the brake.\",\n \"In this way, the possibility of damaging the optical arm 106 or other related component through inadvertent collision with the lower portion 102A during rotation of the body 104, is reduced because the optical arm 106 is moved toward the rotating axis 120 and away from the lower base 102A, as shown in FIG.\",\n \"2.Referring to FIG.\",\n \"1, in some aspects the microscope 100 may further comprise a cradle 108 disposed at a distal portion of the optical arm 106 and proximal to the optical output of the optical arm 106.The cradle 108 is configured to receive and secure an electronic device 110 that is capable of acquiring images.\",\n \"Particularly, the cradle 108 aligns an optical input of the electronic device 110, such as a lens of a camera, with the optical output of the optical arm 106.The electronic device may comprise a mobile device, camera, tablet computer, laptop computer, PDA, portable computer, or other device that is capable of receiving light or other optical data, or acquiring an image.\",\n \"The electronic device 110 may further comprise a touch-sensitive screen display or other input mechanisms, such as buttons or keys, that are capable of receiving user input.\",\n \"In some aspects, a user may control operations of the microscope, such as focusing of a specimen, positioning of a specimen with respect to the objective 113, operation of the light source, control of the condenser 116, acquisition of an image, processing of an image, sending of an image to another device, altering light pathways and illumination settings, automated X-Y stage movement, controlling external hardware devices (e.g., camera), controlling other computer devices (e.g., onboard mini-computer, onboard controllers), communicating with other devices (such as through local area networks, wide area networks, broadband, Bluetooth, WiFi, or other wireless or wired communication methods), and other microscope related operations, by using the input mechanisms of the electronic device 110.The microscope 100 may further comprise a first and second focus knob 118A, 118B disposed laterally on the body 104.The first focus knob 118A may be disposed proximal to the first portion 104A of the body 104 and the second focus knob 118B may be disposed proximal to the second portion 104B of the body 104.The first and second focus knobs 118A, 118B may be configured to adjust a position of the objective 113 along the optical axis 124 to thereby position the specimen in a focal plane of the objective 113.Alternatively, the first and second focus knobs 118A, 118B may be configured to adjust a position of the height compensator 115 and stage 114, together, along the optical axis 124 to thereby position the specimen in a focal plane of the objective 113.A method for converting the microscope 100 from an upright configuration into an inverted configuration will now be discussed with reference to FIGS.\",\n \"1-5.To convert the microscope 100 from the upright configuration into the inverted configuration, the user may first rotate the optical arm 106 toward the stage 114.Rotation of the optical arm 106 towards the stage 114 may cause the brake to disengage, thereby allowing the body 104 to rotate about the rotating axis 120.Alternatively, the optical arm 106 may be configured to rotate towards the stage 114 upon rotation of the body 104.Rotating the optical arm 106 towards the stage 114 during rotation of the body 104 minimizes the likelihood that the optical arm 106 will be damaged during conversion of the microscope 100.The optical arm 106 may be configured to automatically rotate towards the stage 114 by, for example, mechanically coupling the optical arm 106 to the rotational coupling 130 via a cable and pulley system.\",\n \"In this example, upon rotation of the body 104, the cable is placed in tension thereby causing the optical arm 106 to rotate towards the stage 114.In another example, a stepper motor or solenoid may be coupled to the optical arm 106 and configured to actuate the optical arm 106 towards the stage 114 upon sensing rotation of the body 104.The user may then rotate the body 104 with respect to the base 102 in either a clockwise or counterclockwise direction along the rotating axis 120, as shown in FIG.\",\n \"2.The body 104 is rotated until the first portion 104A is adjacent to the lower portion 102A, as shown in FIG.\",\n \"5.As illustrated by FIG.\",\n \"2 and FIG.\",\n \"5, the body of the microscope occupies substantially the same three-dimensional area in the inverted configuration and in the upright configuration, and faces substantially the same direction in the inverted configuration and in the upright configuration.\",\n \"In the inverted configuration, the objective occupies substantially the same space as the condenser occupies in the upright configuration.\",\n \"Similarly, in the inverted configuration, the condenser occupies substantially the same space as the objective occupies in the upright configuration.\",\n \"This can provide a seamless user experience when converting the microscope between the upright and inverted configurations, as the microscope occupies substantially the same space above the workspace upon which the microscope is placed in both configurations, and also faces the same direction in both configurations.\",\n \"As the body 104 is rotated from the upright configuration into the inverted configuration, the stage 114 may automatically slide from the first position (as shown in FIG.\",\n \"4A), to the second position (as shown in FIG.\",\n \"4B), in a direction along the optical axis 124.As a result, referring to FIGS.\",\n \"4A and 4B, the distance between the specimen supporting surface (119A and 119B) and the outer surface of the lens of the objective 113 is maintained.\",\n \"In other words, the distance D2 is the same as the distance D1.The user may then rotate the optical arm 106 along the pivoting axis 122 to attain a desirable viewing angle.\",\n \"In some aspects, to prevent the body 104 from inadvertently moving or otherwise rotating with respect to the base 102, the body 104 may be fixed, secured, or otherwise prevented from moving by either mechanically, electromechanically, or electrically locking the body 104 in the second, inverted configuration.\",\n \"For example, as discussed above, the body 104 may be fixed in the inverted configuration by activating the brake.\",\n \"The brake may be activated manually by the user or automatically through the use of a controller which is configured to detect the position of the upper or lower portions 104A, 104B of the body 104.When the upper or lower portions 104A, 104B of the body 104 are adjacent to the lower portion 102B of the base 102, the controller activates the brake thereby fixing the body 104 in the inverted configuration.\",\n \"The brake may comprise a solenoid, magnetic, electrical, or mechanical brake.\",\n \"Alternatively, a pin may be engaged to lock the body 104 to the base 102 in the inverted configuration.\",\n \"The user may further remove the handle 126 from either the first or second receptacle 140A, 140B and reinsert the handle 126 in the other receptacle 140A, 140B, as desired.\",\n \"The handle 126 may also be inserted into the desired receptacle 140A, 140B from either side of the first or second specimen supporting surfaces 119A, 119B.\",\n \"Accordingly, the handle may be arranged so that its position with respect to the user, remains the same (e.g., lower right side of the microscope 100, lower left side of the microscope 100, upper right side of the microscope 100, or upper left side of the microscope 100).\",\n \"Once in the inverted configuration, the user may wish to rotate the nose piece 112 in order to utilize a different objective 113.In one aspect, in order to allow the nose piece 112 to freely rotate with sufficient clearance from the stage 114, the stage 114 may be moved from the second position (shown in FIG.\",\n \"4B) to the first position (shown in FIG.\",\n \"4A).\",\n \"In one example, the stage 114 may be moved into the first position by the user.\",\n \"In this example, the stage may be mechanically linked to a lever disposed on a sidewall of the body.\",\n \"By manipulating the lever, the stage 114 may be moved into the first position.\",\n \"In another example, the nosepiece 112 may be mechanically coupled to the stage 114 such that rotation of the nose piece 112 causes the stage 114 to move toward the first position.\",\n \"In this example, the nosepiece 112 may be coupled to a rack and pinion mechanism that converts the rotational movement of the nosepiece into a linear displacement of the stage 114.In yet another example, the stage may be coupled to a solenoid that is actuated when rotation of the nosepiece 112 is detected.\",\n \"In this example, a controller senses rotation of the nosepiece 112 which in turn causes a signal to be sent to an actuator, such as the solenoid, to thereby actuate the stage 114 away from the objective and into the first position.\",\n \"A method for converting the microscope 100 from the inverted configuration into the upright configuration will now be discussed with reference to FIGS.\",\n \"1-5.To convert the microscope 100 from the inverted configuration into the upright configuration, the user may first disengage the brake thereby allowing the body 104 to rotate about the rotating axis 120.The user may then rotate the body 104 with respect to the base 102 in either a clockwise or counterclockwise direction along the rotating axis 120, as shown in FIG.\",\n \"2.The body 104 is rotated until the second portion 104B is adjacent to the lower portion 102A, as shown in FIG.\",\n \"1.As the body 104 is rotated from the inverted configuration into the upright configuration, the stage 114 may automatically slide from the second position (as shown in FIG.\",\n \"4B), to the first position (as shown in FIG.\",\n \"4A), in a direction along the optical axis 124.As a result, referring to FIGS.\",\n \"4A and 4B, the distance between the specimen supporting surface (119A and 119B) and the outer surface of the lens of the objective 113 is maintained.\",\n \"In other words, the distance D1 is the same as the distance D2.The user may then rotate the optical arm 106 along the pivoting axis 122 to attain a desirable viewing angle.\",\n \"In some aspects, to prevent the body 104 from inadvertently moving or otherwise rotating with respect to the base 102, the body 104 may be locked in the first inverted configuration, as discussed above.\",\n \"The user may further remove the handle 126 from either the first or second receptacle 140A, 140B and reinsert the handle 126 in the other receptacle 140A, 140B, as desired.\",\n \"The handle 126 may also be inserted into the desired receptacle 140A, 140B from either side of the first or second specimen supporting surfaces 119A, 119B.\",\n \"Accordingly, the handle may be arranged so that its position with respect to the user, remains the same (e.g., lower right side of the microscope 100, lower left side of the microscope 100, upper right side of the microscope 100, or upper left side of the microscope 100).\",\n \"Flipping Embodiment FIGS.\",\n \"6 and 7 illustrate an example of a flipping microscope 200.Similar reference numerals refer to similar or identical structure to the first embodiment 100.Referring to FIG.\",\n \"6, the microscope 200 is depicted in an upright configuration.\",\n \"The microscope 200 comprises a body 204.The body 204 is configured to support, directly or indirectly, at least one objective 213, a condenser 216, and a light source (not shown).\",\n \"The body 204 may further be configured to support a stage 214.The body 204 is configured to be picked up and flipped in order to convert the microscope 200 from an upright configuration (shown in FIG.\",\n \"6) to an inverted configuration (shown in FIG.\",\n \"7), and vice versa.\",\n \"Accordingly, the body 204 comprises flattened upper and lower surfaces, 252A and 252B respectively, that are configured to support the microscope 200 on a working surface 20.The stage 214, if mounted to the body 204, may be mounted to one or more horizontal channels, a mounting block, or a height compensator as described above with reference to the microscope 100.If the stage 214 is mounted to the height compensator 215, the height compensator 215 may be disposed between the objective 213 and the condenser 216.As also described above with reference to the microscope 100, the stage 214 includes an opening aligned with the condenser 216, to allow light to pass through the stage 214 and illuminate the specimen.\",\n \"The height compensator 215 permits the stage 214 to slide between a first position and a second position along an optical axis 224, defined by the objective 213.The stage 214 comprises, on an outer surface, a first specimen supporting surface 219A and at an opposite surface, a second specimen supporting surface 219B.\",\n \"When the microscope 200 is in the upright configuration the stage 214 is in the first position and the first specimen supporting surface 219A is configured to support the specimen.\",\n \"When the microscope 200 is in the inverted configuration the stage 214 is in the second position and the second specimen supporting surface 219B is configured to support the specimen.\",\n \"As described above with reference to the microscope 100, when the stage 214 is in the first position, the first specimen supporting surface 219A is positioned at a distance “D1” from an outer surface of a lens of the objective 213.Likewise, when the stage 214 is in the second position, the second specimen supporting surface 219B is positioned at a distance “D2” from the outer surface of the lens of the objective 213.To maintain the appropriate distance between the specimen supporting surface and the objective 213, the height compensator 215 allows the stage 214 to move between the first and second positions.\",\n \"By doing so, the height compensator 215 allows D2 to be the same value as D1 when the microscope 200 is flipped from the upright configuration to the inverted configuration.\",\n \"Likewise, the height compensator 215 allows D1 to be the same value as D2 when the microscope 200 is flipped from the inverted configuration to the upright configuration.\",\n \"In other words, the height compensator 215 maintains the distance (D1 or D2) between the appropriate specimen supporting surface (219A or 219B) and the objective 213, regardless of whether the microscope 200 is in the upright configuration or the inverted configuration.\",\n \"Accordingly, the position of a focal plane of the objective 213, with respect to the appropriate specimen supporting surface (219A or 219B), remains unchanged.\",\n \"The microscope 200 may further comprise an optical arm 206.The optical arm 206 may be pivotably coupled to the body 204, thereby allowing the optical arm 206 to rotate about a pivoting axis 222.The microscope 200 may further comprise a cradle 208 disposed at a distal portion of the optical arm 206.The cradle 208 is configured to receive and secure an electronic device 210 that is capable of acquiring images.\",\n \"A method for flipping the microscope 200 to thereby convert the microscope 200 from an upright configuration into an inverted configuration will now be discussed with reference to FIGS.\",\n \"6 and 7.To convert the microscope 200 from the upright configuration (as shown in FIG.\",\n \"6) into the inverted configuration (as shown in FIG.\",\n \"7), the user picks up and flips the body 204 so that the upper surface 252A makes contact with the working surface 20.The stage 214 automatically slides from the first position to the second position, in a direction along the optical axis 224, as the body 204 is flipped from the upright configuration into the inverted configuration.\",\n \"As a result, the distance between the specimen supporting surface (219A and 219B) and the outer surface of the lens of the objective 213 is maintained.\",\n \"In other words, the distance D2 is the same as the distance D1.As discussed above with reference to the microscope 100, the user may remove and reposition the handle 226 from either the first or second receptacle 240A, 240B and reinsert the handle 226 in the other receptacle 240A, 240B, as desired.\",\n \"The handle 226 may further be inserted into the desired receptacle 240A, 240B from either side of the first or second specimen supporting surfaces 219A, 219B.\",\n \"Accordingly, the handle may be arranged so that its position with respect to the user, remains the same (e.g., lower right side of the microscope 200, lower left side of the microscope 200, upper right side of the microscope 200, or upper left side of the microscope 200).\",\n \"A method for flipping the microscope 200 to thereby convert the microscope 200 from the inverted configuration into the upright configuration will now be discussed with reference to FIGS.\",\n \"6 and 7.To convert the microscope 200 from the inverted configuration (as shown in FIG.\",\n \"7) into the upright configuration (as shown in FIG.\",\n \"6), the user picks up and flips the body 204 so that the lower surface 252B makes contact with the working surface 20.The stage 214 automatically slides from the second position to the first position, in a direction along the optical axis 224, as the body 204 is flipped from the inverted configuration into the upright configuration.\",\n \"As a result, the distance between the specimen supporting surface (219A and 219B) and the outer surface of the lens of the objective 213 is maintained.\",\n \"In other words, the distance D1 is the same as the distance D2.The user may remove and reposition the handle 226 from either the first or second receptacle 240A, 240B and reinsert the handle 226 in the other receptacle 240A, 240B, as desired.\",\n \"The handle 226 may further be inserted into the desired receptacle 240A, 240B from either side of the first or second specimen supporting surfaces 219A, 219B.\",\n \"Accordingly, the handle may be arranged so that its position with respect to the user, remains the same (e.g., lower right side of the microscope 200, lower left side of the microscope 200, upper right side of the microscope 200, or upper left side of the microscope 200).\",\n \"Reconfigurable Embodiment FIGS.\",\n \"8-10B illustrate an example of a reconfigurable microscope 300.Similar reference numerals refer to similar or identical structure to the first embodiment 100.Referring to FIG.\",\n \"8, the microscope 300 comprises a frame or body 304 having a first portion 304A, a second portion 304B and an intermediate portion 304C.\",\n \"The intermediate portion 304C is disposed between the first and second portions, 304A and 304B respectively.\",\n \"The intermediate portion 304C may be configured to mount a stage 314.The first portion 304A includes a first mounting feature 360A and the second portion 304B includes a second mounting feature 360B.\",\n \"Referring to FIG.\",\n \"10A, the first and second mounting features, 360A and 360B respectively, each comprise a channel 361 configured to receive interchangeable components.\",\n \"The interchangeable components may comprise a nose piece 312 having at least one objective 313, an objective 313, or a light source and condenser assembly 316.Referring to FIG.\",\n \"10B, each of the interchangeable components comprises a rail 362 configured to engage the channel 361 of the first and second mounting features, 360A and 360B respectively.\",\n \"Accordingly, any of the interchangeable components may engage the first and second mounting features, 360A and 360B respectively.\",\n \"Although a channel and rail arrangement is used to mount the interchangeable components to the body 304, it is understood that other methods may be used to mount the interchangeable components to the body 304, such as the use of interference, friction or snap fits, or any other mechanical or electromechanical methods as known by those having ordinary skill in the art.\",\n \"Referring to FIGS.\",\n \"10A and 10B, in some aspects, each of the first and second mounting features, 360A and 360B respectively, may include a lock 363 configured to mechanically engage the interchangeable components.\",\n \"The lock 363 may comprise a tab configured to engage a corresponding indent 364 disposed on each of the interchangeable components.\",\n \"The lock 363 may be further configured to automatically engage the indent 364 upon insertion of the interchangeable component into the mounting features 360A and 360B.\",\n \"To disengage the lock 363, the tab may be moved to clear the indent 364 while simultaneously moving the interchangeable component away from the body 304.In one aspect, each of the first and second mounting features, 360A and 360B respectively, may include an electrode 366A configured to provide electrical power to those interchangeable components that require power, such as the condenser assembly 316.For example, upon insertion of the condenser assembly 316 into the first or second mounting features, 360A and 360B respectively, a corresponding electrode 366B disposed within the condenser assembly 316 engages the electrode 366A, thereby energizing the light source of the condenser assembly 316.Referring to FIG.\",\n \"8, to configure the microscope 300 into an upright configuration, the nose piece 312 may be mounted in the first mounting feature 360A and the condenser assembly 316 may be mounted in the second mounting feature 360B.\",\n \"Referring to FIG.\",\n \"9, to configure the microscope 300 into an inverted configuration, the nose piece 312 may be mounted in the second mounting feature 360B and the condenser assembly 316 may be mounted in the first mounting feature 360A.\",\n \"In some aspects, the nose piece assembly 312 may further comprises an optical arm 306 pivotably coupled to the nose piece 312.The optical arm 306 may therefore, rotate about a pivoting axis 322.The optical arm 306 may further comprise a cradle 308 disposed at a distal portion of the optical arm 306.The cradle 308 is configured to receive and secure an electronic device 310 that is capable of acquiring images.\",\n \"Modular Embodiment FIG.\",\n \"11A illustrates an isometric view of a modular microscope 400 in the upright configuration.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"11B illustrates an isometric view of the modular microscope 400 in the upright configuration, where dashed lines illustrate interior components.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"11C illustrates a cross-sectional view of the modular microscope 400 in the upright configuration.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"12A illustrates an isometric view of the modular microscope 400 in the inverted configuration FIG.\",\n \"12B illustrates an isometric view of the modular microscope 400 in the inverted configuration, where dashed lines illustrate interior components.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"12C illustrates a cross-sectional view of the modular microscope 400 in the inverted configuration.\",\n \"Similar reference numerals refer to similar or identical structure to the first embodiment 100.Referring to FIGS.\",\n \"11A-11C, the microscope 400 comprises a body 404 having a first portion 404A, a second portion 404B and an intermediate portion 404C.\",\n \"The intermediate portion 404C is disposed between the first and second portions, 404A and 404B respectively.\",\n \"The intermediate portion 404C may be configured to mount a stage 414.The first portion 404A includes a first mounting feature 460A and the second portion 404B includes a second mounting feature 460B.\",\n \"Each of the first and second mounting features, 460A and 460B respectively, are configured to receive an objective module 413 and a condenser module 416.The objective module 413 houses the nose piece 412 and the condenser module 416 houses the condenser 415.The nose piece 412 may be coupled to one or more objectives 412A-C.\",\n \"Referring to FIGS.\",\n \"13A-13B and 14A-14D, each of the first and second mounting features, 460A and 460B respectively, may comprise slots 461 that are configured to receive corresponding posts 462 disposed in each of the objective and condenser modules, 413 and 416 respectively.\",\n \"In some aspects, each of the posts 462 include a latch pin hole 464 that is configured to receive a corresponding latch pin 463 disposed on the body 404.The latch pins 463 provide proper optical alignment of the objective and condenser modules, 413 and 416 respectively, along an optical axis 424 defined by the objective 413.Referring to FIGS.\",\n \"13A-13B, the body 404 includes an upper optical port 472A disposed proximate to the first portion 404A and a lower optical port 472B disposed proximate to the second portion 404B.\",\n \"Referring to FIGS.\",\n \"11A-11C, 12A-12C, and 14C-14D, the upper and lower optical ports, 472A and 472B respectively, are arranged to be aligned with a corresponding optical port 472C of the objective module 413 (shown in FIGS.\",\n \"14C-14D) when the microscope 400 is in either the upright configuration (as shown in FIGS.\",\n \"11A-11C) or the inverted configuration (as shown in FIGS.\",\n \"12A-12C).\",\n \"Accordingly, light entering the objective module 413 through nose piece 412 is reflected off of a fixed mirror 480 towards the optical port 472C of the objective module 413 and into the upper or lower optical ports, 472A and 472B respectively.\",\n \"Referring to FIGS.\",\n \"13A-13B, the body 404 includes an internal optical path 474 that is in communication with the upper and lower optical ports, 472A and 472B respectively.\",\n \"The optical path 474 includes a retractable mirror 476A and a fixed mirror 476B.\",\n \"The retractable mirror 476A is disposed proximal to the upper optical port 472A and when the retractable mirror 472A is in a first, engaged position, the retractable mirror 472A reflects light entering the upper optical port 472A toward an output port 472D.\",\n \"When the retractable mirror 472A is in a second, retracted position, the retractable mirror 472A is moved away from the optical path 474 and does not reflect light in the optical path 474.The fixed mirror 476B is disposed proximal to the lower optical port 472B and is arranged to reflect light entering the lower optical port 472B toward the output port 472D.\",\n \"The output port 472D may include supporting optics, such as an ocular lens.\",\n \"In other aspects, the output port 472D may comprise a cradle configured to receive an electronic device.\",\n \"The electronic device can comprise one of a mobile communications device (e.g., smartphone), tablet computer, laptop computer, PDA, digital camera, portable gaming console, or other portable computing device.\",\n \"In one aspect, the retractable mirror 476A may be actuated mechanically or electrically.\",\n \"For example, a lever may be manipulated by the user to move the retractable mirror 476A to the first, engaged position or the second, retracted position.\",\n \"Alternatively, the retractable mirror 476A may be automatically actuated through detection of the arrangement of the objective module 413 and/or the condenser module 416.For example, each of the objective and condenser modules, 413 and 416 respectively, may have a unique electrical signal that enables a controller to detect whether the objective module 413 or the condenser module 416 is disposed within the first or second mounting features, 460A and 460B respectively.\",\n \"Should the controller detect that the objective module 413 is disposed within the first mounting feature 460A, then the retractable mirror 476A is positioned in the first, engaged position.\",\n \"Shall the controller detect that the objective module 413 is disposed within the second mounting feature 460B, then the retractable mirror 476A is positioned in the second, retracted position.\",\n \"In another example, the retractable mirror 476A may be actuated automatically through an electrical connection made between a particular slot 461 and post 462.For instance, one of the posts 462 may be configured to provide electrical power to a predefined slot 461 that is electrically coupled to a motor or actuator.\",\n \"Energizing the motor or actuator thereby causes the retractable mirror 476A to be actuated to the first, engaged position or to the second, retracted position, depending on the arrangement of the objective and condenser modules.\",\n \"In another example, the retractable mirror 476A may be actuated through activation of one or more buttons or keys that are disposed on the body 404.In this example, the user may depressed the button or key to cause the retractable mirror 476A to be positioned in the first, engaged position or the second, retracted position via actuation of a motor or actuator coupled to the retractable mirror 476A.\",\n \"It is understood that other mechanical or electrical methods, as known by those having ordinary skill in the art, may be used to position the retractable mirror 476A in the first, engaged position or the second, retracted position.\",\n \"Referring to FIGS.\",\n \"11A-11C, when the microscope 400 is in the upright configuration, the retractable mirror 476A is positioned in the engaged position and reflects light directed from the objective module 413 to the fixed mirror 480 toward the output port 472D.\",\n \"Referring to FIGS.\",\n \"12A-12C, when the microscope 400 is in the inverted configuration, the retractable mirror 476A is positioned in the retracted position and does not reflect light in the optical path 474.Rather, in the inverted configuration, another fixed mirror 476B reflects light entering the objective module 413 toward the output port 472D.\",\n \"Retractable mirror 476A can be coupled to a hinge or pivot 485 to pivot the mirror between the engaged position and the retracted position.\",\n \"Referring to FIG.\",\n \"14A-14B, the condenser module 416 comprises a structure housing a condenser 415 and light source.\",\n \"Referring to FIG.\",\n \"14C-14D, the objective module 413 comprises a nose piece 412 onto which at least one objective 412A-C is mounted.\",\n \"As discussed above, the objective and condenser modules, 413 and 416 respectively, each comprise posts 462 that are held within corresponding slots 461 in the base 404 by latch pins 463 that are engaged into corresponding latch pin holes 464.In some aspects, the condenser module 416 may be electrically coupled to the base 404 to provide power to the light source.\",\n \"In other aspects, the objective module 413 may be electrically coupled to the base 404 to power a focusing mechanism.\",\n \"Alternatively, the objective and condenser modules, 413 and 416 respectively, may be self-powered by a battery housed within each of the objective and condenser modules, 413 and 416 respectively.\",\n \"Swing Arm Embodiment FIGS.\",\n \"15-16B illustrate an example of a swing arm microscope 500.Similar reference numerals refer to similar or identical structure to the first embodiment 100.Referring to FIG.\",\n \"15, the microscope 500 comprises a base 502 having an upper portion 502A, a lower portion 502B and an intermediate portion 502C.\",\n \"The intermediate portion 502C is disposed between the upper and lower portions, 502A and 502B respectively.\",\n \"The intermediate portion 502C may be configured to mount a stage 514.The upper portion 502A includes a first slot 584A and the lower portion 502B includes a second slot 584B.\",\n \"The first slot 584A is configured to receive an upper swing arm 504A and the second slot 584B is configured to receive a lower swing arm 504B.\",\n \"Each of the upper and lower swing arms, 504A and 504B respectively, are configured to swing within their corresponding slots, 584A and 584B respectively, along a pivoting axis 588 defined by a spindle 582.In one aspect, the pivoting axis is disposed along a plane of symmetry of the upper and lower swing arms 504A, 504B.\",\n \"Referring to FIG.\",\n \"15, the spindle 582 is disposed within the base 502.The upper and lower swing arms, 504A and 504B respectively, are pivotably coupled to the spindle 582 via rotational mounts 583 (as shown in FIGS.\",\n \"16A and 16B).\",\n \"In one aspect, the upper and lower swing arms, 504A and 504B respectively, swing together because each is coupled to the same spindle 582.Accordingly, the upper and lower swing arms, 504A and 504B respectively, move together about the pivoting axis 588.Referring to FIGS.\",\n \"16A and 16B, each of the upper and lower swing arms 504A, 504B include an objective 513 and a condenser 516.The upper and lower swing arms 504A, 504B may have similar profiles such as, for example, an “L” shaped, square shaped, or round shaped profile.\",\n \"Although the objective 513 and the condenser 516 of each swing arm 504A, 504B are depicted as being 90 degrees apart, it is understood that other angles may be used without departing from the scope of this disclosure.\",\n \"For example, the objective 513 and the condenser 516 of each swing arm 504A, 504B may be disposed at any angle ranging from 10-180 degrees.\",\n \"In some aspects, the pivoting axis 588 may be disposed between the objective 513 and the condenser 516 of the upper and lower swing arms 504A, 504B.\",\n \"Referring to FIG.\",\n \"16A, the upper swing arm 504A includes a first optical port 577A and a second optical port 577C.\",\n \"The first optical port 577A includes a mirror 576A that is configured to reflect light entering the objective 513 of the upper swing arm 504A toward an optical path 574 disposed within the base 504 (shown in FIG.\",\n \"15).\",\n \"The second optical port 577C comprises a through hole that allows light entering the objective 513 of the lower swing arm 504B to exit an output port 572.Referring to FIG.\",\n \"15, the output port 572 may include supporting optics, such as an ocular lens and may comprise a cradle configured to receive an electronic device.\",\n \"Referring to FIG.\",\n \"16B, the lower swing arm 504B includes an optical port 577B.\",\n \"The optical port 577B includes a pair of mirrors 576A, 576B that is configured to reflect light entering the objective 513 of the lower swing arm 504B toward the optical path 574 of the base 504 (shown in FIG.\",\n \"15).\",\n \"In one aspect, because each swing arm 504A, 504B includes an objective 513 and condenser 516, conversion of the microscope 500 from an upright configuration to an inverted configuration, or vice versa, simply requires that the swing arms 504A, 504B be arranged so that the objective 513 and condenser 516 are positioned according to the desired configuration.\",\n \"For example, shall the user desire to use the microscope 500 in an upright configuration, the user would position the swing arms 504A, 504B so that the objective 513 of the upper swing arm 504A is disposed above the specimen to be observed and the condenser 516 of the lower swing arm 504B is disposed below the specimen to be observed.\",\n \"As discussed above, because the upper and lower swing arms, 504A and 504B, are coupled to the same spindle 582, rotation of one of the swing arms 504A, 504B causes rotation of the other swing arm 504A, 504B.\",\n \"In this example, after light enters the objective 513 of the upper swing arm 504A, light is reflected and directed toward the first optical port 577A via the mirror 576A.\",\n \"Light exiting the first optical port 577A enters the optical path 574 of the base 504 and exits from the output port 572.In another example, should the user desire to use the microscope 500 in an inverted configuration, the user would position the swing arms 504A, 504B so that the objective 513 of the lower swing arm 504B is disposed below the specimen to be observed and the condenser 516 of the upper swing arm 504A is disposed above the specimen to be observed.\",\n \"Again, because the upper and lower swing arms, 504A and 504B, are coupled to the same spindle 582, rotation of one of the swing arms 504A, 504B causes rotation of the other swing arm 504A, 504B.\",\n \"In this example, after light enters the objective 513 of the lower swing arm 504B, light is reflected and directed toward the optical port 577B via the mirror 576B.\",\n \"Light exiting the optical port 577B enters the optical path 574 of the base 504, passes through the second optical port 577C of the upper swing arm 504A, and ultimately exits from the output port 572.The cradle 608 configured to receive and secure an electronic device 610 that is capable of acquiring images, and to align an optical element of the electronic device 610 with the output port 572.The electronic device 610 can be a portable personal computing device including an optical element (e.g., a camera), for example a mobile communications device (e.g., smartphone), tablet computing device, laptop, PDA, portable gaming device, camera, or other portable computing device with imaging capabilities.\",\n \"Accordingly, the objective 513 of the upper swing arm 504A is used when the microscope 500 is in the upright configuration and the condenser 516 of the upper swing arm 504A is used when the microscope 500 is in the inverted configuration.\",\n \"Similarly, the objective 513 of the lower swing arm 504B is used when the microscope 500 is in the inverted configuration and the condenser 516 of the lower swing arm 504B is used when the microscope 500 is in the upright configuration.\",\n \"Laterally Rotating Embodiment FIG.\",\n \"17A illustrates an example of a laterally rotating microscope 600 in an upright configuration, and FIG.\",\n \"17B illustrates an example of the laterally rotating microscope 600 in an inverted configuration.\",\n \"Similar reference numerals refer to similar or identical structure to the first embodiment 100.Referring to FIGS.\",\n \"17A-17B, the microscope 600 comprises a base 602 and a rotating assembly 604.The rotating assembly 604 may include an objective 613, an optical arm 606, a cradle 608, a stage 614, and a condenser 616, that are all configured to rotate together as a single assembly, along a rotating axis 620 that extends along a lateral direction with respect to the microscope 600.The rotating axis 620 is defined by rotational couplings disposed at opposite ends of the stage 614.In one aspect, the optical arm 606 may be coupled to the objective 613 and configured to reflect light entering the objective 613 toward an optical input of an electronic device 610.The electronic device 610 may be removably attached to the optical arm 606 via the cradle 608.The objective 613 and the condenser 616 are connected by a structural arm 692.The structure arm 692 supports and arranges the objective 613 and the condenser 616 with respect to the stage 614.As shown in FIGS.\",\n \"17A-17B, the objective 613 and condenser 616 may be arranged at opposing ends of the structure arm 692.To convert the microscope 600 into an inverted configuration, a handle 694 of the rotating assembly 604 is rotated along the rotating axis 620 until the handle 694 engages a slot 696 disposed within the base 602.As a result of such rotation, the rotating assembly 604 is rotated about 180 degrees, thereby positioning the objective 613 below the stage 614 and the condenser 616 above the stage 614.As discussed above with reference to the stage 114, the stage 614 may be configured to support a specimen on both a first and second specimen supporting surface.\",\n \"Overview of Example Controller and User Interface Components FIG.\",\n \"18 is a block diagram illustrating components of controller 1000 that can be used to manage a dual-use microscope.\",\n \"The controller 1000 can be integral to the microscope in some embodiments.\",\n \"In other embodiments, the controller 1000 can be separate from the microscope, for example the controller 1000 can be included in a user portable computing device (e.g., smartphone, tablet, laptop, personal digital assistant, or the like) configured to communicate and/or cooperate with the microscope.\",\n \"In further embodiments, aspects of the controller 1000 can be integral to the microscope and aspects of the controller 1000 can be separate from the microscope.\",\n \"Controller 1000 comprises user interface module 1020, processor module 1004, storage module 1010, input/output (I/O) module 1008, memory module 1006, and bus 1002.Bus 1002 may be any suitable communication mechanism for communicating information.\",\n \"Processor module 1004, storage module 1010, I/O module 1008, and memory module 1006 are coupled with bus 1002 for communicating information between any of the modules of controller 1000 and/or information between any module of controller 1000 and a device external to controller 1000.For example, information communicated between any of the modules of controller 1000 may include instructions and/or data.\",\n \"In some aspects, bus 1002 may be a universal serial bus.\",\n \"In some aspects, bus 302 may provide Ethernet connectivity.\",\n \"User interface module 1020 can generate a graphical user interface for enabling user interaction with the dual-configuration microscope and/or image data gathered from the dual-configuration microscope, and includes image parameters adjustment module 1022 and file management module 1024.User interface module 1020 can be available as a set of software instructions, for example an application that can be downloaded or otherwise provided to an electronic device configured to be received by the cradle of the optical arm of the dual-configuration microscope to acquire images.\",\n \"The image parameters adjustment module 1022 can provide functionality for a user to adjust the brightness, contrast, and color settings of acquired images.\",\n \"The file management module 1024 can provide functionality for naming and archiving of acquired images.\",\n \"For example, for archiving the file management module 1024 can provide controls for naming a file, naming an album, and choosing which file type to use for saving an acquired image (e.g., .jpeg, .tiff, .png).\",\n \"For example, for file sharing the file management module 1024 can provide functionality to send an acquired image by email or other electronic communication, to interface with and upload to a local network server, or to share using global network filesharing services.\",\n \"In some aspects, processor module 1004 may comprise one or more processors, where each processor may perform different functions or execute different instructions and/or processes.\",\n \"For example, one or more processors may execute instructions for focusing on a specimen, positioning a specimen with respect to an objective, operating of a light source, controlling of a condenser, acquiring an image, processing an image, sending an image to another device, altering light pathways and illumination settings, automated X-Y stage movement, controlling external hardware devices (e.g., camera), controlling other computer devices (e.g., onboard mini-computer, onboard controllers), communicating with another device, and one or more processors may execute instructions for input/output functions.\",\n \"Memory module 1006 may be random access memory (“RAM”) or other dynamic storage devices for storing information and instructions to be executed by processor module 1004.Memory module 1006 may also be used for storing temporary variables or other intermediate information during execution of instructions by processor 1004.In some aspects, memory module 1006 may comprise battery-powered static RAM, which stores information without requiring power to maintain the stored information.\",\n \"Storage module 1010 may be a magnetic disk or optical disk and may also store information and instructions.\",\n \"In some aspects, storage module 1010 may comprise hard disk storage or electronic memory storage (e.g., flash memory).\",\n \"In some aspects, memory module 1006 and storage module 1010 are both a machine-readable medium.\",\n \"Controller 1000 is coupled via I/O module 1008 to a user interface for providing information to and receiving information from a user controlling functions of a microscope, operations of a microscope, or for causing actuation of certain components of a microscope (e.g., movement of a retractable mirror, stage, or objective).\",\n \"For example, the user interface may be a cathode ray tube (“CRT”), LCD monitor, or touch-screen display for displaying information to an operator.\",\n \"The user interface may also include, for example, a keyboard, a mouse, or a touch-screen device coupled to controller 1000 via I/O module 1008 for communicating information and command selections to processor module 1004.According to various aspects of the subject disclosure, methods described herein are executed by controller 1000.Specifically, processor module 1004 executes one or more sequences of instructions contained in memory module 1006 and/or storage module 1010.In one example, instructions may be read into memory module 1006 from another machine-readable medium, such as storage module 1010.In another example, instructions may be read directly into memory module 1006 from I/O module 1008, for example from a user controlling functions of a microscope, operations of a microscope, or for causing actuation of certain components of a microscope (e.g., movement of a retractable mirror, stage, or objective) via the user interface.\",\n \"Execution of the sequences of instructions contained in memory module 1006 and/or storage module 1010 causes processor module 1004 to control functions of the microscope, operations of the microscope, or actuation of certain components of the microscope (e.g., movement of a retractable mirror, stage, or objective).\",\n \"For example, focusing operations, image processing and acquisition, and component actuation instructions may be stored in memory module 1006 and/or storage module 1010 as one or more sequences of instructions.\",\n \"Information such as the distance between a specimen supporting surface and a condenser, or position of an objective or condenser with respect to a specimen may be communicated from processor module 1004 to memory module 1006 and/or storage module 1010 via bus 1002 for storage.\",\n \"In some aspects, the information may be communicated from processor module 1004, memory module 1006, and/or storage module 1010 to I/O module 1008 via bus 1002.The information may then be communicated from I/O module 1008 to a user operating the microscope.\",\n \"One or more processors in a multi-processing arrangement may also be employed to execute the sequences of instructions contained in memory module 1006 and/or storage module 1010.In some aspects, hard-wired circuitry may be used in place of or in combination with software instructions to implement various aspects of the subject disclosure.\",\n \"Thus, aspects of the subject disclosure are not limited to any specific combination of hardware circuitry and software.\",\n \"The term “machine-readable medium,” or “computer-readable medium,” as used herein, refers to any medium that participates in providing instructions to processor module 1004 for execution.\",\n \"Such a medium may take many forms, including, but not limited to, non-volatile media, volatile media, and transmission media.\",\n \"Non-volatile media include, for example, optical or magnetic disks, such as storage module 1010.Volatile media include dynamic memory, such as memory module 1006.Common forms of machine-readable media or computer-readable media include, for example, floppy disk, a flexible disk, hard disk, magnetic tape, any other magnetic medium, a CD-ROM, DVD, any other optical medium, punch cards, paper tape, any other physical mediums with patterns of holes, a RAM, a PROM, an EPROM, a FLASH EPROM, any other memory chip or cartridge, or any other medium from which a processor can read.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"19 illustrates and example of a user interface 1900 provided on a computing device configured to cooperate, at least optically and in some examples electronically, with a dual-configuration microscope.\",\n \"The user interface 1900 can be generated in some embodiments by the user interface module 1020 of the controller 1000.As illustrated, the user interface includes a specimen display area 1930, an image parameter control panel 1910, and file naming controls 1920, 1925.The specimen display area 1930 displays to a user a visual representation of the specimen positioned in the optical path of the microscope.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the visual representation can be adjusted by the user, for example by zooming, rotating, or using other adjustment controls presented in the image parameter control panel 1910.In other aspects, the visual representation of the specimen can be received by a camera of the device used to present the interface 1900.For example, an electronic device positioned in the cradle of a microscope, as described above, may convert the visual representation of the specimen into a digital representation, and present that digital representation in the specimen display area 1930 via a touch sensitive display panel.\",\n \"Image parameter control panel 1910 can provide functionality for a user to change the visual appearance of one or more image parameters of the specimen image including, for example, brightness controls 1912, contrast controls 1914, and color option selections 1916, among others.\",\n \"The image parameter control panel 1910 can also provide a file type selection functionality 1918 for a user to change a file type to be used for storage of a snapshot of the visual representation of the specimen.\",\n \"The user may capture a snapshot of the visual representation of the specimen by activating a shutter button.\",\n \"For example, the interface 1900 can be presented on a touch-sensitive display panel in some embodiments, and a user may capture a snapshot of the visual representation of the specimen by touching a digital shutter button.\",\n \"For archiving, the interface 1900 may provide controls for naming the file 1925, naming the album 1930, and choosing which file type to save as (.jpeg, .tiff, .png) as described above.\",\n \"Such functionality can beneficially enable a user of the microscope to organize snapshots using a personalized system to enable easier retrieval of a desired specimen snapshot stored in an electronic database after storage, for example by naming the album based on session date, specimen type, or others, and by naming the files based on sample characteristics, image parameters, or the like, to name just a few examples.\",\n \"Although not illustrated, the interface 1900 can provide for file sharing capabilities, for example enabling a user to send specimen snapshot images by email, directly upload to and interface with a local network server, or share using a networked file-sharing service.\",\n \"The interface 1900 can, in some embodiments, provide post processing tools for editing specimen snapshots after image capture, for example by cropping and making image parameter adjustments.\",\n \"The interface 1900 can also include analysis tools, for example for counting, labeling, rotating, and/or making measurements on captured specimen snapshots.\",\n \"Overview of Additional Components of Rotating Embodiments FIG.\",\n \"20A illustrates a top, left, and front perspective view of a stage 2000 and FIG.\",\n \"20B illustrates a bottom, right, and front perspective view of the stage 2000.As illustrated in FIGS.\",\n \"20A-20B, an embodiment of an X-Y stage 2000 for use with a dual-configuration microscope such as is described herein may include a mounting block 2005 configured to be inserted into a corresponding pocket 2010 disposed within the intermediate portion 104C of the body of a dual-configuration microscope.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the X-Y stage 2000 can be used with any of the dual-configuration microscopes described herein, for example the rotatable microscope embodiments, modular microscope embodiments, and reconfigurable microscope embodiments discussed herein.\",\n \"In the illustrated example, the mounting block 2005 of the stage 2000 can be inserted into the pocket 2010 and held into position by a quick release mechanism 2015.The quick release mechanism 2015 may comprise, in the illustrated embodiment, a chamfered rotating member 2020 and handle 2025, wherein the chamfered rotating member 2020 is configured to securely engage a corresponding chamfer 2030 on the mounting block 2005.As the quick release mechanism 2015 is rotated, a contact force between the chamfers 2020 and 2030 increases to thereby securely engage and maintain the mounting block 2005 in position.\",\n \"Other suitable releasable securing mechanisms can be used in other embodiments.\",\n \"As illustrated in FIGS.\",\n \"21B and 21C, the specimen supporting surface 2035 of the stage 2000 is mounted at or below a horizontal central axis 2040 of the mounting block 2005.The central axis 2040 of the mounting block 2005 passes through the vertical center of the mounting block 2005.In some aspects, the spatial relationship between the horizontal central axis 2040 of the mounting block 2005 and the specimen supporting surface 2035 enables a spacing between the specimen supporting surface 2035 of the stage 2000 and an outer surface of a lens of the objective and/or an outer surface of the condenser to be maintained, regardless of whether the microscope is in the upright or inverted configuration, as discussed above with reference to FIGS.\",\n \"4A and 4B.\",\n \"To illustrate, when the microscope is in the upright configuration and after the stage 2000 is inserted into the pocket 2010 and secured, the specimen supporting surface 2035 is positioned a distance away from the outer surface of the lens of the objective 2125 and/or the outer surface of the condenser 2130 (represented by D5).\",\n \"When the microscope is in the inverted configuration and the stage 2000 is inserted into the pocket 2010 and secured, the specimen supporting surface 2035 is positioned substantially the same distance away from the outer surface of the lens of the objective 2125 and/or the outer surface of the condenser 2130 (represented by D6).\",\n \"Distances D5 and D6 may be equal or substantially equal.\",\n \"Thereby, the focal distance between the specimen supporting surface 2035 and outer surface of the lens of the objective can be maintained in some embodiments regardless of whether the microscope is in the upright or inverted configuration.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the spatial relationship between the horizontal central axis 2040 of the mounting block 2005 and the specimen supporting surface 2035 enables a spacing or working distance between the specimen supporting surface 2035 of the stage 2000 and an outer surface of a lens of the condenser 2130 of the microscope to be maintained regardless of whether the microscope is in the upright or inverted configuration.\",\n \"As illustrated by FIG.\",\n \"21B and FIG.\",\n \"21C, the body of the microscope occupies substantially the same three-dimensional area in the inverted configuration and in the upright configuration, and faces substantially the same direction in the inverted configuration and in the upright configuration.\",\n \"In the inverted configuration, the objective occupies substantially the same space as the condenser occupies in the upright configuration.\",\n \"Similarly, in the inverted configuration, the condenser occupies substantially the same space as the objective occupies in the upright configuration.\",\n \"This can provide a seamless user experience when converting the microscope between the upright and inverted configurations, as the microscope occupies substantially the same space above the workspace upon which the microscope is placed in both configurations, and also faces the same direction in both configurations As in the illustrated embodiment, the stage 1900 can be configured to be removed during transition of the microscope between the inverted and upright configurations.\",\n \"In other embodiments, the stage 2000 and pocket 2010 can be coupled to the base of the microscope such that the body of the microscope can rotate between the inverted and upright configurations without removal of the stage 2000.The illustrated specimen supporting surface 2035 of the stage 2000 includes an insert 2045 for holding two standard sized slides for an inverted microscope.\",\n \"In other embodiments, different slide inserts can be used instead of the illustrated insert 2045.The insert can be removable, and can be replaced with an insert for holding a specimen dish or container when the microscope is in the upright configuration.\",\n \"The stage 2000 can be controlled in some embodiments by rotation of a Y-axis knob 2050 and an X-axis knob 2055 for driving belt 2060 for laterally positioning at least an upper structure 2065 of the stage 2000 in the Y and X directions, respectively, enabling acquisition of images of different portions of the samples supported by the insert 2045.Upper structure 2065 may comprise belts, gears, or other comparable mechanisms that enable at least the specimen supporting surface 2035 to move in the Y and X directions.\",\n \"In other embodiments, the stage 2000 can be additionally or alternatively controlled through use of a digital controller, for example through controller 1000 communicating with X and Y drive motors (not illustrated) of the stage 2000.FIGS.\",\n \"21A through 21C illustrate another embodiment of rotating microscope 2100 comprising a body rotatably coupled with a unitary base.\",\n \"The body 2105 includes at least one contoured surface.\",\n \"For example, the upper and lower surfaces of the body 2105 may each have a convex profile that corresponds to a concave profile of an outer surface of the lower portion of the base, facilitating smooth rotation of the body.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"21A illustrates an isometric view of the microscope 2100 with the body in an upright configuration.\",\n \"The body 2100 includes the stage 2000 described above, and an optical arm 2110 with a rotatable collar 2199, a first geared focus module 2115 for the objective 2125, and a second geared focus module 2120 for the condenser 2130.FIG.\",\n \"21B illustrates a front view of the rotatable microscope 2100 in the upright configuration with the first geared focus module 2115 and a lower casing of the optical arm 2110 removed to reveal the components of the optical path 2190 inside of the optical arm 2110.The optical arm 2110 includes a rotatable collar 2199 and a Dove prism 2135 (shown in FIG.\",\n \"21D) positioned to receive light representing acquired images and pass the light to the reflective surface 2140, which then redirects the light through the eyepiece 2155 of the optical arm 2110.The optical arm 2110 can be rotatably coupled to the body 2105 in some embodiments.\",\n \"Due to rotation of the optical arm 2110 around the optical path 2190 passing through the optical arm 2110, the acquired specimen image can be rotated when viewed by an imaging device in optical communication with the eyepiece 2155 of the optical arm 2110.Advantageously, the Dove prism 2135 is located in the optical path 2190 and can be longitudinal rotated, automatically and/or manually, in order to correct for rotation of the acquired image.\",\n \"For example, the Dove prism 2135 can be manually rotated in some embodiments by rotation of the collar 2199.FIG.\",\n \"21C illustrates an embodiment of the rotatable microscope 2100 with the body positioned in an inverted configuration.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"21D illustrates a close up view of the Dove prism 2135 within a housing 2175.The housing 2175 may rotate at a different rate than the optical arm 2110 in some embodiments.\",\n \"The Dove prism 2135 is a type of reflective prism which can be used to invert an image.\",\n \"The Dove prism 2135 is shaped from a truncated right-angle prism.\",\n \"A beam of light entering a first face 2160 of the sloped faces of the prism undergoes total internal reflection from the inside of the longest face 2165 and emerges from the opposite sloped face 2170.Images passing through the prism 2135 are flipped, and because only one reflection takes place, the image is inverted but not laterally transposed.\",\n \"Properties of the Dove prism 2135 make it useful as a beam rotator, as when the prism 2135 is rotated along its longitudinal axis 2195, the transmitted image rotates at twice the rate of the prism 2135.Accordingly, longitudinal rotations of the prism 2135 can cause double the rotation of the acquired image to correct for rotation of visual representations of specimens due to rotation of the microscope and/or optical arm.\",\n \"The longitudinal axis 2195 of the Dove prism 2135 can be aligned with the optical path 2190 in some embodiments.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the Dove prism 2135 is disposed within the housing 2175 comprising an inner tube, the inner tube 2175 is disposed within an outer tube 2185.The inner tube 2175 and outer tube 2185 are coaxially arranged.\",\n \"Rotation of the inner tube 2175 can be accomplished by rotation of a collar 2199 that may be disposed at substantially one end of the inner tube 2175.In some aspects, the collar 2199 may be coupled to the inner tube 2175 via a threaded engagement, press fit, or other comparable mechanical coupling methods know to a person of ordinary skill.\",\n \"Rotation of the collar 2199 thereby causes rotation of the inner tube 2175, which in turn causes rotation of the Dove prism 2135.Additionally or alternatively, the Dove prism 2135 may be rotated automatically with the use of gears that are arranged to rotate the inner tube 2175 as the optical arm 2110 is rotated.\",\n \"As one example, the gears may be arranged to provide a gearing ratio of 2:1, where one full rotation of the optical arm 2110 causes one-half rotation of the Dove prism 2135.Other gearing ratios may be acceptable, depending on the intended design.\",\n \"In other aspects, a user may further manually rotate the inner tube 2175 to attain a desired rotation of the acquired image.\",\n \"In other aspects, rotation of the Dove prism 2135 may be accomplished via a stepper, rotational, or linear motor, for example, driven by controller 1000.In yet another example, a stepper, rotational, or linear motor may be actuated based on an accelerometer reading of the electronic device coupled to the optical arm 2110.In some embodiments, the Dove prism 2135 as described above can be used with any of the dual-configuration microscopes described herein, for example the rotatable microscope embodiments, modular microscope embodiments, and reconfigurable microscope embodiments discussed herein.\",\n \"Tilting Embodiment FIGS.\",\n \"22-25E illustrate an example of a tilting microscope 2200 having a plurality of planar surfaces 2204A-E.\",\n \"Similar reference numerals refer to similar or identical structure to the first embodiment 100.Referring to FIG.\",\n \"22, the microscope 2200 comprises a body 2202.The body 2202 is configured to support, directly or indirectly, a nosepiece 2212, at least one objective 2213, a condenser 2216, and a light source (not shown).\",\n \"The body 2202 may further be configured to support a stage 2214.In some aspects, the condenser 2216 of the microscope 2200 may be selected based on the configuration of the microscope 2200.The condenser 2216 may be one of a high-resolution or upright condenser having a focal length of 1-4 mm, a long working distance condenser having a focal length of 35-2 mm, or an ultra-long working distance condenser having a focal length of 70-73 mm, depending on the configuration of the microscope 2200.For example, if the microscope 2200 is in an upright configuration, the condenser 2216 may be a high-resolution condenser.\",\n \"If the microscope 2200 is in an inverted configuration, the condenser 2216 may be replaced with a long working distance condenser.\",\n \"The stage 2214 comprises, on an outer surface, a first specimen supporting surface 2219A and at an opposite outer surface, a second specimen supporting surface 2219B.\",\n \"When the microscope 2200 is in the upright configuration (as shown in FIGS.\",\n \"23A-B) the first specimen supporting surface 2219A is configured to support a specimen.\",\n \"When the microscope 2200 is in the inverted configuration (as shown in FIGS.\",\n \"24A-B) the second specimen supporting surface 2219B is configured to support the specimen.\",\n \"In one aspect, the stage 2214 may be configured to removably receive an X-Y adaptor that allows the specimen to move in a controlled fashion along the X and Y axes.\",\n \"The removable X-Y adaptor may be configured to attach to the stage 2214 to allow use of the first specimen supporting surface 2219A or the second specimen supporting surface 2219B, depending on the configuration of the microscope 2200 and the surface of the stage 2214 upon which the removable X-Y adaptor is mounted or attached.\",\n \"The microscope 2200 may further comprise a first and second mounting slot 2206A, B, with the first mounting slot 2206A disposed on a first planar surface 2204A and the second mounting slot 2206B disposed opposite of the first mounting slot 2206A, on a planar surface, such as planar surface 2204E.\",\n \"Each of the mounting slots 2206A, B are configured to receive and support a portable display device, such as portable display device 2210 as shown in FIGS.\",\n \"23A and 24A.\",\n \"For example, each mounting slot 2206A, B may be configured to receive a side or end of the portable display device and support the portable display device to enable a user to view and use the portable display device, as desired.\",\n \"In one aspect, the microscope 2200 may further comprise a first and second rotating stand 2208A, B, as shown in FIGS.\",\n \"22, 23B and 24B.\",\n \"The first rotating stand 2208A may be disposed on the first planar surface 2204A and the second rotating stand 2208B may be disposed opposite of the first mounting rotating stand 2208A, on a planar surface, such as planar surface 2204E.\",\n \"Each of the rotating stands 2208A, B are configured to support a portable display device, such as portable display device 2210 as shown in FIGS.\",\n \"23A-24B, when positioned in a deployed configuration.\",\n \"Each rotating stand 2208A, B may be pivotably coupled to the body 2202 and configured to rotate between the deployed configuration and a stowed configuration.\",\n \"When in the deployed configuration, each rotating stand 2208A, B mechanically supports the portable display device.\",\n \"When in the stowed configuration, each rotating stand 2208A, B lays substantially flush with its respective surrounding surface, 2204A, E. In one aspect, each rotating stand 2208A, B may be biased to the stowed position via a spring or other mechanism as would be known by a person of ordinary skill, to ensure that each rotating stand 2208A, B is maintained in the stowed configuration when the microscope 2200 is titled between an upright to inverted configuration, and vice versa.\",\n \"Referring to FIGS.\",\n \"23A-24B, in some aspects, the portable display device 2210 may comprise a mobile device, camera, tablet computer, laptop computer, PDA, portable computer, or other device that is capable of displaying images.\",\n \"The portable display device 2210 may further comprise a touch-sensitive screen display or other input mechanisms, such as buttons or keys, that are capable of receiving user input.\",\n \"In some aspects, a user may control operations of the microscope 2200, such as focusing of a specimen, positioning of a specimen with respect to the objective 2213, operation of the light source, control of the condenser 2216, acquisition of an image, processing of an image, storing of an image, sending of an image to another device, altering light pathways and illumination settings, automated X-Y stage movement, automated nosepiece movement, controlling external hardware devices (e.g., camera), controlling other computer devices (e.g., onboard mini-computer, onboard controllers), communicating with other devices (such as through local area networks, wide area networks, broadband, Bluetooth, WiFi, or other wireless or wired communication methods), and other microscope related operations, by using the input mechanisms of the electronic device 110.In one aspect, the microscope 2200 may comprise an internal camera or light sensor (not shown) that is configured to receive light that has entered the objective 2213.The internal camera or light sensor may be configured to detect and convey information that constitutes an image by converting variable attenuation of light waves as they pass through or reflect off of the specimen into digital signals.\",\n \"The internal camera or light sensor may comprise a semiconductor charge-coupled device (CCD), active pixel sensor in complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS), or an N-type metal-oxide-semiconductor (NMOS, Live MOS).\",\n \"In one aspect, the internal camera or image sensor may be coupled to a communications module that is configured to receive data representing the light received by the camera or sensor and transmit the data to the portable display device 2210.The data may be transmitted to the portable display device via a wired or wireless connection.\",\n \"The data received by the portable display device 2210 may then be displayed to the user as one or more images.\",\n \"The microscope 2200 further comprises a plurality of planar surfaces 2204A-E that are each configured to support the microscope 2200 on a working surface as the microscope 2200 is converted from an upright configuration to an inverted configuration, and vice versa.\",\n \"For example, the plurality of planar surfaces 2204A-E may be configured to facilitate tilting of the microscope 2200 as the microscope is converted from an upright configuration (as shown in FIGS.\",\n \"23A-B) to an inverted configuration (as shown in FIGS.\",\n \"24A-B), and vice versa, as illustrated in FIGS.\",\n \"25A-E.\",\n \"The plurality of planar surfaces 2204A-E may be disposed on the body 2202 and configured to support the microscope 2200 and allow tilting of the microscope 2200 as the microscope 2200 is tilted from one planar surface, to an adjacent planar surface.\",\n \"For example, the microscope 2200 may comprise five planar surfaces, with a first planar surface 2204A disposed parallel to the stage 2214, a second planar surface 2204B disposed at an angle less than 90 degrees from the first planar surface 2204A, a third planar surface 2204C disposed perpendicularly from the first planar surface 2204A, a fourth planar surface 2204D disposed at an angle less than 90 degrees from the third planar surface 2204C, and a fifth planar surface 2204E disposed parallel to the stage 2214.In one example, the angle between the first planar surface 2204A and the second planar surface 2204B may be 30 degrees, 45 degrees, 60 degrees, or any angle there between.\",\n \"In another example, the angle between the fourth planar surface 2204D and the third planar surface 2204C may be 30 degrees, 45 degrees, 60 degrees, or any angle there between.\",\n \"In yet another example, the angle between the first planar surface 2204A and the second planar surface 2204B may be substantially the same angle as an angle between the fifth planar surface 2204E and the fourth planar surface 2204D.\",\n \"The microscope 2200 may further comprise a plurality of focus knob receptacles 2217-D that are each configured to receive a removable focus knob 2218 (shown in FIGS.\",\n \"22 and 23A-24B).\",\n \"The focus knob receptacles 2217A-D may be disposed laterally on both outward sides of the body 2202.For example, referring to FIGS.\",\n \"22 and 23A, B, a first focus knob receptacle 2217A may be disposed proximal to the nosepiece 2212 and right side of the body 2202, and a second focus knob receptacle 2217B may be disposed proximal to the condenser 2216 and right side of the body 2202.Referring to FIGS.\",\n \"24A, B, a third focus knob receptacle 2217C may be disposed proximal to the condenser 2216 and opposite side of the body 2202, and a fourth focus knob receptacle 2217D may be disposed proximal to the nosepiece 2212 and opposite side of the body 2202.In one aspect, depending on the configuration of the microscope 2200 and preference of the user, the focus knob 2218 may be inserted in any of the focus knob receptacles 2217A-D to adjust a position of the objective 2213, adjust a position of the stage 2214, adjust the position of the condenser 2216, or control operations of the microscope 2200.The focus knob 2218 may further comprise one or more buttons or user input mechanisms to receive user input or commands for controlling or operating the microscope.\",\n \"In some aspects, a user may use the focus knob 2218 to focus a specimen, position a specimen with respect to the objective 2213, operate a light source, control the condenser 2216, acquire an image, process an image, send an image to another device, alter light pathways and illumination settings, control external hardware devices (e.g., camera), control other computer devices (e.g., onboard mini-computer, onboard controllers), communicate with other devices (such as through local area networks, wide area networks, broadband, Bluetooth, WiFi, or other wireless or wired communication methods), and other microscope related operations, by using the input mechanisms of the focus knob 2218.The focus knob 2218 may further comprise an internal rechargeable battery and wireless communication module that enables the focus knob 2218 to communicate with the microscope 2200 and/or portable display device 2210.FIGS.\",\n \"23A and 23B illustrate the microscope 2200 positioned in the upright configuration.\",\n \"In the upright configuration, the body is positioned such that the nosepiece assembly 2212 is positioned vertically above the stage 2214 and the condenser is positioned vertically below the stage 2214.The first specimen supporting surface 2219A is positioned to support the specimen.\",\n \"While any focus knob receptacle 2217A-D may be used to mount the focus knob 2218, for ergonomic purposes and depending on whether the user prefers to use their right or left hand, the second focus knob receptacle 2217B or third focus knob receptacle 2217C may be used to mount the focus knob 2218.First mounting slot 2206A and first rotating stand 2208A may be used to mount and support the portable display device 2210.FIGS.\",\n \"24A and 24B illustrate the microscope 2200 positioned in the inverted configuration.\",\n \"In the inverted configuration, the body is positioned such that the nosepiece assembly 2212 is positioned vertically below the stage 2214 and the condenser is positioned vertically above the stage 2214.The second specimen supporting surface 2219B is positioned to support the specimen.\",\n \"While any focus knob receptacle 2217A-D may be used to mount the focus knob 2218, for ergonomic purposes and depending on whether the user prefers to use their right or left hand, the first focus knob receptacle 2217A and fourth focus knob receptacle 2217D may be used to mount the focus knob 2218.Second mounting slot 2206B and second rotating stand 2208B may be used to mount and support the portable display device 2210.A method for converting the microscope 2200 from the upright configuration into the inverted configuration will now be discussed with reference to FIGS.\",\n \"25A-E. To convert the microscope 2200, the portable display device 2210 is dismounted, thereby allowing the rotating stand 2208A to move to the stowed position.\",\n \"Referring to FIG.\",\n \"25A, while in the upright configuration the microscope 2200 is supported by the fifth planar surface 2204E.\",\n \"To convert the microscope 2200 from the upright configuration into the inverted configuration, the user first tilts the microscope 2200 toward the fourth planar surface 2204D.\",\n \"Referring to FIG.\",\n \"25B, the microscope 2200 is shown in an intermediate position as the microscope 2200 rests on the fourth planar surface 2204D.\",\n \"The user then continues the conversion process by titling the microscope 2200 toward the third planar surface 2204C.\",\n \"Referring to FIG.\",\n \"25C, the microscope 2200 is shown in an intermediate position as the microscope 2200 rests on the third planar surface 2204C.\",\n \"The user then continues the conversion process by titling the microscope 2200 toward the second planar surface 2204B.\",\n \"Referring to FIG.\",\n \"25D, the microscope 2200 is shown in an intermediate position as the microscope 2200 rests on the second planar surface 2204B.\",\n \"The user then finishes the conversion process by titling the microscope 2200 toward the first planar surface 2204A.\",\n \"Referring to FIG.\",\n \"25E, the microscope 2200 is shown in the inverted position as the microscope 2200 rests on the first planar surface 2204A.\",\n \"The user may then mount the portable display device 2210 to the microscope 2200 by using the second mounting slot 2206B and positioning the second rotating stand 2208B to the deployed configuration.\",\n \"The user may further reposition the focus knob 2218 to whichever focus knob receptacle 2217A-D is desired.\",\n \"While this example conversion of the microscope may involve tilting the microscope 2200 up to four instances and using five planar surfaces 2204A-E, it is understood that fewer or more tilting instances and planar surfaces may be used to convert the microscope from the upright configuration to the inverted configuration without departing from the scope of the invention.\",\n \"A method for converting the microscope 2200 from the inverted configuration into the upright configuration will now be discussed with reference to FIGS.\",\n \"25A-E. To convert the microscope 2200, the portable display device 2210 is dismounted, thereby allowing the rotating stand 2208B to move to the stowed position.\",\n \"Referring to FIG.\",\n \"25E, while in the inverted configuration the microscope 2200 is supported by the first planar surface 2204A.\",\n \"To convert the microscope 2200 from the inverted configuration into the upright configuration, the user first tilts the microscope 2200 toward the second planar surface 2204B.\",\n \"Referring to FIG.\",\n \"25D, the microscope 2200 is shown in an intermediate position as the microscope 2200 rests on the second planar surface 2204B.\",\n \"The user then continues the conversion process by titling the microscope 2200 toward the third planar surface 2204C.\",\n \"Referring to FIG.\",\n \"25C, the microscope 2200 is shown in an intermediate position as the microscope 2200 rests on the third planar surface 2204C.\",\n \"The user then continues the conversion process by titling the microscope 2200 toward the fourth planar surface 2204D.\",\n \"Referring to FIG.\",\n \"25B, the microscope 2200 is shown in an intermediate position as the microscope 2200 rests on the fourth planar surface 2204D.\",\n \"The user then finishes the conversion process by titling the microscope 2200 toward the fifth planar surface 2204E.\",\n \"Referring to FIG.\",\n \"25A, the microscope 2200 is shown in the upright position as the microscope 2200 rests on the fifth planar surface 2204E.\",\n \"The user may then mount the portable display device 2210 to the microscope 2200 by using the first mounting slot 2206A and positioning the first rotating stand 2208A in the deployed configuration.\",\n \"The user may further reposition the focus knob 2218 to whichever focus knob receptacle 2217A-D is desired.\",\n \"While in this example conversion of the microscope may involve tilting the microscope 2200 up to four instances and using five planar surfaces 2204A-E, it is understood that fewer or more tilting instances and planar surfaces may be used to convert the microscope from the inverted configuration to the upright configuration without departing from the scope of the invention.\",\n \"Terminology The foregoing description is provided to enable a person skilled in the art to practice the various configurations described herein.\",\n \"While the subject technology has been particularly described with reference to the various figures and configurations, it should be understood that these are for illustration purposes only and should not be taken as limiting the scope of the subject technology.\",\n \"There may be many other ways to implement the subject technology.\",\n \"Various functions and elements described herein may be partitioned differently from those shown without departing from the scope of the subject technology.\",\n \"Various modifications to these configurations will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and generic principles defined herein may be applied to other configurations.\",\n \"Thus, many changes and modifications may be made to the subject technology, by one having ordinary skill in the art, without departing from the scope of the subject technology.\",\n \"It is understood that the specific order or hierarchy of steps in the processes disclosed is an illustration of exemplary approaches.\",\n \"Based upon design preferences, it is understood that the specific order or hierarchy of steps in the processes may be rearranged.\",\n \"Some of the steps may be performed simultaneously.\",\n \"The accompanying method claims present elements of the various steps in a sample order, and are not meant to be limited to the specific order or hierarchy presented.\",\n \"A phrase such as an “aspect” does not imply that such aspect is essential to the subject technology or that such aspect applies to all configurations of the subject technology.\",\n \"A disclosure relating to an aspect may apply to all configurations, or one or more configurations.\",\n \"A phrase such as an aspect may refer to one or more aspects and vice versa.\",\n \"A phrase such as an “embodiment” does not imply that such embodiment is essential to the subject technology or that such embodiment applies to all configurations of the subject technology.\",\n \"A disclosure relating to an embodiment may apply to all embodiments, or one or more embodiments.\",\n \"A phrase such an embodiment may refer to one or more embodiments and vice versa.\",\n \"Furthermore, to the extent that the term “include,” “have,” or the like is used in the description or the claims, such term is intended to be inclusive in a manner similar to the term “comprise” as “comprise” is interpreted when employed as a transitional word in a claim.\",\n \"The word “exemplary” is used herein to mean “serving as an example, instance, or illustration.” Any embodiment described herein as “exemplary” is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other embodiments.\",\n \"A reference to an element in the singular is not intended to mean “one and only one” unless specifically stated, but rather “one or more.” The term “some” refers to one or more.\",\n \"All structural and functional equivalents to the elements of the various configurations described throughout this disclosure that are known or later come to be known to those of ordinary skill in the art are expressly incorporated herein by reference and intended to be encompassed by the subject technology.\",\n \"Moreover, nothing disclosed herein is intended to be dedicated to the public regardless of whether such disclosure is explicitly recited in the above description.\"\n ]\n]"},"source":{"kind":"string","value":"Patent_15876004"}}},{"rowIdx":4495049,"cells":{"text":{"kind":"list like","value":[["IMAGE CAPTURING APPARATUS, IMAGE CAPTURING SYSTEM, CONTROL METHOD OF IMAGE CAPTURING APPARATUS, AND COMPUTER READABLE STORAGE MEDIUM","An image capturing apparatus includes: an encoding unit configured to perform encoding processing on an image output from an image capturing unit for obtaining an image; a communication unit configured to receive designation of a resolution of the encoding unit from an information processing apparatus; an obtaining unit configured to obtain a resolution which is associated with the resolution set for the image capturing unit, and is settable for the encoding unit; a determination unit configured to determine whether the designated resolution is the resolution obtained by the obtaining unit and settable for the encoding unit; and a transmission unit configured to transmit an error response to the information processing apparatus, if the determination unit determines that the designated resolution is not the resolution obtained by the obtaining unit and settable for the encoding unit."],["1.An image capturing apparatus comprising: a computer executing instructions that, when executed by the computer, cause the computer to function as: a receiving control unit configured to control a receiving unit which receives, from an external apparatus, a command designating a parameter value related to image data; and a transmitting control unit configured to control a transmitting unit which transmits a response to the external apparatus in response to the command received by the receiving unit, wherein a video source mode is settable to the image capturing apparatus, wherein the video source mode defines at least a maximum value for a parameter of a first kind and a maximum value for a parameter of a second kind, wherein, an error response is not transmitted to the external apparatus from the transmitting unit in a state where a first video source mode is being set to the image capturing apparatus, if the parameter value designated by the command is not settable in the state and the parameter value designated by the command is the parameter value for the parameter of the first kind, and wherein the transmitting control unit is configured to cause the transmitting unit to transmit an error response to the external apparatus in response to the command received by the receiving unit in the state, if the parameter value designated by the command is not settable in the state and the parameter value designated by the command is the parameter value for the parameter of the second kind.","2.The image capturing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the video source mode is related to a video source configuration and a video encoder configuration.","3.The image capturing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the video source mode includes information defining a plurality of parameters including resolution.","4.The image capturing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the transmitting control unit is configured not to cause the transmitting unit to transmit the error response to the external apparatus, if the receiving unit receives a command related to a predetermined parameter among the plurality of parameters from the external apparatus.","5.The image capturing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the plurality of parameters further include at least one of a frame rate and an encoding method.","6.The image capturing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a control unit configured to change a setting of the image capturing apparatus from the first video source mode to a second video source mode in which the parameter value designated by the command is settable, if the parameter value designated by the command is not settable in the state and the parameter value designated by the command is the parameter value for the parameter of the first kind.","7.The image capturing apparatus according to claim 6, wherein a setting of the image capturing apparatus is not changed from the first video source mode to the second video source mode, if the parameter value designated by the command is not settable in the state and the parameter value designated by the command is the parameter value for the parameter of the second kind.","8.The image capturing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the parameter of the first kind is a parameter of resolution.","9.The image capturing apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the resolution is a number of pixels.","10.The image capturing apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the resolution is indicated by a number of pixels in width and a number of pixels in height.","11.The image capturing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the parameter of the first kind is a parameter of a frame rate.","12.The image capturing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the parameter of the second kind is a parameter of a frame rate.","13.The image capturing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the parameter of the second kind is a parameter of an encoding method.","14.The image capturing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a determination unit configured to determine, based on the video source mode being set to the image capturing apparatus, whether the parameter value designated by the command is settable to the image capturing apparatus.","15.The image capturing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the parameter value designated by the command is a parameter value of a video encoder configuration.","16.The image capturing apparatus according to claim 1, the instructions that, when executed by the computer, cause the computer to further function as an image data generating unit configured to generate image data in accordance with a parameter value based on the command received by the receiving unit, and wherein the transmitting control unit is configured to cause the transmitting unit to transmit the image data generated by the image data generating unit.","17.The image capturing apparatus according to claim 16, wherein the transmitting control unit is configured to cause the transmitting unit to transmit the image data to the external apparatus via a network.","18.The image capturing apparatus according to claim 17, wherein the image data generating unit includes a generation unit configured to generate image data based on a video source configuration.","19.The image capturing apparatus according to claim 17, wherein the image data generating unit includes an encoding unit configured to encode image data based on a video encoder configuration, and wherein the transmitting control unit is configured to cause the transmitting unit to transmit encoded image data.","20.The image capturing apparatus according to claim 16, wherein the image data generating unit is capable of generating image data by using H.264, in the state where the first video source mode is being set to the image capturing apparatus.","21.The image capturing apparatus according to claim 16, wherein the image data generating unit is capable of generating image data by using Motion JPEG, in the state where the first video source mode is being set to the image capturing apparatus.","22.The image capturing apparatus according to claim 16, wherein the image data generating unit is capable of generating image data in which resolution is greater than or equal to 960×540 pixels, in the state where the first video source mode is being set to the image capturing apparatus.","23.The image capturing apparatus according to claim 16, wherein the image data generating unit is capable of generating image data in which resolution is greater than or equal to 176×144 pixels, in the state where the first video source mode is being set to the image capturing apparatus.","24.The image capturing apparatus according to claim 16, wherein the image data generating unit is capable of generating image data in which a frame rate is 20 fps, in the state where the first video source mode is being set to the image capturing apparatus.","25.The image capturing apparatus according to claim 16, wherein the image data generating unit is capable of generating image data in which a frame rate is 30 fps, in the state where the first video source mode is being set to the image capturing apparatus.","26.The image capturing apparatus according to claim 16, wherein the image data generating unit is capable of generating image data in which resolution is greater than or equal to 960×540 pixels by using H.264, in the state where the first video source mode is being set to the image capturing apparatus.","27.The image capturing apparatus according to claim 16, wherein the image data generating unit is capable of generating image data in which resolution is greater than or equal to 960×540 pixels and a frame rate is 20 fps by using H.264, in the state where the first video source mode is being set to the image capturing apparatus.","28.The image capturing apparatus according to claim 16, wherein the image data generating unit is capable of generating image data in which resolution is greater than or equal to 960×540 pixels and a frame rate is 30 fps by using H.264, in the state where the first video source mode is being set to the image capturing apparatus.","29.A method for an image capturing apparatus which comprises a computer executing instructions that, when executed by the computer, cause the computer to perform the method, the method comprising: a receiving step of receiving, from an external apparatus, a command designating a parameter value related to image data; and a transmitting step of transmitting a response to the external apparatus in response to the command received in the receiving step, wherein a video source mode is settable to the image capturing apparatus, wherein the video source mode defines at least a maximum value for a parameter of a first kind and a maximum value for a parameter of a second kind, wherein, an error response is not transmitted to the external apparatus in the transmitting step in a state where a first video source mode is being set to the image capturing apparatus, if the parameter value designated by the command is not settable in the state and the parameter value designated by the command is the parameter value for the parameter value of the first kind, and wherein, in the transmitting step, an error response is transmitted to the external apparatus in response to the command received in the receiving step in the state, if the parameter value designated by the command is not settable in the state and the parameter value designated by the command is the parameter value for the parameter for the second kind.","30.An image capturing system comprising: an image capturing apparatus configured to transmit image data to an image receiving apparatus, wherein the image receiving apparatus is configured to receive the image data from the image capturing apparatus, wherein the image capturing apparatus comprises a computer executing instructions that, when executed by the computer, cause the computer to function as: a receiving control unit configured to control a receiving unit which receives a command designating a parameter value related to the image data; an image data generating unit configured to generate the image data in accordance with a parameter value based on the command received by the receiving unit; and a transmitting control unit configured to control a transmitting unit which transmits the image data generated by the image data generating unit, wherein, a video source mode is settable to the image capturing apparatus, wherein, the video source mode defines at least a maximum value for a parameter of a first kind and a maximum value for a parameter of a second kind, wherein, an error response is not transmitted from the transmitting unit in a state where a first video source mode is being set to the image capturing apparatus, if the parameter value designated by the command is not settable in the state and the parameter value designated by the command is the parameter value for the parameter of the first kind, wherein, the transmitting control unit is configured to cause the transmitting unit to transmit an error response in response to the command received by the receiving unit in the state, if the parameter value designated by the command is not settable in the state and the parameter value designated by the command is the parameter value for the parameter of the second kind, wherein the image receiving apparatus comprises: a display control unit configured to display a setting screen to a display unit, the setting screen being for designating the parameter value for the parameter of the first kind and the parameter value for the parameter of the second kind; and a transmitting control unit configured to control a transmitting which transmits a command designating a parameter value designated on the setting screen to the image capturing apparatus.","31.The image capturing system according to claim 30, wherein the receiving control unit to cause the receiving unit of the image capturing apparatus to receive the command designating the parameter value from the image receiving apparatus, and wherein, the transmitting control unit to cause the transmitting unit of the image capturing apparatus to transmit the error response to the image receiving apparatus in response to the command received by the receiving unit.","32.The image capturing system according to claim 30, wherein a parameter value for a parameter of at least one kind is capable of being designated from a drop down list displayed on the setting screen.","33.The image capturing system according to claim 30, wherein the parameter value for the parameter of the first kind and the parameter value for the parameter of the second kind are capable of being designated on the same setting screen displayed by display control unit.","34.The image capturing system according to claim 30, wherein the parameter of the first kind is a parameter of resolution.","35.The image capturing system according to claim 30, wherein the parameter of the second kind is at least one of a parameter of an encoding method and a parameter of a frame rate.","36.The image capturing system according to claim 30, wherein the parameter of the first kind is a parameter of a frame rate.","37.The image capturing system according to claim 30, wherein the parameter value designated by the command is a parameter value of a video encoder configuration.","38.A method for an image capturing system, wherein the image capturing system comprises an image capturing apparatus configured to transmit image data to an image receiving apparatus, wherein the image receiving apparatus is configured to receive the image data from the image capturing apparatus, wherein the method for the image capturing system comprises: a method for the image capturing apparatus which comprises a computer executing instructions that, when executed by the computer, cause the computer to perform the method for the image capturing apparatus, the method for the image capturing apparatus comprising: a receiving step of receiving a command designating a parameter value related to the image data; an image data generating step of generating the image data in accordance with a parameter value based on the command received in the receiving step; and a transmitting step of transmitting the image data generated in the image data generating step, wherein, a video source mode is settable to the image capturing apparatus, wherein, the video source mode defines at least a maximum value for a parameter of a first kind and a maximum value for a parameter of a second kind, wherein, an error response is not transmitted in the transmitting step in a state where a first video source mode is being set to the image capturing apparatus, if the parameter value designated by the command is not settable in the state and the parameter value designated by the command is the parameter value for the parameter of the first kind, wherein, in the transmitting step, an error response is transmitted in response to the command received in the receiving step in the state, if the parameter value designated by the command is not settable in the state and the parameter value designated by the command is the parameter value for the parameter of the second kind, and a method for the image receiving apparatus which comprises a computer executing instructions that, when executed by the computer, cause the computer to perform the method for the image receiving apparatus, the method for the image receiving apparatus comprising: a display control step of displaying a setting screen to a display unit, the setting screen being for designating the parameter value for the parameter of the first kind and the parameter value for the parameter of the second kind; and a transmitting step of transmitting a command designating a parameter value designated on the setting screen to the image capturing apparatus."],[" BACKGROUND "],[" SUMMARY OF INVENTION The present invention provides an image capturing technique that prevents the occurrence of mismatching in a combination of the resolution of image data to be generated by an image capturing unit and the resolution of a distribution image to be generated by a compression encoding unit, even when only one resolution is changed.","According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image capturing apparatus comprising: an encoding unit configured to perform encoding processing on an image output from an image capturing unit for obtaining an image; a communication unit configured to receive designation of a resolution of the encoding unit from an information processing apparatus; an obtaining unit configured to obtain a resolution which is associated with the resolution set for the image capturing unit, and is settable for the encoding unit; a determination unit configured to determine whether the designated resolution is the resolution obtained by the obtaining unit and settable for the encoding unit; and a transmission unit configured to transmit an error response to the information processing apparatus via the communication unit, if the determination unit determines that the designated resolution is not the resolution obtained by the obtaining unit and settable for the encoding unit.","According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a control method of an image capturing apparatus including an encoding unit configured to perform encoding processing on an image output from an image capturing unit for obtaining an image, comprising: a first communication step of receiving designation of a resolution of the encoding unit from an information processing apparatus; an obtaining step of obtaining a resolution which is associated with the resolution set for the image capturing unit, and is settable for the encoding unit; a determination step of determining whether the designated resolution is the resolution obtained in the obtaining step and settable for the encoding unit; and a transmission step of transmitting an error response to the information processing apparatus, if it is determined in the determination step that the designated resolution is not the resolution obtained in the obtaining step and settable for the encoding unit.","According to still another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a computer readable storage medium containing computer-executable instructions that control an image capturing apparatus including an encoding unit configured to perform encoding processing on an image output from an image capturing unit for obtaining an image, the medium comprising: computer-executable instructions that receive designation of a resolution of the encoding unit from an information processing apparatus; computer-executable instructions that obtain a resolution which is associated with the resolution set for the image capturing unit, and is settable for the encoding unit; computer-executable instructions that determine whether the designated resolution is the obtained resolution settable for the encoding unit; and computer-executable instructions that transmit an error response to the information processing apparatus, if it is determined that the designated resolution is not the obtained resolution settable for the encoding unit.","According to yet another aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image capturing system comprising an image capturing apparatus including an encoding unit configured to encode an image output from an image capturing unit for obtaining an image, and an information processing apparatus connected to the image capturing apparatus across a network, wherein the information processing apparatus comprises a generation unit configured to generate designation of a resolution of the encoding unit, and the image capturing apparatus comprises: a communication unit configured to receive the designation of the resolution of the encoding unit from the information processing apparatus; an obtaining unit configured to obtain a resolution which is associated with the resolution set for the image capturing unit, and is settable for the encoding unit; a determination unit configured to determine whether the designated resolution is the resolution obtained by the obtaining unit and settable for the encoding unit; and a transmission unit configured to transmit an error response to the information processing apparatus via the communication unit, if the determination unit determines that the designated resolution is not the resolution obtained by the obtaining unit and settable for the encoding unit.","Further features of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of exemplary embodiments (with reference to the attached drawings)."],["CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application is a Continuation of U.S. application Ser.","No.","15/432,759, filed Feb. 14, 2017, which is a Continuation of U.S. application Ser.","No.","14/646,330, filed May.","20, 2015, now U.S. Pat.","No.","9,609,198 B2, which is a National Stage filing of International Application No.","PCT/JP2013/081331 filed Nov. 14, 2013, which claims the benefit of priority from Japanese Patent Application No.","2012-256772 filed Nov. 22, 2012, the disclosures of each of which are hereby incorporated by reference herein in their entirety.","BACKGROUND Technical Field The present invention relates to an image capturing apparatus, an image capturing system, a control method of the image capturing apparatus, and a computer readable storage medium.","Background Art Conventionally, an image capturing apparatus for transmitting a captured image to a receiving apparatus includes commands for allowing an external apparatus to change the settings of the image capturing apparatus and designate the start of image distribution.","Known examples of these commands are those defined by standards formulated by the ONVIF (Open Network Video Interface Forum).","In the ONVIF specifications (http://www.onvif.org/specs/DocMap.html), commands formulated by the ONVIF are described.","The above-described commands include, for example, a command for changing, from an external apparatus, the resolution of image data to be generated by an image capturing unit of the image capturing apparatus.","The above-described commands also include a command for changing the resolution of a distribution image to be distributed to an external apparatus when the distribution image is generated by encoding image data generated by the image capturing unit.","For example, in the ONVIF standards, a SetVideoSourceMode command is defined as the former command, and a SetVideoEncoderConfiguration command is defined as the latter command.","Furthermore, in addition to the ONVIF standards, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No.","2005-323007 has disclosed an image capturing apparatus including a control unit for controlling the expansion and compression of a captured image.","Unfortunately, there is a problem that if only one of the resolution of image data to be generated by the image capturing unit and the resolution of a distribution image to be generated by a compression encoding unit is changed, mismatching occurs in a combination of the two resolutions and this makes the generation of the distribution image impossible in some cases.","Also, in a case like this, it is necessary to transmit a command for correctly changing the other resolution from an external apparatus to the image capturing apparatus, in order to cancel the mismatching and correctly generate the distribution image.","This complicates the user's operation.","Assume that the output resolution of the image capturing unit is 1,600×1,200 pixels (UXGA), and the output resolution of the compression encoding unit is 1,280×1,024 pixels (SXGA).","In this case, if the output resolution of the image capturing unit is changed to 1,024×768 (XGA), the compression encoding unit in which a higher output resolution is set may become unable to generate any distribution image.","Assume also that the output resolution of the image capturing unit is 1,600×1,200 pixels (resolution aspect ratio=4:3), and the output resolution of the compression encoding unit is 1,280×1,024 pixels (resolution aspect ratio=4:3).","In this case, if the output resolution of the image capturing unit is changed to 1,920×1,080 (full HD, resolution aspect ratio=16:9), the compression encoding unit in which a different resolution aspect ratio is set may become unable to generate any distribution image.","If this is the case, before obtaining a video stream from the image capturing unit, the user must change the output resolution of the compression encoding unit to a resolution, such as 1,024×768 (XGA) or 1,920×1,080 (resolution aspect ratio=16:9) , which matches the output resolution of the image capturing unit, and this complicates the operation.","SUMMARY OF INVENTION The present invention provides an image capturing technique that prevents the occurrence of mismatching in a combination of the resolution of image data to be generated by an image capturing unit and the resolution of a distribution image to be generated by a compression encoding unit, even when only one resolution is changed.","According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image capturing apparatus comprising: an encoding unit configured to perform encoding processing on an image output from an image capturing unit for obtaining an image; a communication unit configured to receive designation of a resolution of the encoding unit from an information processing apparatus; an obtaining unit configured to obtain a resolution which is associated with the resolution set for the image capturing unit, and is settable for the encoding unit; a determination unit configured to determine whether the designated resolution is the resolution obtained by the obtaining unit and settable for the encoding unit; and a transmission unit configured to transmit an error response to the information processing apparatus via the communication unit, if the determination unit determines that the designated resolution is not the resolution obtained by the obtaining unit and settable for the encoding unit.","According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a control method of an image capturing apparatus including an encoding unit configured to perform encoding processing on an image output from an image capturing unit for obtaining an image, comprising: a first communication step of receiving designation of a resolution of the encoding unit from an information processing apparatus; an obtaining step of obtaining a resolution which is associated with the resolution set for the image capturing unit, and is settable for the encoding unit; a determination step of determining whether the designated resolution is the resolution obtained in the obtaining step and settable for the encoding unit; and a transmission step of transmitting an error response to the information processing apparatus, if it is determined in the determination step that the designated resolution is not the resolution obtained in the obtaining step and settable for the encoding unit.","According to still another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a computer readable storage medium containing computer-executable instructions that control an image capturing apparatus including an encoding unit configured to perform encoding processing on an image output from an image capturing unit for obtaining an image, the medium comprising: computer-executable instructions that receive designation of a resolution of the encoding unit from an information processing apparatus; computer-executable instructions that obtain a resolution which is associated with the resolution set for the image capturing unit, and is settable for the encoding unit; computer-executable instructions that determine whether the designated resolution is the obtained resolution settable for the encoding unit; and computer-executable instructions that transmit an error response to the information processing apparatus, if it is determined that the designated resolution is not the obtained resolution settable for the encoding unit.","According to yet another aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image capturing system comprising an image capturing apparatus including an encoding unit configured to encode an image output from an image capturing unit for obtaining an image, and an information processing apparatus connected to the image capturing apparatus across a network, wherein the information processing apparatus comprises a generation unit configured to generate designation of a resolution of the encoding unit, and the image capturing apparatus comprises: a communication unit configured to receive the designation of the resolution of the encoding unit from the information processing apparatus; an obtaining unit configured to obtain a resolution which is associated with the resolution set for the image capturing unit, and is settable for the encoding unit; a determination unit configured to determine whether the designated resolution is the resolution obtained by the obtaining unit and settable for the encoding unit; and a transmission unit configured to transmit an error response to the information processing apparatus via the communication unit, if the determination unit determines that the designated resolution is not the resolution obtained by the obtaining unit and settable for the encoding unit.","Further features of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of exemplary embodiments (with reference to the attached drawings).","BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS FIGS.","1A and 1B are views showing examples of the arrangements of an image capturing apparatus and image capturing system; FIG.","2 is a view showing an example of the internal arrangement of the image capturing apparatus; FIG.","3 is a view showing an example of the structure of parameters held by the image capturing apparatus; FIG.","4 is a view showing an example of a table storing information for matching the settings of an image capturing unit of the image capturing apparatus with the settings of a compression encoding unit; FIG.","5A is a view showing an example of a command sequence from the start of setting of the image capturing apparatus to video distribution; FIG.","5B is a view showing an example of a command sequence when changing the output resolution of the image capturing unit of the image capturing apparatus; FIG.","5C is a view showing an example of a command sequence when changing the output resolution of the compression encoding unit of the image capturing apparatus; FIG.","6A is a view for explaining a procedure when the image capturing apparatus changes the settings of the image capturing unit; FIG.","6B is a view for explaining a procedure when the image capturing apparatus transmits a selectable set value to an information processing apparatus; FIG.","6C is a view for explaining a procedure when the image capturing apparatus changes the settings of the compression encoding unit; FIG.","6D is a view for explaining a procedure when the image capturing apparatus transmits a selectable set value to the information processing apparatus; FIG.","6E is a view for explaining a procedure when the image capturing apparatus changes the settings of the compression encoding unit; FIG.","7A is a view showing an example of a setting screen of a client apparatus; and FIG.","7B is a view showing another example of the setting screen of the client apparatus.","DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS Exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be explained in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.","However, constituent elements described in these embodiments are merely examples, and the technical scope of the present invention is determined by the scope of the appended claims, and is not limited by the following individual embodiments.","First Embodiment FIG.","1A is a view showing an example of a monitoring camera 1000 as an image capturing apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.","A mechanism 1101 is a mechanism for changing the direction of a lens in a panning direction, a mechanism 1102 is a mechanism for changing the lens direction in a tilting direction, and a mechanism 1103 is a mechanism for changing zooming.","FIG.","1B is a view showing an example of the configuration of an image capturing system including the monitoring camera 1000.A client apparatus 2000 (an information processing apparatus) as an external apparatus is connected to the monitoring camera 1000 across a network 1500 so as to be able to communicate with the monitoring camera 1000.The client apparatus 2000 transmits various commands such as a command for changing image capturing parameters (to be described later), a command for driving a platform, and a command for starting video streaming to the monitoring camera 1000.The monitoring camera 1000 transmits responses to these commands and video streaming to the client apparatus 2000.FIG.","2 is a view showing an example of the internal arrangement of the monitoring camera 1000 (the image capturing apparatus).","Referring to FIG.","2, a control unit 1001 is a CPU or the like, and controls the whole monitoring camera 1000.A storage unit 1002 is used as various data storage areas such as a storage area for programs to be mainly executed by the control unit 1001, a work area to be used while the programs are executed, and a storage area for image data generated by an image capturing unit 1003 (to be described below).","The image capturing unit 1003 converts an analog signal obtained by capturing an object image into digital data, and outputs the data as a captured image (image data) to the storage unit 1002.The resolution and frame rate of the image data output from the image capturing unit 1003 can be changed by a SetVideoSourceMode command (to be described later).","A compression encoding unit 1004 generates image data by performing compression encoding processing on the captured image output from the image capturing 1003 based on a format such as Motion JPEG or H.264, and outputs the generated image data to the storage unit 1002.The types of the resolution (distribution resolution) of the image data output from the compression encoding unit 1004 have a dependency relationship as shown in FIG.","4 (to be described later) with each mode of the image capturing unit 1003.A communication unit 1005 receives each control command from the external apparatus (client apparatus 2000).","Also, the communication unit 1005 transmits a response to each control command to the external apparatus (client apparatus 2000).","Furthermore, the communication unit 1005 receives first designation for setting the resolution of the image capturing unit 1003, or second designation for setting the resolution of the compression encoding unit 1004.When the setting of one resolution is to be changed to a different resolution setting by the first or second designation, the control unit 1001 changes the setting of the other resolution to a resolution matching the setting of one resolution.","This resolution changing process will be explained in detail later with reference to FIGS.","6A, 6C, and 6E.","An image capturing control unit 1006 controls the tilting mechanism 1101, panning mechanism 1102, and zooming mechanism 1103 in response to the values of a panning angle, tilting angle, and zooming magnification input from the control unit 1001.Also, the image capturing control unit 1006 provides the current panning angle value, tilting angle value, and zooming magnification value of the monitoring camera 1000, in accordance with an inquiry from the control unit 1001.The internal arrangement of the monitoring camera 1000 has been explained above with reference to FIG.","2.However, the processing blocks shown in FIG.","2 are exemplary blocks, so the arrangement of the image capturing apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention is not limited to the processing blocks shown in FIG.","2.For example, it is also possible to use a voice input unit in addition to the processing blocks shown in FIG.","2, or exclude the image capturing control unit therefrom, that is, various modifications and changes can be made.","Next, the names and contents of commands, parameters, and the like used in this embodiment will be explained.","FIG.","3 shows the structure of parameters held by the monitoring camera 1000 (the image capturing apparatus) in this embodiment.","A MediaProfile 6100 is a parameter set for storing various setting items of the monitoring camera by associating them with each other.","The MediaProfile 6100 holds links to various setting items including a ProfileToken as the ID (identification information) of the MediaProfile 6100, a VideoSourceConfiguration 6102, a VideoEncoderConfiguration 6103, a PTZConfiguration 6104, and a voice encoder.","A VideoSource 6101 is a set of parameters indicating the performance of the image capturing unit 1003 of the monitoring camera.","The VideoSource 6101 includes a VideoSourceToken as the ID of the VideoSource 6101, and Resolution indicating the resolution of image data which the image capturing unit 1003 can output.","The VideoSource 6101 can switch to a plurality of other VideoSourceModes (operation modes) that support different Resolutions, in accordance with a SetVideoSourceMode command (to be described later).","The VideoSourceConfiguration 6102 is a set of parameters for associating the VideoSource 6101 of the monitoring camera 1000 with the MediaProfile 6100.The VideoSourceConfiguration 6102 includes Bounds that designate a portion to be cut out, as a distribution image, from image data output from the VideoSource 6101.The VideoEncoderConfiguration 6103 is a set of parameters for associating the settings of an encoder (the compression encoding unit 1004) pertaining to image data compression encoding with the MediaProfile 6100.The compression encoding unit 1004 of the monitoring camera 1000 compression-encodes image data output based on the contents of the VideoSource 6101 and VideoSourceConfiguration 6102.The compression encoding unit 1004 of the monitoring camera 1000 compression-encodes image data output from the image capturing unit 1003, in accordance with a parameter such as the compression encoding scheme (for example, JPEG or H.264) set in VideoEncoderConfiguration 6103, the frame rate, or resolution.","The monitoring camera 1000 distributes the compression-encoded image data to the client apparatus 2000 via the communication unit 1005.The VideoEncoderConfiguration 6103 includes a VideoEncoderConfigurationToken as the ID (identification information) of the VideoEncoderConfiguration 6103.The VideoEncoderConfiguration 6103 also includes Encoding for designating a compression encoding scheme, a Resolution for designating the resolution of an output image, and a Quality for designating the compression encoding quality.","Furthermore, the VideoEncoderConfiguration 6103 includes FramerateLimit for designating the maximum frame rate of an output image, and BitrateLimit for designating the maximum bit rate.","The PTZConfiguration 6104 is a set of parameters for associating the settings of the panning mechanism 1101, tilting mechanism 1102, and zooming mechanism 1103 of the monitoring camera 1000 with the MediaProfile 6100.The PTZConfiguration 6104 contains information pertaining to a coordinate system for expressing actual panning/tilting angle values and an actual zooming magnification value in the panning mechanism, tilting mechanism, and zooming mechanism.","A table shown in FIG.","4 contains information of a plurality of choices for matching the settings of the image capturing unit 1003 with those of the compression encoding unit 1004.This table shown in FIG.","4 indicates the setting contents of VideoSourceModes supported by the monitoring camera 1000, and the setting contents of the VideoEncoderConfigurations 6103 matching the VideoSourceModes.","The table shown in FIG.","4 is prestored in the storage unit 1002 of the monitoring camera 1000, and referred to by the control unit 1001 any time.","The table shown in FIG.","4 need not always be prestored in the storage unit 1002, and may also obtain necessary data by referring to a database of the external apparatus via the communication unit 1005.A VideoSourceMode 4000 indicates the management number of a VideoSourceMode to be used in internal processing by the monitoring camera 1000.In this embodiment, the monitoring camera 1000 supports three VideoSourceModes S1, S2, and S3.A Resolution 4001 is the parameter value of the Resolution of each VideoSourceMode (S1, S2, or S3), and indicates the resolution of image data generated by the image capturing unit 1003.A Framerate 4002 is the parameter value of the frame rate of each VideoSourceMode, and indicates the frame rate of image data to be generated by the image capturing unit 1003.Items from Encoding 4003 to FramerateLimit 4006 are choices of the parameters of the VideoEncoderConfiguration 6103 which match when the VideoSource 6101 is each VideoSourceMode.","The Encoding 4003 indicates a choice of a compression encoding scheme in the VideoEncoderConfiguration, which matches the VideoSourceMode.","The Resolution Choice 4004 indicates the management number of the resolution of the compression-encoded output image in the VideoEncoderConfiguration, which is to be used in the internal processing of the monitoring camera 1000.In this embodiment, the monitoring camera 1000 supports four resolutions E1 to E4.The Resolution 4005 is the parameter value of the resolution of the VideoEncoderConfiguration, which matches each VideoSourceMode.","This set value determines the resolution of a distribution image to be output from the compression encoding unit 1004.The FramerateLimit 4006 (the frame rate limit) indicates the maximum value of the frame rate in the VideoEncoderConfiguration, which matches each VideoSourceMode.","FIG.","5A shows a command sequence from setting start to video distribution between the monitoring camera 1000 and client apparatus 2000.Transaction means a pair of a command to be transmitted from the client apparatus 2000 to the monitoring camera 1000, and a response to be returned from the monitoring camera 1000 to the client apparatus 2000.A transaction 7100 is the transaction of a GetVideoSourceConfigurations command.","By this command, the client apparatus 2000 obtains a list of the VideoSourceConfigurations 6102 held by the monitoring camera 1000.A transaction 7101 is the transaction of a GetVideoEncoderConfigurations command.","By this command, the client apparatus 2000 obtains a list of the VideoEncoderConfigurations 6103 held by the monitoring camera 1000.A transaction 7102 is the transaction of a GetConfigurations command.","By this command, the client apparatus 2000 obtains a list of the PTZConfigurations 6104 held by the monitoring camera 1000.A transaction 7103 is the transaction of a CreateProfile command.","By this command, the client apparatus 2000 causes the monitoring camera 1000 to form a new MediaProfile 6100, and obtains its Profiletoken.","A transaction 7104 is the transaction of an AddVideoSourceConfiguration command, and a transaction 7105 is the transaction of an AddVideoEncoderConfiguration command.","A transaction 7108 is each transaction of an AddPTZConfiguration command.","By designating the ID in these commands, the client apparatus 2000 can associate a desired VideoSourceConfiguration, desired VideoEncoderConfiguration, and desired PTZConfiguration with the designated MediaProfile.","A transaction 7106 is the transaction of a GetVideoEncoderConfigurationOptions command.","By this command, the client apparatus 2000 obtains the choices or set value range of each parameter acceptable by the monitoring camera 1000, in the VideoEncoderConfiguration designated by the ID.","A transaction 7107 is the transaction of a SetVideoEncoderConfiguration command.","By this command, the client apparatus 2000 sets each parameter of the VideoEncoderConfiguration 6103.A transaction 7109 is the transaction of a GetStreamUri command.","By this command, the client apparatus 2000 obtains an address (URI) with which the monitoring camera 1000 obtains a distribution stream based on the settings of the designated MediaProfile.","A transaction 7110 is the transaction of a Describe command.","By executing this command by using the URI obtained in the transaction 7109, the client apparatus 2000 requests and obtains information of contents to be distributed by a stream by the monitoring camera 1000.A transaction 7111 is the transaction of a Setup command.","By executing this command by using the URI obtained in the transaction 7109, the client apparatus 2000 and monitoring camera 1000 share a stream transmission method including the session number.","A transaction 7112 is the transaction of a Play command.","By executing this command by using the session number obtained in the transaction 7111, the client apparatus 2000 requests the monitoring camera 1000 to start streaming.","In a distribution stream 7113, the monitoring camera 1000 distributes a stream requested to be started in the transaction 7112 by the transmission method shared in the transaction 7111.A transaction 7114 is the transaction of a Teardown command.","By executing this command by using the session number obtained in the transaction 7111, the client apparatus 2000 requests the monitoring camera 1000 to stop the stream.","FIG.","5B shows a command sequence when the setting change of the image capturing unit 1003, which includes changing of the output resolution, is performed between the monitoring camera 1000 and client apparatus 2000.A transaction 7200 is the transaction of a GetVideoSourceMode command.","The GetVideoSourceMode command is a command for returning a list of VideoSourceModes supported by the VideoSource 6101 having the ID designated by the client apparatus 2000.When receiving the GetVideoSourceMode command, the control unit 1001 of the monitoring camera 1000 obtains the parameters of the VideoSourceModes S1 to S3 saved in the storage unit 1002 and shown in FIG.","4, and returns the parameters to the client apparatus 2000 via the communication unit 1005.A transaction 7201 is the transaction of a SetVideoSourceMode command.","The SetVideoSourceMode command is a command for designating changing of the VideoSourceMode of the VideoSource 6101 designated by the client apparatus 2000.Transactions 7109 to 7112 and a distribution stream 7113 are the same as those shown in FIG.","5A.","FIG.","5C shows a typical command sequence when changing the output resolution of the compression encoding unit 1004 between the monitoring camera 1000 and client apparatus 2000.Transactions 7101, 7106, 7107, and 7109 to 7113 are the same as those of the command sequence shown in FIG.","5A.","FIG.","6A is a view showing processing when the monitoring camera 1000 has received the above-described SetVideoSourceMode command (transaction 7201) from the client apparatus 2000.In step S1000, the control unit 1001 stops a video stream currently being distributed via the communication unit 1005.In step S1001, the control unit 1001 determines whether the input VideoSourceMode is S1, S2, or S3, obtains the set value of the corresponding VideoSourceMode, and sets the set value in the image capturing unit 1003.In step S1002, the control unit 1001 determines whether the set value of the resolution (Resolution) of each VideoEncoderConfiguration stored in the storage unit 1002 is E1, E2, E3, or E4.The control unit 1001 sets, in the VideoEncoderConfiguration, the resolution matching the VideoSourceMode determined in step S1001 and having the same management number.","That is, if the resolution of the VideoEncoderConfiguration is 1,920×1,080=E2 before command reception when the VideoSourceMode of the VideoSource 6101 is changed from S1 to S2, the resolution is changed to 2,048×1,536 as the resolution of E2 matching S2 by the reception of this command.","In step S1003, the control unit 1001 sets an Enable flag corresponding to the VideoSourceMode determined in step S1001 to “True”, and sets enable flags corresponding to other VideoSourceModes to “False”.","In step S1004, the control unit 1001 transmits a normal response to the client apparatus 2000.FIG.","6B shows processing when the monitoring camera 1000 has received a GetVideoEncoderConfigurationOption command (the transaction 7106) from the client apparatus 2000.In step S1100, the control unit 1001 obtains the set value of the VideoSourceMode currently set in the VideoSource 6101, and determines whether the set value is S1, S2, or S3.In steps S1101, S1102, and S1103, the control unit 1001 refers to the table shown in FIG.","4 which is stored in the storage unit 1002, and obtains a selectable set value (choice) matching the current VideoSourceMode.","The control unit 1001 obtains the choices E1 to E4 of the resolution of the VideoEncoderConfiguration, the choices of the Encoding, and the FramerateLimit as the maximum frame rate.","For example, when the set value of the current VideoSourceMode is S3, the control unit 1001 obtains 800×600 (E1) , 640×480 (E2) , 320×240 (E3), and 176×144 (E4) as the choices of the Resolution.","Also, the control unit 1001 obtains H.264 and MotionJPEG as the choices of the Encoding, and 30 fps as the FramerateLimit.","In step S1104, the control unit 1001 obtains the choices and setting range of the VideoEncoderConfiguration independent of the current VideoSourceMode from the storage unit 1002.For example, the control unit 1001 obtains 1 to 5 as the settable range of the Quality, and 60 Mbps as the set value of the BitrateLimit.","In step S1105, the control unit 1001 transmits a normal response containing the choices and setting ranges obtained in steps S1101 to S1104 to the client apparatus 2000 via the communication unit 1005.FIG.","6C shows processing when the monitoring camera 1000 has received the above-described SetVideoEncoderConfiguration command (transaction 7107) from the client apparatus 2000.Insteps S1200, S1201, and S1202, the control unit 1001 determines whether the set value input to the received SetVideoEncoderConfiguration matches the current VideoSourceMode.","The control unit 1001 refers to the table shown in FIG.","4 which is stored in the storage unit 1002, and determines whether the Resolution, Encoding, and FramerateLimit input to the received SetVideoEncoderConfiguration match the current VideoSourceMode.","If even one parameter does not match, the control unit 1001 advances the process to step S1210.In step S1210, the control unit 1001 transmits an error response to the client apparatus 2000 via the communication unit 1005.On the other hand, in step S1203, the control unit 1001 stores the set values of the VideoEncoderConfiguration including the Quality, BitrateLimit, Encoding, FramerateLimit, and Resolution in the storage unit 1002, and sets them in the compression encoding unit 1004.In step S1204, the control unit 1001 transmits a normal response to the client apparatus 2000.FIG.","7A is a view showing an example of a setting screen of the client apparatus 2000, in which the VideoSourceMode and VideoEncoderConfiguration of the monitoring camera 1000 according to this embodiment are set.","When the setting screen shown in FIG.","7A is opened, the client apparatus 2000 executes the sequence shown in FIG.","5A, and displays a video stream obtained in the transaction 7113 in a LiveView area 9000 (a display area).","An area 9001 is a VideoSourceMode selection area.","The client apparatus 2000 displays, in this area, a list of VideoSourceModes obtained by the transaction 7200 of the GetVideoSourceMode command executed when this setting screen is opened, so that the user can select a mode as indicated by reference numeral 9002.If a VideoSourceMode different from the current setting is selected in this area, the client apparatus 2000 executes the SetVideoSourceMode command, and changes the VideoSourceMode of the monitoring camera 1000.In this state, the client apparatus 2000 executes the transactions shown in FIG.","5B, and displays a video stream having the new settings in the LiveView area 9000 (the display area).","In addition, the client apparatus 2000 executes the GetVideoEncoderConfigurationOptions command, and updates the choices and setting ranges of the individual parameters of the VideoEncoder in this screen by using the obtained results.","Accordingly, the client apparatus 2000 can always provide the user with the choices and setting ranges of the set values of the VideoEncoderConfiguration matching the VideoSourceMode.","Setting screen switching sections 9003 and 9004 are tabs for switching VideoEncoder setting screens for allowing the user to change the set values of the VideoEncoderConfiguration 6103 of the monitoring camera 1000.The number of tabs is two (the setting screen switching sections 9003 and 9004) in this embodiment, but it is also possible to display tabs equal in number to the VideoEncoderConfigurations 6103 obtained by the GetVideoEncoderConfigurations command and supported by the monitoring camera 1000.An area 9005 is an area for allowing the user to select the compression encoding scheme of each VideoEncoderConfiguration.","The GetVideoEncoderConfigurationOptions command is executed when the setting screen is opened, or when a new VideoSourceMode is selected in the VideoSourceMode selection area.","The area 9005 displays the choices of encoding obtained by the GetVideoEncoderConfigurationOptions command.","A choice 9006 indicates currently selectable Encoding, and a choice 9007 indicates currently unselectable Encoding.","An area 9008 is a Detail area for allowing the user to select the FramerateLimit, BitrateLimit, and Quality included in the VideoEncoderConfiguration 6103.The GetVideoEncoderConfigurationOptions command is executed when the setting screen shown in FIG.","7A is opened, or when a new VideoSourceMode is selected in the VideoSourceMode selection area.","The contents of the setting ranges obtained by the GetVideoEncoderConfigurationOptions command are reflected in setting ranges 9009, 9010, and 9011.An area 9012 is an area for selecting the resolution of the VideoEncoderConfiguration 6103.The GetVideoEncoderConfigurationOptions command is executed when the setting screen shown in FIG.","7A is opened, or when a new VideoSourceMode is selected in the VideoSourceMode selection area.","The contents of the choices of the Resolution parameter obtained by the GetVideoEncoderConfigurationOptions command are displayed in a dropdown list 9013.When the user presses an apply button 9014, the client apparatus 2000 transmits the SetVideoEncoderConfiguration command to the monitoring camera 1000.The parameters selected in the areas 9005, 9008, and 9012 are reflected in the compression encoding unit 1004 of the monitoring camera 1000.When the VideoSourceMode is changed by the client apparatus 2000, the monitoring camera 1000 can maintain the contents of choices provided by the setting contents of the VideoEncoderConfiguration and by the VideoEncoderConfigurationOptions command, as contents matching the VideoSourceMode.","Accordingly, when obtaining a distribution image after changing the VideoSourceMode, the client apparatus 2000 need not change the setting contents of the VideoEncoderConfiguration to contents matching the VideoSourceMode.","That is, even when the resolution of image data to be generated by the image capturing unit 1003 of the monitoring camera 1000 is changed, it is possible to prevent the occurrence of mismatching in various settings including the resolution of a distribution image to be generated by the compression encoding unit 1004.It is also possible to easily generate a distribution image after the resolution is changed.","Second Embodiment In the first embodiment, the arrangement in which the contents of choices provided by the setting contents of the VideoEncoderConfiguration and by the VideoEncoderConfigurationOptions command are changed to contents matching the VideoSourceMode has been explained.","In this arrangement of the first embodiment, the types of the choices of the resolution of the compression encoding unit provided by the GetVideoEncoderConfigurationOptions command are not limited to those matching the VideoSourceMode.","It is also possible to always provide all choices of the resolution to the client apparatus 2000 by the GetVideoEncoderConfigurationOptions command.","In accordance with a new set value set in the compression encoding unit 1004 by the client apparatus 2000 by using the SetVideoEncoderConfiguration command, the monitoring camera 1000 may also internally switch the VideoSourceMode to a mode matching the new set value.","The second embodiment of the present invention taking this point into consideration will be explained below.","Note that an explanation of the same portions as those of the first embodiment will be omitted.","FIG.","6D is a view showing processing when a monitoring camera 1000 has received the GetVideoSourceConfigurationOptions command from a client apparatus 2000.In step S1300, a control unit 1001 refers to the table shown in FIG.","4 which is stored in a storage unit 1002, and obtains all possible choices of the resolution of the VideoEncoderConfiguration.","That is, the control unit 1001 obtains E1 to E4 in S1, E1 to E4 in S2, and E1 to E4 in S3 as choices.","In step S1301, the control unit 1001 refers to the table shown FIG.","4 which is stored in the storage unit 1002, and obtains all possible choices of the compression encoding scheme of the VideoEncoderConfiguration.","That is, the control unit 1001 obtains MotionJPEG and H.264 as choices.","In step S1302, the control unit 1001 refers to the table shown in FIG.","4 which is stored in the storage unit 1002, and obtains the maximum one of possible values of the FramerateLimit of the VideoEncoderConfiguration.","That is, the control unit 1001 obtains 30 fps as the maximum value of the FramerateLimit.","In step S1303, the control unit 1001 obtains the choices and setting range of the VideoEncoderConfiguration independent of the current VideoSourceMode from the storage unit 1002.For example, the control unit 1001 obtains 1 to 5 as the settable range of the Quality, and 60 Mbps as the set value of the BitrateLimit.","In step S1304, the control unit 1001 transmits a normal response containing the choices and setting range obtained in steps S1300 to S1303 to the client apparatus 2000 via a communication unit 1005.FIG.","6E is a view showing processing when the monitoring camera 1000 has received the above-described SetVideoEncoderConfiguration command from the client apparatus 2000.In step S1400, the control unit 1001 refers to the table shown in FIG.","4 which is stored in the storage unit 1002, and determines whether the resolution set in the received SetVideoEncoderConfiguration command matches the current VideoSourceMode.","If the resolution matches the mode (Yes in step S1400), the control unit 1001 advances the process to step S1201.If the resolution does not match the mode (No in step S1400), the control unit 1001 advances the process to step S1410.In step S1410, the control unit 1001 refers to the table shown in FIG.","4 which is stored in the storage unit 1002, and switches the current VideoSourceMode to a VideoSourceMode having a matched input resolution.","For example, when 640×480 is input as a Resolution to this command while the VideoSourceMode is S1, the VideoSourceMode is switched to S3 matching this resolution.","When the resolution is changed to a resolution different from the setting of an image capturing unit (the resolution of the VideoSourceMode) by the command for setting the resolution of the encoding unit (the resolution of a distribution image), the control unit 1001 changes the setting of the resolution of the image capturing unit to a resolution matching the resolution of the encoding unit.","Processes in steps S1201 to S1204 and S1210 are the same as those shown in FIG.","6C.","FIG.","7B is a view showing an example of a setting screen of the client apparatus 2000 in which the VideoSourceMode and VideoEncoderConfiguration of the monitoring camera 1000 according to this embodiment are set.","An area 9012 is an area for selecting the resolution of a VideoEncoderConfiguration 6103.The GetVideoEncoderConfigurationOptions command is executed when the setting screen shown in FIG.","7B is opened.","A dropdown list 9100 displays the contents of the choices of a Resolution parameter obtained by the GetVideoEncoderConfigurationOptions command.","As shown in FIG.","6D, the monitoring camera 1000 according to this embodiment provides all resolutions obtained from the table shown in FIG.","4 as choices.","Therefore, the dropdown list 9100 displays all the resolutions.","The monitoring camera 1000 provides the client apparatus 2000 with all possible setting contents of the VideoEncoderConfiguration as choices, regardless of the VideoSourceMode.","If a parameter of the VideoEncoderConfiguration not matching the current VideoSourceMode, which includes the resolution of a compression encoding unit 1004, is designated, it is possible to internally switch to a matching VideoSourceMode.","Accordingly, when obtaining a distribution image after the parameter of the VideoEncoderConfiguration is changed, the client apparatus 2000 need not change the setting contents of the VideoSourceMode to contents matching the VideoEncoderConfiguration.","That is, even when various settings including the resolution of a distribution image to be generated by the compression encoding unit 1004 are changed, it is possible to prevent the occurrence of mismatching in the resolution of image data to be generated by an image capturing unit 1003.It is also possible to facilitate generating a distribution image after the resolution is changed.","The operations of the monitoring camera, application program, and client apparatus according to the present invention have been disclosed in the first and second embodiments.","However, the spirit and scope of the invention are not limited to the above-described embodiments, and partially changeable.","For example, in step S1002 of FIG.","6A, the set values of the Resolutions of the VideoEncoderConfigurations are uniformly changed to a resolution having the same management number matching the VideoSourceMode.","However, the spirit and scope of the present invention are not limited to this.","For example, of the Resolutions of the VideoEncoderConfigurations, a Resolution that keeps matching before and after the VideoSourceMode is changed can also be kept used after the VideoSourceMode is changed.","Also, all possible choices of the resolution of the VideoEncoderConfiguration are provided in step S1300 of FIG.","6D, but the spirit and scope of the present invention are not limited to this.","For example, it is also possible to provide only a resolution matching the current VideoSourceMode as a choice, only when a video stream having a given resolution has already been distributed from the monitoring camera 1000.Furthermore, all possible compression encoding schemes of the VideoEncoderConfiguration are obtained as choices in step S1301 of FIG.","6D, but the present invention is not limited to this.","It is also possible to obtain only choices of compression encoding schemes matching all VideoSourceModes.","This makes it possible to reduce the choice providing range, and prevent the SetVideoEncoderConfiguration command from designating compression encoding that does not match the VideoSourceMode selected at that point of time in step S1201.In addition, the maximum one of all possible values of the FramerateLimit of the VideoEncoderConfiguration is obtained in step S1302 of FIG.","6D, but the present invention is not limited to this.","For example, it is also possible to obtain the maximum FramerateLimit matching all VideoSourceModes.","This makes it possible to reduce the choice providing range, and prevent the SetVideoEncoderConfiguration command from designating a FramerateLimit that does not match the VideoSourceMode selected at that point of time in step S1201.Also, in step S1410 of FIG.","6E, VideoSourceModes are selectively switched based on the setting of the resolution of the SetVideoEncoderConfiguration command.","However, the spirit and scope of the present invention are not limited to this.","That is, a plurality of matching VideoSourceModes may exist.","Accordingly, it is also possible to select the most matching VideoSourceMode based not only on the resolution but also on a plurality of other settings of the compression encoding unit, such as the compression encoding scheme and FramerateLimit.","In the present invention as described above, even when only one of the resolution of image data to be generated by the image capturing unit and the resolution of a distribution image to be generated by the compression encoding unit is changed, it is possible to prevent the occurrence of mismatching in a combination of these resolutions.","Other Embodiments Embodiments of the present invention can also be realized by a computer of a system or apparatus that reads out and executes computer executable instructions recorded on a storage medium (for example, non-transitory computer-readable storage medium) to perform the functions of one or more of the above-described embodiment (s) of the present invention, and by a method performed by the computer of the system or apparatus by, for example, reading out and executing the computer executable instructions from the storage medium to perform the functions of one or more of the above-described embodiment (s).","The computer may comprise one or more of a central processing unit (CPU), micro processing unit (MPU), or other circuitry, and may include a network of separate computers or separate computer processors.","The computer executable instructions may be provided to the computer, for example, from a network or the storage medium.","The storage medium may include, for example, one or more of a hard disk, a random-access memory (RAM) , a read only memory (ROM), a storage of distributed computing systems, an optical disk (such as a compact disc (CD) , digital versatile disc (DVD), or Blu-ray Disc (BD)™), a flash memory device, a memory card, and the like.","While the present invention has been described with reference to exemplary embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed exemplary embodiments.","The scope of the following claims is to be accorded the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and equivalent structures and functions."]],"string":"[\n [\n \"IMAGE CAPTURING APPARATUS, IMAGE CAPTURING SYSTEM, CONTROL METHOD OF IMAGE CAPTURING APPARATUS, AND COMPUTER READABLE STORAGE MEDIUM\",\n \"An image capturing apparatus includes: an encoding unit configured to perform encoding processing on an image output from an image capturing unit for obtaining an image; a communication unit configured to receive designation of a resolution of the encoding unit from an information processing apparatus; an obtaining unit configured to obtain a resolution which is associated with the resolution set for the image capturing unit, and is settable for the encoding unit; a determination unit configured to determine whether the designated resolution is the resolution obtained by the obtaining unit and settable for the encoding unit; and a transmission unit configured to transmit an error response to the information processing apparatus, if the determination unit determines that the designated resolution is not the resolution obtained by the obtaining unit and settable for the encoding unit.\"\n ],\n [\n \"1.An image capturing apparatus comprising: a computer executing instructions that, when executed by the computer, cause the computer to function as: a receiving control unit configured to control a receiving unit which receives, from an external apparatus, a command designating a parameter value related to image data; and a transmitting control unit configured to control a transmitting unit which transmits a response to the external apparatus in response to the command received by the receiving unit, wherein a video source mode is settable to the image capturing apparatus, wherein the video source mode defines at least a maximum value for a parameter of a first kind and a maximum value for a parameter of a second kind, wherein, an error response is not transmitted to the external apparatus from the transmitting unit in a state where a first video source mode is being set to the image capturing apparatus, if the parameter value designated by the command is not settable in the state and the parameter value designated by the command is the parameter value for the parameter of the first kind, and wherein the transmitting control unit is configured to cause the transmitting unit to transmit an error response to the external apparatus in response to the command received by the receiving unit in the state, if the parameter value designated by the command is not settable in the state and the parameter value designated by the command is the parameter value for the parameter of the second kind.\",\n \"2.The image capturing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the video source mode is related to a video source configuration and a video encoder configuration.\",\n \"3.The image capturing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the video source mode includes information defining a plurality of parameters including resolution.\",\n \"4.The image capturing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the transmitting control unit is configured not to cause the transmitting unit to transmit the error response to the external apparatus, if the receiving unit receives a command related to a predetermined parameter among the plurality of parameters from the external apparatus.\",\n \"5.The image capturing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the plurality of parameters further include at least one of a frame rate and an encoding method.\",\n \"6.The image capturing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a control unit configured to change a setting of the image capturing apparatus from the first video source mode to a second video source mode in which the parameter value designated by the command is settable, if the parameter value designated by the command is not settable in the state and the parameter value designated by the command is the parameter value for the parameter of the first kind.\",\n \"7.The image capturing apparatus according to claim 6, wherein a setting of the image capturing apparatus is not changed from the first video source mode to the second video source mode, if the parameter value designated by the command is not settable in the state and the parameter value designated by the command is the parameter value for the parameter of the second kind.\",\n \"8.The image capturing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the parameter of the first kind is a parameter of resolution.\",\n \"9.The image capturing apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the resolution is a number of pixels.\",\n \"10.The image capturing apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the resolution is indicated by a number of pixels in width and a number of pixels in height.\",\n \"11.The image capturing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the parameter of the first kind is a parameter of a frame rate.\",\n \"12.The image capturing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the parameter of the second kind is a parameter of a frame rate.\",\n \"13.The image capturing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the parameter of the second kind is a parameter of an encoding method.\",\n \"14.The image capturing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a determination unit configured to determine, based on the video source mode being set to the image capturing apparatus, whether the parameter value designated by the command is settable to the image capturing apparatus.\",\n \"15.The image capturing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the parameter value designated by the command is a parameter value of a video encoder configuration.\",\n \"16.The image capturing apparatus according to claim 1, the instructions that, when executed by the computer, cause the computer to further function as an image data generating unit configured to generate image data in accordance with a parameter value based on the command received by the receiving unit, and wherein the transmitting control unit is configured to cause the transmitting unit to transmit the image data generated by the image data generating unit.\",\n \"17.The image capturing apparatus according to claim 16, wherein the transmitting control unit is configured to cause the transmitting unit to transmit the image data to the external apparatus via a network.\",\n \"18.The image capturing apparatus according to claim 17, wherein the image data generating unit includes a generation unit configured to generate image data based on a video source configuration.\",\n \"19.The image capturing apparatus according to claim 17, wherein the image data generating unit includes an encoding unit configured to encode image data based on a video encoder configuration, and wherein the transmitting control unit is configured to cause the transmitting unit to transmit encoded image data.\",\n \"20.The image capturing apparatus according to claim 16, wherein the image data generating unit is capable of generating image data by using H.264, in the state where the first video source mode is being set to the image capturing apparatus.\",\n \"21.The image capturing apparatus according to claim 16, wherein the image data generating unit is capable of generating image data by using Motion JPEG, in the state where the first video source mode is being set to the image capturing apparatus.\",\n \"22.The image capturing apparatus according to claim 16, wherein the image data generating unit is capable of generating image data in which resolution is greater than or equal to 960×540 pixels, in the state where the first video source mode is being set to the image capturing apparatus.\",\n \"23.The image capturing apparatus according to claim 16, wherein the image data generating unit is capable of generating image data in which resolution is greater than or equal to 176×144 pixels, in the state where the first video source mode is being set to the image capturing apparatus.\",\n \"24.The image capturing apparatus according to claim 16, wherein the image data generating unit is capable of generating image data in which a frame rate is 20 fps, in the state where the first video source mode is being set to the image capturing apparatus.\",\n \"25.The image capturing apparatus according to claim 16, wherein the image data generating unit is capable of generating image data in which a frame rate is 30 fps, in the state where the first video source mode is being set to the image capturing apparatus.\",\n \"26.The image capturing apparatus according to claim 16, wherein the image data generating unit is capable of generating image data in which resolution is greater than or equal to 960×540 pixels by using H.264, in the state where the first video source mode is being set to the image capturing apparatus.\",\n \"27.The image capturing apparatus according to claim 16, wherein the image data generating unit is capable of generating image data in which resolution is greater than or equal to 960×540 pixels and a frame rate is 20 fps by using H.264, in the state where the first video source mode is being set to the image capturing apparatus.\",\n \"28.The image capturing apparatus according to claim 16, wherein the image data generating unit is capable of generating image data in which resolution is greater than or equal to 960×540 pixels and a frame rate is 30 fps by using H.264, in the state where the first video source mode is being set to the image capturing apparatus.\",\n \"29.A method for an image capturing apparatus which comprises a computer executing instructions that, when executed by the computer, cause the computer to perform the method, the method comprising: a receiving step of receiving, from an external apparatus, a command designating a parameter value related to image data; and a transmitting step of transmitting a response to the external apparatus in response to the command received in the receiving step, wherein a video source mode is settable to the image capturing apparatus, wherein the video source mode defines at least a maximum value for a parameter of a first kind and a maximum value for a parameter of a second kind, wherein, an error response is not transmitted to the external apparatus in the transmitting step in a state where a first video source mode is being set to the image capturing apparatus, if the parameter value designated by the command is not settable in the state and the parameter value designated by the command is the parameter value for the parameter value of the first kind, and wherein, in the transmitting step, an error response is transmitted to the external apparatus in response to the command received in the receiving step in the state, if the parameter value designated by the command is not settable in the state and the parameter value designated by the command is the parameter value for the parameter for the second kind.\",\n \"30.An image capturing system comprising: an image capturing apparatus configured to transmit image data to an image receiving apparatus, wherein the image receiving apparatus is configured to receive the image data from the image capturing apparatus, wherein the image capturing apparatus comprises a computer executing instructions that, when executed by the computer, cause the computer to function as: a receiving control unit configured to control a receiving unit which receives a command designating a parameter value related to the image data; an image data generating unit configured to generate the image data in accordance with a parameter value based on the command received by the receiving unit; and a transmitting control unit configured to control a transmitting unit which transmits the image data generated by the image data generating unit, wherein, a video source mode is settable to the image capturing apparatus, wherein, the video source mode defines at least a maximum value for a parameter of a first kind and a maximum value for a parameter of a second kind, wherein, an error response is not transmitted from the transmitting unit in a state where a first video source mode is being set to the image capturing apparatus, if the parameter value designated by the command is not settable in the state and the parameter value designated by the command is the parameter value for the parameter of the first kind, wherein, the transmitting control unit is configured to cause the transmitting unit to transmit an error response in response to the command received by the receiving unit in the state, if the parameter value designated by the command is not settable in the state and the parameter value designated by the command is the parameter value for the parameter of the second kind, wherein the image receiving apparatus comprises: a display control unit configured to display a setting screen to a display unit, the setting screen being for designating the parameter value for the parameter of the first kind and the parameter value for the parameter of the second kind; and a transmitting control unit configured to control a transmitting which transmits a command designating a parameter value designated on the setting screen to the image capturing apparatus.\",\n \"31.The image capturing system according to claim 30, wherein the receiving control unit to cause the receiving unit of the image capturing apparatus to receive the command designating the parameter value from the image receiving apparatus, and wherein, the transmitting control unit to cause the transmitting unit of the image capturing apparatus to transmit the error response to the image receiving apparatus in response to the command received by the receiving unit.\",\n \"32.The image capturing system according to claim 30, wherein a parameter value for a parameter of at least one kind is capable of being designated from a drop down list displayed on the setting screen.\",\n \"33.The image capturing system according to claim 30, wherein the parameter value for the parameter of the first kind and the parameter value for the parameter of the second kind are capable of being designated on the same setting screen displayed by display control unit.\",\n \"34.The image capturing system according to claim 30, wherein the parameter of the first kind is a parameter of resolution.\",\n \"35.The image capturing system according to claim 30, wherein the parameter of the second kind is at least one of a parameter of an encoding method and a parameter of a frame rate.\",\n \"36.The image capturing system according to claim 30, wherein the parameter of the first kind is a parameter of a frame rate.\",\n \"37.The image capturing system according to claim 30, wherein the parameter value designated by the command is a parameter value of a video encoder configuration.\",\n \"38.A method for an image capturing system, wherein the image capturing system comprises an image capturing apparatus configured to transmit image data to an image receiving apparatus, wherein the image receiving apparatus is configured to receive the image data from the image capturing apparatus, wherein the method for the image capturing system comprises: a method for the image capturing apparatus which comprises a computer executing instructions that, when executed by the computer, cause the computer to perform the method for the image capturing apparatus, the method for the image capturing apparatus comprising: a receiving step of receiving a command designating a parameter value related to the image data; an image data generating step of generating the image data in accordance with a parameter value based on the command received in the receiving step; and a transmitting step of transmitting the image data generated in the image data generating step, wherein, a video source mode is settable to the image capturing apparatus, wherein, the video source mode defines at least a maximum value for a parameter of a first kind and a maximum value for a parameter of a second kind, wherein, an error response is not transmitted in the transmitting step in a state where a first video source mode is being set to the image capturing apparatus, if the parameter value designated by the command is not settable in the state and the parameter value designated by the command is the parameter value for the parameter of the first kind, wherein, in the transmitting step, an error response is transmitted in response to the command received in the receiving step in the state, if the parameter value designated by the command is not settable in the state and the parameter value designated by the command is the parameter value for the parameter of the second kind, and a method for the image receiving apparatus which comprises a computer executing instructions that, when executed by the computer, cause the computer to perform the method for the image receiving apparatus, the method for the image receiving apparatus comprising: a display control step of displaying a setting screen to a display unit, the setting screen being for designating the parameter value for the parameter of the first kind and the parameter value for the parameter of the second kind; and a transmitting step of transmitting a command designating a parameter value designated on the setting screen to the image capturing apparatus.\"\n ],\n [\n \" BACKGROUND \"\n ],\n [\n \" SUMMARY OF INVENTION The present invention provides an image capturing technique that prevents the occurrence of mismatching in a combination of the resolution of image data to be generated by an image capturing unit and the resolution of a distribution image to be generated by a compression encoding unit, even when only one resolution is changed.\",\n \"According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image capturing apparatus comprising: an encoding unit configured to perform encoding processing on an image output from an image capturing unit for obtaining an image; a communication unit configured to receive designation of a resolution of the encoding unit from an information processing apparatus; an obtaining unit configured to obtain a resolution which is associated with the resolution set for the image capturing unit, and is settable for the encoding unit; a determination unit configured to determine whether the designated resolution is the resolution obtained by the obtaining unit and settable for the encoding unit; and a transmission unit configured to transmit an error response to the information processing apparatus via the communication unit, if the determination unit determines that the designated resolution is not the resolution obtained by the obtaining unit and settable for the encoding unit.\",\n \"According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a control method of an image capturing apparatus including an encoding unit configured to perform encoding processing on an image output from an image capturing unit for obtaining an image, comprising: a first communication step of receiving designation of a resolution of the encoding unit from an information processing apparatus; an obtaining step of obtaining a resolution which is associated with the resolution set for the image capturing unit, and is settable for the encoding unit; a determination step of determining whether the designated resolution is the resolution obtained in the obtaining step and settable for the encoding unit; and a transmission step of transmitting an error response to the information processing apparatus, if it is determined in the determination step that the designated resolution is not the resolution obtained in the obtaining step and settable for the encoding unit.\",\n \"According to still another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a computer readable storage medium containing computer-executable instructions that control an image capturing apparatus including an encoding unit configured to perform encoding processing on an image output from an image capturing unit for obtaining an image, the medium comprising: computer-executable instructions that receive designation of a resolution of the encoding unit from an information processing apparatus; computer-executable instructions that obtain a resolution which is associated with the resolution set for the image capturing unit, and is settable for the encoding unit; computer-executable instructions that determine whether the designated resolution is the obtained resolution settable for the encoding unit; and computer-executable instructions that transmit an error response to the information processing apparatus, if it is determined that the designated resolution is not the obtained resolution settable for the encoding unit.\",\n \"According to yet another aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image capturing system comprising an image capturing apparatus including an encoding unit configured to encode an image output from an image capturing unit for obtaining an image, and an information processing apparatus connected to the image capturing apparatus across a network, wherein the information processing apparatus comprises a generation unit configured to generate designation of a resolution of the encoding unit, and the image capturing apparatus comprises: a communication unit configured to receive the designation of the resolution of the encoding unit from the information processing apparatus; an obtaining unit configured to obtain a resolution which is associated with the resolution set for the image capturing unit, and is settable for the encoding unit; a determination unit configured to determine whether the designated resolution is the resolution obtained by the obtaining unit and settable for the encoding unit; and a transmission unit configured to transmit an error response to the information processing apparatus via the communication unit, if the determination unit determines that the designated resolution is not the resolution obtained by the obtaining unit and settable for the encoding unit.\",\n \"Further features of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of exemplary embodiments (with reference to the attached drawings).\"\n ],\n [\n \"CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application is a Continuation of U.S. application Ser.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"15/432,759, filed Feb. 14, 2017, which is a Continuation of U.S. application Ser.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"14/646,330, filed May.\",\n \"20, 2015, now U.S. Pat.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"9,609,198 B2, which is a National Stage filing of International Application No.\",\n \"PCT/JP2013/081331 filed Nov. 14, 2013, which claims the benefit of priority from Japanese Patent Application No.\",\n \"2012-256772 filed Nov. 22, 2012, the disclosures of each of which are hereby incorporated by reference herein in their entirety.\",\n \"BACKGROUND Technical Field The present invention relates to an image capturing apparatus, an image capturing system, a control method of the image capturing apparatus, and a computer readable storage medium.\",\n \"Background Art Conventionally, an image capturing apparatus for transmitting a captured image to a receiving apparatus includes commands for allowing an external apparatus to change the settings of the image capturing apparatus and designate the start of image distribution.\",\n \"Known examples of these commands are those defined by standards formulated by the ONVIF (Open Network Video Interface Forum).\",\n \"In the ONVIF specifications (http://www.onvif.org/specs/DocMap.html), commands formulated by the ONVIF are described.\",\n \"The above-described commands include, for example, a command for changing, from an external apparatus, the resolution of image data to be generated by an image capturing unit of the image capturing apparatus.\",\n \"The above-described commands also include a command for changing the resolution of a distribution image to be distributed to an external apparatus when the distribution image is generated by encoding image data generated by the image capturing unit.\",\n \"For example, in the ONVIF standards, a SetVideoSourceMode command is defined as the former command, and a SetVideoEncoderConfiguration command is defined as the latter command.\",\n \"Furthermore, in addition to the ONVIF standards, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No.\",\n \"2005-323007 has disclosed an image capturing apparatus including a control unit for controlling the expansion and compression of a captured image.\",\n \"Unfortunately, there is a problem that if only one of the resolution of image data to be generated by the image capturing unit and the resolution of a distribution image to be generated by a compression encoding unit is changed, mismatching occurs in a combination of the two resolutions and this makes the generation of the distribution image impossible in some cases.\",\n \"Also, in a case like this, it is necessary to transmit a command for correctly changing the other resolution from an external apparatus to the image capturing apparatus, in order to cancel the mismatching and correctly generate the distribution image.\",\n \"This complicates the user's operation.\",\n \"Assume that the output resolution of the image capturing unit is 1,600×1,200 pixels (UXGA), and the output resolution of the compression encoding unit is 1,280×1,024 pixels (SXGA).\",\n \"In this case, if the output resolution of the image capturing unit is changed to 1,024×768 (XGA), the compression encoding unit in which a higher output resolution is set may become unable to generate any distribution image.\",\n \"Assume also that the output resolution of the image capturing unit is 1,600×1,200 pixels (resolution aspect ratio=4:3), and the output resolution of the compression encoding unit is 1,280×1,024 pixels (resolution aspect ratio=4:3).\",\n \"In this case, if the output resolution of the image capturing unit is changed to 1,920×1,080 (full HD, resolution aspect ratio=16:9), the compression encoding unit in which a different resolution aspect ratio is set may become unable to generate any distribution image.\",\n \"If this is the case, before obtaining a video stream from the image capturing unit, the user must change the output resolution of the compression encoding unit to a resolution, such as 1,024×768 (XGA) or 1,920×1,080 (resolution aspect ratio=16:9) , which matches the output resolution of the image capturing unit, and this complicates the operation.\",\n \"SUMMARY OF INVENTION The present invention provides an image capturing technique that prevents the occurrence of mismatching in a combination of the resolution of image data to be generated by an image capturing unit and the resolution of a distribution image to be generated by a compression encoding unit, even when only one resolution is changed.\",\n \"According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image capturing apparatus comprising: an encoding unit configured to perform encoding processing on an image output from an image capturing unit for obtaining an image; a communication unit configured to receive designation of a resolution of the encoding unit from an information processing apparatus; an obtaining unit configured to obtain a resolution which is associated with the resolution set for the image capturing unit, and is settable for the encoding unit; a determination unit configured to determine whether the designated resolution is the resolution obtained by the obtaining unit and settable for the encoding unit; and a transmission unit configured to transmit an error response to the information processing apparatus via the communication unit, if the determination unit determines that the designated resolution is not the resolution obtained by the obtaining unit and settable for the encoding unit.\",\n \"According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a control method of an image capturing apparatus including an encoding unit configured to perform encoding processing on an image output from an image capturing unit for obtaining an image, comprising: a first communication step of receiving designation of a resolution of the encoding unit from an information processing apparatus; an obtaining step of obtaining a resolution which is associated with the resolution set for the image capturing unit, and is settable for the encoding unit; a determination step of determining whether the designated resolution is the resolution obtained in the obtaining step and settable for the encoding unit; and a transmission step of transmitting an error response to the information processing apparatus, if it is determined in the determination step that the designated resolution is not the resolution obtained in the obtaining step and settable for the encoding unit.\",\n \"According to still another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a computer readable storage medium containing computer-executable instructions that control an image capturing apparatus including an encoding unit configured to perform encoding processing on an image output from an image capturing unit for obtaining an image, the medium comprising: computer-executable instructions that receive designation of a resolution of the encoding unit from an information processing apparatus; computer-executable instructions that obtain a resolution which is associated with the resolution set for the image capturing unit, and is settable for the encoding unit; computer-executable instructions that determine whether the designated resolution is the obtained resolution settable for the encoding unit; and computer-executable instructions that transmit an error response to the information processing apparatus, if it is determined that the designated resolution is not the obtained resolution settable for the encoding unit.\",\n \"According to yet another aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image capturing system comprising an image capturing apparatus including an encoding unit configured to encode an image output from an image capturing unit for obtaining an image, and an information processing apparatus connected to the image capturing apparatus across a network, wherein the information processing apparatus comprises a generation unit configured to generate designation of a resolution of the encoding unit, and the image capturing apparatus comprises: a communication unit configured to receive the designation of the resolution of the encoding unit from the information processing apparatus; an obtaining unit configured to obtain a resolution which is associated with the resolution set for the image capturing unit, and is settable for the encoding unit; a determination unit configured to determine whether the designated resolution is the resolution obtained by the obtaining unit and settable for the encoding unit; and a transmission unit configured to transmit an error response to the information processing apparatus via the communication unit, if the determination unit determines that the designated resolution is not the resolution obtained by the obtaining unit and settable for the encoding unit.\",\n \"Further features of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of exemplary embodiments (with reference to the attached drawings).\",\n \"BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS FIGS.\",\n \"1A and 1B are views showing examples of the arrangements of an image capturing apparatus and image capturing system; FIG.\",\n \"2 is a view showing an example of the internal arrangement of the image capturing apparatus; FIG.\",\n \"3 is a view showing an example of the structure of parameters held by the image capturing apparatus; FIG.\",\n \"4 is a view showing an example of a table storing information for matching the settings of an image capturing unit of the image capturing apparatus with the settings of a compression encoding unit; FIG.\",\n \"5A is a view showing an example of a command sequence from the start of setting of the image capturing apparatus to video distribution; FIG.\",\n \"5B is a view showing an example of a command sequence when changing the output resolution of the image capturing unit of the image capturing apparatus; FIG.\",\n \"5C is a view showing an example of a command sequence when changing the output resolution of the compression encoding unit of the image capturing apparatus; FIG.\",\n \"6A is a view for explaining a procedure when the image capturing apparatus changes the settings of the image capturing unit; FIG.\",\n \"6B is a view for explaining a procedure when the image capturing apparatus transmits a selectable set value to an information processing apparatus; FIG.\",\n \"6C is a view for explaining a procedure when the image capturing apparatus changes the settings of the compression encoding unit; FIG.\",\n \"6D is a view for explaining a procedure when the image capturing apparatus transmits a selectable set value to the information processing apparatus; FIG.\",\n \"6E is a view for explaining a procedure when the image capturing apparatus changes the settings of the compression encoding unit; FIG.\",\n \"7A is a view showing an example of a setting screen of a client apparatus; and FIG.\",\n \"7B is a view showing another example of the setting screen of the client apparatus.\",\n \"DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS Exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be explained in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.\",\n \"However, constituent elements described in these embodiments are merely examples, and the technical scope of the present invention is determined by the scope of the appended claims, and is not limited by the following individual embodiments.\",\n \"First Embodiment FIG.\",\n \"1A is a view showing an example of a monitoring camera 1000 as an image capturing apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.\",\n \"A mechanism 1101 is a mechanism for changing the direction of a lens in a panning direction, a mechanism 1102 is a mechanism for changing the lens direction in a tilting direction, and a mechanism 1103 is a mechanism for changing zooming.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"1B is a view showing an example of the configuration of an image capturing system including the monitoring camera 1000.A client apparatus 2000 (an information processing apparatus) as an external apparatus is connected to the monitoring camera 1000 across a network 1500 so as to be able to communicate with the monitoring camera 1000.The client apparatus 2000 transmits various commands such as a command for changing image capturing parameters (to be described later), a command for driving a platform, and a command for starting video streaming to the monitoring camera 1000.The monitoring camera 1000 transmits responses to these commands and video streaming to the client apparatus 2000.FIG.\",\n \"2 is a view showing an example of the internal arrangement of the monitoring camera 1000 (the image capturing apparatus).\",\n \"Referring to FIG.\",\n \"2, a control unit 1001 is a CPU or the like, and controls the whole monitoring camera 1000.A storage unit 1002 is used as various data storage areas such as a storage area for programs to be mainly executed by the control unit 1001, a work area to be used while the programs are executed, and a storage area for image data generated by an image capturing unit 1003 (to be described below).\",\n \"The image capturing unit 1003 converts an analog signal obtained by capturing an object image into digital data, and outputs the data as a captured image (image data) to the storage unit 1002.The resolution and frame rate of the image data output from the image capturing unit 1003 can be changed by a SetVideoSourceMode command (to be described later).\",\n \"A compression encoding unit 1004 generates image data by performing compression encoding processing on the captured image output from the image capturing 1003 based on a format such as Motion JPEG or H.264, and outputs the generated image data to the storage unit 1002.The types of the resolution (distribution resolution) of the image data output from the compression encoding unit 1004 have a dependency relationship as shown in FIG.\",\n \"4 (to be described later) with each mode of the image capturing unit 1003.A communication unit 1005 receives each control command from the external apparatus (client apparatus 2000).\",\n \"Also, the communication unit 1005 transmits a response to each control command to the external apparatus (client apparatus 2000).\",\n \"Furthermore, the communication unit 1005 receives first designation for setting the resolution of the image capturing unit 1003, or second designation for setting the resolution of the compression encoding unit 1004.When the setting of one resolution is to be changed to a different resolution setting by the first or second designation, the control unit 1001 changes the setting of the other resolution to a resolution matching the setting of one resolution.\",\n \"This resolution changing process will be explained in detail later with reference to FIGS.\",\n \"6A, 6C, and 6E.\",\n \"An image capturing control unit 1006 controls the tilting mechanism 1101, panning mechanism 1102, and zooming mechanism 1103 in response to the values of a panning angle, tilting angle, and zooming magnification input from the control unit 1001.Also, the image capturing control unit 1006 provides the current panning angle value, tilting angle value, and zooming magnification value of the monitoring camera 1000, in accordance with an inquiry from the control unit 1001.The internal arrangement of the monitoring camera 1000 has been explained above with reference to FIG.\",\n \"2.However, the processing blocks shown in FIG.\",\n \"2 are exemplary blocks, so the arrangement of the image capturing apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention is not limited to the processing blocks shown in FIG.\",\n \"2.For example, it is also possible to use a voice input unit in addition to the processing blocks shown in FIG.\",\n \"2, or exclude the image capturing control unit therefrom, that is, various modifications and changes can be made.\",\n \"Next, the names and contents of commands, parameters, and the like used in this embodiment will be explained.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"3 shows the structure of parameters held by the monitoring camera 1000 (the image capturing apparatus) in this embodiment.\",\n \"A MediaProfile 6100 is a parameter set for storing various setting items of the monitoring camera by associating them with each other.\",\n \"The MediaProfile 6100 holds links to various setting items including a ProfileToken as the ID (identification information) of the MediaProfile 6100, a VideoSourceConfiguration 6102, a VideoEncoderConfiguration 6103, a PTZConfiguration 6104, and a voice encoder.\",\n \"A VideoSource 6101 is a set of parameters indicating the performance of the image capturing unit 1003 of the monitoring camera.\",\n \"The VideoSource 6101 includes a VideoSourceToken as the ID of the VideoSource 6101, and Resolution indicating the resolution of image data which the image capturing unit 1003 can output.\",\n \"The VideoSource 6101 can switch to a plurality of other VideoSourceModes (operation modes) that support different Resolutions, in accordance with a SetVideoSourceMode command (to be described later).\",\n \"The VideoSourceConfiguration 6102 is a set of parameters for associating the VideoSource 6101 of the monitoring camera 1000 with the MediaProfile 6100.The VideoSourceConfiguration 6102 includes Bounds that designate a portion to be cut out, as a distribution image, from image data output from the VideoSource 6101.The VideoEncoderConfiguration 6103 is a set of parameters for associating the settings of an encoder (the compression encoding unit 1004) pertaining to image data compression encoding with the MediaProfile 6100.The compression encoding unit 1004 of the monitoring camera 1000 compression-encodes image data output based on the contents of the VideoSource 6101 and VideoSourceConfiguration 6102.The compression encoding unit 1004 of the monitoring camera 1000 compression-encodes image data output from the image capturing unit 1003, in accordance with a parameter such as the compression encoding scheme (for example, JPEG or H.264) set in VideoEncoderConfiguration 6103, the frame rate, or resolution.\",\n \"The monitoring camera 1000 distributes the compression-encoded image data to the client apparatus 2000 via the communication unit 1005.The VideoEncoderConfiguration 6103 includes a VideoEncoderConfigurationToken as the ID (identification information) of the VideoEncoderConfiguration 6103.The VideoEncoderConfiguration 6103 also includes Encoding for designating a compression encoding scheme, a Resolution for designating the resolution of an output image, and a Quality for designating the compression encoding quality.\",\n \"Furthermore, the VideoEncoderConfiguration 6103 includes FramerateLimit for designating the maximum frame rate of an output image, and BitrateLimit for designating the maximum bit rate.\",\n \"The PTZConfiguration 6104 is a set of parameters for associating the settings of the panning mechanism 1101, tilting mechanism 1102, and zooming mechanism 1103 of the monitoring camera 1000 with the MediaProfile 6100.The PTZConfiguration 6104 contains information pertaining to a coordinate system for expressing actual panning/tilting angle values and an actual zooming magnification value in the panning mechanism, tilting mechanism, and zooming mechanism.\",\n \"A table shown in FIG.\",\n \"4 contains information of a plurality of choices for matching the settings of the image capturing unit 1003 with those of the compression encoding unit 1004.This table shown in FIG.\",\n \"4 indicates the setting contents of VideoSourceModes supported by the monitoring camera 1000, and the setting contents of the VideoEncoderConfigurations 6103 matching the VideoSourceModes.\",\n \"The table shown in FIG.\",\n \"4 is prestored in the storage unit 1002 of the monitoring camera 1000, and referred to by the control unit 1001 any time.\",\n \"The table shown in FIG.\",\n \"4 need not always be prestored in the storage unit 1002, and may also obtain necessary data by referring to a database of the external apparatus via the communication unit 1005.A VideoSourceMode 4000 indicates the management number of a VideoSourceMode to be used in internal processing by the monitoring camera 1000.In this embodiment, the monitoring camera 1000 supports three VideoSourceModes S1, S2, and S3.A Resolution 4001 is the parameter value of the Resolution of each VideoSourceMode (S1, S2, or S3), and indicates the resolution of image data generated by the image capturing unit 1003.A Framerate 4002 is the parameter value of the frame rate of each VideoSourceMode, and indicates the frame rate of image data to be generated by the image capturing unit 1003.Items from Encoding 4003 to FramerateLimit 4006 are choices of the parameters of the VideoEncoderConfiguration 6103 which match when the VideoSource 6101 is each VideoSourceMode.\",\n \"The Encoding 4003 indicates a choice of a compression encoding scheme in the VideoEncoderConfiguration, which matches the VideoSourceMode.\",\n \"The Resolution Choice 4004 indicates the management number of the resolution of the compression-encoded output image in the VideoEncoderConfiguration, which is to be used in the internal processing of the monitoring camera 1000.In this embodiment, the monitoring camera 1000 supports four resolutions E1 to E4.The Resolution 4005 is the parameter value of the resolution of the VideoEncoderConfiguration, which matches each VideoSourceMode.\",\n \"This set value determines the resolution of a distribution image to be output from the compression encoding unit 1004.The FramerateLimit 4006 (the frame rate limit) indicates the maximum value of the frame rate in the VideoEncoderConfiguration, which matches each VideoSourceMode.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"5A shows a command sequence from setting start to video distribution between the monitoring camera 1000 and client apparatus 2000.Transaction means a pair of a command to be transmitted from the client apparatus 2000 to the monitoring camera 1000, and a response to be returned from the monitoring camera 1000 to the client apparatus 2000.A transaction 7100 is the transaction of a GetVideoSourceConfigurations command.\",\n \"By this command, the client apparatus 2000 obtains a list of the VideoSourceConfigurations 6102 held by the monitoring camera 1000.A transaction 7101 is the transaction of a GetVideoEncoderConfigurations command.\",\n \"By this command, the client apparatus 2000 obtains a list of the VideoEncoderConfigurations 6103 held by the monitoring camera 1000.A transaction 7102 is the transaction of a GetConfigurations command.\",\n \"By this command, the client apparatus 2000 obtains a list of the PTZConfigurations 6104 held by the monitoring camera 1000.A transaction 7103 is the transaction of a CreateProfile command.\",\n \"By this command, the client apparatus 2000 causes the monitoring camera 1000 to form a new MediaProfile 6100, and obtains its Profiletoken.\",\n \"A transaction 7104 is the transaction of an AddVideoSourceConfiguration command, and a transaction 7105 is the transaction of an AddVideoEncoderConfiguration command.\",\n \"A transaction 7108 is each transaction of an AddPTZConfiguration command.\",\n \"By designating the ID in these commands, the client apparatus 2000 can associate a desired VideoSourceConfiguration, desired VideoEncoderConfiguration, and desired PTZConfiguration with the designated MediaProfile.\",\n \"A transaction 7106 is the transaction of a GetVideoEncoderConfigurationOptions command.\",\n \"By this command, the client apparatus 2000 obtains the choices or set value range of each parameter acceptable by the monitoring camera 1000, in the VideoEncoderConfiguration designated by the ID.\",\n \"A transaction 7107 is the transaction of a SetVideoEncoderConfiguration command.\",\n \"By this command, the client apparatus 2000 sets each parameter of the VideoEncoderConfiguration 6103.A transaction 7109 is the transaction of a GetStreamUri command.\",\n \"By this command, the client apparatus 2000 obtains an address (URI) with which the monitoring camera 1000 obtains a distribution stream based on the settings of the designated MediaProfile.\",\n \"A transaction 7110 is the transaction of a Describe command.\",\n \"By executing this command by using the URI obtained in the transaction 7109, the client apparatus 2000 requests and obtains information of contents to be distributed by a stream by the monitoring camera 1000.A transaction 7111 is the transaction of a Setup command.\",\n \"By executing this command by using the URI obtained in the transaction 7109, the client apparatus 2000 and monitoring camera 1000 share a stream transmission method including the session number.\",\n \"A transaction 7112 is the transaction of a Play command.\",\n \"By executing this command by using the session number obtained in the transaction 7111, the client apparatus 2000 requests the monitoring camera 1000 to start streaming.\",\n \"In a distribution stream 7113, the monitoring camera 1000 distributes a stream requested to be started in the transaction 7112 by the transmission method shared in the transaction 7111.A transaction 7114 is the transaction of a Teardown command.\",\n \"By executing this command by using the session number obtained in the transaction 7111, the client apparatus 2000 requests the monitoring camera 1000 to stop the stream.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"5B shows a command sequence when the setting change of the image capturing unit 1003, which includes changing of the output resolution, is performed between the monitoring camera 1000 and client apparatus 2000.A transaction 7200 is the transaction of a GetVideoSourceMode command.\",\n \"The GetVideoSourceMode command is a command for returning a list of VideoSourceModes supported by the VideoSource 6101 having the ID designated by the client apparatus 2000.When receiving the GetVideoSourceMode command, the control unit 1001 of the monitoring camera 1000 obtains the parameters of the VideoSourceModes S1 to S3 saved in the storage unit 1002 and shown in FIG.\",\n \"4, and returns the parameters to the client apparatus 2000 via the communication unit 1005.A transaction 7201 is the transaction of a SetVideoSourceMode command.\",\n \"The SetVideoSourceMode command is a command for designating changing of the VideoSourceMode of the VideoSource 6101 designated by the client apparatus 2000.Transactions 7109 to 7112 and a distribution stream 7113 are the same as those shown in FIG.\",\n \"5A.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"5C shows a typical command sequence when changing the output resolution of the compression encoding unit 1004 between the monitoring camera 1000 and client apparatus 2000.Transactions 7101, 7106, 7107, and 7109 to 7113 are the same as those of the command sequence shown in FIG.\",\n \"5A.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"6A is a view showing processing when the monitoring camera 1000 has received the above-described SetVideoSourceMode command (transaction 7201) from the client apparatus 2000.In step S1000, the control unit 1001 stops a video stream currently being distributed via the communication unit 1005.In step S1001, the control unit 1001 determines whether the input VideoSourceMode is S1, S2, or S3, obtains the set value of the corresponding VideoSourceMode, and sets the set value in the image capturing unit 1003.In step S1002, the control unit 1001 determines whether the set value of the resolution (Resolution) of each VideoEncoderConfiguration stored in the storage unit 1002 is E1, E2, E3, or E4.The control unit 1001 sets, in the VideoEncoderConfiguration, the resolution matching the VideoSourceMode determined in step S1001 and having the same management number.\",\n \"That is, if the resolution of the VideoEncoderConfiguration is 1,920×1,080=E2 before command reception when the VideoSourceMode of the VideoSource 6101 is changed from S1 to S2, the resolution is changed to 2,048×1,536 as the resolution of E2 matching S2 by the reception of this command.\",\n \"In step S1003, the control unit 1001 sets an Enable flag corresponding to the VideoSourceMode determined in step S1001 to “True”, and sets enable flags corresponding to other VideoSourceModes to “False”.\",\n \"In step S1004, the control unit 1001 transmits a normal response to the client apparatus 2000.FIG.\",\n \"6B shows processing when the monitoring camera 1000 has received a GetVideoEncoderConfigurationOption command (the transaction 7106) from the client apparatus 2000.In step S1100, the control unit 1001 obtains the set value of the VideoSourceMode currently set in the VideoSource 6101, and determines whether the set value is S1, S2, or S3.In steps S1101, S1102, and S1103, the control unit 1001 refers to the table shown in FIG.\",\n \"4 which is stored in the storage unit 1002, and obtains a selectable set value (choice) matching the current VideoSourceMode.\",\n \"The control unit 1001 obtains the choices E1 to E4 of the resolution of the VideoEncoderConfiguration, the choices of the Encoding, and the FramerateLimit as the maximum frame rate.\",\n \"For example, when the set value of the current VideoSourceMode is S3, the control unit 1001 obtains 800×600 (E1) , 640×480 (E2) , 320×240 (E3), and 176×144 (E4) as the choices of the Resolution.\",\n \"Also, the control unit 1001 obtains H.264 and MotionJPEG as the choices of the Encoding, and 30 fps as the FramerateLimit.\",\n \"In step S1104, the control unit 1001 obtains the choices and setting range of the VideoEncoderConfiguration independent of the current VideoSourceMode from the storage unit 1002.For example, the control unit 1001 obtains 1 to 5 as the settable range of the Quality, and 60 Mbps as the set value of the BitrateLimit.\",\n \"In step S1105, the control unit 1001 transmits a normal response containing the choices and setting ranges obtained in steps S1101 to S1104 to the client apparatus 2000 via the communication unit 1005.FIG.\",\n \"6C shows processing when the monitoring camera 1000 has received the above-described SetVideoEncoderConfiguration command (transaction 7107) from the client apparatus 2000.Insteps S1200, S1201, and S1202, the control unit 1001 determines whether the set value input to the received SetVideoEncoderConfiguration matches the current VideoSourceMode.\",\n \"The control unit 1001 refers to the table shown in FIG.\",\n \"4 which is stored in the storage unit 1002, and determines whether the Resolution, Encoding, and FramerateLimit input to the received SetVideoEncoderConfiguration match the current VideoSourceMode.\",\n \"If even one parameter does not match, the control unit 1001 advances the process to step S1210.In step S1210, the control unit 1001 transmits an error response to the client apparatus 2000 via the communication unit 1005.On the other hand, in step S1203, the control unit 1001 stores the set values of the VideoEncoderConfiguration including the Quality, BitrateLimit, Encoding, FramerateLimit, and Resolution in the storage unit 1002, and sets them in the compression encoding unit 1004.In step S1204, the control unit 1001 transmits a normal response to the client apparatus 2000.FIG.\",\n \"7A is a view showing an example of a setting screen of the client apparatus 2000, in which the VideoSourceMode and VideoEncoderConfiguration of the monitoring camera 1000 according to this embodiment are set.\",\n \"When the setting screen shown in FIG.\",\n \"7A is opened, the client apparatus 2000 executes the sequence shown in FIG.\",\n \"5A, and displays a video stream obtained in the transaction 7113 in a LiveView area 9000 (a display area).\",\n \"An area 9001 is a VideoSourceMode selection area.\",\n \"The client apparatus 2000 displays, in this area, a list of VideoSourceModes obtained by the transaction 7200 of the GetVideoSourceMode command executed when this setting screen is opened, so that the user can select a mode as indicated by reference numeral 9002.If a VideoSourceMode different from the current setting is selected in this area, the client apparatus 2000 executes the SetVideoSourceMode command, and changes the VideoSourceMode of the monitoring camera 1000.In this state, the client apparatus 2000 executes the transactions shown in FIG.\",\n \"5B, and displays a video stream having the new settings in the LiveView area 9000 (the display area).\",\n \"In addition, the client apparatus 2000 executes the GetVideoEncoderConfigurationOptions command, and updates the choices and setting ranges of the individual parameters of the VideoEncoder in this screen by using the obtained results.\",\n \"Accordingly, the client apparatus 2000 can always provide the user with the choices and setting ranges of the set values of the VideoEncoderConfiguration matching the VideoSourceMode.\",\n \"Setting screen switching sections 9003 and 9004 are tabs for switching VideoEncoder setting screens for allowing the user to change the set values of the VideoEncoderConfiguration 6103 of the monitoring camera 1000.The number of tabs is two (the setting screen switching sections 9003 and 9004) in this embodiment, but it is also possible to display tabs equal in number to the VideoEncoderConfigurations 6103 obtained by the GetVideoEncoderConfigurations command and supported by the monitoring camera 1000.An area 9005 is an area for allowing the user to select the compression encoding scheme of each VideoEncoderConfiguration.\",\n \"The GetVideoEncoderConfigurationOptions command is executed when the setting screen is opened, or when a new VideoSourceMode is selected in the VideoSourceMode selection area.\",\n \"The area 9005 displays the choices of encoding obtained by the GetVideoEncoderConfigurationOptions command.\",\n \"A choice 9006 indicates currently selectable Encoding, and a choice 9007 indicates currently unselectable Encoding.\",\n \"An area 9008 is a Detail area for allowing the user to select the FramerateLimit, BitrateLimit, and Quality included in the VideoEncoderConfiguration 6103.The GetVideoEncoderConfigurationOptions command is executed when the setting screen shown in FIG.\",\n \"7A is opened, or when a new VideoSourceMode is selected in the VideoSourceMode selection area.\",\n \"The contents of the setting ranges obtained by the GetVideoEncoderConfigurationOptions command are reflected in setting ranges 9009, 9010, and 9011.An area 9012 is an area for selecting the resolution of the VideoEncoderConfiguration 6103.The GetVideoEncoderConfigurationOptions command is executed when the setting screen shown in FIG.\",\n \"7A is opened, or when a new VideoSourceMode is selected in the VideoSourceMode selection area.\",\n \"The contents of the choices of the Resolution parameter obtained by the GetVideoEncoderConfigurationOptions command are displayed in a dropdown list 9013.When the user presses an apply button 9014, the client apparatus 2000 transmits the SetVideoEncoderConfiguration command to the monitoring camera 1000.The parameters selected in the areas 9005, 9008, and 9012 are reflected in the compression encoding unit 1004 of the monitoring camera 1000.When the VideoSourceMode is changed by the client apparatus 2000, the monitoring camera 1000 can maintain the contents of choices provided by the setting contents of the VideoEncoderConfiguration and by the VideoEncoderConfigurationOptions command, as contents matching the VideoSourceMode.\",\n \"Accordingly, when obtaining a distribution image after changing the VideoSourceMode, the client apparatus 2000 need not change the setting contents of the VideoEncoderConfiguration to contents matching the VideoSourceMode.\",\n \"That is, even when the resolution of image data to be generated by the image capturing unit 1003 of the monitoring camera 1000 is changed, it is possible to prevent the occurrence of mismatching in various settings including the resolution of a distribution image to be generated by the compression encoding unit 1004.It is also possible to easily generate a distribution image after the resolution is changed.\",\n \"Second Embodiment In the first embodiment, the arrangement in which the contents of choices provided by the setting contents of the VideoEncoderConfiguration and by the VideoEncoderConfigurationOptions command are changed to contents matching the VideoSourceMode has been explained.\",\n \"In this arrangement of the first embodiment, the types of the choices of the resolution of the compression encoding unit provided by the GetVideoEncoderConfigurationOptions command are not limited to those matching the VideoSourceMode.\",\n \"It is also possible to always provide all choices of the resolution to the client apparatus 2000 by the GetVideoEncoderConfigurationOptions command.\",\n \"In accordance with a new set value set in the compression encoding unit 1004 by the client apparatus 2000 by using the SetVideoEncoderConfiguration command, the monitoring camera 1000 may also internally switch the VideoSourceMode to a mode matching the new set value.\",\n \"The second embodiment of the present invention taking this point into consideration will be explained below.\",\n \"Note that an explanation of the same portions as those of the first embodiment will be omitted.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"6D is a view showing processing when a monitoring camera 1000 has received the GetVideoSourceConfigurationOptions command from a client apparatus 2000.In step S1300, a control unit 1001 refers to the table shown in FIG.\",\n \"4 which is stored in a storage unit 1002, and obtains all possible choices of the resolution of the VideoEncoderConfiguration.\",\n \"That is, the control unit 1001 obtains E1 to E4 in S1, E1 to E4 in S2, and E1 to E4 in S3 as choices.\",\n \"In step S1301, the control unit 1001 refers to the table shown FIG.\",\n \"4 which is stored in the storage unit 1002, and obtains all possible choices of the compression encoding scheme of the VideoEncoderConfiguration.\",\n \"That is, the control unit 1001 obtains MotionJPEG and H.264 as choices.\",\n \"In step S1302, the control unit 1001 refers to the table shown in FIG.\",\n \"4 which is stored in the storage unit 1002, and obtains the maximum one of possible values of the FramerateLimit of the VideoEncoderConfiguration.\",\n \"That is, the control unit 1001 obtains 30 fps as the maximum value of the FramerateLimit.\",\n \"In step S1303, the control unit 1001 obtains the choices and setting range of the VideoEncoderConfiguration independent of the current VideoSourceMode from the storage unit 1002.For example, the control unit 1001 obtains 1 to 5 as the settable range of the Quality, and 60 Mbps as the set value of the BitrateLimit.\",\n \"In step S1304, the control unit 1001 transmits a normal response containing the choices and setting range obtained in steps S1300 to S1303 to the client apparatus 2000 via a communication unit 1005.FIG.\",\n \"6E is a view showing processing when the monitoring camera 1000 has received the above-described SetVideoEncoderConfiguration command from the client apparatus 2000.In step S1400, the control unit 1001 refers to the table shown in FIG.\",\n \"4 which is stored in the storage unit 1002, and determines whether the resolution set in the received SetVideoEncoderConfiguration command matches the current VideoSourceMode.\",\n \"If the resolution matches the mode (Yes in step S1400), the control unit 1001 advances the process to step S1201.If the resolution does not match the mode (No in step S1400), the control unit 1001 advances the process to step S1410.In step S1410, the control unit 1001 refers to the table shown in FIG.\",\n \"4 which is stored in the storage unit 1002, and switches the current VideoSourceMode to a VideoSourceMode having a matched input resolution.\",\n \"For example, when 640×480 is input as a Resolution to this command while the VideoSourceMode is S1, the VideoSourceMode is switched to S3 matching this resolution.\",\n \"When the resolution is changed to a resolution different from the setting of an image capturing unit (the resolution of the VideoSourceMode) by the command for setting the resolution of the encoding unit (the resolution of a distribution image), the control unit 1001 changes the setting of the resolution of the image capturing unit to a resolution matching the resolution of the encoding unit.\",\n \"Processes in steps S1201 to S1204 and S1210 are the same as those shown in FIG.\",\n \"6C.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"7B is a view showing an example of a setting screen of the client apparatus 2000 in which the VideoSourceMode and VideoEncoderConfiguration of the monitoring camera 1000 according to this embodiment are set.\",\n \"An area 9012 is an area for selecting the resolution of a VideoEncoderConfiguration 6103.The GetVideoEncoderConfigurationOptions command is executed when the setting screen shown in FIG.\",\n \"7B is opened.\",\n \"A dropdown list 9100 displays the contents of the choices of a Resolution parameter obtained by the GetVideoEncoderConfigurationOptions command.\",\n \"As shown in FIG.\",\n \"6D, the monitoring camera 1000 according to this embodiment provides all resolutions obtained from the table shown in FIG.\",\n \"4 as choices.\",\n \"Therefore, the dropdown list 9100 displays all the resolutions.\",\n \"The monitoring camera 1000 provides the client apparatus 2000 with all possible setting contents of the VideoEncoderConfiguration as choices, regardless of the VideoSourceMode.\",\n \"If a parameter of the VideoEncoderConfiguration not matching the current VideoSourceMode, which includes the resolution of a compression encoding unit 1004, is designated, it is possible to internally switch to a matching VideoSourceMode.\",\n \"Accordingly, when obtaining a distribution image after the parameter of the VideoEncoderConfiguration is changed, the client apparatus 2000 need not change the setting contents of the VideoSourceMode to contents matching the VideoEncoderConfiguration.\",\n \"That is, even when various settings including the resolution of a distribution image to be generated by the compression encoding unit 1004 are changed, it is possible to prevent the occurrence of mismatching in the resolution of image data to be generated by an image capturing unit 1003.It is also possible to facilitate generating a distribution image after the resolution is changed.\",\n \"The operations of the monitoring camera, application program, and client apparatus according to the present invention have been disclosed in the first and second embodiments.\",\n \"However, the spirit and scope of the invention are not limited to the above-described embodiments, and partially changeable.\",\n \"For example, in step S1002 of FIG.\",\n \"6A, the set values of the Resolutions of the VideoEncoderConfigurations are uniformly changed to a resolution having the same management number matching the VideoSourceMode.\",\n \"However, the spirit and scope of the present invention are not limited to this.\",\n \"For example, of the Resolutions of the VideoEncoderConfigurations, a Resolution that keeps matching before and after the VideoSourceMode is changed can also be kept used after the VideoSourceMode is changed.\",\n \"Also, all possible choices of the resolution of the VideoEncoderConfiguration are provided in step S1300 of FIG.\",\n \"6D, but the spirit and scope of the present invention are not limited to this.\",\n \"For example, it is also possible to provide only a resolution matching the current VideoSourceMode as a choice, only when a video stream having a given resolution has already been distributed from the monitoring camera 1000.Furthermore, all possible compression encoding schemes of the VideoEncoderConfiguration are obtained as choices in step S1301 of FIG.\",\n \"6D, but the present invention is not limited to this.\",\n \"It is also possible to obtain only choices of compression encoding schemes matching all VideoSourceModes.\",\n \"This makes it possible to reduce the choice providing range, and prevent the SetVideoEncoderConfiguration command from designating compression encoding that does not match the VideoSourceMode selected at that point of time in step S1201.In addition, the maximum one of all possible values of the FramerateLimit of the VideoEncoderConfiguration is obtained in step S1302 of FIG.\",\n \"6D, but the present invention is not limited to this.\",\n \"For example, it is also possible to obtain the maximum FramerateLimit matching all VideoSourceModes.\",\n \"This makes it possible to reduce the choice providing range, and prevent the SetVideoEncoderConfiguration command from designating a FramerateLimit that does not match the VideoSourceMode selected at that point of time in step S1201.Also, in step S1410 of FIG.\",\n \"6E, VideoSourceModes are selectively switched based on the setting of the resolution of the SetVideoEncoderConfiguration command.\",\n \"However, the spirit and scope of the present invention are not limited to this.\",\n \"That is, a plurality of matching VideoSourceModes may exist.\",\n \"Accordingly, it is also possible to select the most matching VideoSourceMode based not only on the resolution but also on a plurality of other settings of the compression encoding unit, such as the compression encoding scheme and FramerateLimit.\",\n \"In the present invention as described above, even when only one of the resolution of image data to be generated by the image capturing unit and the resolution of a distribution image to be generated by the compression encoding unit is changed, it is possible to prevent the occurrence of mismatching in a combination of these resolutions.\",\n \"Other Embodiments Embodiments of the present invention can also be realized by a computer of a system or apparatus that reads out and executes computer executable instructions recorded on a storage medium (for example, non-transitory computer-readable storage medium) to perform the functions of one or more of the above-described embodiment (s) of the present invention, and by a method performed by the computer of the system or apparatus by, for example, reading out and executing the computer executable instructions from the storage medium to perform the functions of one or more of the above-described embodiment (s).\",\n \"The computer may comprise one or more of a central processing unit (CPU), micro processing unit (MPU), or other circuitry, and may include a network of separate computers or separate computer processors.\",\n \"The computer executable instructions may be provided to the computer, for example, from a network or the storage medium.\",\n \"The storage medium may include, for example, one or more of a hard disk, a random-access memory (RAM) , a read only memory (ROM), a storage of distributed computing systems, an optical disk (such as a compact disc (CD) , digital versatile disc (DVD), or Blu-ray Disc (BD)™), a flash memory device, a memory card, and the like.\",\n \"While the present invention has been described with reference to exemplary embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed exemplary embodiments.\",\n \"The scope of the following claims is to be accorded the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and equivalent structures and functions.\"\n ]\n]"},"source":{"kind":"string","value":"Patent_15876005"}}},{"rowIdx":4495050,"cells":{"text":{"kind":"list like","value":[["VENTED RESERVOIR FOR MEDICAL PUMP","The present invention concerns a medical pump comprising: a.","A hard housing comprising a top (24) and bottom (1) hard shells, within which a rigid wall (3) and a movable membrane (2) create three distinct chambers; wherein i. said movable membrane tightly separates said second (29) and third (22) chambers ii.","said first and third chambers have a watertight interface iii.","said second chamber (29) is designed to contain a fluid iv.","said first chamber (23) comprises a first venting mean (20) which is arranged to provide a fluidic communication between said first chamber (23) and the external environment; v. said third chamber (22) comprises a second venting mean which is arranged to provide a fluidic communication between said third chamber (22) and the external environment b.","A pumping element (4) located in the first chamber (23) c. A least one pressure sensor which measure the pressure gradient between the first chamber (23) and the second chamber (29) d. A fluid pathway which permits: i. a first fluid connection (27) between said second chamber (29) and said pumping element ii.","a second fluid connection (28) between said pumping element and a patient line (30)."],["1.-25.","(canceled) 26.A delivery medical device comprising a movable membrane and a rigid wall arranged into a hard housing having a bottom hard shell and a top hard shell; wherein at least one of the movable membrane and the rigid wall define into the housing a first chamber, a second chamber intended to store a fluid to be delivered to a patient and a third chamber; wherein the second chamber and the third chamber are tightly separated by the movable membrane and the first chamber and the third chamber are watertightly separated by at least one of the rigid wall and the movable membrane; wherein the delivery medical device further comprises: a fluid pathway configured to provide a fluid communication between the second chamber and the patient; a pumping device configured to convey the fluid through the fluid pathway to the patient; a vent device configured to vent at least one of the first chamber and the third chamber to the external environment of the delivery medical device; and a pressure transducer having a reference port in the first chamber.","27.The device according to claim 26, wherein the vent device comprises a first vent configured to vent the first chamber to the external environment of the delivery medical device.","28.The device according to claim 27, wherein the first vent is a hydrophobic vent.","29.The device according to claim 26, wherein the pumping device is arranged into the first chamber.","30.The device according to claim 26, wherein the vent device comprises a second vent configured to vent the third chamber to the external environment of the delivery medical device.","31.The device according to claim 30, wherein the second vent provides an air communication and a liquid communication between the external environment and the third chamber.","32.The device according to claim 30, wherein the second vent comprises a passage which extends toward the third chamber up to a baffle.","33.The device according to claim 32, wherein the baffle has two opposite holes.","34.The device according to claim 32, wherein the baffle provides a mechanical protection against a tip object from the external environment.","35.The device according to claim 26, wherein the pressure transducer is a gauge pressure sensor.","36.The device according to claim 26, wherein the pressure transducer measures the pressure gradient between said first chamber and said second chamber.","37.The device according to claim 26, further comprising a processing device configured to detect an under or over pressure in said first chamber and/or said third chamber.","38.The device according to claim 26 further comprising a battery arranged into the first chamber.","39.A delivery medical device comprising a movable membrane and a rigid wall arranged into a hard housing having a bottom hard shell and a top hard shell; wherein at least one of the movable membrane and the rigid wall define into the housing a first chamber, a second chamber intended to store a fluid to be delivered to a patient and a third chamber; wherein the second chamber and the third chamber are tightly separated by the movable membrane and the first chamber and the third chamber are watertightly separated by at least one of the rigid wall and the movable membrane; wherein the delivery medical device further comprises: a fluid pathway configured to provide a fluid communication between the second chamber and the patient; a pumping device configured to convey the fluid through the fluid pathway to the patient and arranged into the first chamber; a vent device configured to vent at least one of the first chamber and the third chamber to the external environment of the delivery medical device; and a pressure transducer configured to measure the fluid pressure in the fluid pathway.","40.The device according to claim 39, wherein the vent device comprises a first vent configured to vent the first chamber to the external environment of the delivery medical device.","41.The device according to claim 40, wherein the first vent is a hydrophobic vent.","42.The device according to claim 39, wherein the vent device comprises a second vent configured to vent the third chamber to the external environment of the delivery medical device.","43.The device according to claim 42, wherein the second vent provides an air communication and a liquid communication between the external environment and the third chamber.","44.The device according to claim 42, wherein the second vent comprises a passage which extends toward the third chamber up to a baffle.","45.The device according to claim 44, wherein the baffle provides a mechanical protection against a tip object from the external environment.","46.The device according to claim 39, wherein the pressure transducer measures the pressure gradient between said first chamber and said second chamber.","47.The device according to claim 39, further comprising a processing device configured to detect an under or over pressure in said first chamber and/or said third chamber.","48.A delivery medical device comprising a movable membrane and a rigid wall arranged into a hard housing having a bottom hard shell and a top hard shell; wherein at least one of the movable membrane and the rigid wall define into the housing a first chamber, a second chamber intended to store a fluid to be delivered to a patient and a third chamber; wherein the second chamber and the third chamber are tightly separated by the movable membrane and the first chamber is watertightly separated from the third chamber by a watertight interface; wherein the delivery medical device further comprises: a fluid pathway intended to provide a fluid communication between the second chamber and the patient; a pumping device configured to convey the fluid through the fluid pathway to the patient; a vent device having a passage which extends toward the third chamber up to a baffle configured to vent the third chamber to the external environment of the delivery medical device; and a pressure transducer in pressure communication with the fluid pathway.","49.The device according to claim 48, wherein the pumping device is arranged into the first chamber.","50.The device according to claim 48, wherein the vent device provides an air communication and a liquid communication between the external environment and the third chamber.","51.The device according to claim 48, wherein the baffle provides a mechanical protection against a tip object from the external environment.","52.The device according to claim 48, wherein the pressure transducer measures the pressure gradient between said first chamber and said second chamber.","53.The device according to claim 48, further comprising a processing device configured to detect an under or over pressure in said first chamber and/or said third chamber."],[" FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention is related to medical pumps, more specifically to reservoirs used with insulin pumps and means to prevent and detect any over or under pressure in the reservoir."],["FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention is related to medical pumps, more specifically to reservoirs used with insulin pumps and means to prevent and detect any over or under pressure in the reservoir.","STATE OF THE ART Some insulin pumps, such as the one illustrated on FIG.","1, have a rigid chamber defined between a rigid wall (3) and bottom (1) hard shell.","A pumping element (4) is fixed to the rigid wall (3).","The chamber contains a reservoir which is made of a movable membrane (2) (e.g.","soft pouch or flexible film), such as thermoformed and heat-soldered onto the rigid wall (3) (see for instance international patent application WO 2007/113708).","The bottom hard shell (1) protects the membrane (2) against external mechanical forces and ensures a water tightness of the system.","The pump is vented using a hydrophobic filter in order to prevent a pressurization of the reservoir due to pressure or temperature changes.","The risk of clogging with this filter is high and therefore a potential overdose becomes possible.","Moreover such clogging cannot be detected with the gauge pressure detector of the pump because the reference port of the detector is vented by the same filter than the reservoir itself.","Therefore, said device described by WO 2007/113708 can't detect a possible clogging of this vent which cause an over or under delivery of the insulin to the patient.","The implementation of an additional anti-free-flow valve is a possible way to overcome this problem.","See WO 2008/029051.However, this may be expensive for a disposable product and may not be totally fail safe.","GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides another advantageous solutions to prevent an over or under delivery of fluid to the patient (for example: insulin) which is induced when the pressure gradient between the reservoir and the external environment changes.","Furthermore, the present invention may advantageously use with a method described in the application EP 11172494.4.To this effect, it relates to a medical pump comprising three distinct chambers.","Said medical device is designed to form a hard housing comprising a top and bottom hard shells.","Said housing further comprises a hard wall and a movable membrane which create said three distinct chambers.","Said movable membrane tightly separates the second and the third chambers.","The first and third chambers have a watertight interface.","Said second chamber is designed to contain a fluid.","Said movable membrane may be moved between said rigid wall and the bottom hard shell, in such a way that the fluid tight reservoir is formed by the second chamber.","Said first chamber comprises a first venting mean which is arranged to provide a fluidic communication between said first chamber and the external environment.","Said third chamber comprises a second venting mean which is arranged to provide a fluidic communication between said third chamber and the external environment.","The device further comprises a pumping element located in the first chamber, at least one pressure sensor which measures the pressure gradient between the first chamber and the third chamber.","Said medical device comprises a fluid pathway which permits a first fluid connection between said second chamber and said pumping element and a second fluid connection between said pumping element and a patient line.","With the present invention, the third chamber is completely vented by said second venting mean while maintaining the protection against mechanical forces or ingress of solid foreign objects such as sharp tips.","In one of embodiment, said second venting mean is formed by several passages.","The protection against water ingress is not insured for the third chamber, which is not necessary if said movable member is a tight membrane.","While, the first chamber is vented by a vent which may be hydrophobic and or oleophobic to protect the electronic part.","In one of embodiment, said movable membrane may transmit the pressure of the third chamber to said first fluid connection via the second chamber and the movable membrane.","If, one or the both venting means get clogged, the pressure in the device and the pressure of the external environment may be different.","The pressure gradient between inside device, in particular in the third chamber, and the external environment may induce an over or under delivery of the fluid to the patient.","For this reason, the second venting mean comprises several passages (which reduce the clogging risk) and the device uses a method partially described in the application EP 11172494.4 for detecting if at least one venting means is clogged.","The sensors may be localised in said chambers, in said fluid connections and/or outside.","The sensor may be a gauge pressure sensor localised between: the third chamber and the first chamber, and/or said first fluid connection and the first chamber, and/or said second fluid connection and the first chamber, and/or said third chamber and external environment, and/or said first chamber and external environment.","The reference port of said gauge pressure sensors may be the external environment, the first chamber or the third chamber.","In one of embodiment, the device comprises processing means for the sensor signal which may measure the pressure gradient between the third chamber and the first chamber or the external environment.","And said processing means detect a under or over pressure in said first chamber and/or said third chamber.","Said processing means can detect the clogging of said first venting mean and/or said second venting mean.","The medical pump comprises alarm means which alert the patient in case of said first venting mean and/or said second venting mean are clogged.","LIST OF FIGURES FIG.","1 shows the prior art of the medical device without the holes.","FIG.","2 illustrates an embodiment of the invention with several holes on one of hard shells FIG.","3 represents the same embodiment as the one illustrated on FIG.","2 but viewed from the other side.","FIG.","4 shows an exploded view of the complete system.","FIG.","5 shows the embodiment of the medical device with both venting means are directly connected to the external environment.","FIG.","6 shows another embodiment of the medical device with the first venting mean located between the first and the third chambers.","LIST OF ELEMENTS 1 Bottom hard shell 2 Movable membrane 3 Rigid wall 4 Pumping element 5 Holes 6 Baffles 7 Second venting mean 8 Upper face of the second chamber and/or third chamber 9 Lower face of the third chamber 10 Lateral face of the third chamber 11 Marks on the bottom shell 12 Filling port of the second chamber 13 Lateral slides 14 Grips 16 Battery 17 PCB (Printed Circuit Board) 18 Spring contacts 19 Battery contact 20 First venting mean 21 Lock 22 Third chamber 23 First chamber 24 Top hard shell 25 Upper face of the first chamber 26 Lower face of the first chamber 27 First fluid connection 28 Second fluid connection 29 Second chamber 30 Patient line DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The medical pump of the present invention comprises three distinct chambers (23, 29, 22).","The second chamber (29) and the third chamber (22) is separated by a movable membrane (2) which may be moved between a bottom hard shell (1) and the rigid wall (3) and comprises an upper face (8), a lower face (9) and a lateral face (10).","Said bottom shell (1) contains several holes (5) which are forming the internal ends of passages (7) communicating between the third chamber and the external environment.","The first chamber (23) is defined between the top hard shell (24) and the rigid wall (3).","Said first chamber (23) comprises an upper face (25), a lower face (26), a pumping element (4) and a first venting mean (20).","The third chamber and the first chamber are tightly separated by at least said rigid wall (3) which is designed to form a watertight interface.","In one of said embodiments, a hydrophobic surface treatment or coating can also be used on and/or around the holes (5) to limit the water ingress.","In one of said embodiments, said first chamber (23) comprises the electronic elements.","In one of said embodiments, the lateral faces of said chambers are formed by the junction between part of the top and the bottom hard shell of the medical device.","The medical device comprises a first fluid connection (27) between said second chamber (29) and said pumping element, and a second fluid connection (28) between said pumping element and the patient line.","A sensor may measure a pressure gradient between the fluid and said first chamber (23) and/or said third chamber (22) or between said both chambers.","Said sensor can be located upstream and/or downstream of the pumping element (4).","In a preferred embodiment, the sensor is a gauge pressure sensor.","The reference port of said gauge pressure sensor is connected to said first chamber (23), allowing the detection of under or over pressure between: said third and first chambers, and/or the fluid and said first chamber, and/or the fluid and said third chamber, and/or the fluid and the patient line.","In case of one or both of said venting means are clogged, a positive or negative pressure may be trapped in the third chamber (22) and/or in the first chamber (23).","Therefore, the device further comprises alarm means which can alert the patient if the first venting mean (20) of the first chamber or/and the second venting mean (7) of said third chamber (22) are clogged.","Vent clogging case studies: In a preferred embodiment, the change of pressure due to clogging can be monitored using two gauge sensors located in the pumping element.","A first gauge pressure sensor is located in the first fluid connection (27) which may measure the pressure of the third chamber which is transmitted to the second chamber (29) (and the first fluid connection (27)) via the movable membrane (2).","A second gauge pressure sensor is located in the second fluid connection (28) which may measure the pressure of the patient line.","For both sensors, the reference port is the first chamber (23).","1.Clogging of the second venting mean (7) only→potential over or under pressure in the third chamber (22) is transmitted to the fluid in the second chamber (29) via the membrane (2) and is detected via the first sensor since the reference port (the first chamber (23)) of said sensor is not pressurized.","The first sensor detects a pressure gradient between the third chamber (22) and the first chamber (23) while the second sensor doesn't detect any pressure gradient between the patient line and the first chamber (23).","2.Clogging of the first venting mean (20) only→the first chamber (23) and therefore the reference ports of both sensors shall potentially exhibit over or under pressure with respect to external environment.","Said over or under pressure will be detected by both sensors.","Positive (respectively negative) pressure in said first chamber (23) leads to a pressure signal equivalent to a negative (resp.","positive) pressure in the pumping chamber in normal conditions.","Therefore, a clogging of said first venting mean (20) is detected when the pressure in the first chamber (23) becomes different from external environment pressure.","Said difference of pressure inducing the same offset on both gauge pressure sensors with respect to a reference value obtained either by measuring the pressure sensor signal before the priming of the pump or by using calibration data.","3.Clogging of all venting ports→the first and third chambers (23, 22) are potentially in over or under pressure with respect to the external environment.","Therefore, the first sensor can't detect any pressure gradient between the first and the second or third chambers.","But, the patient line pressure may be different.","Therefore, the second sensor can detect a pressure gradient between the first chamber (23) and the patient line.","FIG.","2 illustrates an embodiment of the invention where the bottom shell (1) is provided with passages (7) on its lateral face (10) of the third chamber.","Each passage (7) is provided with a baffle (6) which defines two opposite holes (5) oriented towards said lateral face (10), in a direction which is parallel with respect to the bottom face.","In another embodiment, the holes are located within said lateral face (10) or said lower face (9) of the third chamber.","In a preferred embodiment, said holes (5) are oriented in a direction which is forming an angle above 30° with the main direction of their respective passages (7).","FIG.","4 shows an exploded view of the complete system, including the same embodiment as to the one illustrated on FIG.","2 and the top hard shell (24), the battery (16), a lock (21), the first venting mean (20), a PCB (17) and its spring contacts (18) to connect the pumping element (4) (not showed here) and finally the battery contact (19).","In the present invention the design of the bottom shell and more particularly the second venting mean (7) are driven by: The capability to vent the membrane (2) for any foreseeable use or probable misuse of the pump, including the presence of dirt onto the pump, the wearing of the pump under clothes .",".",".","The protection against solid foreign objects When second venting means (7), which is several passages like holes (5), are provided in the bottom shell (1) it is not possible to accidentally close all openings because of their specific locations.","The compression of the pump against a soft material on the top shell cannot typically obstruct these passages because of their lateral orientated location.","The closure of the passages by lateral compression is also prevented by baffles (6) that limit the access typically to fingers.","The passages (7) may have the shape of a slit or any other shape having one dimension preferably lower than 1 mm.","The passages (7) may also be made into a recess and oriented perpendicularly to the normal of the lateral face (10) of the third chamber (22) in order to prevent the insertion of a straight and rigid tip, the minimum dimension of the opening being preferably no longer limited to 1 mm in this configuration according to this recess.","The bottom shell (1) is preferably transparent; the patient should be able to see any large obstruction due to foods or any sticky stuff and eventually to change the disposable.","The bottom shell (1) and/or the rigid wall (3) and/or the membrane (2) are preferably is made in plastic, and more generally in any material having specific grades compatible with insulin.","The use of the same material is desirable for thermowelding.","The contact surfaces for gluing or thermowelding between the top and bottom shell should be large enough to withstand reservoir overpressure up to 1 bar and drop test from a height of 1 meter or more.","The membrane material has ideally a low elasticity and a low permeability.","The membrane thickness is typically smaller than 100 microns.","The surface of the membrane (2) is ideally larger than the surface of the lower face (9) of the third chamber (22) of the bottom shell to prevent any in-plane stress in the membrane and therefore any effect due to the membrane elasticity.","The bottom shell (1) can advantageously include Moiré pattern.","In case of overfilling of the reservoir, when the membrane is directly in contact with the bottom shell, the reservoir pressure would bend the bottom shell and induce changes in the Moiré pattern, giving a visual feedback of overfilling to the patient.","The Moiré pattern covers partly the bottom shell (1) surface in order to make possible the observation of bubbles into the reservoir.","The bottom shell may include any means to detect deformation due to static load or a pressurized reservoir (e.g.","strain gauges, pressure sensors .",".",".",").","The passages (7) may be partly or completely covered by a removable and permeable tape that ensures the venting of the reservoir.","In case of projection of sticky stuff on the passages (7) the patient can advantageously remove the tape instead of trying to clean up the device or simply changing it.","The tape may be made of several sheets that can be removed iteratively.","Such air permeable tape may also cover the first venting mean (20) of the first chamber (23).","The bottom shell (1) may include marks (11) that help the patient to find the filling port (12) containing a septum.","The bottom shell (1) is ideally flat and has lateral slides (13) for patch insertion (clipping) and grips (14) for patch removal (unclipping).","Fluid, e.g.","water, can flow through the passages (7) and then in the space between the bottom shell (1) and the membrane (2), the fluid tightness being only provided to the first chamber (23) of the pump which, among other elements, includes the battery (16).","The electronic and pump controller are in the first chamber which is water tight but has to be vented in case a zinc-air battery needing oxygen and when a gauge pressure sensors are used.","The first chamber (23) is tightly assembled using lock (21) or clips or any other means onto the upper face of the rigid wall (3), contacting electrically the pads of the pump via the spring contacts (18) of the Printed Circuit Board (PCB) (17).","The first chamber (23) uses the first venting mean (20) which is therefore preferably hydrophobic and/or oleophobic.","In another embodiment (FIG.","6), the first venting mean (20), which is hydrophobic, is located between the first and the third chambers.","In another embodiment, the device further comprises three distinct venting means.","The first venting mean connects directly the first chamber to the external environment, the second venting mean connects directly the third chamber to the external environment and the third venting mean is located between the third and the first chamber.","This embodiment insure a good venting in third and first chambers even if one venting mean is clogged.","Said third venting mean is preferably hydrophobic and/or oleophobic."]],"string":"[\n [\n \"VENTED RESERVOIR FOR MEDICAL PUMP\",\n \"The present invention concerns a medical pump comprising: a.\",\n \"A hard housing comprising a top (24) and bottom (1) hard shells, within which a rigid wall (3) and a movable membrane (2) create three distinct chambers; wherein i. said movable membrane tightly separates said second (29) and third (22) chambers ii.\",\n \"said first and third chambers have a watertight interface iii.\",\n \"said second chamber (29) is designed to contain a fluid iv.\",\n \"said first chamber (23) comprises a first venting mean (20) which is arranged to provide a fluidic communication between said first chamber (23) and the external environment; v. said third chamber (22) comprises a second venting mean which is arranged to provide a fluidic communication between said third chamber (22) and the external environment b.\",\n \"A pumping element (4) located in the first chamber (23) c. A least one pressure sensor which measure the pressure gradient between the first chamber (23) and the second chamber (29) d. A fluid pathway which permits: i. a first fluid connection (27) between said second chamber (29) and said pumping element ii.\",\n \"a second fluid connection (28) between said pumping element and a patient line (30).\"\n ],\n [\n \"1.-25.\",\n \"(canceled) 26.A delivery medical device comprising a movable membrane and a rigid wall arranged into a hard housing having a bottom hard shell and a top hard shell; wherein at least one of the movable membrane and the rigid wall define into the housing a first chamber, a second chamber intended to store a fluid to be delivered to a patient and a third chamber; wherein the second chamber and the third chamber are tightly separated by the movable membrane and the first chamber and the third chamber are watertightly separated by at least one of the rigid wall and the movable membrane; wherein the delivery medical device further comprises: a fluid pathway configured to provide a fluid communication between the second chamber and the patient; a pumping device configured to convey the fluid through the fluid pathway to the patient; a vent device configured to vent at least one of the first chamber and the third chamber to the external environment of the delivery medical device; and a pressure transducer having a reference port in the first chamber.\",\n \"27.The device according to claim 26, wherein the vent device comprises a first vent configured to vent the first chamber to the external environment of the delivery medical device.\",\n \"28.The device according to claim 27, wherein the first vent is a hydrophobic vent.\",\n \"29.The device according to claim 26, wherein the pumping device is arranged into the first chamber.\",\n \"30.The device according to claim 26, wherein the vent device comprises a second vent configured to vent the third chamber to the external environment of the delivery medical device.\",\n \"31.The device according to claim 30, wherein the second vent provides an air communication and a liquid communication between the external environment and the third chamber.\",\n \"32.The device according to claim 30, wherein the second vent comprises a passage which extends toward the third chamber up to a baffle.\",\n \"33.The device according to claim 32, wherein the baffle has two opposite holes.\",\n \"34.The device according to claim 32, wherein the baffle provides a mechanical protection against a tip object from the external environment.\",\n \"35.The device according to claim 26, wherein the pressure transducer is a gauge pressure sensor.\",\n \"36.The device according to claim 26, wherein the pressure transducer measures the pressure gradient between said first chamber and said second chamber.\",\n \"37.The device according to claim 26, further comprising a processing device configured to detect an under or over pressure in said first chamber and/or said third chamber.\",\n \"38.The device according to claim 26 further comprising a battery arranged into the first chamber.\",\n \"39.A delivery medical device comprising a movable membrane and a rigid wall arranged into a hard housing having a bottom hard shell and a top hard shell; wherein at least one of the movable membrane and the rigid wall define into the housing a first chamber, a second chamber intended to store a fluid to be delivered to a patient and a third chamber; wherein the second chamber and the third chamber are tightly separated by the movable membrane and the first chamber and the third chamber are watertightly separated by at least one of the rigid wall and the movable membrane; wherein the delivery medical device further comprises: a fluid pathway configured to provide a fluid communication between the second chamber and the patient; a pumping device configured to convey the fluid through the fluid pathway to the patient and arranged into the first chamber; a vent device configured to vent at least one of the first chamber and the third chamber to the external environment of the delivery medical device; and a pressure transducer configured to measure the fluid pressure in the fluid pathway.\",\n \"40.The device according to claim 39, wherein the vent device comprises a first vent configured to vent the first chamber to the external environment of the delivery medical device.\",\n \"41.The device according to claim 40, wherein the first vent is a hydrophobic vent.\",\n \"42.The device according to claim 39, wherein the vent device comprises a second vent configured to vent the third chamber to the external environment of the delivery medical device.\",\n \"43.The device according to claim 42, wherein the second vent provides an air communication and a liquid communication between the external environment and the third chamber.\",\n \"44.The device according to claim 42, wherein the second vent comprises a passage which extends toward the third chamber up to a baffle.\",\n \"45.The device according to claim 44, wherein the baffle provides a mechanical protection against a tip object from the external environment.\",\n \"46.The device according to claim 39, wherein the pressure transducer measures the pressure gradient between said first chamber and said second chamber.\",\n \"47.The device according to claim 39, further comprising a processing device configured to detect an under or over pressure in said first chamber and/or said third chamber.\",\n \"48.A delivery medical device comprising a movable membrane and a rigid wall arranged into a hard housing having a bottom hard shell and a top hard shell; wherein at least one of the movable membrane and the rigid wall define into the housing a first chamber, a second chamber intended to store a fluid to be delivered to a patient and a third chamber; wherein the second chamber and the third chamber are tightly separated by the movable membrane and the first chamber is watertightly separated from the third chamber by a watertight interface; wherein the delivery medical device further comprises: a fluid pathway intended to provide a fluid communication between the second chamber and the patient; a pumping device configured to convey the fluid through the fluid pathway to the patient; a vent device having a passage which extends toward the third chamber up to a baffle configured to vent the third chamber to the external environment of the delivery medical device; and a pressure transducer in pressure communication with the fluid pathway.\",\n \"49.The device according to claim 48, wherein the pumping device is arranged into the first chamber.\",\n \"50.The device according to claim 48, wherein the vent device provides an air communication and a liquid communication between the external environment and the third chamber.\",\n \"51.The device according to claim 48, wherein the baffle provides a mechanical protection against a tip object from the external environment.\",\n \"52.The device according to claim 48, wherein the pressure transducer measures the pressure gradient between said first chamber and said second chamber.\",\n \"53.The device according to claim 48, further comprising a processing device configured to detect an under or over pressure in said first chamber and/or said third chamber.\"\n ],\n [\n \" FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention is related to medical pumps, more specifically to reservoirs used with insulin pumps and means to prevent and detect any over or under pressure in the reservoir.\"\n ],\n [\n \"FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention is related to medical pumps, more specifically to reservoirs used with insulin pumps and means to prevent and detect any over or under pressure in the reservoir.\",\n \"STATE OF THE ART Some insulin pumps, such as the one illustrated on FIG.\",\n \"1, have a rigid chamber defined between a rigid wall (3) and bottom (1) hard shell.\",\n \"A pumping element (4) is fixed to the rigid wall (3).\",\n \"The chamber contains a reservoir which is made of a movable membrane (2) (e.g.\",\n \"soft pouch or flexible film), such as thermoformed and heat-soldered onto the rigid wall (3) (see for instance international patent application WO 2007/113708).\",\n \"The bottom hard shell (1) protects the membrane (2) against external mechanical forces and ensures a water tightness of the system.\",\n \"The pump is vented using a hydrophobic filter in order to prevent a pressurization of the reservoir due to pressure or temperature changes.\",\n \"The risk of clogging with this filter is high and therefore a potential overdose becomes possible.\",\n \"Moreover such clogging cannot be detected with the gauge pressure detector of the pump because the reference port of the detector is vented by the same filter than the reservoir itself.\",\n \"Therefore, said device described by WO 2007/113708 can't detect a possible clogging of this vent which cause an over or under delivery of the insulin to the patient.\",\n \"The implementation of an additional anti-free-flow valve is a possible way to overcome this problem.\",\n \"See WO 2008/029051.However, this may be expensive for a disposable product and may not be totally fail safe.\",\n \"GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides another advantageous solutions to prevent an over or under delivery of fluid to the patient (for example: insulin) which is induced when the pressure gradient between the reservoir and the external environment changes.\",\n \"Furthermore, the present invention may advantageously use with a method described in the application EP 11172494.4.To this effect, it relates to a medical pump comprising three distinct chambers.\",\n \"Said medical device is designed to form a hard housing comprising a top and bottom hard shells.\",\n \"Said housing further comprises a hard wall and a movable membrane which create said three distinct chambers.\",\n \"Said movable membrane tightly separates the second and the third chambers.\",\n \"The first and third chambers have a watertight interface.\",\n \"Said second chamber is designed to contain a fluid.\",\n \"Said movable membrane may be moved between said rigid wall and the bottom hard shell, in such a way that the fluid tight reservoir is formed by the second chamber.\",\n \"Said first chamber comprises a first venting mean which is arranged to provide a fluidic communication between said first chamber and the external environment.\",\n \"Said third chamber comprises a second venting mean which is arranged to provide a fluidic communication between said third chamber and the external environment.\",\n \"The device further comprises a pumping element located in the first chamber, at least one pressure sensor which measures the pressure gradient between the first chamber and the third chamber.\",\n \"Said medical device comprises a fluid pathway which permits a first fluid connection between said second chamber and said pumping element and a second fluid connection between said pumping element and a patient line.\",\n \"With the present invention, the third chamber is completely vented by said second venting mean while maintaining the protection against mechanical forces or ingress of solid foreign objects such as sharp tips.\",\n \"In one of embodiment, said second venting mean is formed by several passages.\",\n \"The protection against water ingress is not insured for the third chamber, which is not necessary if said movable member is a tight membrane.\",\n \"While, the first chamber is vented by a vent which may be hydrophobic and or oleophobic to protect the electronic part.\",\n \"In one of embodiment, said movable membrane may transmit the pressure of the third chamber to said first fluid connection via the second chamber and the movable membrane.\",\n \"If, one or the both venting means get clogged, the pressure in the device and the pressure of the external environment may be different.\",\n \"The pressure gradient between inside device, in particular in the third chamber, and the external environment may induce an over or under delivery of the fluid to the patient.\",\n \"For this reason, the second venting mean comprises several passages (which reduce the clogging risk) and the device uses a method partially described in the application EP 11172494.4 for detecting if at least one venting means is clogged.\",\n \"The sensors may be localised in said chambers, in said fluid connections and/or outside.\",\n \"The sensor may be a gauge pressure sensor localised between: the third chamber and the first chamber, and/or said first fluid connection and the first chamber, and/or said second fluid connection and the first chamber, and/or said third chamber and external environment, and/or said first chamber and external environment.\",\n \"The reference port of said gauge pressure sensors may be the external environment, the first chamber or the third chamber.\",\n \"In one of embodiment, the device comprises processing means for the sensor signal which may measure the pressure gradient between the third chamber and the first chamber or the external environment.\",\n \"And said processing means detect a under or over pressure in said first chamber and/or said third chamber.\",\n \"Said processing means can detect the clogging of said first venting mean and/or said second venting mean.\",\n \"The medical pump comprises alarm means which alert the patient in case of said first venting mean and/or said second venting mean are clogged.\",\n \"LIST OF FIGURES FIG.\",\n \"1 shows the prior art of the medical device without the holes.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"2 illustrates an embodiment of the invention with several holes on one of hard shells FIG.\",\n \"3 represents the same embodiment as the one illustrated on FIG.\",\n \"2 but viewed from the other side.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"4 shows an exploded view of the complete system.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"5 shows the embodiment of the medical device with both venting means are directly connected to the external environment.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"6 shows another embodiment of the medical device with the first venting mean located between the first and the third chambers.\",\n \"LIST OF ELEMENTS 1 Bottom hard shell 2 Movable membrane 3 Rigid wall 4 Pumping element 5 Holes 6 Baffles 7 Second venting mean 8 Upper face of the second chamber and/or third chamber 9 Lower face of the third chamber 10 Lateral face of the third chamber 11 Marks on the bottom shell 12 Filling port of the second chamber 13 Lateral slides 14 Grips 16 Battery 17 PCB (Printed Circuit Board) 18 Spring contacts 19 Battery contact 20 First venting mean 21 Lock 22 Third chamber 23 First chamber 24 Top hard shell 25 Upper face of the first chamber 26 Lower face of the first chamber 27 First fluid connection 28 Second fluid connection 29 Second chamber 30 Patient line DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The medical pump of the present invention comprises three distinct chambers (23, 29, 22).\",\n \"The second chamber (29) and the third chamber (22) is separated by a movable membrane (2) which may be moved between a bottom hard shell (1) and the rigid wall (3) and comprises an upper face (8), a lower face (9) and a lateral face (10).\",\n \"Said bottom shell (1) contains several holes (5) which are forming the internal ends of passages (7) communicating between the third chamber and the external environment.\",\n \"The first chamber (23) is defined between the top hard shell (24) and the rigid wall (3).\",\n \"Said first chamber (23) comprises an upper face (25), a lower face (26), a pumping element (4) and a first venting mean (20).\",\n \"The third chamber and the first chamber are tightly separated by at least said rigid wall (3) which is designed to form a watertight interface.\",\n \"In one of said embodiments, a hydrophobic surface treatment or coating can also be used on and/or around the holes (5) to limit the water ingress.\",\n \"In one of said embodiments, said first chamber (23) comprises the electronic elements.\",\n \"In one of said embodiments, the lateral faces of said chambers are formed by the junction between part of the top and the bottom hard shell of the medical device.\",\n \"The medical device comprises a first fluid connection (27) between said second chamber (29) and said pumping element, and a second fluid connection (28) between said pumping element and the patient line.\",\n \"A sensor may measure a pressure gradient between the fluid and said first chamber (23) and/or said third chamber (22) or between said both chambers.\",\n \"Said sensor can be located upstream and/or downstream of the pumping element (4).\",\n \"In a preferred embodiment, the sensor is a gauge pressure sensor.\",\n \"The reference port of said gauge pressure sensor is connected to said first chamber (23), allowing the detection of under or over pressure between: said third and first chambers, and/or the fluid and said first chamber, and/or the fluid and said third chamber, and/or the fluid and the patient line.\",\n \"In case of one or both of said venting means are clogged, a positive or negative pressure may be trapped in the third chamber (22) and/or in the first chamber (23).\",\n \"Therefore, the device further comprises alarm means which can alert the patient if the first venting mean (20) of the first chamber or/and the second venting mean (7) of said third chamber (22) are clogged.\",\n \"Vent clogging case studies: In a preferred embodiment, the change of pressure due to clogging can be monitored using two gauge sensors located in the pumping element.\",\n \"A first gauge pressure sensor is located in the first fluid connection (27) which may measure the pressure of the third chamber which is transmitted to the second chamber (29) (and the first fluid connection (27)) via the movable membrane (2).\",\n \"A second gauge pressure sensor is located in the second fluid connection (28) which may measure the pressure of the patient line.\",\n \"For both sensors, the reference port is the first chamber (23).\",\n \"1.Clogging of the second venting mean (7) only→potential over or under pressure in the third chamber (22) is transmitted to the fluid in the second chamber (29) via the membrane (2) and is detected via the first sensor since the reference port (the first chamber (23)) of said sensor is not pressurized.\",\n \"The first sensor detects a pressure gradient between the third chamber (22) and the first chamber (23) while the second sensor doesn't detect any pressure gradient between the patient line and the first chamber (23).\",\n \"2.Clogging of the first venting mean (20) only→the first chamber (23) and therefore the reference ports of both sensors shall potentially exhibit over or under pressure with respect to external environment.\",\n \"Said over or under pressure will be detected by both sensors.\",\n \"Positive (respectively negative) pressure in said first chamber (23) leads to a pressure signal equivalent to a negative (resp.\",\n \"positive) pressure in the pumping chamber in normal conditions.\",\n \"Therefore, a clogging of said first venting mean (20) is detected when the pressure in the first chamber (23) becomes different from external environment pressure.\",\n \"Said difference of pressure inducing the same offset on both gauge pressure sensors with respect to a reference value obtained either by measuring the pressure sensor signal before the priming of the pump or by using calibration data.\",\n \"3.Clogging of all venting ports→the first and third chambers (23, 22) are potentially in over or under pressure with respect to the external environment.\",\n \"Therefore, the first sensor can't detect any pressure gradient between the first and the second or third chambers.\",\n \"But, the patient line pressure may be different.\",\n \"Therefore, the second sensor can detect a pressure gradient between the first chamber (23) and the patient line.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"2 illustrates an embodiment of the invention where the bottom shell (1) is provided with passages (7) on its lateral face (10) of the third chamber.\",\n \"Each passage (7) is provided with a baffle (6) which defines two opposite holes (5) oriented towards said lateral face (10), in a direction which is parallel with respect to the bottom face.\",\n \"In another embodiment, the holes are located within said lateral face (10) or said lower face (9) of the third chamber.\",\n \"In a preferred embodiment, said holes (5) are oriented in a direction which is forming an angle above 30° with the main direction of their respective passages (7).\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"4 shows an exploded view of the complete system, including the same embodiment as to the one illustrated on FIG.\",\n \"2 and the top hard shell (24), the battery (16), a lock (21), the first venting mean (20), a PCB (17) and its spring contacts (18) to connect the pumping element (4) (not showed here) and finally the battery contact (19).\",\n \"In the present invention the design of the bottom shell and more particularly the second venting mean (7) are driven by: The capability to vent the membrane (2) for any foreseeable use or probable misuse of the pump, including the presence of dirt onto the pump, the wearing of the pump under clothes .\",\n \".\",\n \".\",\n \"The protection against solid foreign objects When second venting means (7), which is several passages like holes (5), are provided in the bottom shell (1) it is not possible to accidentally close all openings because of their specific locations.\",\n \"The compression of the pump against a soft material on the top shell cannot typically obstruct these passages because of their lateral orientated location.\",\n \"The closure of the passages by lateral compression is also prevented by baffles (6) that limit the access typically to fingers.\",\n \"The passages (7) may have the shape of a slit or any other shape having one dimension preferably lower than 1 mm.\",\n \"The passages (7) may also be made into a recess and oriented perpendicularly to the normal of the lateral face (10) of the third chamber (22) in order to prevent the insertion of a straight and rigid tip, the minimum dimension of the opening being preferably no longer limited to 1 mm in this configuration according to this recess.\",\n \"The bottom shell (1) is preferably transparent; the patient should be able to see any large obstruction due to foods or any sticky stuff and eventually to change the disposable.\",\n \"The bottom shell (1) and/or the rigid wall (3) and/or the membrane (2) are preferably is made in plastic, and more generally in any material having specific grades compatible with insulin.\",\n \"The use of the same material is desirable for thermowelding.\",\n \"The contact surfaces for gluing or thermowelding between the top and bottom shell should be large enough to withstand reservoir overpressure up to 1 bar and drop test from a height of 1 meter or more.\",\n \"The membrane material has ideally a low elasticity and a low permeability.\",\n \"The membrane thickness is typically smaller than 100 microns.\",\n \"The surface of the membrane (2) is ideally larger than the surface of the lower face (9) of the third chamber (22) of the bottom shell to prevent any in-plane stress in the membrane and therefore any effect due to the membrane elasticity.\",\n \"The bottom shell (1) can advantageously include Moiré pattern.\",\n \"In case of overfilling of the reservoir, when the membrane is directly in contact with the bottom shell, the reservoir pressure would bend the bottom shell and induce changes in the Moiré pattern, giving a visual feedback of overfilling to the patient.\",\n \"The Moiré pattern covers partly the bottom shell (1) surface in order to make possible the observation of bubbles into the reservoir.\",\n \"The bottom shell may include any means to detect deformation due to static load or a pressurized reservoir (e.g.\",\n \"strain gauges, pressure sensors .\",\n \".\",\n \".\",\n \").\",\n \"The passages (7) may be partly or completely covered by a removable and permeable tape that ensures the venting of the reservoir.\",\n \"In case of projection of sticky stuff on the passages (7) the patient can advantageously remove the tape instead of trying to clean up the device or simply changing it.\",\n \"The tape may be made of several sheets that can be removed iteratively.\",\n \"Such air permeable tape may also cover the first venting mean (20) of the first chamber (23).\",\n \"The bottom shell (1) may include marks (11) that help the patient to find the filling port (12) containing a septum.\",\n \"The bottom shell (1) is ideally flat and has lateral slides (13) for patch insertion (clipping) and grips (14) for patch removal (unclipping).\",\n \"Fluid, e.g.\",\n \"water, can flow through the passages (7) and then in the space between the bottom shell (1) and the membrane (2), the fluid tightness being only provided to the first chamber (23) of the pump which, among other elements, includes the battery (16).\",\n \"The electronic and pump controller are in the first chamber which is water tight but has to be vented in case a zinc-air battery needing oxygen and when a gauge pressure sensors are used.\",\n \"The first chamber (23) is tightly assembled using lock (21) or clips or any other means onto the upper face of the rigid wall (3), contacting electrically the pads of the pump via the spring contacts (18) of the Printed Circuit Board (PCB) (17).\",\n \"The first chamber (23) uses the first venting mean (20) which is therefore preferably hydrophobic and/or oleophobic.\",\n \"In another embodiment (FIG.\",\n \"6), the first venting mean (20), which is hydrophobic, is located between the first and the third chambers.\",\n \"In another embodiment, the device further comprises three distinct venting means.\",\n \"The first venting mean connects directly the first chamber to the external environment, the second venting mean connects directly the third chamber to the external environment and the third venting mean is located between the third and the first chamber.\",\n \"This embodiment insure a good venting in third and first chambers even if one venting mean is clogged.\",\n \"Said third venting mean is preferably hydrophobic and/or oleophobic.\"\n ]\n]"},"source":{"kind":"string","value":"Patent_15876006"}}},{"rowIdx":4495051,"cells":{"text":{"kind":"list like","value":[["FOOD POUCH CONTAINER","A rigid food pouch container developed to accommodate prepared food packaged in soft containers is designed to prevent a child from squeezing the container and causing its contents to spurt from the container.","The food pouch container includes a back portion having an interior cavity; a front portion; a top hole; and a surface dividing the back portion into an upper cavity and a lower cavity.","In some embodiments, the lower cavity is inside the back portion, while in other embodiments, the lower cavity is an exterior cavity.","Also disclosed are food pouch containers that include a back portion having an interior cavity; a front portion; a top hole; means for contouring the food pouch from the bottom or side of the pouch.","Some embodiments include a hinged clam shell configuration for easy insertion and removal of the food pouch.","Other embodiments include a storage facility for the pouch cap."],["1.A container for a food pouch having a flat shape for holding soft food, the pouch further having a mouthpiece portion and a removable cap for the mouthpiece, the container comprising: a rigid body configured to surround the pouch and sized for nesting of the pouch inside the body; the body having an opening for the mouthpiece to protrude outside the body; said opening being sized and shaped to fit closely about a hollow neck of a food pouch without constricting said hollow neck; the body being contoured to change the pouch to a bulbous shape; and thereby enabling the soft food to be more easily emptied out of the pouch.","2.The container of claim 1, wherein the container comprises at least one handle.","3.The container of claim 1, wherein the body contours the sides of the pouch.","4.The container of claim 1, wherein the container comprises at least one side pinch.","5.The container of claim 1, further comprising a front portion and a back portion.","6.The container of claim 5, further comprising at least one latch configured to releasably lock the front portion and the back portion together when the container is in a closed configuration.","7.The container of claim 5, wherein the front portion is attached to the back portion via a hinge.","8.The container of claim 5, wherein the back portion comprises a first perimeter groove and the front portion comprises a second perimeter groove.","9.A container for a food pouch having a flat shape for holding soft food, the pouch further having a mouthpiece portion and a removable cap for the mouthpiece, the container comprising: a body having an interior cavity, wherein the body has a base, sidewalls extending upwardly from the base and a top panel; the interior cavity being sized and shaped to surround the pouch and sized for nesting of the pouch inside the interior cavity; a hole, said hole being sized and shaped to fit closely about a hollow neck of a food pouch without constricting said hollow neck; 10.The container of claim 9, wherein the container comprises at least one handle.","11.The container of claim 9, wherein the body contours the sides of the pouch.","12.The container of claim 9, wherein the container comprises at least one side pinch.","13.The container of claim 9, wherein the top panel is attached to a sidewall via a hinge.","14.The container of claim 13, further comprising at least one latch configured to releasably lock the top panel to a sidewall when the container is in a closed configuration.","15.The container of claim 9, further comprising a front portion and a back portion.","16.The container of claim 15, further comprising at least one latch configured to releasably lock the front portion and the back portion together when the container is in a closed configuration.","17.The container of claim 15, wherein the front portion is attached to the back portion via a hinge.","18.The container of claim 15, wherein the back portion comprises a first perimeter groove and the front portion comprises a second perimeter groove.","19.A container for a food pouch having a flat shape for holding soft food, the pouch further having a mouthpiece portion and a removable cap for the mouthpiece, the container comprising: a rigid body configured to surround the pouch and sized for nesting of the pouch inside the body; the body having an opening for the mouthpiece to protrude outside the body; said opening being sized and shaped to fit closely about a hollow neck of a food pouch without constricting said hollow neck; a door; the body being contoured to change the pouch to a bulbous shape; and thereby enabling the soft food to be more easily emptied out of the pouch.","20.The container of claim 19, further comprising at least one side pinch.","21.The container of claim 19, further comprising a surface for contouring the bottom of a food pouch.","22.The container of claim 21, wherein the surface divides the body into an upper cavity and a lower cavity.","23.The container of claim 21, where in the surface is curved downward."],[" BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE Recently, there has been an increased growth in the use and marketing of food pouches, also referred to as stand-up pouches, especially for use with baby food.","The food pouches are easy to use for the parents and the children can suck the food out of the pouch.","The use of the food pouch eliminates the need for a glass baby food jar, and the need to spoon feed the food to the infant or toddler, thereby reducing the mess that is often accompanied when one is feeding a child.","However, the food pouches themselves can create mess.","Invariably, the flow of food through the opening of the pouch is not controlled.","Therefore, when the child squeezes the food pouch, the food squirts from the top opening and can soil the child's clothing or chair.","Thus, there is a need in the art to retain the convenience of the food pouch but reduce or prevent the accompanying mess that the use of the pouch produces."],[" SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Disclosed herein are food pouch containers comprising a back portion having an interior cavity; a front portion; a top hole; and a surface dividing the back portion into an upper cavity, inside the back portion, and a lower cavity.","In some embodiments, the lower cavity is inside the back portion, while in other embodiments, the lower cavity is an exterior cavity.","Also disclosed are food pouch containers comprising a back portion having an interior cavity; a front portion; a top hole; means for contouring the food pouch from a bottom thereof; and means for contouring the food pouch from at least a side thereof."],["RELATED APPLICATIONS The present application claims priority to U.S. application Ser.","No.","14/340,547 filed Jul.","24, 2014, currently pending and to U.S.","Provisional Application Ser.","No.","61/929,206, filed on Jan. 20, 2014, both by Timothy Fellin et al., and entitled “FOOD POUCH CONTAINER,” the entire disclosures of which are incorporated by reference herein, including the drawings.","FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention is in the field of food containers, and in particular in the field of containers for food pouches.","BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE Recently, there has been an increased growth in the use and marketing of food pouches, also referred to as stand-up pouches, especially for use with baby food.","The food pouches are easy to use for the parents and the children can suck the food out of the pouch.","The use of the food pouch eliminates the need for a glass baby food jar, and the need to spoon feed the food to the infant or toddler, thereby reducing the mess that is often accompanied when one is feeding a child.","However, the food pouches themselves can create mess.","Invariably, the flow of food through the opening of the pouch is not controlled.","Therefore, when the child squeezes the food pouch, the food squirts from the top opening and can soil the child's clothing or chair.","Thus, there is a need in the art to retain the convenience of the food pouch but reduce or prevent the accompanying mess that the use of the pouch produces.","SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Disclosed herein are food pouch containers comprising a back portion having an interior cavity; a front portion; a top hole; and a surface dividing the back portion into an upper cavity, inside the back portion, and a lower cavity.","In some embodiments, the lower cavity is inside the back portion, while in other embodiments, the lower cavity is an exterior cavity.","Also disclosed are food pouch containers comprising a back portion having an interior cavity; a front portion; a top hole; means for contouring the food pouch from a bottom thereof; and means for contouring the food pouch from at least a side thereof.","BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG.","1 illustrates an embodiment of the food pouch container disclosed herein in its closed configuration.","FIG.","2 illustrates an embodiment of the food pouch container disclosed herein in its open configuration.","FIG.","3A illustrates the view of the interior of an embodiment of the back portion of the food pouch container disclosed herein in its open configuration.","FIG.","3B illustrates the view of the interior of an embodiment of the front portion of the food pouch container disclosed herein in its open configuration.","FIG.","3C illustrates the bottom view of an embodiment of the back portion of the food pouch container disclosed herein in its open configuration.","FIG.","4 illustrates the view of the interior of an embodiment of the back portion of the food pouch container disclosed herein in its open configuration.","FIG.","5A illustrates the top view of an embodiment of the food pouch container disclosed herein in its closed configuration.","FIG.","5B illustrates the top view of another embodiment of the food pouch container disclosed herein in its closed configuration.","FIG.","6 illustrates an embodiment of a surface-adjusting mechanism disclosed herein.","FIG.","7 illustrates the cross section of an embodiment of the food pouch container disclosed herein.","FIG.","8 illustrates the cross section of another embodiment of the food pouch container disclosed herein.","FIG.","9A illustrates the side view of an embodiment of the food pouch container disclosed herein in its closed configuration.","FIG.","9B illustrates the side view of another embodiment of the food pouch container disclosed herein in its closed configuration.","FIG.","10A illustrates the perspective view of an embodiment of the food pouch container disclosed herein, having handles, in its open configuration.","FIG.","10B illustrates the front view of an embodiment of the food pouch container disclosed herein, having handles, in its closed configuration.","FIGS.","11A-11C illustrate an embodiment of the food pouch container disclosed herein in its closed configuration.","FIG.","11D illustrates the interior of the same embodiment of the food pouch container.","FIG.","12A illustrates an embodiment of the food pouch container disclosed herein in its open configuration.","FIG.","12B illustrates the front portion and FIG.","12C illustrates the back portion thereof.","DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS Disclosed herein are containers for holding a food pouch.","The interior of the containers disclosed herein comprise elements on the sides and the bottom that are designed to contort the shape of the food pouch in such a way as to allow the food to easily be accessible to the user, e.g., a child, regardless of the amount of food left in the pouch.","Some embodiments of the presently disclosed containers prevent the area around the neck of the pouch to collapse and create a vacuum.","The various embodiments of the presently disclosed containers are now described in view of the drawings.","FIG.","1 shows an embodiment of the presently disclosed container 100 in its closed formation.","The container 100 comprises a body, having a front portion 102 and a back portion 104.The container 100 also comprises a top opening 106, from which the nozzle or mouthpiece of a food pouch protrudes once the food pouch is placed inside the container 100.In some embodiments, tabs 108 are placed on either side of the container 100, which are configured to ease the opening of the container 100 so that a new pouch can be placed therein or a used pouch be removed therefrom.","The body is constructed of a rigid, childsafe material, such as plastic, wood, shatterproof glass, metal, or other rigid material, which holds the food pouch or food bag and preferably prevents a consumer from expelling the contents of the food pouch or food bag by squeezing.","FIG.","2 shows an embodiment of the presently disclosed container 100 in its open formation.","In some embodiments, for example that shown in FIG.","2, the front portion 102 and the back portion 104 are attached together at the bottom of the container 100, i.e., the side opposite of the top opening 106, by a hinge 202, which is described more fully below.","In other embodiments, when the container 100 is opened, the front portion 102 and the back portion 104 become separated.","In some embodiments, for example that shown in FIG.","2, the top opening 106 comprises of two semicircle sections.","One semicircle portion 204 is cut into the front portion 102, whereas another semicircle 206 is cut into the back portion 104.In some embodiments, the semicircles 204 and 206 are of the same size, i.e., they each define an arc of 180°.","In other embodiments, and primarily depending on the thickness of the top edges of the front portion 102 and the back portion 104, the semicircles 204 and 206 may be of a different size.","For example, one of the semicircles 204,206 defines an arc >180°, while the other of the semicircles 204,206 defines an arc <180°.","In some embodiments (not shown), the top opening 106 is in the shape of a square, a rectangle, a rhombus, a parallelogram, a triangle, a trapezoid, or another geometric shape.","In these embodiments, the front portion 102 and the back portion 104 comprise the two halves of the top opening 106, which when the container 100 is closed, the two halves form the square or the rectangle.","Thus, in these embodiments, the front portion 102 and the back portion 104 do not comprise semicircles, but comprise the halves of the top opening 106.In some embodiments, once the container 100 is closed, the front portion 102 and the back portion 104 are held together by at least one latch.","The latch may be placed anywhere along the perimeter of the container 100.In some embodiments, the latch is along the internal perimeter of the container 100, whereas in other embodiments, the latch is along the external perimeter of the container 100.In some embodiments, the latch is towards the top of the container 100.In these embodiments, the bottom of the container 100 comprises a hinge or other mechanism, such as a tab and slot, or a friction lock mechanism.","In other embodiments, the latch is towards the bottom of the container 100.In these embodiments, the top of the container 100 comprises a hinge or other mechanism, such as a tab and slot, or a friction lock mechanism.","In some embodiments, the latch is on one of the sides of the container 100.In some embodiments, for example that shown in FIG.","2, the back portion 104 comprises two latches 208, located at either side of the top of the back portion 104.In some embodiments, each latch 208 comprises a lip 210 (also referred to as a raised member), which points outward.","The front portion 102 comprises corresponding indents 212.When the container 100 is closed, the lip 210 of the latch 208 catches inside the indent 212 and causes the front portion 102 and the back portion 104 to remain connected.","In other embodiments, the latch 208 engages a corresponding portion in the front portion 102 to create a friction lock.","In the embodiment shown in FIG.","2, the lip 210 and the indent 212 are shown as lines.","In other embodiments, the lip 210 and the indent 212 may have another geometrical shape, for example a circle, a semicircle, or a hemisphere.","In certain embodiments, tabs 108 are placed on the outside of the back portion 104, in a place corresponding to the latches 208.When the tabs 108 are pressed, the latches 208, and consequently the lips 210, are pushed to the interior cavity of the back portion 104.If the latches 208 are engaged with the indents 212, then pressing on the tabs 108 releases the lips 210 from the indents 212.The front portion 102 and the back portion 104 can then be easily separated.","Tab 222 is provided on the front portion 102 to provide additional friction for when a user chooses to open the container 100.Thus, in these embodiments, to open the container 100, a user can hold the back portion 104 by the tabs 108 and the front portion 102 by the tabs 222.The user then exerts pressure on the tabs 108 to release the latches 208 from the indents 212.Then the user pulls the tabs 108 away from the tabs 222.In the embodiments, where the latches 208 form a friction lock with the front portion 102, the tabs 108 solely provide a friction hold for the user, similar to the tabs 222.While the latch mechanisms here have been described with the reference to their placement on either the front portion 102 or the back portion 104, the skilled artisan recognizes that the arrangement can easily be reversed.","The reversed arrangement is specifically contemplated.","In some embodiments, a surface 214 divides the interior cavity of the back portion 104 into an upper cavity 216 and a lower cavity 218.In some embodiments, for example that shown in FIG.","2, the surface 214 is a cantilever, whereas in other embodiments, the surface 214 is a shelf.","In certain embodiments, the surface 214 is arced, whereas in other embodiments, the surface 214 is flat.","In some embodiments, the surface 214 is fixed in place.","In other embodiments, the position of the surface 214 is changed upward or downward, as described more fully below.","In some embodiments, the upper cavity 216 is configured to receive a food pouch (not shown).","In certain embodiments, the lower cavity 218 is configured to optionally hold the cap 220 of the food pouch.","This embodiment is illustrated in FIG.","2.Throughout the present disclosure and the claims, the direction “up,” “top,” or “upper” refers towards the location where the mouthpiece of a food pouch fits into the container.","The direction “down,” “lower,” or “bottom” refers towards the location where the bottom of the food pouch fits into the container.","Thus, for example, the top hole 106 is at the top and the surface 214 is at the bottom with respect to the top hole.","In other words, the surface 214 is “lower” than the top hole 106.Throughout the present disclosure, the “front” and “back” refer to the location of the surface 214.Thus, whichever portion that comprises the surface 214 is considered the “back” portion, regardless of how the container is held by the user.","FIG.","3A provides a clearer view of the back portion 104, without the presence of the front portion 102 or the cap 220.The back portion of the hinge 202 is also illustrated.","FIG.","3B provides a clearer view of the front portion 102 back, without the presence of the portion 104.In the illustrated embodiment, the back of the hinge 202 on the back portion 104 (FIG.","3A) comprises a bar 302.Ridges 304,306,308,310 divide the hinge 202 portion into three areas 312, 314, and 316.The front edge of each of the areas 312,314,316 is open.","The front of the hinge 202 on the front portion 102 (FIG.","3B) comprises three curved members.","The outer members 318 and 322 are arced downward whereas the central member 320 is arced upward.","When the front portion 102 and the back portion 104 are joined together, the outer members 318 and 322 catch the bar 302 in front of areas 316 and 312, respectively, such that the bar 302 is placed under the curved members 318 and 322.Simultaneously, the central member 320 catches the bar 302 in front of area 314 such that the bar 302 is placed above the curved member 320.Thus, a hinge is formed.","FIG.","3C is a bottom view of the back portion 104 showing the position of the bar 302, the ridges 306,308 and the openings 324, 326, and 328 in front of the areas 312, 314, and 316, respectively.","Other methods of forming a hinge are known in the art and are contemplated herein.","For example, in some embodiments, the front portion 102 comprises a plurality of semicircular members that catch the bar 302, thus forming a hinge.","In other embodiments, more or fewer curved members are placed on the front portion 102.In other embodiments, the curved members 318,320,322 are placed on the back portion 104, whereas the bar 302 is placed on the front portion 102.Any other configuration that allows for a hinge to be formed is contemplated.","In some embodiments, the front view of the container 100 comprises a generally rectangular shape.","In other embodiments, the front view shape of the container 100 is square.","In other embodiments, the front view shape of the container 100 comprises another geometrical shape, for example a circle, a triangle, and the like.","FIG.","4 shows the front view of the back portion 104.The illustrated embodiment comprises a generally rectangular shape, with the addition of side pinches 402 at either side of the back portion 104.As can be seen from the illustrated embodiments of FIGS.","1-3, corresponding side pinches appear on the front portion 102 as well.","The upper cavity 216, then is defined at the top by the top of the container 100, and the top opening 206; at the bottom by the surface 214; and at the sides by the sides of the container 100 having the side pinches 402.A food pouch is placed in the upper cavity 216 such that the bottom of the food pouch rests on the surface 214, and attains the generally curved shape of the surface 214.The nozzle of the food pouch protrudes from the top opening 206.The sides of the food pouch are also curved due to the curvature caused by the side pinches 402.In some embodiments, the user can choose to store the cap of the food pouch in the lower cavity 208 while the child is consuming the food in the food pouch, thereby reducing the chances of the cap getting lost or dirty.","The inventors have discovered that when a food pouch is partially used, vacuum is generated at the top of the food pouch and the body of the pouch collapses.","While there is still plenty of food within the pouch, a child cannot access it easily because of the collapsed body of the pouch near the nozzle.","The child will then need to suck forcefully, which results in the tiring of, and aches in, the jaw.","However, in some embodiments, when the food pouch is placed in the container 100 as described herein, where the food pouch attains the curvatures discussed above, there is created a “pinch” by the side pinches 402 and a “push” by the surface 214.Consequently, in these embodiments, the body of the pouch does not collapse and the child can easily access the entirety of the food in the pouch, without having to suck forcefully.","FIG.","5 illustrates two embodiments of the top opening 106 of the container 100.In FIG.","5A, the top opening 106 is circular and is configured to accommodate a food pouch having any shape nozzle.","However, the standard nozzle for the pouches currently on the market has a square cross section.","The embodiment of FIG.","5B is a square top opening 106.The advantage of this embodiment is that when the food pouch is placed in the container 100, the cap of food pouch can be twisted open or closed without the need to hold the nozzle.","In these embodiments, when the cap is twisted open or closed, the pouch itself does not twist.","When the pouch twists, it can make it hard or impossible to suck contents out of nozzle.","In some embodiments, the surface 214 is not fixed to the back portion 104.In these embodiments, there exists a mechanism by way of which the surface 214 is moved up or down.","In some embodiments, for example the one shown in FIG.","6, an adjusting mechanism 600 is incorporated into the container 100.The mechanism 600 comprises a knob 602, optionally a bottom plate 604, a threaded spindle 606, optionally a top shelf 608, and a cap 610.The mechanism 600 is incorporated such that the knob 602 is outside of the container 100, and located at the bottom thereof.","The bottom plate 604, if present rests abutting the bottom of the container 100.The cap 610 serves the same function as the surface 214.In some embodiments, the shape of the top of the cap 610 is flat, whereas in other embodiments, the top of the cap 610 is curved, having the same design as the surface 214 shown in FIG.","2.The top shelf 608 is optionally present to provide additional stability to the cap 610.The user can rotate the knob 602, thereby moving the cap 610 up or down, providing more or less pressure on the food pouch, as the need may be.","In other embodiments, there is provided a boss at the bottom of the container 100, which boss is in contact with a cap.","When the user pushes the boss in, towards the top of the container 100, the cap also moves upward providing additional pressure for the food pouch.","Once the food pouch is used and prior to the insertion of a new food pouch, the user moves the cap back down to its original location.","In other embodiments, there is provided a roller inside the container 100, the roller having a slot therein.","The roller is connected with at least one knob, which is placed along a track, at the side of the container 100 on the outside.","When the knob is turned, the roller turns as well.","The user inserts the bottom of the food pouch in the roller's slot.","As the knob is turned, the roller turns, thereby rolling the food pouch from the bottom, and squeezing the food out of the food pouch.","This action is similar to rolling a toothpaste tube from the bottom.","In yet another embodiment, shown in FIG.","7, there is provided a container 100 having phantom walls.","When viewed from the outside, i.e., when the container 100 is closed, the container has a generally rectangular shape.","However, on the inside, there are solid curved side walls creating spaces 702,704 and a solid curved bottom creating space 706.The walls creating spaces 702,704 operate similarly as the side pinches 402, described above, while the bottom creating space 706 operates similarly as the surface 214, described above.","In some embodiments, the space 702,704 and/or bottom 706 are each independently hollow (see, for example, FIG.","11C, below), while in other embodiments, the spaces are each independently filled.","In still another embodiment, shown in FIG.","8, there is provided a container 100 having screwable pinches.","One or more knobs 802 are placed at the side of the container 100.Each knob is connected to a pinch 804 via a threaded spindle 806.In some embodiments, the inward surface of the pinch 804 is flat, whereas in other embodiments, for example the one shown in FIG.","8, the inner surface of the pinch 804 is curved.","When the knob 802 is turned, the pinch moves inward, providing side pressure to the food pouch.","Similarly, there is provided a bottom knob 808, which is connected to a bottom pinch 810 via a threaded spindle 812.The turning of the knob 808 causes the bottom pinch 810 to move upward, providing bottom pressure to the food pouch.","Prior to inserting a new food pouch, the user turns the pinches to their original, fully open position, giving the maximum cavity space.","Some embodiments comprise only side pinches 804, while other embodiments, comprise only the bottom pinch 810.Still other embodiments comprise one side pinch 804, while other embodiments comprise more than two side pinches 804 and/or two or more bottom pinches 810.In some embodiments, the front portion 102 and the back portion 104 have the same proportions.","In these embodiments, for example as shown in FIG.","9A, the centerline 902 is even.","However, in some embodiments, the back portion 104 is slightly larger than the front portion 102, to provide a deeper cavity for the food pouch at the time of insertion, which makes the placement of the food pouch easier.","An example of this embodiment is shown in FIG.","9B, where the centerline 904 is offset, as emphasized by the arrows 906 and 908.The offset centerline also provides for an easier means to close the container 100 when a food pouch is installed.","In some embodiments, the container 100 disclosed herein comprises handles.","An example of this embodiment is shown in FIG.","10.FIG.","10A shows a perspective view of the container 100, showing the front portion 102 partially separated from the back portion 104, while FIG.","10B shows a front view of this embodiment of the container 100.Handles 1002 allow the child to hold the container 100 while consuming the contents of the food pouch, without dropping the container.","FIG.","10A also illustrates another embodiment of a latch, which can be used with any of the embodiments of the container 100 disclosed herein.","This embodiment comprises one or more latch mechanisms, each of which is an extension 1004 pointing towards the opposite portion of the container 100.For instance, if the extension 1004 is located on the front portion 102 of the container 100, as shown in FIG.","10A, then the extension 1004 points towards the back portion 104, and vice versa.","The extension 1004 comprises at least one raised member (also referred to as a lip) (not shown).","The portion opposite to the one having the extension 1004, for example the back portion 104 if the extension is on the front portion 102, comprises one or more indents 1006.When the front portion 102 and the back portion 104 are brought together in the closed configuration, the raised member of the extension 1004 forms a friction lock with the indent 1006.In some embodiments, for example the one shown in FIG.","10A, the raised member and the indent 1006 are circular.","In other embodiments, they comprise a different cross section, for example a line, a rectangle, a square, a triangle, or another regular or irregular geometric shape.","In some embodiments, the indent is on the extension 1004 and the raised member is on the opposite portion.","The embodiment shown in FIG.","10A does not have a surface 214.Instead only the side pinches 402 alone provide the necessary contour change to the food pouch.","Thus, in some embodiments, the container 100 has a surface 214 without the side pinches 402, while in other embodiments, the container 100 has the side pinches 402 without a surface 214, and in still other embodiments, the container 100 has both the side pinches 402 and a surface 214.While the embodiment of FIG.","10A shows a container 100 that has the handles 1002, the latch mechanism having extensions 1004 and indents 1006, and no surface 214, the skilled artisan recognizes that any of these features can be incorporated to any of the various embodiments of the container 100 disclosed herein.","Thus, for example, the container 100 of FIGS.","1, 5, 7, 8, 9, 11, or 12 can be made to have handles 1002, the latch mechanism having extensions 1004 and indents 1006, or no surface 214.And likewise, the embodiment of FIG.","10 can be made with no handles 1002, a latch mechanism other than one having extensions 1004 and indents 1006, or a surface 214.FIGS.","11A-D show another embodiment of the container 100 disclosed herein.","In some embodiments, for example the one shown in FIG.","11A, the front portion 102 is a cover, without having depth, and the back portion 104 comprises the entire depth of the container 100.In these embodiments, the food pouch is placed within the cavity of the back portion 104 and the front portion 102 closes shut to hold the food pouch within the container 100.The embodiment of FIG.","11B shows latches 1104 that are external to the body of the container 100.In these embodiments, the downward distal end of the latch 1104 snaps on the reverse side of the back portion 104, resulting in securing the front portion 102 to the back portion 104.While this embodiment of a latch mechanism is disclosed in connection with the embodiment of FIG.","11, it is understood that this latch mechanism can be used with any of the presently disclosed containers 100.The embodiment of FIG.","11C is directed to a container 100 having a cap space 1106 at the bottom of the container 100.The cap space 1106 is a hollowed space into which the cap of the food pouch can be stored while the food pouch is opened for use.","In some embodiments, for example that shown in FIG.","11C, a nubbin 1108 is present at the center of the cap space 1106, onto which the cap is threaded or snapped for a more secure hold.","As shown in FIG.","11D, the cap space 1106 also causes a curved or raised surface 1110 to exist within the interior cavity of the container 100, for example similar to the curved top surface of the space 706, shown in FIG.","7.In this embodiment, the interior of the back portion comprises only one interior cavity, the upper cavity 1112, similar to the upper cavity 216, above.","The lower cavity is an exterior cavity and is the cap space 1106.Thus, in some embodiments, the surface divides the back portion into an upper cavity and a lower cavity, where the lower cavity is on the exterior.","In some embodiments, for example the one shown in FIG.","11A, the hinge 1102 around which the front portion 102 separates from the back portion 104 is located at a point away from an edge of the container 100.For example, in FIG.","11A, the hinge 1102 is located approximately ⅕ of the way up from the bottom of the container 100.In certain embodiments, the hinge 1102 is located around the mid-section of the container 100.In certain embodiments, the hinge 202,1102 is on the side of the container 100.In these embodiments, the front portion 102 opens from the opposite side of the hinge 202,1102.In other embodiments, the hinge 202,1102 is on the back side.","In some of these embodiments, when the front portion 102 separates from the back portion 104, the bottom of the container 100 will also rotate away.","FIGS.","12A-12C illustrate another embodiment of the container 100.In this embodiment, the front portion 102, shown in FIG.","12B, has no depth.","The entire depth of the container 100 is comprised in the back portion 104, shown in FIG.","12C.","The hinge 1202 comprises two components: the front component 1204 located at the bottom of the front portion 102, and the back component 1206 located at the bottom front of the back portion 104.Thus, unlike the hinge 202 of the embodiment of FIG.","2, which is located in the middle area of the bottom of the container 100, when the container 100 is in its closed configuration, the hinge 1202 is located in the front of the bottom of the container 100, when the container 100 is in its closed configuration.","A similar configuration can be applied to any of the containers 100 disclosed herein.","The surface 1208 curves downward and traverses the entire width of the back portion 104.The surface 1208 divides the interior cavity of the back portion 104 into the upper cavity 1210 and the lower cavity 1212.Thus, while the surface 1208 acts similarly to the cantilever surface 214 of the embodiment of FIG.","2, it is different in that the surface 1208 is connected to the sides of the back portion 104.In some embodiments, the lower cavity 1212 is filled and the interior cavity only comprises the upper cavity 1210.In other embodiments, the lower cavity 1212 is external.","A similar configuration can be applied to any of the containers 100 disclosed herein.","In the embodiment shown in FIG.","12C, the top hole 206 is a semicircle defining an arc >180°.","However, when the front portion 102 connects with the back portion 104 to close the container 100, the top hole 206 does not form a complete circle.","Instead, the top hole 206 will comprise a straight edge formed by the front portion 102.This configuration makes it easier for a user to install the nozzle of the food pouch since the edge of the front portion 102 guides the nozzle into the semicircular part of the top hole 206.This configuration provides some of the advantages discussed above with respect to the embodiment shown in FIG.","5B.","A similar configuration can be applied to any of the containers 100 disclosed herein.","The latch mechanism of the embodiment of FIG.","12 comprises at least one extension 1214, having at least one raised member (or lip) 1216.In the embodiment shown in FIG.","12, the extension 1214 is on the front portion 102, facing the back portion 104.Other configurations, as discussed above, for example, with the extension being on the side or on the back portion, are also contemplated.","A corresponding indent (not shown) on the opposite portion, for example the back portion 104, creates a friction lock between the back portion 104 and the front portion 102.In some embodiments, the body of the container 100 comprises an outer shell and an inner shell, with a lining space therebetween.","In some embodiments, the lining space is filled with air.","Air is a known insulator.","In these embodiments, the contents of food pouch retain their temperature for a longer period of time than if a single shell container is used.","In other embodiments, the lining space is filled with a heatable and/or coolable fluid, for example a liquid or a gel.","The user can heat the container, for example by placing the container in a microwave oven or warm water, thereby heating the fluid.","In some embodiments, the fluid has a high specific heat, and therefore, loses its heat slowly.","The heated fluid can then either heat the contents of the food pouch, or help in keeping the contents of a pre-heated food pouch warm.","Similarly, if the fluid is coolable, or also coolable, the user can place the food pouch in a refrigerator, freezer, or cold water, thereby cooling the fluid.","In some embodiments, the fluid has a high specific heat, and therefore, warms up slowly.","The cooled fluid can then either cool the contents of the food pouch, or help in keeping the contents of a pre-cooled food pouch cool.","In some embodiments, the fluid is freezable.","While in some embodiments the food pouch is first inserted into the back portion 104 first and then the front portion 102 is latched to close the container 100, in other embodiments, the food pouch is first inserted into the front portion 102 first and then the back portion 104 is latched to close the container 100."]],"string":"[\n [\n \"FOOD POUCH CONTAINER\",\n \"A rigid food pouch container developed to accommodate prepared food packaged in soft containers is designed to prevent a child from squeezing the container and causing its contents to spurt from the container.\",\n \"The food pouch container includes a back portion having an interior cavity; a front portion; a top hole; and a surface dividing the back portion into an upper cavity and a lower cavity.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the lower cavity is inside the back portion, while in other embodiments, the lower cavity is an exterior cavity.\",\n \"Also disclosed are food pouch containers that include a back portion having an interior cavity; a front portion; a top hole; means for contouring the food pouch from the bottom or side of the pouch.\",\n \"Some embodiments include a hinged clam shell configuration for easy insertion and removal of the food pouch.\",\n \"Other embodiments include a storage facility for the pouch cap.\"\n ],\n [\n \"1.A container for a food pouch having a flat shape for holding soft food, the pouch further having a mouthpiece portion and a removable cap for the mouthpiece, the container comprising: a rigid body configured to surround the pouch and sized for nesting of the pouch inside the body; the body having an opening for the mouthpiece to protrude outside the body; said opening being sized and shaped to fit closely about a hollow neck of a food pouch without constricting said hollow neck; the body being contoured to change the pouch to a bulbous shape; and thereby enabling the soft food to be more easily emptied out of the pouch.\",\n \"2.The container of claim 1, wherein the container comprises at least one handle.\",\n \"3.The container of claim 1, wherein the body contours the sides of the pouch.\",\n \"4.The container of claim 1, wherein the container comprises at least one side pinch.\",\n \"5.The container of claim 1, further comprising a front portion and a back portion.\",\n \"6.The container of claim 5, further comprising at least one latch configured to releasably lock the front portion and the back portion together when the container is in a closed configuration.\",\n \"7.The container of claim 5, wherein the front portion is attached to the back portion via a hinge.\",\n \"8.The container of claim 5, wherein the back portion comprises a first perimeter groove and the front portion comprises a second perimeter groove.\",\n \"9.A container for a food pouch having a flat shape for holding soft food, the pouch further having a mouthpiece portion and a removable cap for the mouthpiece, the container comprising: a body having an interior cavity, wherein the body has a base, sidewalls extending upwardly from the base and a top panel; the interior cavity being sized and shaped to surround the pouch and sized for nesting of the pouch inside the interior cavity; a hole, said hole being sized and shaped to fit closely about a hollow neck of a food pouch without constricting said hollow neck; 10.The container of claim 9, wherein the container comprises at least one handle.\",\n \"11.The container of claim 9, wherein the body contours the sides of the pouch.\",\n \"12.The container of claim 9, wherein the container comprises at least one side pinch.\",\n \"13.The container of claim 9, wherein the top panel is attached to a sidewall via a hinge.\",\n \"14.The container of claim 13, further comprising at least one latch configured to releasably lock the top panel to a sidewall when the container is in a closed configuration.\",\n \"15.The container of claim 9, further comprising a front portion and a back portion.\",\n \"16.The container of claim 15, further comprising at least one latch configured to releasably lock the front portion and the back portion together when the container is in a closed configuration.\",\n \"17.The container of claim 15, wherein the front portion is attached to the back portion via a hinge.\",\n \"18.The container of claim 15, wherein the back portion comprises a first perimeter groove and the front portion comprises a second perimeter groove.\",\n \"19.A container for a food pouch having a flat shape for holding soft food, the pouch further having a mouthpiece portion and a removable cap for the mouthpiece, the container comprising: a rigid body configured to surround the pouch and sized for nesting of the pouch inside the body; the body having an opening for the mouthpiece to protrude outside the body; said opening being sized and shaped to fit closely about a hollow neck of a food pouch without constricting said hollow neck; a door; the body being contoured to change the pouch to a bulbous shape; and thereby enabling the soft food to be more easily emptied out of the pouch.\",\n \"20.The container of claim 19, further comprising at least one side pinch.\",\n \"21.The container of claim 19, further comprising a surface for contouring the bottom of a food pouch.\",\n \"22.The container of claim 21, wherein the surface divides the body into an upper cavity and a lower cavity.\",\n \"23.The container of claim 21, where in the surface is curved downward.\"\n ],\n [\n \" BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE Recently, there has been an increased growth in the use and marketing of food pouches, also referred to as stand-up pouches, especially for use with baby food.\",\n \"The food pouches are easy to use for the parents and the children can suck the food out of the pouch.\",\n \"The use of the food pouch eliminates the need for a glass baby food jar, and the need to spoon feed the food to the infant or toddler, thereby reducing the mess that is often accompanied when one is feeding a child.\",\n \"However, the food pouches themselves can create mess.\",\n \"Invariably, the flow of food through the opening of the pouch is not controlled.\",\n \"Therefore, when the child squeezes the food pouch, the food squirts from the top opening and can soil the child's clothing or chair.\",\n \"Thus, there is a need in the art to retain the convenience of the food pouch but reduce or prevent the accompanying mess that the use of the pouch produces.\"\n ],\n [\n \" SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Disclosed herein are food pouch containers comprising a back portion having an interior cavity; a front portion; a top hole; and a surface dividing the back portion into an upper cavity, inside the back portion, and a lower cavity.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the lower cavity is inside the back portion, while in other embodiments, the lower cavity is an exterior cavity.\",\n \"Also disclosed are food pouch containers comprising a back portion having an interior cavity; a front portion; a top hole; means for contouring the food pouch from a bottom thereof; and means for contouring the food pouch from at least a side thereof.\"\n ],\n [\n \"RELATED APPLICATIONS The present application claims priority to U.S. application Ser.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"14/340,547 filed Jul.\",\n \"24, 2014, currently pending and to U.S.\",\n \"Provisional Application Ser.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"61/929,206, filed on Jan. 20, 2014, both by Timothy Fellin et al., and entitled “FOOD POUCH CONTAINER,” the entire disclosures of which are incorporated by reference herein, including the drawings.\",\n \"FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention is in the field of food containers, and in particular in the field of containers for food pouches.\",\n \"BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE Recently, there has been an increased growth in the use and marketing of food pouches, also referred to as stand-up pouches, especially for use with baby food.\",\n \"The food pouches are easy to use for the parents and the children can suck the food out of the pouch.\",\n \"The use of the food pouch eliminates the need for a glass baby food jar, and the need to spoon feed the food to the infant or toddler, thereby reducing the mess that is often accompanied when one is feeding a child.\",\n \"However, the food pouches themselves can create mess.\",\n \"Invariably, the flow of food through the opening of the pouch is not controlled.\",\n \"Therefore, when the child squeezes the food pouch, the food squirts from the top opening and can soil the child's clothing or chair.\",\n \"Thus, there is a need in the art to retain the convenience of the food pouch but reduce or prevent the accompanying mess that the use of the pouch produces.\",\n \"SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Disclosed herein are food pouch containers comprising a back portion having an interior cavity; a front portion; a top hole; and a surface dividing the back portion into an upper cavity, inside the back portion, and a lower cavity.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the lower cavity is inside the back portion, while in other embodiments, the lower cavity is an exterior cavity.\",\n \"Also disclosed are food pouch containers comprising a back portion having an interior cavity; a front portion; a top hole; means for contouring the food pouch from a bottom thereof; and means for contouring the food pouch from at least a side thereof.\",\n \"BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG.\",\n \"1 illustrates an embodiment of the food pouch container disclosed herein in its closed configuration.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"2 illustrates an embodiment of the food pouch container disclosed herein in its open configuration.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"3A illustrates the view of the interior of an embodiment of the back portion of the food pouch container disclosed herein in its open configuration.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"3B illustrates the view of the interior of an embodiment of the front portion of the food pouch container disclosed herein in its open configuration.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"3C illustrates the bottom view of an embodiment of the back portion of the food pouch container disclosed herein in its open configuration.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"4 illustrates the view of the interior of an embodiment of the back portion of the food pouch container disclosed herein in its open configuration.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"5A illustrates the top view of an embodiment of the food pouch container disclosed herein in its closed configuration.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"5B illustrates the top view of another embodiment of the food pouch container disclosed herein in its closed configuration.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"6 illustrates an embodiment of a surface-adjusting mechanism disclosed herein.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"7 illustrates the cross section of an embodiment of the food pouch container disclosed herein.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"8 illustrates the cross section of another embodiment of the food pouch container disclosed herein.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"9A illustrates the side view of an embodiment of the food pouch container disclosed herein in its closed configuration.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"9B illustrates the side view of another embodiment of the food pouch container disclosed herein in its closed configuration.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"10A illustrates the perspective view of an embodiment of the food pouch container disclosed herein, having handles, in its open configuration.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"10B illustrates the front view of an embodiment of the food pouch container disclosed herein, having handles, in its closed configuration.\",\n \"FIGS.\",\n \"11A-11C illustrate an embodiment of the food pouch container disclosed herein in its closed configuration.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"11D illustrates the interior of the same embodiment of the food pouch container.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"12A illustrates an embodiment of the food pouch container disclosed herein in its open configuration.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"12B illustrates the front portion and FIG.\",\n \"12C illustrates the back portion thereof.\",\n \"DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS Disclosed herein are containers for holding a food pouch.\",\n \"The interior of the containers disclosed herein comprise elements on the sides and the bottom that are designed to contort the shape of the food pouch in such a way as to allow the food to easily be accessible to the user, e.g., a child, regardless of the amount of food left in the pouch.\",\n \"Some embodiments of the presently disclosed containers prevent the area around the neck of the pouch to collapse and create a vacuum.\",\n \"The various embodiments of the presently disclosed containers are now described in view of the drawings.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"1 shows an embodiment of the presently disclosed container 100 in its closed formation.\",\n \"The container 100 comprises a body, having a front portion 102 and a back portion 104.The container 100 also comprises a top opening 106, from which the nozzle or mouthpiece of a food pouch protrudes once the food pouch is placed inside the container 100.In some embodiments, tabs 108 are placed on either side of the container 100, which are configured to ease the opening of the container 100 so that a new pouch can be placed therein or a used pouch be removed therefrom.\",\n \"The body is constructed of a rigid, childsafe material, such as plastic, wood, shatterproof glass, metal, or other rigid material, which holds the food pouch or food bag and preferably prevents a consumer from expelling the contents of the food pouch or food bag by squeezing.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"2 shows an embodiment of the presently disclosed container 100 in its open formation.\",\n \"In some embodiments, for example that shown in FIG.\",\n \"2, the front portion 102 and the back portion 104 are attached together at the bottom of the container 100, i.e., the side opposite of the top opening 106, by a hinge 202, which is described more fully below.\",\n \"In other embodiments, when the container 100 is opened, the front portion 102 and the back portion 104 become separated.\",\n \"In some embodiments, for example that shown in FIG.\",\n \"2, the top opening 106 comprises of two semicircle sections.\",\n \"One semicircle portion 204 is cut into the front portion 102, whereas another semicircle 206 is cut into the back portion 104.In some embodiments, the semicircles 204 and 206 are of the same size, i.e., they each define an arc of 180°.\",\n \"In other embodiments, and primarily depending on the thickness of the top edges of the front portion 102 and the back portion 104, the semicircles 204 and 206 may be of a different size.\",\n \"For example, one of the semicircles 204,206 defines an arc >180°, while the other of the semicircles 204,206 defines an arc <180°.\",\n \"In some embodiments (not shown), the top opening 106 is in the shape of a square, a rectangle, a rhombus, a parallelogram, a triangle, a trapezoid, or another geometric shape.\",\n \"In these embodiments, the front portion 102 and the back portion 104 comprise the two halves of the top opening 106, which when the container 100 is closed, the two halves form the square or the rectangle.\",\n \"Thus, in these embodiments, the front portion 102 and the back portion 104 do not comprise semicircles, but comprise the halves of the top opening 106.In some embodiments, once the container 100 is closed, the front portion 102 and the back portion 104 are held together by at least one latch.\",\n \"The latch may be placed anywhere along the perimeter of the container 100.In some embodiments, the latch is along the internal perimeter of the container 100, whereas in other embodiments, the latch is along the external perimeter of the container 100.In some embodiments, the latch is towards the top of the container 100.In these embodiments, the bottom of the container 100 comprises a hinge or other mechanism, such as a tab and slot, or a friction lock mechanism.\",\n \"In other embodiments, the latch is towards the bottom of the container 100.In these embodiments, the top of the container 100 comprises a hinge or other mechanism, such as a tab and slot, or a friction lock mechanism.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the latch is on one of the sides of the container 100.In some embodiments, for example that shown in FIG.\",\n \"2, the back portion 104 comprises two latches 208, located at either side of the top of the back portion 104.In some embodiments, each latch 208 comprises a lip 210 (also referred to as a raised member), which points outward.\",\n \"The front portion 102 comprises corresponding indents 212.When the container 100 is closed, the lip 210 of the latch 208 catches inside the indent 212 and causes the front portion 102 and the back portion 104 to remain connected.\",\n \"In other embodiments, the latch 208 engages a corresponding portion in the front portion 102 to create a friction lock.\",\n \"In the embodiment shown in FIG.\",\n \"2, the lip 210 and the indent 212 are shown as lines.\",\n \"In other embodiments, the lip 210 and the indent 212 may have another geometrical shape, for example a circle, a semicircle, or a hemisphere.\",\n \"In certain embodiments, tabs 108 are placed on the outside of the back portion 104, in a place corresponding to the latches 208.When the tabs 108 are pressed, the latches 208, and consequently the lips 210, are pushed to the interior cavity of the back portion 104.If the latches 208 are engaged with the indents 212, then pressing on the tabs 108 releases the lips 210 from the indents 212.The front portion 102 and the back portion 104 can then be easily separated.\",\n \"Tab 222 is provided on the front portion 102 to provide additional friction for when a user chooses to open the container 100.Thus, in these embodiments, to open the container 100, a user can hold the back portion 104 by the tabs 108 and the front portion 102 by the tabs 222.The user then exerts pressure on the tabs 108 to release the latches 208 from the indents 212.Then the user pulls the tabs 108 away from the tabs 222.In the embodiments, where the latches 208 form a friction lock with the front portion 102, the tabs 108 solely provide a friction hold for the user, similar to the tabs 222.While the latch mechanisms here have been described with the reference to their placement on either the front portion 102 or the back portion 104, the skilled artisan recognizes that the arrangement can easily be reversed.\",\n \"The reversed arrangement is specifically contemplated.\",\n \"In some embodiments, a surface 214 divides the interior cavity of the back portion 104 into an upper cavity 216 and a lower cavity 218.In some embodiments, for example that shown in FIG.\",\n \"2, the surface 214 is a cantilever, whereas in other embodiments, the surface 214 is a shelf.\",\n \"In certain embodiments, the surface 214 is arced, whereas in other embodiments, the surface 214 is flat.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the surface 214 is fixed in place.\",\n \"In other embodiments, the position of the surface 214 is changed upward or downward, as described more fully below.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the upper cavity 216 is configured to receive a food pouch (not shown).\",\n \"In certain embodiments, the lower cavity 218 is configured to optionally hold the cap 220 of the food pouch.\",\n \"This embodiment is illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"2.Throughout the present disclosure and the claims, the direction “up,” “top,” or “upper” refers towards the location where the mouthpiece of a food pouch fits into the container.\",\n \"The direction “down,” “lower,” or “bottom” refers towards the location where the bottom of the food pouch fits into the container.\",\n \"Thus, for example, the top hole 106 is at the top and the surface 214 is at the bottom with respect to the top hole.\",\n \"In other words, the surface 214 is “lower” than the top hole 106.Throughout the present disclosure, the “front” and “back” refer to the location of the surface 214.Thus, whichever portion that comprises the surface 214 is considered the “back” portion, regardless of how the container is held by the user.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"3A provides a clearer view of the back portion 104, without the presence of the front portion 102 or the cap 220.The back portion of the hinge 202 is also illustrated.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"3B provides a clearer view of the front portion 102 back, without the presence of the portion 104.In the illustrated embodiment, the back of the hinge 202 on the back portion 104 (FIG.\",\n \"3A) comprises a bar 302.Ridges 304,306,308,310 divide the hinge 202 portion into three areas 312, 314, and 316.The front edge of each of the areas 312,314,316 is open.\",\n \"The front of the hinge 202 on the front portion 102 (FIG.\",\n \"3B) comprises three curved members.\",\n \"The outer members 318 and 322 are arced downward whereas the central member 320 is arced upward.\",\n \"When the front portion 102 and the back portion 104 are joined together, the outer members 318 and 322 catch the bar 302 in front of areas 316 and 312, respectively, such that the bar 302 is placed under the curved members 318 and 322.Simultaneously, the central member 320 catches the bar 302 in front of area 314 such that the bar 302 is placed above the curved member 320.Thus, a hinge is formed.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"3C is a bottom view of the back portion 104 showing the position of the bar 302, the ridges 306,308 and the openings 324, 326, and 328 in front of the areas 312, 314, and 316, respectively.\",\n \"Other methods of forming a hinge are known in the art and are contemplated herein.\",\n \"For example, in some embodiments, the front portion 102 comprises a plurality of semicircular members that catch the bar 302, thus forming a hinge.\",\n \"In other embodiments, more or fewer curved members are placed on the front portion 102.In other embodiments, the curved members 318,320,322 are placed on the back portion 104, whereas the bar 302 is placed on the front portion 102.Any other configuration that allows for a hinge to be formed is contemplated.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the front view of the container 100 comprises a generally rectangular shape.\",\n \"In other embodiments, the front view shape of the container 100 is square.\",\n \"In other embodiments, the front view shape of the container 100 comprises another geometrical shape, for example a circle, a triangle, and the like.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"4 shows the front view of the back portion 104.The illustrated embodiment comprises a generally rectangular shape, with the addition of side pinches 402 at either side of the back portion 104.As can be seen from the illustrated embodiments of FIGS.\",\n \"1-3, corresponding side pinches appear on the front portion 102 as well.\",\n \"The upper cavity 216, then is defined at the top by the top of the container 100, and the top opening 206; at the bottom by the surface 214; and at the sides by the sides of the container 100 having the side pinches 402.A food pouch is placed in the upper cavity 216 such that the bottom of the food pouch rests on the surface 214, and attains the generally curved shape of the surface 214.The nozzle of the food pouch protrudes from the top opening 206.The sides of the food pouch are also curved due to the curvature caused by the side pinches 402.In some embodiments, the user can choose to store the cap of the food pouch in the lower cavity 208 while the child is consuming the food in the food pouch, thereby reducing the chances of the cap getting lost or dirty.\",\n \"The inventors have discovered that when a food pouch is partially used, vacuum is generated at the top of the food pouch and the body of the pouch collapses.\",\n \"While there is still plenty of food within the pouch, a child cannot access it easily because of the collapsed body of the pouch near the nozzle.\",\n \"The child will then need to suck forcefully, which results in the tiring of, and aches in, the jaw.\",\n \"However, in some embodiments, when the food pouch is placed in the container 100 as described herein, where the food pouch attains the curvatures discussed above, there is created a “pinch” by the side pinches 402 and a “push” by the surface 214.Consequently, in these embodiments, the body of the pouch does not collapse and the child can easily access the entirety of the food in the pouch, without having to suck forcefully.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"5 illustrates two embodiments of the top opening 106 of the container 100.In FIG.\",\n \"5A, the top opening 106 is circular and is configured to accommodate a food pouch having any shape nozzle.\",\n \"However, the standard nozzle for the pouches currently on the market has a square cross section.\",\n \"The embodiment of FIG.\",\n \"5B is a square top opening 106.The advantage of this embodiment is that when the food pouch is placed in the container 100, the cap of food pouch can be twisted open or closed without the need to hold the nozzle.\",\n \"In these embodiments, when the cap is twisted open or closed, the pouch itself does not twist.\",\n \"When the pouch twists, it can make it hard or impossible to suck contents out of nozzle.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the surface 214 is not fixed to the back portion 104.In these embodiments, there exists a mechanism by way of which the surface 214 is moved up or down.\",\n \"In some embodiments, for example the one shown in FIG.\",\n \"6, an adjusting mechanism 600 is incorporated into the container 100.The mechanism 600 comprises a knob 602, optionally a bottom plate 604, a threaded spindle 606, optionally a top shelf 608, and a cap 610.The mechanism 600 is incorporated such that the knob 602 is outside of the container 100, and located at the bottom thereof.\",\n \"The bottom plate 604, if present rests abutting the bottom of the container 100.The cap 610 serves the same function as the surface 214.In some embodiments, the shape of the top of the cap 610 is flat, whereas in other embodiments, the top of the cap 610 is curved, having the same design as the surface 214 shown in FIG.\",\n \"2.The top shelf 608 is optionally present to provide additional stability to the cap 610.The user can rotate the knob 602, thereby moving the cap 610 up or down, providing more or less pressure on the food pouch, as the need may be.\",\n \"In other embodiments, there is provided a boss at the bottom of the container 100, which boss is in contact with a cap.\",\n \"When the user pushes the boss in, towards the top of the container 100, the cap also moves upward providing additional pressure for the food pouch.\",\n \"Once the food pouch is used and prior to the insertion of a new food pouch, the user moves the cap back down to its original location.\",\n \"In other embodiments, there is provided a roller inside the container 100, the roller having a slot therein.\",\n \"The roller is connected with at least one knob, which is placed along a track, at the side of the container 100 on the outside.\",\n \"When the knob is turned, the roller turns as well.\",\n \"The user inserts the bottom of the food pouch in the roller's slot.\",\n \"As the knob is turned, the roller turns, thereby rolling the food pouch from the bottom, and squeezing the food out of the food pouch.\",\n \"This action is similar to rolling a toothpaste tube from the bottom.\",\n \"In yet another embodiment, shown in FIG.\",\n \"7, there is provided a container 100 having phantom walls.\",\n \"When viewed from the outside, i.e., when the container 100 is closed, the container has a generally rectangular shape.\",\n \"However, on the inside, there are solid curved side walls creating spaces 702,704 and a solid curved bottom creating space 706.The walls creating spaces 702,704 operate similarly as the side pinches 402, described above, while the bottom creating space 706 operates similarly as the surface 214, described above.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the space 702,704 and/or bottom 706 are each independently hollow (see, for example, FIG.\",\n \"11C, below), while in other embodiments, the spaces are each independently filled.\",\n \"In still another embodiment, shown in FIG.\",\n \"8, there is provided a container 100 having screwable pinches.\",\n \"One or more knobs 802 are placed at the side of the container 100.Each knob is connected to a pinch 804 via a threaded spindle 806.In some embodiments, the inward surface of the pinch 804 is flat, whereas in other embodiments, for example the one shown in FIG.\",\n \"8, the inner surface of the pinch 804 is curved.\",\n \"When the knob 802 is turned, the pinch moves inward, providing side pressure to the food pouch.\",\n \"Similarly, there is provided a bottom knob 808, which is connected to a bottom pinch 810 via a threaded spindle 812.The turning of the knob 808 causes the bottom pinch 810 to move upward, providing bottom pressure to the food pouch.\",\n \"Prior to inserting a new food pouch, the user turns the pinches to their original, fully open position, giving the maximum cavity space.\",\n \"Some embodiments comprise only side pinches 804, while other embodiments, comprise only the bottom pinch 810.Still other embodiments comprise one side pinch 804, while other embodiments comprise more than two side pinches 804 and/or two or more bottom pinches 810.In some embodiments, the front portion 102 and the back portion 104 have the same proportions.\",\n \"In these embodiments, for example as shown in FIG.\",\n \"9A, the centerline 902 is even.\",\n \"However, in some embodiments, the back portion 104 is slightly larger than the front portion 102, to provide a deeper cavity for the food pouch at the time of insertion, which makes the placement of the food pouch easier.\",\n \"An example of this embodiment is shown in FIG.\",\n \"9B, where the centerline 904 is offset, as emphasized by the arrows 906 and 908.The offset centerline also provides for an easier means to close the container 100 when a food pouch is installed.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the container 100 disclosed herein comprises handles.\",\n \"An example of this embodiment is shown in FIG.\",\n \"10.FIG.\",\n \"10A shows a perspective view of the container 100, showing the front portion 102 partially separated from the back portion 104, while FIG.\",\n \"10B shows a front view of this embodiment of the container 100.Handles 1002 allow the child to hold the container 100 while consuming the contents of the food pouch, without dropping the container.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"10A also illustrates another embodiment of a latch, which can be used with any of the embodiments of the container 100 disclosed herein.\",\n \"This embodiment comprises one or more latch mechanisms, each of which is an extension 1004 pointing towards the opposite portion of the container 100.For instance, if the extension 1004 is located on the front portion 102 of the container 100, as shown in FIG.\",\n \"10A, then the extension 1004 points towards the back portion 104, and vice versa.\",\n \"The extension 1004 comprises at least one raised member (also referred to as a lip) (not shown).\",\n \"The portion opposite to the one having the extension 1004, for example the back portion 104 if the extension is on the front portion 102, comprises one or more indents 1006.When the front portion 102 and the back portion 104 are brought together in the closed configuration, the raised member of the extension 1004 forms a friction lock with the indent 1006.In some embodiments, for example the one shown in FIG.\",\n \"10A, the raised member and the indent 1006 are circular.\",\n \"In other embodiments, they comprise a different cross section, for example a line, a rectangle, a square, a triangle, or another regular or irregular geometric shape.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the indent is on the extension 1004 and the raised member is on the opposite portion.\",\n \"The embodiment shown in FIG.\",\n \"10A does not have a surface 214.Instead only the side pinches 402 alone provide the necessary contour change to the food pouch.\",\n \"Thus, in some embodiments, the container 100 has a surface 214 without the side pinches 402, while in other embodiments, the container 100 has the side pinches 402 without a surface 214, and in still other embodiments, the container 100 has both the side pinches 402 and a surface 214.While the embodiment of FIG.\",\n \"10A shows a container 100 that has the handles 1002, the latch mechanism having extensions 1004 and indents 1006, and no surface 214, the skilled artisan recognizes that any of these features can be incorporated to any of the various embodiments of the container 100 disclosed herein.\",\n \"Thus, for example, the container 100 of FIGS.\",\n \"1, 5, 7, 8, 9, 11, or 12 can be made to have handles 1002, the latch mechanism having extensions 1004 and indents 1006, or no surface 214.And likewise, the embodiment of FIG.\",\n \"10 can be made with no handles 1002, a latch mechanism other than one having extensions 1004 and indents 1006, or a surface 214.FIGS.\",\n \"11A-D show another embodiment of the container 100 disclosed herein.\",\n \"In some embodiments, for example the one shown in FIG.\",\n \"11A, the front portion 102 is a cover, without having depth, and the back portion 104 comprises the entire depth of the container 100.In these embodiments, the food pouch is placed within the cavity of the back portion 104 and the front portion 102 closes shut to hold the food pouch within the container 100.The embodiment of FIG.\",\n \"11B shows latches 1104 that are external to the body of the container 100.In these embodiments, the downward distal end of the latch 1104 snaps on the reverse side of the back portion 104, resulting in securing the front portion 102 to the back portion 104.While this embodiment of a latch mechanism is disclosed in connection with the embodiment of FIG.\",\n \"11, it is understood that this latch mechanism can be used with any of the presently disclosed containers 100.The embodiment of FIG.\",\n \"11C is directed to a container 100 having a cap space 1106 at the bottom of the container 100.The cap space 1106 is a hollowed space into which the cap of the food pouch can be stored while the food pouch is opened for use.\",\n \"In some embodiments, for example that shown in FIG.\",\n \"11C, a nubbin 1108 is present at the center of the cap space 1106, onto which the cap is threaded or snapped for a more secure hold.\",\n \"As shown in FIG.\",\n \"11D, the cap space 1106 also causes a curved or raised surface 1110 to exist within the interior cavity of the container 100, for example similar to the curved top surface of the space 706, shown in FIG.\",\n \"7.In this embodiment, the interior of the back portion comprises only one interior cavity, the upper cavity 1112, similar to the upper cavity 216, above.\",\n \"The lower cavity is an exterior cavity and is the cap space 1106.Thus, in some embodiments, the surface divides the back portion into an upper cavity and a lower cavity, where the lower cavity is on the exterior.\",\n \"In some embodiments, for example the one shown in FIG.\",\n \"11A, the hinge 1102 around which the front portion 102 separates from the back portion 104 is located at a point away from an edge of the container 100.For example, in FIG.\",\n \"11A, the hinge 1102 is located approximately ⅕ of the way up from the bottom of the container 100.In certain embodiments, the hinge 1102 is located around the mid-section of the container 100.In certain embodiments, the hinge 202,1102 is on the side of the container 100.In these embodiments, the front portion 102 opens from the opposite side of the hinge 202,1102.In other embodiments, the hinge 202,1102 is on the back side.\",\n \"In some of these embodiments, when the front portion 102 separates from the back portion 104, the bottom of the container 100 will also rotate away.\",\n \"FIGS.\",\n \"12A-12C illustrate another embodiment of the container 100.In this embodiment, the front portion 102, shown in FIG.\",\n \"12B, has no depth.\",\n \"The entire depth of the container 100 is comprised in the back portion 104, shown in FIG.\",\n \"12C.\",\n \"The hinge 1202 comprises two components: the front component 1204 located at the bottom of the front portion 102, and the back component 1206 located at the bottom front of the back portion 104.Thus, unlike the hinge 202 of the embodiment of FIG.\",\n \"2, which is located in the middle area of the bottom of the container 100, when the container 100 is in its closed configuration, the hinge 1202 is located in the front of the bottom of the container 100, when the container 100 is in its closed configuration.\",\n \"A similar configuration can be applied to any of the containers 100 disclosed herein.\",\n \"The surface 1208 curves downward and traverses the entire width of the back portion 104.The surface 1208 divides the interior cavity of the back portion 104 into the upper cavity 1210 and the lower cavity 1212.Thus, while the surface 1208 acts similarly to the cantilever surface 214 of the embodiment of FIG.\",\n \"2, it is different in that the surface 1208 is connected to the sides of the back portion 104.In some embodiments, the lower cavity 1212 is filled and the interior cavity only comprises the upper cavity 1210.In other embodiments, the lower cavity 1212 is external.\",\n \"A similar configuration can be applied to any of the containers 100 disclosed herein.\",\n \"In the embodiment shown in FIG.\",\n \"12C, the top hole 206 is a semicircle defining an arc >180°.\",\n \"However, when the front portion 102 connects with the back portion 104 to close the container 100, the top hole 206 does not form a complete circle.\",\n \"Instead, the top hole 206 will comprise a straight edge formed by the front portion 102.This configuration makes it easier for a user to install the nozzle of the food pouch since the edge of the front portion 102 guides the nozzle into the semicircular part of the top hole 206.This configuration provides some of the advantages discussed above with respect to the embodiment shown in FIG.\",\n \"5B.\",\n \"A similar configuration can be applied to any of the containers 100 disclosed herein.\",\n \"The latch mechanism of the embodiment of FIG.\",\n \"12 comprises at least one extension 1214, having at least one raised member (or lip) 1216.In the embodiment shown in FIG.\",\n \"12, the extension 1214 is on the front portion 102, facing the back portion 104.Other configurations, as discussed above, for example, with the extension being on the side or on the back portion, are also contemplated.\",\n \"A corresponding indent (not shown) on the opposite portion, for example the back portion 104, creates a friction lock between the back portion 104 and the front portion 102.In some embodiments, the body of the container 100 comprises an outer shell and an inner shell, with a lining space therebetween.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the lining space is filled with air.\",\n \"Air is a known insulator.\",\n \"In these embodiments, the contents of food pouch retain their temperature for a longer period of time than if a single shell container is used.\",\n \"In other embodiments, the lining space is filled with a heatable and/or coolable fluid, for example a liquid or a gel.\",\n \"The user can heat the container, for example by placing the container in a microwave oven or warm water, thereby heating the fluid.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the fluid has a high specific heat, and therefore, loses its heat slowly.\",\n \"The heated fluid can then either heat the contents of the food pouch, or help in keeping the contents of a pre-heated food pouch warm.\",\n \"Similarly, if the fluid is coolable, or also coolable, the user can place the food pouch in a refrigerator, freezer, or cold water, thereby cooling the fluid.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the fluid has a high specific heat, and therefore, warms up slowly.\",\n \"The cooled fluid can then either cool the contents of the food pouch, or help in keeping the contents of a pre-cooled food pouch cool.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the fluid is freezable.\",\n \"While in some embodiments the food pouch is first inserted into the back portion 104 first and then the front portion 102 is latched to close the container 100, in other embodiments, the food pouch is first inserted into the front portion 102 first and then the back portion 104 is latched to close the container 100.\"\n ]\n]"},"source":{"kind":"string","value":"Patent_15876010"}}},{"rowIdx":4495052,"cells":{"text":{"kind":"list like","value":[["Systems and Methods for Providing Convolutional Neural Network Based Image Synthesis Using Stable and Controllable Parametric Models, a Multiscale Synthesis Framework and Novel Network Architectures","Systems and methods for providing convolutional neural network based image synthesis using localized loss functions is disclosed.","A first image including desired content and a second image including a desired style are received.","The images are analyzed to determine a local loss function.","The first and second images are merged using the local loss function to generate an image that includes the desired content presented in the desired style.","Similar processes can also be utilized to generate image hybrids and to perform on-model texture synthesis.","In a number of embodiments, Condensed Feature Extraction Networks are also generated using a convolutional neural network previously trained to perform image classification, where the Condensed Feature Extraction Networks approximates intermediate neural activations of the convolutional neural network utilized during training."],["1.A system for generating a synthesized image including desired content presented in a desired style comprising: one or more processors; memory readable by the one or more processors; and instructions stored in the memory that when read by the one or more processors direct the one or more processors to: receive a source content image that includes desired content for a synthesized image, receive a source style image that includes a desired texture for the synthesized image, determine a localized loss function for a pixel in at least one of the source content image and the source style image, and generate the synthesized image by: optimizing a value of a pixel in the synthesized image to a content loss function of a corresponding pixel in the content source image and a style loss function of a corresponding pixel in the source style image wherein at least one of the corresponding pixels is the pixel that has a determined localized loss function and one of the content loss function and the source loss function is the determined localized loss function."],[" BACKGROUND With the growth and development of creative projects in a variety of digital spaces (including, but not limited to, virtual reality, digital art, as well as various industrial applications), the ability to create and design new works based on the combination of various existing sources has become an area of interest.","However, the actual synthesis of such sources is a hard problem that raises a variety of difficulties."],[" SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Systems and methods for providing convolutional neural network based image synthesis are disclosed.","In many embodiments, processes for providing CNN-based image synthesis may be performed by a server system.","In accordance with several embodiments, the processes may be performed by a “cloud” server system.","In still further embodiments, the processes may be performed on a user device.","One embodiment is a system for generating a synthesized image including desired content presented in a desired style includes one or more processors, memory readable by the one or more processors.","The system in accordance with some embodiments of the invention includes instructions stored in the memory that when read by the one or more processors direct the one or more processors to receive a source content image that includes desired content for a synthesized image, receive a source style image that includes a desired texture for the synthesized image, determine a localized loss function for a pixel in at least one of the source content image and the source style image, and generate the synthesized image by optimizing a value of a pixel in the synthesized image to a content loss function of a corresponding pixel in the content source image and a style loss function of a corresponding pixel in the source style image wherein at least one of the corresponding pixels is the pixel that has a determined localized loss function and one of the content loss function and the source loss function is the determined localized loss function.","In another embodiment, the localized loss function is represented by a Gram matrix.","In a further embodiment, the localized loss function is represented by a covariance matrix.","In still another embodiment, the localized loss function is determined using a Convolutional Neural Network (CNN).","In a still further embodiment, the optimizing is performed by back propagation through the CNN.","In yet another embodiment, the localized loss function is determined for a pixel in the source style image.","In a yet further embodiment, the instructions to determine a localized loss function for a pixel in the source style image direct the one or more processors to receive a mask that identifies regions of the style source image, determine a group of pixels including the pixel that are included in one of the plurality of regions identified by the mask, determine a localized loss function for the one of the plurality of regions from the groups of pixels included in the one of the plurality of regions, and associate the localized loss function with the pixel.","In another additional embodiment, the instructions to determine a localized loss function for a pixel in the source style image direct the one or more processors to group the pixels of the source style image into a plurality of cells determined by a grid applied to the source style image, determine a localized loss function for the one of the plurality of cells that has a group of pixels that include the pixel, and associate the determined localized loss function of the one of the plurality of cells with the pixel.","In a further additional embodiment, the instructions to determine a localized loss function for a pixel in the source style image direct the one or more processors to determine a group of neighbor pixels for a pixel in the source content image, determine a group of corresponding pixels in the source style image associated with the group of neighbor pixels in the source content image wherein each of the group of corresponding pixels corresponds to one of the group of neighbor pixels and includes the pixel, and determine a local loss function for the group of corresponding pixels.","In another embodiment again, the localized loss function is determined for a pixel in the source content image.","In a further embodiment again, the instructions to determine a localized loss function for a pixel in the source content image direct the one or more processors to receive a mask that identifies regions of the source content image, determine a group of pixels including the pixel that are included in one of the plurality of regions identified by the mask, determine a localized loss function for the one of the plurality of regions from the groups of pixels included in the one of the plurality of regions, and associate the localized loss function with the pixel.","In still yet another embodiment, the instructions to determine a localized loss function for a pixel in the source style image direct the one or more processors to group the pixels of the source content image into a plurality of cells determined by a grid applied to the source style image, determine a localized loss function for the one of the plurality of cells that has a group of pixels that include the pixel, and associate the determined localized loss function of the one of the plurality of cells with the pixel.","In a still yet further embodiment, the instructions to determine a localized loss function for a pixel in the source style image direct the one or more processors to determine a global content loss function for the source content image from the pixels of the source content image, determine a weight for the pixel indicating a contribution to a structure in the source content image, and apply the weight to the global content loss function to determine the localized loss function for the pixel.","In still another additional embodiment, the weight is determined based upon a Laplacian pyramid of black and white versions of the source content image.","In a still further additional embodiment, a localized loss function is determined for a pixel in the source content image and a corresponding pixel in the source style image.","In still another embodiment again, the optimization uses the localized loss function for the pixel in the source content image as the content loss function and the localized loss function of the pixel in the source style image as the style loss function.","In a still further embodiment again, pixels in the synthesized image begin as white noise.","In yet another additional embodiment, each pixel in the synthesized image begins with a value equal to a pixel value of a corresponding pixel in the source content image.","In a yet further additional embodiment, the optimizing is performed to minimize to a loss function that includes the content loss function, a style loss function, and a histogram loss function.","In yet another embodiment again, a method for performing style transfer in an image synthesis system where a synthesized image is generated with content from a source content image and texture from a source style image includes receiving a source content image that includes desired content for a synthesized image in the image synthesis system, receiving a source style image that includes a desired texture for the synthesized image in the image synthesis system, determining a localized loss function a pixel in at least one of the source content image and the source style image using the image synthesis system, and generating the synthesized image using the image synthesis system by optimizing a value of a pixel in the synthesized image to a content loss function of a corresponding pixel in the content source image and a style loss function of a corresponding pixel in the source style image wherein at least one of the corresponding pixels is the pixel that has a determined localized loss function and one of the content loss function and the source loss function is the determined localized loss function.","In a yet further embodiment again, the localized loss function is represented by a Gram matrix.","In another additional embodiment again, the determining of a localized loss function for a pixel in the source style image includes receiving a mask that identifies regions of the style source image in the image synthesis system, determining a group of pixels including the pixel that are included in one of the plurality of regions identified by the mask using the image synthesis system, determining a localized loss function for the one of the plurality of regions from the groups of pixels included in the one of the plurality of regions using the image synthesis system, and associating the localized loss function with the pixel using the image synthesis system.","In a further additional embodiment again, the determining a localized loss function for a pixel in the source style image comprises grouping the pixels of the source style image into a plurality of cells determined by a grid applied to the source style image using the image synthesis system, determining a localized loss function for the one of the plurality of cells that has a group of pixels that include the pixel using the image synthesis system, and associating the determined localized loss function of the one of the plurality of cells with the pixel using the image synthesis system.","In still yet another additional embodiment, determining of a localized loss function for a pixel in the source style image includes determining a group of neighbor pixels for a pixel in the source content image using the image synthesis system, determining a group of corresponding pixels in the source style image associated with the group of neighbor pixels in the source content image wherein each of the group of corresponding pixels corresponds to one of the group of neighbor pixels and includes the pixel using the image synthesis system, and determining a local loss function for the group of corresponding pixels using the image synthesis system.","Additional embodiments and features are set forth in part in the description that follows, and in part will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon examination of the specification or may be learned by the practice of the invention.","A further understanding of the nature and advantages of the present invention may be realized by reference to the remaining portions of the specification and the drawings, which forms a part of this disclosure."],["CROSS REFERENCED APPLICATION This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser.","No.","15/694,677, filed Sep. 1, 2017 and claims priority to U.S.","Provisional Application Ser.","No.","62/383,283, filed Sep. 2, 2016, U.S.","Provisional Application Ser.","No.","62/451,580, filed Jan. 27, 2017, and U.S.","Provisional Application Ser.","No.","62/531,778, filed Jul.","12, 2017.The contents of each of these applications are hereby incorporated by reference as if set forth herewith.","FIELD OF THE INVENTION This invention generally relates to image synthesis and more specifically relates to image synthesis using convolutional neural networks based upon exemplar images.","BACKGROUND With the growth and development of creative projects in a variety of digital spaces (including, but not limited to, virtual reality, digital art, as well as various industrial applications), the ability to create and design new works based on the combination of various existing sources has become an area of interest.","However, the actual synthesis of such sources is a hard problem that raises a variety of difficulties.","SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Systems and methods for providing convolutional neural network based image synthesis are disclosed.","In many embodiments, processes for providing CNN-based image synthesis may be performed by a server system.","In accordance with several embodiments, the processes may be performed by a “cloud” server system.","In still further embodiments, the processes may be performed on a user device.","One embodiment is a system for generating a synthesized image including desired content presented in a desired style includes one or more processors, memory readable by the one or more processors.","The system in accordance with some embodiments of the invention includes instructions stored in the memory that when read by the one or more processors direct the one or more processors to receive a source content image that includes desired content for a synthesized image, receive a source style image that includes a desired texture for the synthesized image, determine a localized loss function for a pixel in at least one of the source content image and the source style image, and generate the synthesized image by optimizing a value of a pixel in the synthesized image to a content loss function of a corresponding pixel in the content source image and a style loss function of a corresponding pixel in the source style image wherein at least one of the corresponding pixels is the pixel that has a determined localized loss function and one of the content loss function and the source loss function is the determined localized loss function.","In another embodiment, the localized loss function is represented by a Gram matrix.","In a further embodiment, the localized loss function is represented by a covariance matrix.","In still another embodiment, the localized loss function is determined using a Convolutional Neural Network (CNN).","In a still further embodiment, the optimizing is performed by back propagation through the CNN.","In yet another embodiment, the localized loss function is determined for a pixel in the source style image.","In a yet further embodiment, the instructions to determine a localized loss function for a pixel in the source style image direct the one or more processors to receive a mask that identifies regions of the style source image, determine a group of pixels including the pixel that are included in one of the plurality of regions identified by the mask, determine a localized loss function for the one of the plurality of regions from the groups of pixels included in the one of the plurality of regions, and associate the localized loss function with the pixel.","In another additional embodiment, the instructions to determine a localized loss function for a pixel in the source style image direct the one or more processors to group the pixels of the source style image into a plurality of cells determined by a grid applied to the source style image, determine a localized loss function for the one of the plurality of cells that has a group of pixels that include the pixel, and associate the determined localized loss function of the one of the plurality of cells with the pixel.","In a further additional embodiment, the instructions to determine a localized loss function for a pixel in the source style image direct the one or more processors to determine a group of neighbor pixels for a pixel in the source content image, determine a group of corresponding pixels in the source style image associated with the group of neighbor pixels in the source content image wherein each of the group of corresponding pixels corresponds to one of the group of neighbor pixels and includes the pixel, and determine a local loss function for the group of corresponding pixels.","In another embodiment again, the localized loss function is determined for a pixel in the source content image.","In a further embodiment again, the instructions to determine a localized loss function for a pixel in the source content image direct the one or more processors to receive a mask that identifies regions of the source content image, determine a group of pixels including the pixel that are included in one of the plurality of regions identified by the mask, determine a localized loss function for the one of the plurality of regions from the groups of pixels included in the one of the plurality of regions, and associate the localized loss function with the pixel.","In still yet another embodiment, the instructions to determine a localized loss function for a pixel in the source style image direct the one or more processors to group the pixels of the source content image into a plurality of cells determined by a grid applied to the source style image, determine a localized loss function for the one of the plurality of cells that has a group of pixels that include the pixel, and associate the determined localized loss function of the one of the plurality of cells with the pixel.","In a still yet further embodiment, the instructions to determine a localized loss function for a pixel in the source style image direct the one or more processors to determine a global content loss function for the source content image from the pixels of the source content image, determine a weight for the pixel indicating a contribution to a structure in the source content image, and apply the weight to the global content loss function to determine the localized loss function for the pixel.","In still another additional embodiment, the weight is determined based upon a Laplacian pyramid of black and white versions of the source content image.","In a still further additional embodiment, a localized loss function is determined for a pixel in the source content image and a corresponding pixel in the source style image.","In still another embodiment again, the optimization uses the localized loss function for the pixel in the source content image as the content loss function and the localized loss function of the pixel in the source style image as the style loss function.","In a still further embodiment again, pixels in the synthesized image begin as white noise.","In yet another additional embodiment, each pixel in the synthesized image begins with a value equal to a pixel value of a corresponding pixel in the source content image.","In a yet further additional embodiment, the optimizing is performed to minimize to a loss function that includes the content loss function, a style loss function, and a histogram loss function.","In yet another embodiment again, a method for performing style transfer in an image synthesis system where a synthesized image is generated with content from a source content image and texture from a source style image includes receiving a source content image that includes desired content for a synthesized image in the image synthesis system, receiving a source style image that includes a desired texture for the synthesized image in the image synthesis system, determining a localized loss function a pixel in at least one of the source content image and the source style image using the image synthesis system, and generating the synthesized image using the image synthesis system by optimizing a value of a pixel in the synthesized image to a content loss function of a corresponding pixel in the content source image and a style loss function of a corresponding pixel in the source style image wherein at least one of the corresponding pixels is the pixel that has a determined localized loss function and one of the content loss function and the source loss function is the determined localized loss function.","In a yet further embodiment again, the localized loss function is represented by a Gram matrix.","In another additional embodiment again, the determining of a localized loss function for a pixel in the source style image includes receiving a mask that identifies regions of the style source image in the image synthesis system, determining a group of pixels including the pixel that are included in one of the plurality of regions identified by the mask using the image synthesis system, determining a localized loss function for the one of the plurality of regions from the groups of pixels included in the one of the plurality of regions using the image synthesis system, and associating the localized loss function with the pixel using the image synthesis system.","In a further additional embodiment again, the determining a localized loss function for a pixel in the source style image comprises grouping the pixels of the source style image into a plurality of cells determined by a grid applied to the source style image using the image synthesis system, determining a localized loss function for the one of the plurality of cells that has a group of pixels that include the pixel using the image synthesis system, and associating the determined localized loss function of the one of the plurality of cells with the pixel using the image synthesis system.","In still yet another additional embodiment, determining of a localized loss function for a pixel in the source style image includes determining a group of neighbor pixels for a pixel in the source content image using the image synthesis system, determining a group of corresponding pixels in the source style image associated with the group of neighbor pixels in the source content image wherein each of the group of corresponding pixels corresponds to one of the group of neighbor pixels and includes the pixel using the image synthesis system, and determining a local loss function for the group of corresponding pixels using the image synthesis system.","Additional embodiments and features are set forth in part in the description that follows, and in part will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon examination of the specification or may be learned by the practice of the invention.","A further understanding of the nature and advantages of the present invention may be realized by reference to the remaining portions of the specification and the drawings, which forms a part of this disclosure.","BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The patent or application file contains at least one drawing executed in color.","Copies of this patent or patent application publication with color drawing(s) will be provided by the Office upon request and payment of the necessary fee.","The description and claims will be more fully understood with reference to the following figures and data graphs, which are presented as exemplary embodiments of the invention and should not be construed as a complete recitation of the scope of the invention.","FIG.","1 is an illustration of various devices that may perform one or more processes to provide Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) based image synthesis in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.","FIG.","2 is an illustration of components of a processing system in a device that executes one or more processes to provide CNN-based image synthesis using localized loss functions in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.","FIG.","3 is an illustration of images showing the instability in a Gram matrix.","FIG.","4 is an illustration of images showing a comparison of results of texture synthesis performed in accordance with various embodiments of the invention with and without the use of pyramids.","FIG.","5 is an illustration of a flow diagram of a process for providing CNN-based image synthesis that performs style transfer using localized loss functions in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.","FIG.","6 is an illustration of two input images and a resulting image from a style transfer process of the two input images using localized style loss functions in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.","FIG.","7 is an illustration of a flow diagram of a process for generating region-based loss functions in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.","FIG.","8 is an illustration of conceptual images showing masks of regions for two input images used in a style transfer process using region-based loss functions in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.","FIG.","9 is an illustration of conceptual images of cells in two input images in a style transfer process using uniform regions in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.","FIG.","10 is an illustration of a flow diagram of a process for generating localized loss functions in a style transfer process using uniform regions in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.","FIG.","11 is an illustration of a comparison of similar cells in two input images in a style transfer process using uniform regions in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.","FIG.","12 is an illustration of a comparison of similar pixels in two input images in a style transfer process using a per pixel loss transfer in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.","FIG.","13 is an illustration of a process for generating localized style loss functions for a style transfer process using per pixel loss transfer in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.","FIG.","14 is an illustration of two input images that provide an example of the operation of a style transfer process using a global content loss function in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.","FIG.","15 is an illustration of a resulting image from the style transfer from the two input images of FIG.","14 performed by a style transfer process using global content loss in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.","FIG.","16 is an illustration of a Laplacian Pyramid of images derived from a content source image from FIG.","14 used in a style transfer process using local content loss in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.","FIGS.","17 and 18 are illustrations of images produced by style transfer processes using global loss functions in accordance with certain embodiments of this invention.","FIG.","19 is an illustration of images generated by a style transfer process using localized content loss functions in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.","FIG.","20 is an illustration of a flow diagram of a process for determining localized loss using masks in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.","FIG.","21 is an illustration of images synthesized in accordance with some embodiments of the invention and images generated using other processes.","FIG.","22 is an illustration of images of masks used in an aging process in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.","FIG.","23 is an illustration of a synthesis order in a multiscale pyramid framework in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.","FIG.","24 is an illustration of a textured mapped model and components used to form the textured mapped model using a filter process in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.","FIG.","25 is an illustration of a texture and the texture applied to a surface of a mesh by a filter process in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.","DETAILED DISCUSSION Turning now to the drawings, systems and methods for providing Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) based image synthesis in accordance with some embodiments of the invention are described.","In many embodiments, processes for providing CNN-based image synthesis may be performed by a server system.","In accordance with several embodiments, the processes may be performed by a “cloud” server system.","In still further embodiments, the processes may be performed on a user device.","In accordance with many embodiments, the loss functions may be modeled using Gram matrices.","In a number of embodiments, the loss functions may be modeled using covariance matrices.","In accordance with several embodiments, the total loss may further include mean activation or histogram loss.","In accordance with sundry embodiments, a source content image, including desired structures for a synthesized image and a source style image, including a desired texture for the synthesized image, are received.","A CNN may be used to determine localized loss functions for groups of pixels in the source content and/or source style images.","The localized content and/or localized style loss functions may be used to generate a synthesized image that includes the content from the source content image and the texture from the source style image.","In accordance with many embodiments, an optimization process may be performed to optimize pixels in a synthesized image using the localized content loss function of a corresponding pixel from the source content image and/or the localized style loss function of a corresponding pixel from the source style image.","In accordance with a number of embodiments, the optimization may be an iterative optimization that is performed by back propagation through a CNN, or through a purely feed-forward process.","In a number of embodiments, a specific pyramid-stack hybrid CNN architecture based on some combination of pooling, strided convolution and dilated convolution is used for image synthesis.","As can readily be appreciated, the specific CNN architecture utilized in image synthesis is largely dependent upon the requirements of a given application.","In accordance with certain embodiments, the CNN-based image synthesis processes may perform aging of an image.","In accordance with many embodiments, CNN-based image synthesis processes may be used to perform continuous weathering by continually modifying the parametric model.","In accordance with a number of embodiments, the CNN-based image synthesis processes may be used to perform weathering by controlling the weathering through a “painting by numbers” process.","In accordance with several embodiments, CNN-based image synthesis processes may be used to perform continuous multiscale aging.","In accordance with many embodiments, CNN-based image synthesis processes may be used to perform aging by transferring weathering patterns from external exemplars.","In accordance with sundry embodiments, CNN-based image synthesis processes may combine optimization and feedforward parametric texture synthesis for fast high-resolution synthesis.","In accordance with many embodiments, CNN-based image synthesis processes may be used to perform super image super resolution (SISR) for rending.","In accordance with a number of embodiments, CNN-based image synthesis processes may combine parametric and non-parametric-non-CNN synthesis within a pyramid framework.","In several embodiments, dilated convolution neural networks can be utilized to synthesize image hybrids.","Image hybridization involves starting from a set of several source images within a category and mixing them together in a way that produces a new member of that category.","In a number of embodiments, image hybridization is performed using either an optimization or feedforward based synthesis strategy.","In either case, a key aspect of the image hybridization is to generate new activations at different levels of the network which combine the activation features extracted from the input images into new hybrid configurations.","Processes in accordance with many embodiments of the invention integrate an on-model synthesis approach into the CNN approach.","The goal of processes in accordance with some embodiments of the invention is to provide an on-model texture synthesis scheme that allows the user to supply a fully textured model as the input exemplar instead of just a texture, and apply that texture from the model onto a different untextured model.","In many embodiments, the processes produce textures that conform to geometric shapes and the feature contents of that texture are guided by the underlying shape itself.","This results in image synthesis that can be applied on top of already textured meshes, and can also produce appearance transfer from one textured mesh onto another.","In a number of embodiments, a specific class of artificial neural networks that can be referred to as Condensed Feature Extraction Networks are generated from CNNs trained to perform image classification.","Systems and methods in accordance with many embodiments of the invention generate Condensed Feature Extraction Networks by utilizing an artificial neural network with a specific number of neurons to learn a network that approximates the intermediate neural activations of a different network with a larger number (or the same number) of artificial neurons.","In several embodiments, the artificial neural network that is utilized to train a Condensed Feature Extraction Network is a CNN.","In certain embodiments, the computation required to generate outputs from the Condensed Feature Extraction Network for a set of input images is reduced relative to the CNN used to train the Condensed Feature Extraction Networks.","Systems and methods for providing CNN-based image synthesis are described in more detail below.","Systems for Providing Convolutional Neural Network Based Image Synthesis A system that provides CNN-based image synthesis in accordance with some embodiments of the invention is shown in FIG.","1.Network 100 includes a communications network 160.The communications network 160 is a network such as the Internet that allows devices connected to the network 160 to communicate with other connected devices.","Server systems 110, 140, and 170 are connected to the network 160.Each of the server systems 110, 140, and 170 may be a group of one or more server computer systems communicatively connected to one another via internal networks that execute processes that provide cloud services to users over the network 160.For purposes of this discussion, cloud services are one or more applications that are executed by one or more server systems to provide data and/or executable applications to devices over a network.","The server systems 110, 140, and 170 are shown each having three servers in the internal network.","However, the server systems 110, 140 and 170 may include any number of servers and any additional number of server systems may be connected to the network 160 to provide cloud services including (but not limited to) virtualized server systems.","In accordance with various embodiments of this invention, processes for providing CNN-based image synthesis processes and/or systems may be provided by one or more software applications executing on a single server system and/or a group of server systems communicating over network 160.Users may use personal devices 180 and 120 that connect to the network 160 to perform processes for providing CNN-based image synthesis in accordance with various embodiments of the invention.","In the illustrated embodiment, the personal devices 180 are shown as desktop computers that are connected via a conventional “wired” connection to the network 160.However, the personal device 180 may be a desktop computer, a laptop computer, a smart television, an entertainment gaming console, or any other device that connects to the network 160 via a “wired” or “wireless” network connection.","The mobile device 120 connects to network 160 using a wireless connection.","A wireless connection is a connection that may use Radio Frequency (RF) signals, Infrared (IR) signals, or any other form of wireless signaling to connect to the network 160.In FIG.","1, the mobile device 120 is a mobile telephone.","However, mobile device 120 may be a mobile phone, a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), a tablet, a smartphone, or any other type of device that connects to network 160 via wireless connection in accordance with various other embodiments of the invention.","In accordance with some embodiments of the invention, the processes for providing CNN-based image synthesis may be performed by the user device.","In several other embodiments, an application being executed by the user device may capture or obtain the two or more input images and transmit the captured image(s) to a server system that performs the processes for providing CNN-based image synthesis.","In accordance with a number of embodiments where one or more of the images is captured by the user device, the user device may include a camera or some other image capture system that captures the image.","The specific computing system(s) used to capture images and/or processing images to perform CNN-based image synthesis often is largely dependent upon the requirements of a given application and should not be considered as limited to any specific computing system(s) implementation(s).","Computing systems and processes for performing CNN based image synthesis are discussed further below.","Example of Processing Systems An example of a processing system in a device that executes instructions to perform processes that provide CNN-based image synthesis in accordance with an embodiment of the invention is shown in FIG.","2.One may recognize that a particular processing system may include other components that are omitted for brevity without departing from various embodiments of the invention.","The processing device 200 includes a processor 205, a non-volatile memory 210, and a volatile memory 215.The processor 205 may be a processor, microprocessor, controller or a combination of processors, microprocessors and/or controllers that perform instructions stored in the volatile memory 215 and/or the non-volatile memory 210 to manipulate data stored in the memory.","The non-volatile memory 210 can store the processor instructions utilized to configure the processing system 200 to perform processes including processes in accordance with particular embodiments of the invention and/or data for the processes being utilized.","In accordance with some embodiments, the processing system software and/or firmware can be stored in any of a variety of non-transient computer readable media appropriate to a specific application.","A network interface is a device that allows processing system 200 to transmit and receive data over a network based upon the instructions performed by processor 205.Although an example of processing system 200 is illustrated in FIG.","2, any of a variety of processing systems in the various devices may be configured to provide the methods and systems in accordance with various embodiments of the invention.","Convolutional Neural Network Based Image Synthesis CNNs can be powerful tools for synthesizing similar but different version of an image or transferring the style of one image onto the content of another image.","Recently, compelling results have been achieved through parametric modeling of the image statistics using a deep CNN.","An example CNN used for image style transfer is described by Leon Gatys in a paper entitled, “Image Style Transfer Using Convolutional Neural Networks” that may be obtained at www.cv-foundation.org/openacess/content_cvpr_2016/papers/Gatys_Image_Style_Transfer_CV PR_2016_paper.pdf.","In particular, CNN-based image synthesis processes are particularly suited for performing texture synthesis and style transfer.","In particular, CNN-based image synthesis systems may perform texture synthesis in the following manner: A CNN image synthesis system receives an input source texture, S, and synthesizes an output texture, O.","S and O are passed through a CNN such as VGG that generates feature maps for the activations of the first L convolutional layers of the CNN.","For purposes of this discussion, the activations of the first L convolutional layers are denoted as S1 .",".",".","SL and O1 .",".",".","OL.","A loss gram over the layers, which preserves some properties of the input texture by means of a Gram matrix can be expressed as: ℒ gram = ∑ l = 1 L α l S l 2 G ( S l ) - G ( O l ) ) F 2 ( 1 ) where Al are user parameters that weight terms in the loss, |⋅| is the number of elements in a tensor, F is the Frobenius norm, and the Gram matrix G(F) is defined over any feature map F as an Nl×Nl matrix of inner products between pairs of features: G ij ( F ) = ∑ k F ik F jk ( 2 ) Fi,j refers to feature i's pixel j within the feature map.","The synthesized output image O is initialized with white noise and is then optimized by applying gradient descent to equation (1).","Specifically, the gradient of equation (1) with respect to the output image O is computed via backpropagation.","CNN-based image synthesis processes that perform style transfer synthesis operate in a similar manner to the texture synthesis process described above.","However, a CNN-based image synthesis system receives a content image, C, and a style image, S, that are used to generate a styled image, O.","All three images are passed through a CNN, such as a VGG, that gives activations for the first L convolutional layers denoted as C1 .",".",".","CL, S1 .",".",".","SL, O1 .",".",".","Ol.","The total style transfer loss combines the losses for the style image (ζgram) and the content image (ζcontent): transfer=gram+content (3) The content loss is a feature distance between content and output that attempts to make output and content look similar: ℒ content = ∑ l = 1 L β l C l C l - O l F 2 ( 4 ) Where βl are user weight parameters, the output image O is initialized with white noise and optimized using a gradient descent.","As such, CNN-based image synthesis processes performing style transfer may use an iterative optimization process to cause the white noise image of the synthesized image to incrementally begin to resemble some user-specified combination of the source content and style images.","In accordance with many embodiments of the invention, a CNN backpropagation training procedure may be used as the iterative optimization process to turn the white noise or content image into an image that combines features of the content and style images.","During backpropagation training procedures performed in accordance with a number of embodiments, the iterative optimization process can be directed by a loss function (equation 4) that the backpropagation training procedure is trying to minimize.","In accordance with several embodiments, the loss function is calculated as the difference between parametric models encoding the style of a style image and the image being synthesized.","In addition, in some embodiments of this invention, a content loss can be included as well, where the content loss is some distance metric between raw neural activations calculated for the content image and the image being synthesized.","If a style loss is used without a content loss and the image being synthesized starts from noise, then the resulting operation is texture synthesis.","If a style loss is used without content loss and the image being synthesized starts from the content image, then the resulting operation is style transfer.","If both style and content loss are used then the operation will always be style transfer.","In accordance with various other embodiments of the invention, other image processing applications including, but not limited to, image hybridization, super-resolution upscaling and time-varying weathering, could be achieved using the same CNN framework but using different loss functions.","CNN-based image synthesis processes in accordance with certain embodiments of the invention may use loss functions to direct the optimization process in various synthesis processes that may be performed.","However, CNN-based image synthesis processes in accordance with particular embodiments of this invention use a collection of stable loss functions for the CNN-based image synthesis to achieve various results.","In accordance with some embodiments, CNN-based image synthesis processes use multiple stable loss functions for texture synthesis and style transfer.","Thus, multiple stable loss functions for the style transfer including loss functions for the style and content are addressed separately below.","Problems with the Use of Gram Matrices A problem that can be experienced when using Gram matrices as loss functions in style transfer is that the results are often unstable.","The cause of the instability is illustrated in FIG.","3.In FIG.","3, an input image 301 has a uniform distribution of intensities with a mean of μ1=½ ≈0.707 and a standard deviation of σ1=0.An output image 302 has a non-uniform distribution with a mean of μ2=½ and a standard deviation of σ2=½.","If interpreted as the activation of a feature map with one feature, these two distributions have equivalent non-central second moments of ½, and equal Gram matrices.","The problem is that there are many distributions that result in an equivalent Gram matrix.","However, the Gram matrices do not match image intensities.","Instead, Gram matrices match feature activations, i.e.","feature maps, after applying the activation functions but the same argument applies: activation maps with quite different means and variances can still have the same Gram matrix.","The problem arises because a Gram matrix is statistically related to neither the mean nor covariance matrices.","Instead, a Gram matrix is related to a matrix of non-central second moments.","To show this, a feature activation map, F, with m features, is used as an example.","For brevity, “feature map activations” are simply referred to as “features,” such that a “feature” refers to the result of applying an activation function.","The statistics of the features in the feature map F can be summarized by using an m dimensional random variable X to model the probability distribution of a given m-tuple of features.","The random vector of features X can be related to the feature map F. For example, the Gram matrix, G(F), may be normalized by the number of samples n to obtain a sample estimator for the second non-central mixed moments E[XXT].","As such, the terms (normalized) “Gram matrix” and E[XXT] may be used interchangeably in the following discussion even though one is actually a sampled estimator of the other.","In the following argument, 1 n G ( F ) = E [ XX T ] and the mean feature is defined as μ=E[X].","By a general property of covariance matrices, Σ(X)=E[XXT]−μμT, Σ indicates a covariance matrix.","After rearranging, the following equation results: E[XXT]=Σ(X)+μμT (5) In the case where there is only one feature, m=1, equation (5) becomes: 1 n G ( F ) = E [ X 2 ] = σ 2 + μ 2 = ( σ , μ ) 2 ( 6 ) Where σ is the standard deviation of feature X.","For a feature map, F1 for the input source image, and a feature map, F2, for the synthesized output image that have respective feature distributions X1, X2, means μ1, μ2, and standard deviations σ1, σ2, the features maps will have the same Gram matrix if the following condition for equation (6) holds: ∥(σ1,μ1)∥=∥(σ2,μ2)∥ (7) As such, an infinite number of 1D feature maps with different variances but equal Gram matrices may be created.","This is not optimal for image synthesis.","Specifically, this means that even if a Gram matrix is held constant, the variance ρ22 of the synthesized texture map can freely change (with corresponding changes to the mean, μ2, based on equation (7)).","Conversely, the mean, μ2, of the synthesized texture map can freely change (with corresponding changes to the variance, σ22).","This property often leads to the instabilities.","For simplicity, it can be assumed that a CNN may be flexible enough to generate any distribution of output image features.","To generate an output texture with a different variance (e.g.","σ2»σ1) but equal Gram matrix, equation (6) can be solved for μ2 to obtain μ1=√{square root over (σ12+μ12−σ22)}.","This is shown in FIG.","3 where the distribution X1 of the image 301 has μ 1 = 1 2 and σ1=0 and the image 302 has larger standard deviation of σ2=½.","In the multidimensional case where m>1, if there is no correlation between features, the m separate cases of the previous 1D scenario.","Thus, while maintaining the same Gram matrix, all of the variances can be changed, as long as a corresponding change to the mean is made.","This can lead to instabilities in variance or mean.","However, in the multidimensional scenario, typically there are correlations between features.","The following example illustrates this point.","In this example, an input feature map F1, has an input feature random vector X1, a mean μ, and covariance matrix Σ(X1).","To generate a set of output feature random vectors X2 with an equal Gram matrix but different variance, an affine transformation is applied to the input random feature vector X1 to obtain a transformed random vector of output features activation X2=AX1+b, where A is an m×m matrix, and b is an m vector.","The Gram matrices X1 and X2 are set equal to one another using equation (5) above to obtain: E[X2X2T]=AΣ(X1)AT+(Aμ+b)(Aμ+b)T=E[X1X1T]=Σ(X1)+μμT.","(8) The variances of the output random feature activation vector X2 may be constrained along the main diagonal of its covariance matrix so that the variances are equal to a set of “target” output image feature activation variances.","The remains may be an unknown variable in the transformation matrix A, and vector b may be determined using closed form solutions of the resulting quadratic equations.","However, these equations are often long and computationally intensive to solve.","Yet, it does show that there are more unknowns than equations.","Thus, it is possible to generate an output distribution X2 with different variances that the input feature distribution X1, but with the same Gram matrix.","Specifically, there are m(m+3)/2 constraints due to equation (8) (there are m(m+1)/2 constraints due to the upper half of the symmetric matrix, plus m constraints for the known output feature variances).","Covariance and Mean Loss In accordance with sundry embodiments of the invention, due to the Gram matrix stability issues identified above, CNN-based image synthesis processes use a covariance matrix instead of a Gram matrix to guide the synthesis process.","Covariance matrices are similar to Gram matrices but do not share the same limitation.","By subtracting off the mean activation before computing inner products, covariance matrices explicitly preserve statistical moments of various orders in the parametric model.","By this we explicitly refer to the mean of all feature vectors as the first order moment and to the co-activations of feature vectors centered around their mean as second order moments.","Replacing Gram matrices with Covariance matrices can stabilize the synthesis process for some textures, however, subtracting the mean can affect the desired features to be reproduced during the synthesis process in undesirable ways.","To counteract this effect, we introduce an additional loss term for mean activations.","This new parametric model allows the covariance loss and means loss to drive the synthesis.","This can make the combined loss for texture synthesis: Ltexture=Lcovariance+Lmean+Ltv (12) The replacement of the Gram matrix with a Covariance matrix may improve but does not decisively solve the stability issues inherent in texture synthesis and/or style transfer.","However, the covariance matrix may be a powerful method for describing image style in a stable form when the texture being parameterized is highly stochastic and can be represented as a single cluster in feature space.","It may still be a problem that many textures and most natural images contain multiple clusters.","In other words, these textures or natural images contain a combination of multiple distinct textures.","When an input texture exhibits multiple feature space clusters and the cluster centers are far apart from each other, a covariance matrix may exhibit the same unstable behavior as a Gram matrix.","The reason for the unstable behavior is that the center between multiple clusters ensures that every cluster will be un-centered and, thus, will not exhibit stable mathematical properties.","Although CNN-based image synthesis processes that use covariance loss and/or mean loss in accordance with various embodiments of the invention are described above, other processes that use covariance loss and mean loss in accordance with various other embodiments of the invention that add, combine and/or remove steps as necessitated by the requirements of particular systems and/or processes are possible.","Histogram Losses Due to the multiple cluster problem, processes in accordance with a number of embodiments of the invention may use Histogram loss as described above to achieve consistently high-quality results.","In accordance with several embodiments, the multiple cluster problem may be dealt with by using an automatic clustering process on the feature vectors to identify different textures in an image.","The clustering process could transform the image so that each cluster is centered around its mean.","However, the use of an automatic clustering process may introduce a number of additional problems.","For example, if different linear transforms are applied to different regions of the image in a discrete way, seam lines may appear along the borders between different texture clusters.","To deal with these seams, processes in accordance with many embodiments of the invention interpolate the transform between clusters.","The interpolation may be more difficult than simply adding a histogram loss that has been shown to solve the same problem as discussed above.","In accordance with particular embodiments of the invention, the instability of Gram or Covariance matrices is addressed by explicitly preserving statistical moments of various orders in the activations of a texture.","In accordance with many embodiments, an entire histogram of feature activations is preserved.","More specifically, systems and processes in accordance with a number of embodiments augment synthesis loss with m additional histogram losses, one for each feature in each feature map.","Additionally, systems and processes in accordance with several embodiments incorporate a total variation loss that may improve smoothness in the synthesized image.","As such, the combined loss for texture synthesis in CNN-based image synthesis processes in accordance with some embodiments of the invention is: texture(ours)=gram+histogram+tv (9) where Lgram can be interchanged with Lcovariance arbitrarily.","However, it can be slightly subtle to develop a suitable histogram loss.","For example, a naive approach of directly placing L2 loss between histograms of the input source texture image S and output synthesized image O has zero gradient almost everywhere and does not contribute to the optimization process.","As such, CNN-based image synthesis processes in accordance with many embodiments of the invention use loss based on histogram matching.","To do so, the synthesized layer-wise feature activations are transformed so that their histograms match the corresponding histograms of the input source texture image S. The transformation can be performed once for each histogram loss encountered during backpropagation.","To do so, CNN-based image synthesis processes in accordance with a number of embodiments of the invention use an ordinary histogram matching technique to remap the synthesized output activation to match the input source image activations.","In such a technique, Oij represents the output activations for a convolutional layer i and feature j, and O′ij represents the remapped activations.","The technique may compute a normalized histogram for the output activations Oij and match it to the normalized histogram for the activations of input source image S to obtain the remapped activations O′ij.","This technique is then repeated from each feature in the feature map to determine a Frobenius norm distance between Oij and O′ij.","The loss of the histograms may be expressed as: ℒ histogram = ∑ l = 1 L γ l O i - R ( O i ) F 2 ( 10 ) Where Oi is the activation map for feature map I and R(Oi) is the histogram remapped activation map, and γl is a user weight parameter that controls the strength of the loss.","As R(Oi) has zero gradient almost everywhere, it can be treated as a constant for the gradient operator.","Thus, the gradient of equation (10) can be computed by realizing R(Oi) into a temporary array O′l and computing the Frobenius norm loss between Oi and O′i.","Although CNN-based image synthesis processes that use histogram loss in accordance with various embodiments of the invention are described above, other processes that provide histogram loss in accordance with various other embodiments of the invention that add, combine and/or remove steps as necessitated by the requirements of particular systems and/or processes are possible.","Application of Histogram Loss to Style Transfers Style transfer is a broadening of texture synthesis.","In texture synthesis, an input texture is statistically resynthesized.","Style transfer is similar with the additional constraint that the synthesized image O should not deviate too much from a content image C. To do so, CNN-based image synthesis processes that perform style transfer in accordance with sundry embodiments of the invention include both a per-pixel content loss and a histogram loss in the parametric synthesis equation such that the overall loss becomes: transfer(ours)=gram+histogram+content+tv (11) where Lgram is interchangeable with Lcovariance for the purposes of our algorithm.","Although CNN-based image synthesis processes that use histogram loss to perform style transfer in accordance with various embodiments of the invention are described above, other processes that use histogram loss to perform style transfer in accordance with various other embodiments of the invention that add, combine and/or remove steps as necessitated by the requirements of particular systems and/or processes are possible.","Automatic Tuning of Parameters CNN-based image synthesis processes in accordance with some embodiment automatically determine parameters for the processes performed.","The parameters may include, but are not limited to, the coefficients α1 in the Gram/Covariance loss equation (1), β1 in the content loss of equation (4), γl in the histogram/mean loss equation (1) and ω that is multiplied against the total variation loss.","Automatic tuning processes in accordance with many embodiments of the invention are inspired by batch normalization that tunes hyper-parameters during a training process to reduce extreme values of gradients.","The parameters may also be dynamically adjusted during the optimization process.","In accordance with a number of embodiments, the dynamic tuning can be performed with the aid of gradient information.","During backpropagation, different loss terms Li, may be encountered.","Each loss term Li has an associated parameter ci that needs to be determined (ci is one of the parameters αl, βl, γl, and ω).","A backpropagated gradient gi may first be calculated from the current loss term as if ci were 1.However, if the magnitude of gi exceeds a constant magnitude threshold Ti, then the gradient gi may be normalized so that its length is equal to Ti.","Magnitude thresholds of 1 can be used for all parameters except for the coefficient αl of the Gram/Covariance loss, which may have a magnitude threshold of 100 in accordance with several embodiments.","As can readily be appreciated, magnitude thresholds and/or other constraints can be specified as appropriate to the requirements of a given application.","Although CNN-based image synthesis processes that perform automatic tuning in accordance with various embodiments of the invention are described above, other processes that provide automatic tuning in accordance with various other embodiments of the invention that add, combine and/or remove steps as necessitated by the requirements of particular systems and/or processes are possible.","Multiscale Pyramid Based Synthesis CNN-based image synthesis processes in accordance with certain embodiments include manual and automatic control maps that were previously used in non-parametric approaches.","To achieve this, processes in accordance with many embodiments perform a coarse-to-fine synthesis using image pyramids.","In accordance with a number of embodiments, a ratio of two is used between successive image widths in the pyramid.","A comparison of results of texture synthesis performed in accordance with various embodiments of the invention with and without the use of pyramids are shown in FIG.","4.In FIG.","4, images 401 and 402 are the style images and images 410-411 and 420-421 are the content images.","Images 410 and 411 were generated without the use of pyramids and images 420 and 421 were generated with the use of pyramids.","Images 410 and 420 show that pyramids blend coarse scale style features with content features better.","Images 411 and 421 may show that pyramids transfer coarse scale features better and reduce CNN noise artifacts.","Images 412 and 422 are magnified from images 411 and 421, respectively, and may show noise artifacts (in image 412) and better transfer of coarse-scale features (in image 422).","Processes for Providing Convolutional Neural Network Based Image Synthesis Using Localized Loss Functions A process for providing CNN-based image synthesis that performs style transfer using localized loss functions in accordance with an embodiment of the invention is shown in FIG.","5.In process 500, a source content image and a source style image are received (505, 510).","The source content image includes the structures that are to be included in a synthesized image and the source style image includes a texture that is to be applied to the synthesized image.","The process 500 determines localized content loss functions for groups of pixels in the source content image (515) and/or localized style loss functions for groups of pixels in the source style image (520).","In accordance with some embodiments, the localized content loss functions and/or localized style loss functions may be generated using a CNN.","The determinations of the localized content and/or style loss functions based upon various groupings of the pixels in accordance with various embodiments of the invention are described below.","Process 500 performs an optimization process using the localized content loss functions and/or localized style loss functions to cause the pixels in the synthesized image to form an image with a desired amount of content from the content source image and a desired amount of texture from the source style image (525).","In accordance with certain embodiments, the optimization process may be an iterative optimization process that is performed until a desired result is achieved.","In accordance with many embodiments, the iterative optimization process may be performed by a backpropagation through a CNN iterative optimization processes in accordance with various embodiments of the invention are described in more detail below.","Although processes for providing convolutional neural network based image synthesis by performing style transfer using localized loss functions in accordance with various embodiments of the invention are discussed above, other processes may be modified by adding, removing, and/or combining steps of the described processes as necessitated by system and/or process requirements in accordance with various embodiments of the inventions.","Localizing Style Losses Style loss functions reproduce the textural component of the style image.","Thus, a global style loss function may be transformed into a stationary representation (i.e.","the representation is a culmination of the local patches of texture independent of the location of each local patch in the image).","A global style loss function approach may generate the global style loss function by applying the source style image to a CNN, gathering all activations for a layer in a CNN and building a parametric model from the gathered activations of the layer.","An optimization process may then be used to cause the loss function of one image to appear statistically similar to the loss function of another image by minimizing the error distance between the parametric model of the loss functions of the two images (which act as a statistical fingerprint that is being matched).","A style transfer approach using a global style loss function may lead to unimpressive results as shown by the images illustrated in FIG.","6.In FIG.","6, Brad Pitt's image 601 is matched to an image of Picasso's self-portrait 602.In the resulting image 603, the overall style of the painting in the image 602 is transferred including the individual brush strokes, the general color palette and the overall look.","This makes the image 603 look similar to the image 602.However, the individual features that compose the face are not transferred.","Thus, Brad Pitt's eyes, nose and mouth do not look like Picasso's corresponding features.","In accordance with sundry embodiments of the invention, a collection of strategies designed to transform the style of an image locally rather than globally may be performed.","However, the various strategies used in the various embodiments involve a similar core idea of using a collection of parametric models representing local loss functions in either one or both of the source content image and the source style image, as opposed to using a single parametric model for each image.","Each of the parametric models of an image summarize specific features in the image and are distinct and/or unique from the other parametric models in the collection of matrices for the image.","The application of local loss functions may vary greatly between the various embodiments, depending on a desired degree of locality.","Thus, each of the models may represent very large regions of the image in accordance with some embodiments when it is desired to have very little locality.","Alternatively, the models may each represent smaller groups down to an individual pixel in accordance with particular embodiments of the invention where a very high degree of locality is desired.","Region-Based Style Transfers Region-based style transfer may be used in accordance with some embodiments of the invention.","A process for generating a region-based loss function in accordance with an embodiment of the invention is shown in FIG.","7.A process 700 may generate a mask with one or more regions for both of the source content and source style images (710).","In accordance with various embodiments, the regions may be determined by a user and received as a manual input of the user into the system.","In accordance with many embodiments, processes may generate the regions of the mask through a neighbor matching process and/or other similar process for structure identification.","The process 700 applies the masks to each image and determines a region of the mask associated with each pixel in each of the images (715).","The process 700 assigns each pixel to the region determined to be associated with the pixel (720).","The process 700 then generates parametric models for each of the identified regions of the masks from the pixels associated with the regions (725) and may add the generated parametric model for each region to an array of matrices stored in memory.","In accordance with many embodiments, the mask value of each pixel may be used to index the pixel into the proper parametric model in the array for use in the style transfer process described above.","Images that illustrate a region-based style transfer process performed on the images of Brad Pitt and Picasso's self-portrait 601 and 602 in accordance with an embodiment of the invention are shown in FIG.","8.In region-based style transfer, distinct features of an image can be clustered together.","As shown by image 802, Picasso's portrait from image 602 is segmented into a few distinct regions.","For example, the eyes may be one region with the lips, nose, hair, skin shirt and background each being in their own regions.","A mask 802 may be applied over image 602 to identify the region that contains each pixel in the image 602.Likewise, a mask shown in image 801 may be applied to the image 601 of Brad Pitt to identify the pixels that belong to each of the identified regions of the image 601.Although processes that provide region-based loss functions in accordance with various embodiments of the invention are described above, other processes that provide region-based loss functions in accordance with various other embodiments of the invention that add, combine and/or remove steps as necessitated by the requirements of particular systems and/or processes are possible.","Uniform Segments Style Transfer In accordance with a number of embodiments of the invention, a uniform segment style transfer process may be performed.","In uniform segment style transfer, the images are divided into uniform segments.","The images of Brad Pitt and Picasso's self-portrait divided into uniform segments in accordance with an embodiment of the invention that uses uniform segments are shown in FIG.","9.A process for performing uniform style transfer in accordance with an embodiment of the invention is shown in FIG.","10.As shown in images 901 and 902 of FIG.","9, a process 1000 of FIG.","10 divides each image into a grid of regions or cells (1005).","In particular, images 901 and 902 are divided into grids of 8×8 cells in the shown embodiment.","However, any number of cells may be used in grids, for example 16×16 and 20×20 grids, in accordance with various other embodiments of the invention.","Each cell is associated with an individual parametric model of a localized loss function (1010).","In many embodiments, the generated parametric models can be added (1015) to an array of models for each image.","In accordance with some embodiments, an individual parametric model may be associated (1020) with groups of cells that are determined by similarity of the cells or by some other manner.","After the parametric models are generated, the parametric models may be used as a descriptor for nearest neighbor matching of the pixels in associated cell(s).","The nearest neighbor matching binds cells together so that each cell in the content image is optimized more closely resemble a cell in the style image that is determined to most closely approximate the cell as shown in FIG.","11.In FIG.","11, a cell 1101 in the image 901 is optimized to a cell 1102 in the image 902.In accordance with some embodiments, one or more cells in the style image that most closely approximate a cell in the content image may be identified by determining the cell(s) in the style image that has a minimum L2 distance between its parametric model and the parametric model of the cell in the content image.","In accordance with certain embodiments, the optimizing processes for all of the cells in the content image are performed in parallel.","Although processes that provide uniform segment style transfer in accordance with various embodiments of the invention are described above, other processes that provide segment-based style transfer in accordance with various other embodiments of the invention that add, combine and/or remove steps as necessitated by the requirements of particular systems and/or processes are possible.","Per Pixel Style Transfer In accordance with particular embodiments of the invention, each pixel is a local region.","Images that show the association between pixels in a source content image and a source style image in accordance with a certain embodiment of this invention are shown in FIG.","12.In accordance with many embodiments, a parametric model of a localized style loss function is generated for each pixel in the content image cell 1201 and the style image cell 1202.A process for generating localized style loss functions in accordance with an embodiment of the invention is shown in FIG.","13.The process 1300 includes gathering a neighborhood of pixels surrounding each particular pixel in the source content image (1305).","A group of pixels in the source style image that are associated with the neighbor pixels of each particular pixel is determined (1310).","In accordance with sundry embodiments, a pre-computed nearest neighbor set may be used to associate each pixel in the content image with a pixel in the source style image.","The group of pixels in the source style image associated with the neighborhood of each particular pixel is used to generate the parametric model of the localized style loss function that the particular pixel is optimized toward (1315).","Although processes that provide per pixel-based style transfer in accordance with various embodiments of the invention are described above, other processes that provide per pixel-based style transfer in accordance with sundry embodiments of the invention that add, combine and/or remove steps as necessitated by the requirements of particular systems and/or processes are possible.","From the above descriptions of the various transfer strategies, one may see that regional segment style transfer is simple and fast compared to the other transfer strategies.","However, the regional segment style transfer can be imprecise, whether a human or a CNN is used to determine how the parametric models are generated.","The cell transfer can differ from the regional transfer in that many more parametric models are generated and the matrices themselves are used to determine the correspondence of features.","The per pixel approach is typically the most precise and the slowest possible transfer strategy because the amount of computations needed is increased by generation of a parametric model for each particular pixel from patches of pixels around the particular pixel.","The increase in computations stems from the fact that in the other approaches each of the pixels in an image contribute to one parametric model and in the per pixel approach each pixel contributes to the parametric model of each of the neighboring pixels.","Furthermore, it is noted that various other embodiments may select certain other manners in determining local regions to refine the trade-off between speed and/or memory versus accuracy.","Localizing for Content Loss In accordance with particular embodiments, content loss can be used for the transfer process instead of style loss.","The difference is that style loss attempts to be stationary and content loss does not.","For purposes of this discussion, stationary means that the location of a pixel is the main factor influencing what the pixel should look like.","The content loss function can be simple in accordance with some embodiments in that the L2 (or Euclidian) distance is summed for each pixel in the synthesized image to each pixel at the same location in the content image.","The goal of content loss, on the other hand, is to reproduce the “structure” of the content image (image 1401 of FIG.","14 showing the Golden Gate Bridge) while allowing the nonstructural aspects of the image to mutate towards resembling the style image (image 1402 of FIG.","14 showing Starry Night).","In accordance with other known transfer processes, one may assume that the deeper layers of the network represent the higher order image features, so by maintaining a low error between content and synthesis deeper in the network but allowing the style to be optimized at the shallow layers, a balance is reached between the style and content.","However, these processes often do not regularly provide compelling results.","A problem with using a global content loss in a style transfer process may be that all of the regions of the content image may not be equally as important in terms of key shapes and structures in the image.","For instance, in FIG.","15, image 1501 of the Golden Gate Bridge, the low-importance content features including the low frequency sky and ocean are given a high enough content loss to overpower the style contribution and stop large, swirly clouds and stars from forming.","In parallel, the high-importance content features including the bridge are largely being distorted by the style image.","This makes the high-importance content features lose fine scale qualities such as the cable stretching from tower to tower.","Furthermore, the tower in the background is more distorted than the larger tower in the foreground because the tower in the background is smaller in terms of image size.","However, the tower in the background is not less important than the tower in the foreground in terms of content as the tower is a key structure in the image.","Style transfer processes that use localized content loss functions in accordance with some embodiments of the invention may provide weights to each pixel based on the amount that the pixel contributes to a key shape or structure in the image.","However, “content” can be a poorly defined concept with respect to art as “content is subjective and can be subject to personal interpretation.","As such, the process for localizing content loss in accordance with some embodiments of the invention is based on the following observations about “content.” For the purposes of determining the contribution of a pixel to content, one may observe that flat, low frequency regions of an image generally do not contribute to the content of the image (for purposes of human perception) while high frequency regions generally are important contributors to the content.","Therefore, style transfer processes in accordance with many embodiments of the invention may use a Laplacian Pyramid of black and white versions of the content image (Images 1601-1604 in FIG.","16) to determine content loss weights for each pixel in the image being synthesized where the high frequency pixels (whiter pixels) have a higher influence on content than low frequency pixels (darker pixels).","Alternatively, convolutional neural networks (CNNs) trained on image classification tend to learn kernels at the deeper levels of the network that recognize shapes which are structurally meaningful to humans.","Therefore, the magnitude of feature vectors produced from the content image deep in the network can also be used as a scaling factor for the content loss itself.","The difference between the use of global style loss and global content loss is shown by the images shown in FIG.","17.An image 1701 shows an image generated using global style loss and an image 1702 shows an image generated using global content loss starting from noise and use the respective global loss functions to generate the final image.","The image 1701 illustrates global style loss with no content loss producing a “texturized” version of the style image (Starry Night).","Image 1702, on the other hand, introduces global content loss to the texturized version and the texturized version of Starry Night is reshaped into the form of the Golden State Bridge but with the flaws identified above.","The difference between the use of a global content loss functions and the use of localized content loss functions determined using a Laplacian Pyramid in accordance with a certain embodiment of the invention is shown in FIG.","18.An image 1801 is the same as the image 1702 and introduces global content loss to the texturized version of the image, and an image 1802 introduces local content loss based upon a Laplacian Pyramid to the texturized version instead of the global content loss.","The features in the image 1802 emerge (i.e.","the bridge and the land) while the rest of the image reproduces the texture of Starry Night more accurately.","Although previous processes may start from noise, noise does not have to be the starting point in some embodiments of this invention.","The logic of starting from noise may be that noise often produces a slightly different version of the transfer each time.","In accordance with a number of embodiments of the invention, CNN backpropagation may be used to provide a style transfer process using global and/or local content loss.","The use of CNN backpropagation can allow the image to be thought of as a point in a super-high dimensional space (a dimension for each color channel in each pixel of the image).","The optimization process is a gradient descent optimization that pulls an image at that point through the image's high dimensional space toward a new point that is within a small region of the high dimensional space that is considered “good output.” The force that pulls the image may be the combined loss function for style and content as well as optimizing towards a local minimum of the function, depending on where the noise commences in this space.","Alternatively, the optimization process may be started from the content image instead of noise in accordance with a number of embodiments.","Using the standard approach, the use of the content image to start may not offer an advantage because the content loss may begin from an optimal position and play a more aggressive “tug of war” against the style loss resulting in an image that has more content and less style.","In summary, when starting from noise, both loss functions (content and style) are often very bad and move together toward a mutually optimal choice for most of the processes whereas, when starting from the content image, the two loss functions are often fighting against each other during the entire process, and that may return a less than pleasing result.","The use of content loss in style transfer processes in accordance with particular embodiments of the invention has certain advantages that known style transfer processes typically have previously overlooked.","If the content loss is removed from the function leaving only style loss, a texturized version of the image (as shown in FIG.","19, image 1901) is generated with the subtle difference that the content image (i.e.","the starting point in high dimensional space) exists in a local minimum within the space of all possible versions of the texturized version of the style image.","As such, starting at the content image and removing the content loss causes the process to start at a point in space that is the content image and move away from this point in the high dimension space to a point that is pure style, but the process arrives at a local minimum that represents both style and content in a much better localized ratio than is typically produced by known processes as shown in an image 1901 of FIG.","19.The image 1901 was generated by starting at the content image of the Golden Gate Bridge and then optimizing using only style loss so that the image mutated to better resemble “Starry Night” until the process reached a local minimum.","This produces better results than previously known style transfer processes.","However, the results may be improved by re-introducing localized content loss instead of global content loss that results in image 1902.This approach addresses the problem of removing content loss completely by trying to reach a local minimum in the optimization process that does not cause key structures (e.g.","the cables on the bridge and the tower in the background) to be mutated too much by the style loss and lose the distinguishing characteristics of these structures.","By re-introducing local content loss in accordance with some embodiments of the invention, the mutation of structurally important aspects of the content too far in the style direction may be reduced leading to an optimization process that reaches a more desirable local minimum.","Localized style and content loss are also applicable within a feedforward texture synthesis and style transfer algorithm and are not limited to an optimization framework using backpropagation.","Although processes that provide style transfer using global and/local content loss in accordance with various embodiments of the invention are described above, other processes that provide style transfer using global and/or local content loss in accordance with various other embodiments of the invention that add, combine and/or remove steps as necessitated by the requirements of particular systems and/or processes are possible.","Localized Style Loss for Artistic Controls In accordance with sundry embodiments of the invention, CNN-based image synthesis processes separate multiple textures in an image into multiple models to determine localized loss.","To do so, processes in accordance with many embodiments receive an index mask for the source texture or style image and an index mask for the synthesized image.","In accordance with a number of embodiments, each mask is input by a user.","Each mask may include M indices.","This may sometimes be referred to as a “painting by numbers” process.","A process for determining localized loss using masks in accordance with an embodiment of the invention is shown in FIG.","20.A process 2000 applies the mask for the source image to the source image to determine the pixels that belong to each of the M indices (2005) and the mask to the synthesized image to determine the pixels that belong to each of the M indices of the synthesized mask.","A parametric model is generated for each of the M indices of the source style mask from the pixels that belong to each of the M matrices (2010).","The indices of the synthesized output may be tracked though an image pyramid for coarse-to-fine synthesis (2015).","During synthesis, the previous losses are modified to be spatially varying (2020).","In accordance with many embodiments, spatially varying Gram/Covariance matrix and histogram losses may be imposed where the style Gram/Covariance matrices and histograms vary spatially based on the output index for the current pixel.","Histogram matching is then performed (2025).","In accordance with several embodiments, the histogram matching may be performed separately in each of the M regions defined by the indexed masks.","Blending of adjacent regions may then be performed (2030).","In accordance with a number of embodiments, the bending of adjacent regions can be automatically performed during backpropagation.","In accordance with certain embodiments of CNN-based image synthesis, it is important to note that often the style and content source images contain sets of textures that are semantically similar and should be transferred to each other.","An example of this is shown in FIG.","21.FIG.","21 also shows images synthesized in accordance with particular embodiments of the invention and images generated using other processes.","In FIG.","21, images 2101 an example of controllable parametric neural texture synthesis.","Original images are on the left, synthesis results on the right; corresponding masks are above each image.","Rows of images 2105, 2110 and 2115 are examples of portrait style transfer using painting by numbers.","Rows of images 2110 and 2115 show style transfer results for an embodiment of the invention on the far right as compared to images generated by another process in middle.","The images can show that processes in accordance with some embodiments of the invention may preserve fine-scale artistic texture better.","However, processes in accordance with certain embodiments of the invention may also transfer a bit more of the person's “identity,” primarily due to hair and eye color changes.","Implementation Details of CNN Based Image Synthesis Systems that Use Histograms In accordance with sundry embodiments of the invention, the CNN used may be a VGG-19 network pre-trained on the ImageNet dataset.","In accordance with many embodiments, layer Rectified Linear Unit (relu) 1_1, relu 2_1, relu 3_1 and relu 4_1 may be used for Gram losses.","The histogram losses may be computed only at layers relu 1_1 and relu 4_1 in a number of embodiments.","Content loss is computed only at relu 4_1 In accordance with several embodiments.","Furthermore, the total may only be performed on the first convolutional layer to smooth out noise that results from the optimization process.","In accordance with particular embodiments, the images are synthesized in a multi-resolution process using an image pyramid.","During synthesis, the process begins at the bottom of the pyramid that can be initialized to white noise, and after each level is finished synthesizing, a bi-linear interpolation is used to upsample to the next level of the pyramid.","Although CNN-based image synthesis systems in accordance with various embodiments of the invention are described above, other configurations of the CNN-based systems that add, modify and/or remove portions of the CNN in accordance with various embodiments of the invention are possible.","Controlling Age Appearance within Parametric Models The apparent realism and/or quality of a synthesized image can be improved by applying synthetic weathering.","Textures that display the characteristics of some weathering processes may incorporate a collection of multiple textures consolidated into one weathered texture.","As such, CNN-based image synthesis processes in accordance with some embodiments of the invention may provide a new approach for controlling the synthesis of these complex textures without having to separate the textures into different parametric models.","This may be achieved by directly controlling the synthesis process by strategically waxing and waning specific parameters in the model to create new outputs that express different ratios of desired features to control the appearance of age for certain textures.","Identifying Age Features within Exemplar Images A separate but entangled problem to controlling age appearance during synthesis is first identifying which features in the input exemplar image display characteristics of age and to what degree.","In accordance with sundry embodiments, user-created masks that delineate feature age may be received and used to identify the features.","Processes in accordance with many embodiments may use an automatic clustering approach to segregate different textures.","Still other processes in accordance with a number of embodiments may use a patch-based method that uses the average feature distance between a patch and its K nearest neighbors as a metric for “rarity” that may be interpreted as age.","This method is based on the assumption that features created by the weathering process are highly random and have a low chance of finding a perfect match caused by the same process.","However, there may be a limitation in the patch-based approach when a texture has rare features that are not a product of age, such as knots in wood.","In accordance with several embodiments, a CNN may be trained to learn and identify weathered features for a multitude of weathering types.","Processes for Controlling Aging Once weathered regions in an image have been identified, CNN-based image synthesis processes in accordance with particular embodiments of the invention can extract a parametric model for each region.","The desired age can be produced as a linear combination of the separate models.","In the simplest case, weathering may just be an interpolation between a Young and Old parametric model as follows: Page=Y*(1−age)+O*(age) (13) This naive approach cannot generate fully young or fully old textures due to the large receptive fields common in CNN architectures mixing the two parametric models.","To circumvent this problem, processes in accordance with many embodiments may introduce a “transition” parametric model built from the bordering pixels between young and old regions.","To do so, processes in accordance with a number of embodiments of the invention may dynamically generate masks for each layer of the network corresponding to the receptive field.","Examples of a mask are shown in FIG.","22 where black is used to delineate the young model, white for the old model and grey for the transition model.","With specific regard to FIG.","22, (a) indicates an input texture image, (b) indicates a mask delineating young and old textures, (c)-(f) indicate different receptive fields measured in terms of layers of rectified linear units for the Gram losses in texture synthesis and style transfer.","The aging process in accordance with some embodiments then may become a two-step process where, first, Young to Transition is synthesized and then Transition to Old is synthesized.","This strategy works for textures that completely change from one material to a completely different material as the textures age.","However, weathering often damages or deforms a young material rather than transforming it into a completely different material (e.g.","scratching, cracking, peeling).","Therefore, it is typical that a young model should not contain old features, but the old model should contain young features.","In this scenario, the old and transition regions may be combined into a single combined parametric model.","Aging processes in accordance with many embodiments of the invention may use a simple strategy for determining whether the transition and old models should be combined or not.","The strategy is based upon the observations that when generating the transition masks as shown in FIG.","22, the transition region becomes larger for deeper layers of the network.","Therefore, if at some layer in the network the transition region completely replaces either a young or an old region, the processes assign that region into transition model at all layers of the network.","Thus, the transition region can effectively “annex” other features if the features are too small to justify having their own parametric model.","Given the introduction of a third “transition” model, the equation (12) above no longer suffices.","In addition to the three-model system, processes in accordance with a number of embodiments may extend the algorithm to account for an arbitrary number of parametric models for complex aging scenarios.","When more than two age models are present, there are two equally appropriate synthesis strategies.","First, each parametric model can have an age assigned to it between 0 and 1.In the first strategy used by processes in accordance with a number of embodiments of the invention, a list of N parametric models is sorted by age value from smallest to largest giving N−1 pairs of models to linearly interpolate between.","These interpolations are sequentially chained such that the youngest model is the Y model and the next youngest is the O model.","Once the old texture is fully synthesized, set the Y model to the O model and replace the O model with the next youngest model.","The process may then iterate until all of the parametric models have been processed.","In the second strategy used by a few embodiments, all N parametric models may be combined in parallel.","This results in a single parametric model that is a combination of an arbitrary number of models in any proportion.","Although CNN-based image synthesis processes that perform aging in accordance with various embodiments of the invention are described above, other processes that perform aging in accordance with various other embodiments of the invention that add, combine and/or remove steps as necessitated by the requirements of particular systems and/or processes are possible.","Continuous Weathering Once a new texture is synthesized at a starting age, it can be a simple process to continue the optimization while iteratively replacing the combined parametric model to reflect a new age.","CNN-based image synthesis processes in accordance with particular embodiments of the invention may use this approach to synthesize smoothly varying animations from one age to another.","Since a new parametric model for texture or “style” is introduced, and the optimization process starts from a prior model that represents the desired content, this process can be considered a special type of style transfer process where the style transfer process is a useful way to frame the problem.","One complication to note is that changing the parametric model can cause a subtle mutation of features that should otherwise be static.","While the ultimate goal is to replace young features with old ones, it is also possible for the young features to mutate into new but equally young-looking features due to the parametric model being in flux.","In addition, old features may continue to optimize once they are synthesized, breaking the illusion of an aging process.","In order to stabilize non-transitional features, processes in accordance with many embodiments introduce a new component, a multi-target localized content loss.","In the most basic case, there are only young and old regions in a texture.","In order to avoid the continuous mutation effect, these processes may introduce a new content loss strategy that applies different targets to local regions.","These processes may begin by first synthesizing a full image for each of the two parametric models to be used as multiple content images.","For each local point in the synthesis image, the processes may dynamically choose which content loss to apply based on a “parametric heat map.” To generate the parametric heat map, the mean of a parametric model is subtracted from each pixel of the model and the co-activations to form a covariance matrix for that individual feature.","In accordance with a number of embodiments, this may be performed in the rectified linear units for the Gram losses in texture synthesis and style transfer for layer 4 (relu_4) of the VGG-19 network.","Next, the L2 distance between this covariance matrix and the covariance matrix component of the young and old parametric models is found for each pixel.","The parametric model that has the lowest error can be used to compute the content loss for the pixel using the corresponding content image.","Alternatively, processes in accordance with a few embodiments implement this approach by generating a new single content image by choosing pixels from the different content images using the lowest error mask.","As can readily be appreciated, the specific approach that is pursued is typically dependent upon the requirements of a given application.","Controlling Weathering Through “Painting by Numbers” Continuously updating a single parametric model can lead to natural weathering patterns.","However, it is difficult to manually control this process.","As an alternative weathering approach, processes in accordance with sundry embodiments extend the painting by numbers strategy presented above where masks are directly drawn or procedurally generated which direct young, old and transition textures to different regions of the synthesis image over time.","The ability to procedurally control a weathering process may be important for many textures where different regions can be affected by different environmental conditions in a 3D scene.","Although CNN-based image synthesis processes that control weathering through “painting by numbers” in accordance with various embodiments of the invention are described above, other processes that control weathering through “painting by numbers” in accordance with certain embodiments of the invention that add, combine and/or remove steps as necessitated by the requirements of particular systems and/or processes are possible.","Continuous Multiscale Aging In accordance with sundry embodiments, CNN-based image synthesis processes re-purpose style transfer to generate a continuous and progressive aging/de-aging process in a multiscale pyramid framework.","Style transfer may be considered an extension to texture synthesis in which a second content image is introduced to guide the optimization process.","Processes in accordance with many embodiments use the same concept to synthesize time sequences in a multiscale pyramid framework.","These processes may bootstrap the animation by synthesizing the first frame in the sequence using the strategy described above.","After the first frame is generated, subsequent frames can be created by using the frame before as a prior frame.","As such, at any given point in time, two image pyramids are stored in memory, the pyramid for the previous frame and the pyramid for the current frame being synthesized.","The synthesis order is illustrated in FIG.","23.As the multiple image sizes may be synthesized in parallel, processes in accordance with a number of embodiments may store an optimizer state for each pyramid level.","When synthesizing the first frame in the sequence, the base of the pyramid may use white noise as a prior frame to start the synthesis and then each subsequent pyramid level starts from the final result of the previous level that is bi-linearly re-sized to the correct resolution.","For all subsequent frames synthesized, a new image pyramid may be synthesized.","In accordance with a number of embodiments, the first level of the new pyramid uses the first level of the previous frame as a prior image.","For higher layers in the pyramid, the same layer from the previous frame is used as a prior image and a content loss is introduced by re-sizing the previous layer in the same frame, this content image can be seen as a blurry version of the desired result.","This process is conceptually illustrated in FIG.","23 where image 5 is synthesized using image 2 as a prior and image 4 is re-sized and used as a content image to guide the process.","By synthesizing a sequence of images in this manner CNN-based image synthesis processes in accordance with some embodiments achieve the same benefits as synthesizing a single image using the pyramid strategy.","However, the fidelity of larger structures may be improved, noise artifacts may be reduced and synthesis speed may be improved.","Although CNN-based image synthesis processes that perform continuous multiscale aging in accordance with various embodiments of the invention are described above, other processes that perform continuous multiscale aging in accordance with various other embodiments of the invention that add, combine and/or remove steps as necessitated by the requirements of particular systems and/or processes are possible.","Transferring Weathered Patterns from External Exemplars Arguably, it is more useful sometimes to transfer the weathering effects of one material “W” onto another material “C.” This is a more difficult problem as the parameters within W that represent aged features must be completely extracted and isolated from the parameters that encode the underlying texture.","The only way to do this accurately is to give every pixel a high fidelity age scoring.","While, other systems may be able to accomplish this through a nearest neighbor search, this approach is too coarse and approximate to accurately transfer weathering.","Also, some of these other processes may rank pixels based on how unique the pixels are within the image.","To perform transferring of weathering patterns in accordance with several embodiments of the invention, pixels may also need to be ranked based on which distinct features they contribute to and by how much.","CNN-based image synthesis processes in accordance with particular embodiments can accomplish this using the heat-map approach presented in the previous section on continuous weathering.","However, rather than finding the best match among all parametric models, Processes performing weather transfer keep a separate L1 distance score between each parametric model.","Thus, these processes may discriminate on a pixel-by-pixel basis to determine the pixels in a weathered region that contribute to the actual age artifacts and to what degree.","Given a region of image W with age features as well as transition features and the resulting parametric model, the goal is to remove any features that are not the desired “aged” features and replace these features in the correct proportion with the target parametric model of C. To do so, processes in accordance with many embodiments normalize an L1 distance to each parametric model between 0 and 1 and invert the result so that a region in the synthesized image that strongly matches with a parametric model will receive a score close to 1 and regions that do not match receive a score closer to 0.For a parametric model that should be removed from the mixture, processes in accordance with a number of embodiments compute a mean activation of the model (note, co-activations are not used for this process as the features become very difficult to de-tangle).","For each pixel, the processes may multiply the mean activation by the local L1 distance to that parametric model and subtract it from the activations at this target pixel to remove those features in their correct proportion from neural activations of the pixels.","The processes may take the mean activations from the new parametric model from image C and multiply it by the same L1 distance to determine an activation value.","The activation value is then added to the target pixel in W to replace the young features in the original image with young features from a new image where the weathered features are being introduced.","After the texture has been updated, the processes can now perform weathering on image W using the processes described above.","Although CNN-based image synthesis processes that transfer weathered patterns from external exemplars in accordance with various embodiments of the invention are described above, other processes that transfer weathered patterns in accordance with various other embodiments of the invention that add, combine and/or remove steps as necessitated by the requirements of particular systems and/or processes are possible.","Combining Optimization and Feedforward Parametric Texture Synthesis for Fast, High Resolution Syntheses Neural network-based texture synthesis processes can be grouped into two categories based on their underlying algorithmic strategy.","These include optimization-based and feedforward-based approaches.","Optimization-based approaches often produce superior quality but may be computationally expensive.","This often makes these processes impractical for real world applications.","Feedforward-based approaches were developed as a fast alternative to optimization.","This is achieved by moving the computational burden to the training phase rather than at run time.","While being fast, feedforward approaches are typically poor in quality and inflexible.","The first feedforward approach baked the transformation for a single texture into each network.","Later, several methods introduced the idea that multiple texture transformations could be baked into a single network.","One such method introduced the idea of interpolating between these styles by matching the statistics of deep neural activations from some content image to those of a style image.","In addition to baking style transformations into a network, another strategy has been to train an auto-encoder that uses the standard fixed pre-trained VGG network as an encoder with a decoder that is trained to invert VGG.","Style transfer can be achieved by directly modifying the activation values produced by the encoder so that they better match the style image.","One approach is to replace each feature vector from the content with its nearest neighbor in the style.","Impressive results can be achieved by transforming the content activations to better mimic the style activations through a whitening color transform (WCT), which is a linear transformation that is capable of matching covariance statistics.","While these methods have greatly improved the flexibility and quality of feedforward methods, they can still be inferior to optimization.","CNN-based image synthesis processes in accordance with some embodiments of the invention use a coarse-to-fine multiscale synthesis strategy for neural texture synthesis.","These processes can achieve significant speedup over previous optimization methods by performing a majority of iterations on small images early in the process and the further the processes move up the pyramid, the less iterations are used to maintain the already established structure.","The use of multiscale pyramid based synthesis is not only computationally cheaper as the processes move up the pyramid, but the problem formulation actually changes.","Rather than performing texture synthesis or style transfer, the problem changes to Single Image Super Resolution (SISR) that takes an additional parametric texture model to help guide the up-resolution process.","As such, CNN-based image synthesis processes in accordance with many embodiments of the invention may utilize the optimization-based approach described above up until an arbitrary threshold (for example, around the 512×512 pixel size image, varies depending upon the requirements of a given application) and then switch to an arbitrary feedforward approach utilizing VGG encoding/decoding with activation transforms along the way.","Switching synthesis algorithms as the processes move up the pyramid can have additional benefits beyond speed.","Some CNN-based texture synthesis processes are only capable of generating RGB color textures, a standard that has been obsolete in the video game and movie industries for nearly 20 years.","Color textures have been replaced by “Materials” which consist of several maps encoding the fine scale geometry of the surface as well as parameters that direct how light interacts with each pixel.","By utilizing a nearest neighbor search from the previous pyramid level to the most similar feature in the style exemplar, the encoder/decoder process in accordance with a number of embodiments can both up-resolution the previous synthesis level while also decoding the entire material.","While it may be possible to train a new auto-encoder to process color images along with normal maps, roughness maps, etc.","this process would have to be done for every possible combination of maps.","This may be costly and awkward.","This approach may provide a more flexible and elegant solution.","Extending this concept to the arbitrary case, a method in accordance with several embodiments of the invention generates arbitrary material formats applied to any synthesis operation including, but not limited to, texture synthesis, time-varying weathering, style transfer, hybridization and super resolution.","This synthesis strategy involves using some color texture generated using another process as input.","In addition, an exemplar material is given as input, where this material contains at least one map that is similar in appearance and purpose as the input color map.","The input color map is then used as a guide to direct the synthesis of the full material.","This is done through a nearest neighbor search where a pixel/patch is found in one of the maps in the material that is similar to a pixel/patch in the input color image.","The pointer map resulting from the nearest neighbor search directs how to re-arrange all maps within the material and then each can be synthesized using this same new guiding structure.","These processes may be additionally attractive for style transfer because they are fully feedforward and the full resolution image can easily be broken up into deterministic windows that can be synthesized separately and stitched back together.","This allows processes in accordance with particular embodiments to synthesize arbitrarily sized images with minimal engineering.","Although CNN-based image synthesis processes that combine optimization and feed forward processes in accordance with various embodiments of the invention are described above, other processes that combine optimization and feed forward processes in accordance with various other embodiments of the invention that add, combine and/or remove steps as necessitated by the requirements of particular systems and/or processes are possible.","SISR for Renderings In accordance with certain embodiments, a style transfer process used to perform SISR may have applications for rendering.","SISR is an ill-posed problem where many high-resolution images can be downsampled to the same low-resolution result.","This one-to-many inversion is especially bad at reproducing texture because it targets inverting to an average of all the possible higher resolution images.","The latest trend in SISR is to train very deep (i.e.","many layered) artificial neural networks on a large dataset using adversarial training.","The high capacity of the deep network in conjunction with the adversarial training is meant to help reduce the loss of texture features.","Recent advances in rendering algorithms as well as advances in high-resolution displays has resulted in an associated rise in rendering costs.","The problem is that that there are more pixels and each pixel is more expensive to render.","In particular, the recent jump from 1080p to 4 k rendering has left many animation houses incapable of meeting market needs.","For small studios, the costs may be restrictive.","For large and famous studios, rendering at 4 k may also be challenging.","However, when rendering a movie or other video content, frames typically do not change significantly from one frame to the next.","Therefore, it can be assumed that the parametric model or high-resolution texture statistics extracted from one frame are probably also appropriate for guiding similar but slightly different frames.","Processes in accordance with some embodiments perform a video up-resolution strategy where the video content is rendered at a low resolution (LR).","From the LR source, the processes cluster frames together based on their feature statistics.","The mean frame from each cluster is determined and rendered at high resolution (HR).","The processes then perform the same guided LR to HR synthesis as proposed for video streaming, with the one important difference that in video streaming the HR statistics for each frame are known whereas for rendering similar HR statistics are shared across multiple frames.","Although CNN-based image synthesis processes that perform SISR for rendering in accordance with various embodiments of the invention are described above, other processes that perform SISR for rendering in accordance with various other embodiments of the invention that add, combine and/or remove steps as necessitated by the requirements of particular systems and/or processes are possible.","Combining Parametric and Non-Parametric-Non-CNN Synthesis within Pyramid Frameworks Based on the processes described above, CNN-based image synthesis processes in accordance with many embodiments of the invention can use a nearest neighbor search between patches in the synthesized result to determine the most similar patches in the input exemplar in order to create a bridge between parametric CNN-based texture synthesis frameworks and many established non-parametric texture synthesis methods that do not require a neural network to operate.","The ability to tether a neural network approach on low-resolution images with non-neural network based methods higher in the synthesis pyramid can represent a “best of both worlds” solution between the two strategies.","CNN-based approaches, especially parametric methods may be better at producing creative new features at the cost of speed, memory and image quality (these methods may contain many noise artifacts).","Non-parametric models that do not rely on neural networks tend to shuffle around patches directly from the input exemplar.","As such, these approaches exhibit the inverse of these behaviors.","They are fast, low memory approaches that largely match the fine details of the input.","However, they are not as powerful at creating new shapes and features.","Although processes that combine parametric and non-parametric-non-CNN synthesis within a pyramid framework in accordance with various embodiments of the invention are described above, other processes that combine parametric and non-parametric-non-CNN synthesis within a pyramid framework in accordance with various other embodiments of the invention that add, combine and/or remove steps as necessitated by the requirements of particular systems and/or processes are possible.","Although the present invention has been described in certain specific aspects, many additional modifications and variations would be apparent to those skilled in the art.","It is, therefore, to be understood that the present invention may be practiced otherwise than specifically described, including various changes in the implementation without departing from the scope and spirit of the present invention.","Thus, embodiments of the present invention should be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive.","Dilated Network Architecture The examples disclosed above have largely been agnostic to network architecture and are transversal to many Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) architectures.","However, in addition to the examples above, the system in accordance with several embodiments of the invention implements a new network architecture for image synthesis that is particularly well suited to the problem.","In accordance with some embodiments of the invention, a combination of Pooling Layers, Strided Convolution Layers and Dilated Convolution Layers are used to arrange neurons into a hierarchical multiscale relationship.","Typically, image synthesis algorithms utilize pooling layers and sometimes strided convolution layers in order to form an image pyramid structure within the neural network architecture.","Typically, only one such strategy is used throughout the network architecture.","Recent work in image segmentation has achieved performance improvements utilizing a dilated convolutional network (https://arxiv.org/pdf/1511.07122.pdf—the disclosure of which related to dilated convolutional networks is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety), with a follow-up work showing that dilated convolution can also be used to learn image filters (http://vladlen.info/papers/fast-image-processing-with-supplement.pdf—the disclosure of which related to dilated convolutional networks is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety).","Dilated convolution is a similar concept to image stacks, first introduced for the purposes of image processing using signal and statistics based methods and later adapted for texture synthesis (Sylvain Lefebvre and Hugues Hoppe.","2005.Parallel controllable texture synthesis.","ACM Trans.","Graph.","24, 3 (July 2005), 777-786—the disclosure of which related to dilated convolutional networks is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety).","The image stack is a collection of image pyramids sampled from a single image at regular translation intervals.","Image stacks were developed to address the problem that the image pyramid data structure leads to discretization errors, e.g.","the same input image when translated could lead to very different downsampled results.","The image stack is effectively a translation invariant alternative to image pyramids.","It also follows that other types of symmetry transformations could also lead to similar discretization artifacts, e.g.","two otherwise identical images would produce very different averages at coarser levels of an image pyramid.","Other solutions to this problem include, but are not limited to, using a collection of image pyramids at different translations of an input image.","An image stack can extend this concept to the most extreme conclusion where every possible image pyramid configuration is extracted from the original image, and then packed together efficiently so that all redundant data is removed.","The efficient packing can be achieved using a “quadtree pyramid,” which was originally developed to accelerate an Approximate Nearest Neighbor (ANN) search utilizing KD-Trees.","However, an image stack re-orders the data into a tightly packed image where features remain coherent across scale levels.","The same data structure was actually first introduced a few years earlier by Masaki Kawase during a Game Developers Conference lecture for the purpose of blurring an image (slides published online by GDC, https://www.gamedev.net/forums/topic/615132-dof-basic-steps/Slides 15-18—the disclosure of which related to dilated convolutional networks is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety).","In an image pyramid structure, each level of the pyramid is typically half the resolution in each dimension as the previous level.","In an image stack structure, each level is the same resolution as the previous level.","In an image pyramid, samples are typically averaged together or combined in some way using a convolution kernel with a stride of 1, used uniformly at every pyramid level.","In an image stack, samples are typically averaged together or combined in some way using a convolution kernel with a stride of 2level where level is the number of scale factors relative to the original image.","This can be thought of as analogous to a downscaling transition in an image pyramid.","In summary, image pyramids both downsample and subsample an image.","While downsampling is a desirable operation, subsampling rarely is.","Image stacks get around this problem by downsampling without subsampling.","The same data structures and hierarchical relationships used for an image pyramid and an image stack can also be used for convolutional network architectures that utilize pooling layers or strided convolution as well as dilated convolution.","As such, the advantages/disadvantages of using a stack versus a pyramid in an image processing framework are transversal and carry over to a convolutional neural network architecture.","Replacing pooling or strided convolution with a dilated convolution will often yield superior image synthesis results.","Previous image synthesis methods using a Convolutional Neural Network have used some kind of pooling or dilated convolution strategy, thus they typically go through some form of subsampling operation followed by a supersampling operation.","In the optimization based framework, the feedforward pass is a subsampling pyramid operation as higher order features are extracted deeper in the network, then the generation of the new image is a supersampling process through backpropagation as gradients traverse upwards through the network to the higher resolution shallow layers.","In a feedforward architecture, many approaches are typically some form of auto-encoder or cascading image pyramid, both of which utilize some form of subsampled data and attempt to supersample it during the synthesis process.","In many embodiments of the invention, network architectures designed for image synthesis, which may rely on pooling or strided convolution to do downsampling, can be improved by using a dilated convolution architecture instead.","Therefore, the system in accordance with several embodiments of the invention makes use of dilated alternatives to such network architectures, as dilation is often a superior form of downsampling for image synthesis operations.","In addition, where a synthesis strategy also relies on the use of image pyramids (typically Gaussian pyramids) of the input data for additional multiscale synthesis, the system in accordance with some embodiments of the invention uses an image stack to replace the image pyramid (typically a Gaussian stack).","The dilated network strategy is particularly well suited for auto-encoders where the decoder network is a layer-wise inverter of the encoder network (i.e.","each layer in the encoder has a “mirror” layer in the decoder which inverts that layer as accurately as possible).","This particular network architecture is desirable for fast image synthesis because the encoder side of the network can distill an image into its most meaningful features, which can be modified in some way by another algorithm (e.g.","including, but not limited to, a whitening transform, histogram match, or nearest neighbor search).","The newly updated values can then be inverted by the decoder in order to produce a new image.","This synthesis strategy is attractive because it's much faster and more memory efficient than an optimization based approach.","It is however very difficult to implement because inverting a network that includes pooling is very difficult (historically literature has always used a pre-trained VGG network as the encoder).","Inverting pooling layers typically leads to blurring or other such supersampling artifacts.","Systems in accordance with many embodiments of the invention implement a dilated architecture as an alternative, which is easy and more accurate to invert on a layer-by-layer basis.","In many embodiments, a whitening transform, multiscale NNS search or histogram matching algorithm can continue to be applied to features at each network layer as they progress through the decoder.","Note that dilation shares the same drawback as the image stacks, it is a memory inefficient way to encode data, especially deeper in the network.","Previous texture synthesis approaches utilizing image stacks were generally limited to 256×256 pixels in resolution due to the high memory demands.","However, conventional images may have much higher pixel resolutions (e.g., up to or exceeding a 8192×8192 pixel resolution).","The size of these images can make the image stack representation too memory demanding.","Instead, processes in accordance with some embodiments of the invention combine pooling or strided convolution layers at the shallow end of a convolutional neural network architecture with dilated convolution layers deeper in the network.","This “hybrid” network architecture exhibits the properties of a pyramid network up to a specific depth in the network and then switches to the properties of a dilated stack.","From a memory viewpoint, this is attractive because large images quickly get condensed into much smaller images for the majority of the network.","This is also a good compromise from an image processing viewpoint because the deeper layers of the network encode the complex shapes and patterns and thus need the highest resolution.","Shallow layers of the network only encode simple shapes and textures and don't require the same degree of network capacity.","This new network architecture can be visualized as an image stack with a pyramid sitting on top of it.","Although a specific pyramid-stack hybrid convolutional neural network architecture based on some combination of pooling, strided convolution and dilated convolution is used for image synthesis in a number of examples discussed above, in several embodiments of the invention, the pyramid-stack hybrid may be modified in a variety of ways, including (but not limited to) adding, removing, and/or combining components of the stack.","Image Hybridization Starting from a set of several source images within the same category, systems and methods in accordance with many embodiments of the invention can hybridize, or mix them together in a way that produces a new member from that category.","This is a follow-up work to Risser, Eric, et al.","“Synthesizing structured image hybrids.” ACM Transactions on Graphics (TOG).","Vol.","29.No.","4.ACM, 2010.the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.","While this work is based on the same theories as the original approach, this version of image hybridization is re-designed from the ground up in order to utilize convolutional neural networks both for image description and as the machinery for performing synthesis.","The three key observations for image hybridization are: (1) instead of taking a small sample from an infinite plane of texture and synthesizing more of that infinite plane, grab a small sample across an infinite set within a “category” and synthesize more instances of that category, (2) structure exists across scales and should be observed across scales, and (3) manifesting structure from noise is difficult, so don't break structure in the first place.","CNN based image synthesis is an ideal approach for hybridizing images due to the CNN's ability to learn and identify complex shapes and structures across multiple scales.","Unlike other image synthesis methods which can be improved by dilated convolution, but do not require it, hybridization is likely to produce poor results and artifacts if deeper layers of the CNN are subsampled.","Therefore, the input images can be passed in a feedforward manner through a dilated convolutional neural network to produce deep neural activations that have a 1-to-1 mapping with input image pixels.","The logic behind using a stack as opposed to a pyramid is that when performing coarse to fine synthesis, the texture built at a coarse level largely influences whether a local or global minimum will be found.","When a sub-optimal choice is made at the coarse level of the synthesis pyramid, synthesis will get stuck in a local min, so it is important to be very careful when synthesizing at the coarse level, in order to achieve a good result.","When doing stochastic texture synthesis, there are many local mins that are all very similar to the global min, so this is less of a concern.","When doing image hybridization though, most local minima are significantly worse than the global minimum and a small set of local minima surrounding the global minimum.","This can be tied to breaking versus preserving the global structure of the image.","The reason why stacks typically preserve global structure as opposed to pyramids is very simple.","Imagine the same picture of a face in image A and image B.","The only difference is that image B is transposed along the x axis.","When turning A and B into pyramids, the right eye is subsampled into a single pixel at a coarse level.","The same eye in image B, however, is spread across two pixels which also have features surrounding the eye, thanks to the transposed position drastically changing the quantization in the pyramid.","When synthesizing the texture at a coarse level, there are no good nearest neighbor matches between image A and B, the center of the eye is represented by a pixel in image A but image B only has the right and left sides of the eye as candidates to be linked to.","While it's theoretically possible to recover the eye feature at finer levels, this is a much harder problem and in practice rarely happens.","By using a stack, the system in accordance with many embodiments of the invention avoids quantization and maintains the maximum number of features to compare, drastically increasing the chance of finding good matches.","To bootstrap the synthesis process, choose one of the input images at random and pass it feedforward through a network.","Unlike the first step that extracts feature vectors for each exemplar, synthesis itself does not strictly require a dilated architecture.","Dilated versus strided convolution have their own benefits and weaknesses and are compared below.","The important thing to note is that the same convolution kernels used for extracting exemplar features typically must also be used during synthesis.","Luckily, a dilated architecture can be thought of as a collection of pyramid architectures, so the same set of kernels can be used in either strategy.","Many of the examples described herein refer to VGG-19 feature kernels pre-trained on the ImageNet dataset, however one skilled in the art will recognize that convolutional kernels from any network architecture trained on any dataset may be applied in accordance with various embodiments of the invention.","Hybridization, unlike other image synthesis operations, is a non-parametric process that relies on finding similar matching features between input and output images and building new images by re-combining sets of exemplar features into new configurations while tracking the global feature error between these new features being mixed and the original input features that they were derived from.","Note that hybridization can be performed in either an optimization or feedforward based synthesis strategy.","In either case, the key aspect of image hybridization is to algorithmically generate new activations at different levels of the network which combine the activation features extracted from the input images into new hybrid configurations.","Before we describe how these new hybrid configurations are generated, we'll identify how they are used to synthesize new images.","When performing optimization based synthesis, an input image (typically noise, but it could be anything) is iteratively updated to minimize some loss function.","The “hybrid loss” function is the summed L2 distance between each pixel in the current image being synthesized and the hybrid activation maps at a given layer.","This is the same strategy as the “content loss” described above, however, whereas the content loss was taken directly from an input image, the “hybrid loss” is a new activation map that is generated by recombining activation features taken from different input images.","In the original image synthesis work, content loss is only used at RELU4_1, so that it does not overpower style loss at shallow layers of the network.","Hybridization in accordance with a number of embodiments of the invention incorporates a style loss in order to perform style transfer combined with hybridization all in one operation.","Alternatively, in several embodiments, the basic hybridization algorithm assumes that there is no style loss.","Therefore, hybrid loss can be used at multiple layers in the network.","Feedforward networks on the other hand do not perform an optimization process turning one image into another, instead they transform an image into a new image.","Therefore, using the dilated auto-encoder network described above, the encoder portion is run on all input images, their features are hybridized in the middle of the network using another process, and then this hybridized set of activation values are inverted by the decoder.","Note that in both optimization and feedforward synthesis, the results of hybridizing deep features in the network can be passed up to shallow layers and then become further hybridized through another hybridization step.","In order to describe the process in which activation maps are reconfigured to produce hybrid activation maps, it is helpful to first introduce the concept of feature space.","The idea behind feature space is that similar visual features in the image will map to points in feature space that are close to each other in terms of Euclidean distance, while very different looking features will be very far away from each other.","The neural network in accordance with some embodiments of the invention is a feature descriptor and converts a neighborhood of raw pixel values into a single point in a high dimensional feature space.","Given this background, the creation of hybrid activations for a layer can be explained.","Given the layer activations for one of the random input images, the goal is to traverse every pixel location in the layer and replace the current feature vector at that location with a new feature vector taken from some other pixel location in that layer or from some pixel location taken from another input image's neural activations at that layer.","This can be done through a two-step process where the process introduces randomness or “jitter” and then “corrects” any artifacts or broken structures caused by the jitter.","In certain embodiments, the process optionally pre-computes k-nearest neighbors between each input image and every other input image as a part of an acceleration strategy.","In the next phase, for each pixel in the image being synthesized, the process in accordance with many embodiments of the invention gathers k nearest neighbors from the input exemplars.","In certain embodiments, the process divides up the k samples equally across all the exemplars.","In a number of embodiments, the distance metric used for these KNNs is the L2 distance between feature vectors at the neural network layer of interest.","This is equivalent to transforming all of the image data into points in high dimensional feature space.","Around each synthesis feature point, the process in accordance with some embodiments of the invention gathers the cluster of exemplar feature points surrounding it, such that the process samples the same number of points from each exemplar.","The next step is to sort these K nearest neighbors from smallest to largest distance.","In certain embodiments, the one parameter exposed to the user is a “jitter slider” that goes from 0-1 (or an equivalent linear or non-linear range), where 0 should produce one of the original inputs and 1 should be the maximum hybridization and mutation.","Therefore, the 0-1 range is mapped to the min distance and max distance of the closest to farthest neighbors.","Depending on the jitter setting, the process in accordance with many embodiments of the invention gathers the K nearest neighbors with distances less than the jitter value and randomly selects one of them to update the synthesis patch with.","This is akin to constraining noise.","Instead of starting from noise and trying to recover structure from it (which is very difficult), instead the process in accordance with a number of embodiments starts from pure structure (i.e.","the input) and adds noise strategically and intelligently in order to not break the structure to a degree from which it cannot be recovered.","To this end, the process in accordance with several embodiments of the invention adds noise or randomness in “feature space” rather than color space or image space as is typical for these types of algorithms.","This strategy adds noise in feature space, which essentially allows the process to randomize the image in a way that preserves the important structures of the image.","This operation can be performed at one or more convolution layers within the CNN.","After jitter is used to modify the details of the new image being synthesized, the second step “correction” then “fixes” the image so that it maintains statistical similarity to the exemplar input.","For each n×n neighborhood of synthesized neural activation vectors (where n×n could be any size, including 1×1 e.g.","a single element vector), correction seeks out the neighborhood of neural activation vectors in any exemplar that has the lowest L2 distance.","The current synthesis neural activation vector is then replaced with that closest exemplar neural activation vector.","The correction scheme is based on coherence (Ashikhmin, Michael.","“Synthesizing natural textures.” Proceedings of the 2001 symposium on Interactive 3D graphics.","ACM, 2001—the relevant disclosure from which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety), which states that nearest neighbor selection is not always the best method for finding perceptual similarity.","Rather coherence, or the relationship between neighboring pixels, plays a large role in structure and perceptual similarity.","Therefore, the process in accordance with many embodiments of the invention introduces a bias so that exemplar activation vectors that form a coherent patch with the surrounding synthesis activation vectors are given a reduction in L2 distance.","This incentivizes the formation of coherent patches from the exemplar.","For both jitter and correction, the process in accordance with various embodiments of the invention can either perform a nearest neighbor search from the synthesis layer to the exemplar layers during runtime of the algorithm, or could pre-compute a candidate list of k-nearest neighbors from every exemplar feature to every other k exemplar feature.","Then, during synthesis, each activation vector also maintains a pointer to the exemplar activation vector that it is mimicking.","Whether pre-computing nearest neighbors, or finding them at runtime, a nearest neighbor searching algorithm that is designed with neural networks in mind is needed.","To this end, several embodiments in accordance with the invention use a nearest neighbor algorithm as described in U.S.","Provisional Application 62/528,372, entitled “Systems and Methods for Providing convolutional Neural Network Based Non-Parametric Texture Synthesis in Graphic Objects, filed on Jul.","3, 2017, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein in its entirety.","The synthesis process for an optimization based algorithm in accordance with some embodiments of the invention runs E input images through a dilated version of a CNN, resulting in a set of activation vectors for specific layers of interest (for the sake of VGG-19, these are RELU1_1, RELU2_1, RELU3_1 AND RELU4_1).","The synthesis process runs a randomly selected input image through either a dilated or un-dilated version of the CNN to produce the starting point for the hybrid activations.","The process runs a jitter pass and runs the standard neural optimization based synthesis method starting from some prior (typically noise) for several iterations of backpropagation until the prior has turned into a manifestation of the jittered activations at the deep layer.","The process then runs a correction pass on the activations at the coarsest layer in the network (for VGG-19, this is RELU4_1), thus producing the hybrid activations for that layer.","The process runs the standard neural optimization based synthesis method again for several iterations of backpropagation until the prior has turned into a manifestation of the hybrid activations at the deep layer.","Once the current level has converged, the process moves to the next most shallow layer of interest in the network (e.g.","RELU3_1 for VGG-19) and repeats the process, jitter and correct in order to find new hybrid activations for that layer to use as the target for hybrid loss and reruns the optimization process now only going to that layer and no farther down the network.","Repeat this process until the shallowest layer of interest is optimized.","The synthesis process for feedforward networks in accordance with a number of embodiments of the invention runs all inputs through the encoder, producing the deep neural activations.","Before running the decoder, the process runs the jitter pass on one of the exemplars in order to randomize the features.","In order to correct, the process samples a neighborhood of activation vectors (at least 3×3) around each activation vector and performs the correction phase of the algorithm.","The jitter and correction phase can either use pre-computed nearest neighbor sets or run a full nearest neighbor search during the algorithm.","Once correction is finished, the process continues through the decoder, inverting the new hybrid layer.","This process can be repeated for each layer moving through the decoder or only run at target layers.","This is a tradeoff between algorithm speed and the scale at which features are hybridized.","Optimization based synthesis is slower than feedforward, however it achieves superior quality.","On Model Image Synthesis Using Convolutional Neural Networks In computer graphics, a 3D model is typically “texture mapped”.","For purposes of this discussion, “texture mapped,” means an image is wrapped over the surface of the 3D shape as shown in FIG.","24.3D models typically contain UV coordinates at each vertex which define the 2D parameterization of the 3D surface.","In FIG.","24, the left image displays the underlying geometry of the mesh 2401, the middle image shows the geometry with a texture mapped over the mesh 2402 and the image on the right shows what that texture 2403 looks like as a 2D mapping of a 3D surface.","We refer to synthesizing texture maps as “on-model synthesis.” Processes in accordance with many embodiments of the invention integrate an on-model synthesis approach into the CNN approach.","To do so, these processes have to spread out atlas maps and build a gutter space of pointers re-directing to neighboring charts.","The CNN based synthesis approach in accordance with many embodiments of the invention relies on the process of convolution in which each pixel of the synthesis kernel is filtered based on a neighborhood of its surrounding pixels.","On-model synthesis introduces two complications on top of the standard synthesis approach in image space: (1) Flow field over a 3D model is generated using its curvature properties along with user guidance.","That flow field can then be projected as a 2D vector field in the parameterized texture space.","This flow field typically contains both directional components as well as scale components along each axis.","Rather than convolving the neural network along the image x and y axis unit vectors globally, each pixel now has its own local coordinate frame and scale.","(2) Because an arbitrary 3D surface cannot be mapped to a single plane, UV texture space is typically broken up into a set of “charts” where each chart covers a relatively flat portion of the model.","This adds another level of complication because texture colors that are coherent along the surface of the model are not coherent in texture space where we perform our convolutions.","To accommodate this, the process in accordance with many embodiments of the invention adds a gutter space of a few pixels in radius around each chart.","These gutter pixels store pointers to other charts in texture space that encode coherent pixels along the model's surface.","This additional pointer buffer is referred to as a “jump map”.","When performing convolution, rather than sampling directly from the image, the process in accordance with a number of embodiments first samples from the jump map which points to the image pixel that should be sampled.","Because texture space might have tightly packed charts, as a pre-process, the process in accordance with some embodiments spreads out the charts so that there is a gutter space of at least two pixels around each chart at the coarsest synthesis pyramid level plus however many pooling layers are passed through in the CNN.","Note that when using dilated convolution, the gutter space typically must be two to the power of the number of dilated convolutions.","Processes in accordance with some of these embodiments introduce an underlying vector field that frames the local orientation around each pixel.","As CNNs work by performing convolution across an image, the vector field directs the local orientation of the convolution.","Thus, these processes can bi-linearly interpolate sampling of neural activations from the previous layer.","Where the convolution kernel extends beyond the scope of an atlas chart, the gutter space of pointers redirects to another atlas chart.","During the back-propagation phase of the process, inverse mapping can be used in a manner similar to what is described above with respect to convolution.","This allows these processes to perform CNN image synthesis directly in UV space for on-model synthesis.","Thus far the algorithm described is designed to use a rectangular texture and a single model (with no relationship between the two) as input and synthesize a new image which maps into the model's unwrapped texture space, as shown in the FIG.","25, where texture 2501 is wrapped around mesh 2502.In this regard the input is still a rectangular image and the output uses the mesh as a canvas on which to paint over.","In many instances, a pre-textured mesh is given as input and the textures already parameterized into some UV space are used as the source data to feed an image synthesis process.","Processes in accordance with some embodiments of the invention follow a similar approach.","These processes take this concept a step further and produce textures that conform to geometric shapes and the feature contents of that texture are guided by the underlying shape itself.","This results in image synthesis that can be applied on top of already textured meshes, and can also produce appearance transfer from one textured mesh onto another.","The goal of processes in accordance with some embodiments of the invention is to go one step further and provide an on-model texture synthesis scheme that allows the user to supply a fully textured model as the input exemplar (for example texture mapped mesh (2402)) instead of just a texture (2403), and apply that texture from the model onto a different untextured model.","The advantage to this approach is that a lot of useful information is represented by a textured mesh, including (but not limited to) the relationship between varying texture features and the underlying geometric shape on which they would typically exist.","Texture and shape are often not independent.","Instead, texture and shape are related.","Thus, by learning or associating the relationships between a texture and a shape to which the texture is applied, processes in accordance with some embodiments of the invention can provide artists with more powerful and convenient tools.","There are two key ideas behind this approach in accordance with some embodiments of the invention.","The first is that deep neural activation features and their resulting parametric models for UV mapped textures should be calculated using the same vector field and jump map approach proposed above for the purposes of synthesis.","The second is to find a shape descriptor that is both effective as well as compatible with an image descriptor maintained by the system and the image based GPU accelerated framework upon which the system is built.","A key insight is that geometric shape information can be projected onto an image (i.e.","a regular grid) and the shape descriptor is able to work by sampling patches from this grid in order to maintain compatibility with the GPU framework.","Because it is desirable that geometric neighborhoods correspond to texture neighborhoods, it makes sense that the geometric projection into image space should match the texture unwrapping.","The only issue is that texture information can map to multiple portions of a single mesh.","As such, processes in accordance with some embodiments of the invention utilize a texture parameterization that provides a 1-to-1 mapping between points on a model and pixels in a texture image.","This amounts to simply making copies of charts or chart regions that are pointed to from multiple polygons so that each polygon maps to its own region in texture space.","Once each point on the 3D surface of a mesh points to a unique pixel in image space, any arbitrary shape description, ranging from point location in 3D space to more sophisticated descriptors, can be fed into a CNN framework in order to learn local shape features using a CNN training process.","One such training approach could be mesh categorization, however, other training approaches such as mesh compression, feature clustering or upres could also be viable training strategies for learning meaningful shape features.","Condensed Feature Extraction Networks In several embodiments, a learning strategy for condensing networks that have been trained for purposes other than image synthesis allows for the production of new networks that are more efficient at extracting image features used for image synthesis.","Typically, VGG-19 pre-trained for image classification is used as a high quality, learned image descriptor for extracting out meaningful image features for the purposes of image synthesis.","Many networks designed for classification have been designed for a different and more difficult problem than texture feature extraction and often require more capacity than is needed for feature extraction.","VGG, for example, is computationally expensive to run, which can result in small images, long wait times and a reliance on expensive hardware.","One of the benefits of systems in accordance with various embodiments of the invention is to improve memory/speed performance, without sacrificing synthesis quality.","Again, for the purposes of image synthesis, VGG or some other network architecture trained on classification can be of interest on the basis that the kernels that were produced as a byproduct of the learning process for image classification can be useful in image synthesis.","For image synthesis, not all activation maps produced by a network are needed, only a small subset of those feature maps.","As such, there are layers in the network that are not used directly for image synthesis, rather blocks of layers are run between layers of interest.","In many embodiments, the number of hidden layers in a previously trained CNN can be reduced and/or the capacity of those hidden layers can be reduced.","The simplest strategy is to train a new network on image classification.","Unfortunately, if a new set of kernels for classification on a lower capacity network is learned, there's a good chance that there won't be enough capacity to perform classification as well as VGG and if the classification isn't as good then the resulting kernels might not do as good a job at feature extraction.","Rather than learning a leaner feature extraction network by reproducing the classification learning process, the learning strategy in accordance with many embodiments of the invention uses the activation maps produced by VGG (or some other artificial neural network) as the ground truth (since they will produce good synthesis results) and a network is trained to try and reproduce the input/output pairings using fewer neurons then VGG.","The assumption behind this condensed network learning strategy is that a reduction in network capacity has a larger effect on the quality of classification performance than it does on feature extraction for the purposes of image synthesis.","For example, if a small network approximates a VGG convolutional block at 95% accuracy at 25% VGG's neurons, that would introduce so much error that the classification results would be dramatically affected.","However, for the purposes of image synthesis, 95% accuracy would still find very good image features and synthesis quality would not be noticeably effected.","Stated another way, systems and methods in accordance with many embodiments of the invention utilize an artificial neural network with a specific number of neurons to learn a network that approximates the intermediate neural activations of a different network with a larger number (or the same number) of artificial neurons for the purposes of efficient image synthesis.","Although various processes for generating a geometric description map for convolutional neural network based texture synthesis are discussed above, many different systems and methods can be implemented in accordance with various embodiments of the invention.","It is therefore to be understood that the present invention may be practiced in ways other than specifically described, without departing from the scope and spirit of the present invention.","Thus, embodiments of the present invention should be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive.","Accordingly, the scope of the invention should be determined not by the embodiments illustrated, but by the appended claims and their equivalents."]],"string":"[\n [\n \"Systems and Methods for Providing Convolutional Neural Network Based Image Synthesis Using Stable and Controllable Parametric Models, a Multiscale Synthesis Framework and Novel Network Architectures\",\n \"Systems and methods for providing convolutional neural network based image synthesis using localized loss functions is disclosed.\",\n \"A first image including desired content and a second image including a desired style are received.\",\n \"The images are analyzed to determine a local loss function.\",\n \"The first and second images are merged using the local loss function to generate an image that includes the desired content presented in the desired style.\",\n \"Similar processes can also be utilized to generate image hybrids and to perform on-model texture synthesis.\",\n \"In a number of embodiments, Condensed Feature Extraction Networks are also generated using a convolutional neural network previously trained to perform image classification, where the Condensed Feature Extraction Networks approximates intermediate neural activations of the convolutional neural network utilized during training.\"\n ],\n [\n \"1.A system for generating a synthesized image including desired content presented in a desired style comprising: one or more processors; memory readable by the one or more processors; and instructions stored in the memory that when read by the one or more processors direct the one or more processors to: receive a source content image that includes desired content for a synthesized image, receive a source style image that includes a desired texture for the synthesized image, determine a localized loss function for a pixel in at least one of the source content image and the source style image, and generate the synthesized image by: optimizing a value of a pixel in the synthesized image to a content loss function of a corresponding pixel in the content source image and a style loss function of a corresponding pixel in the source style image wherein at least one of the corresponding pixels is the pixel that has a determined localized loss function and one of the content loss function and the source loss function is the determined localized loss function.\"\n ],\n [\n \" BACKGROUND With the growth and development of creative projects in a variety of digital spaces (including, but not limited to, virtual reality, digital art, as well as various industrial applications), the ability to create and design new works based on the combination of various existing sources has become an area of interest.\",\n \"However, the actual synthesis of such sources is a hard problem that raises a variety of difficulties.\"\n ],\n [\n \" SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Systems and methods for providing convolutional neural network based image synthesis are disclosed.\",\n \"In many embodiments, processes for providing CNN-based image synthesis may be performed by a server system.\",\n \"In accordance with several embodiments, the processes may be performed by a “cloud” server system.\",\n \"In still further embodiments, the processes may be performed on a user device.\",\n \"One embodiment is a system for generating a synthesized image including desired content presented in a desired style includes one or more processors, memory readable by the one or more processors.\",\n \"The system in accordance with some embodiments of the invention includes instructions stored in the memory that when read by the one or more processors direct the one or more processors to receive a source content image that includes desired content for a synthesized image, receive a source style image that includes a desired texture for the synthesized image, determine a localized loss function for a pixel in at least one of the source content image and the source style image, and generate the synthesized image by optimizing a value of a pixel in the synthesized image to a content loss function of a corresponding pixel in the content source image and a style loss function of a corresponding pixel in the source style image wherein at least one of the corresponding pixels is the pixel that has a determined localized loss function and one of the content loss function and the source loss function is the determined localized loss function.\",\n \"In another embodiment, the localized loss function is represented by a Gram matrix.\",\n \"In a further embodiment, the localized loss function is represented by a covariance matrix.\",\n \"In still another embodiment, the localized loss function is determined using a Convolutional Neural Network (CNN).\",\n \"In a still further embodiment, the optimizing is performed by back propagation through the CNN.\",\n \"In yet another embodiment, the localized loss function is determined for a pixel in the source style image.\",\n \"In a yet further embodiment, the instructions to determine a localized loss function for a pixel in the source style image direct the one or more processors to receive a mask that identifies regions of the style source image, determine a group of pixels including the pixel that are included in one of the plurality of regions identified by the mask, determine a localized loss function for the one of the plurality of regions from the groups of pixels included in the one of the plurality of regions, and associate the localized loss function with the pixel.\",\n \"In another additional embodiment, the instructions to determine a localized loss function for a pixel in the source style image direct the one or more processors to group the pixels of the source style image into a plurality of cells determined by a grid applied to the source style image, determine a localized loss function for the one of the plurality of cells that has a group of pixels that include the pixel, and associate the determined localized loss function of the one of the plurality of cells with the pixel.\",\n \"In a further additional embodiment, the instructions to determine a localized loss function for a pixel in the source style image direct the one or more processors to determine a group of neighbor pixels for a pixel in the source content image, determine a group of corresponding pixels in the source style image associated with the group of neighbor pixels in the source content image wherein each of the group of corresponding pixels corresponds to one of the group of neighbor pixels and includes the pixel, and determine a local loss function for the group of corresponding pixels.\",\n \"In another embodiment again, the localized loss function is determined for a pixel in the source content image.\",\n \"In a further embodiment again, the instructions to determine a localized loss function for a pixel in the source content image direct the one or more processors to receive a mask that identifies regions of the source content image, determine a group of pixels including the pixel that are included in one of the plurality of regions identified by the mask, determine a localized loss function for the one of the plurality of regions from the groups of pixels included in the one of the plurality of regions, and associate the localized loss function with the pixel.\",\n \"In still yet another embodiment, the instructions to determine a localized loss function for a pixel in the source style image direct the one or more processors to group the pixels of the source content image into a plurality of cells determined by a grid applied to the source style image, determine a localized loss function for the one of the plurality of cells that has a group of pixels that include the pixel, and associate the determined localized loss function of the one of the plurality of cells with the pixel.\",\n \"In a still yet further embodiment, the instructions to determine a localized loss function for a pixel in the source style image direct the one or more processors to determine a global content loss function for the source content image from the pixels of the source content image, determine a weight for the pixel indicating a contribution to a structure in the source content image, and apply the weight to the global content loss function to determine the localized loss function for the pixel.\",\n \"In still another additional embodiment, the weight is determined based upon a Laplacian pyramid of black and white versions of the source content image.\",\n \"In a still further additional embodiment, a localized loss function is determined for a pixel in the source content image and a corresponding pixel in the source style image.\",\n \"In still another embodiment again, the optimization uses the localized loss function for the pixel in the source content image as the content loss function and the localized loss function of the pixel in the source style image as the style loss function.\",\n \"In a still further embodiment again, pixels in the synthesized image begin as white noise.\",\n \"In yet another additional embodiment, each pixel in the synthesized image begins with a value equal to a pixel value of a corresponding pixel in the source content image.\",\n \"In a yet further additional embodiment, the optimizing is performed to minimize to a loss function that includes the content loss function, a style loss function, and a histogram loss function.\",\n \"In yet another embodiment again, a method for performing style transfer in an image synthesis system where a synthesized image is generated with content from a source content image and texture from a source style image includes receiving a source content image that includes desired content for a synthesized image in the image synthesis system, receiving a source style image that includes a desired texture for the synthesized image in the image synthesis system, determining a localized loss function a pixel in at least one of the source content image and the source style image using the image synthesis system, and generating the synthesized image using the image synthesis system by optimizing a value of a pixel in the synthesized image to a content loss function of a corresponding pixel in the content source image and a style loss function of a corresponding pixel in the source style image wherein at least one of the corresponding pixels is the pixel that has a determined localized loss function and one of the content loss function and the source loss function is the determined localized loss function.\",\n \"In a yet further embodiment again, the localized loss function is represented by a Gram matrix.\",\n \"In another additional embodiment again, the determining of a localized loss function for a pixel in the source style image includes receiving a mask that identifies regions of the style source image in the image synthesis system, determining a group of pixels including the pixel that are included in one of the plurality of regions identified by the mask using the image synthesis system, determining a localized loss function for the one of the plurality of regions from the groups of pixels included in the one of the plurality of regions using the image synthesis system, and associating the localized loss function with the pixel using the image synthesis system.\",\n \"In a further additional embodiment again, the determining a localized loss function for a pixel in the source style image comprises grouping the pixels of the source style image into a plurality of cells determined by a grid applied to the source style image using the image synthesis system, determining a localized loss function for the one of the plurality of cells that has a group of pixels that include the pixel using the image synthesis system, and associating the determined localized loss function of the one of the plurality of cells with the pixel using the image synthesis system.\",\n \"In still yet another additional embodiment, determining of a localized loss function for a pixel in the source style image includes determining a group of neighbor pixels for a pixel in the source content image using the image synthesis system, determining a group of corresponding pixels in the source style image associated with the group of neighbor pixels in the source content image wherein each of the group of corresponding pixels corresponds to one of the group of neighbor pixels and includes the pixel using the image synthesis system, and determining a local loss function for the group of corresponding pixels using the image synthesis system.\",\n \"Additional embodiments and features are set forth in part in the description that follows, and in part will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon examination of the specification or may be learned by the practice of the invention.\",\n \"A further understanding of the nature and advantages of the present invention may be realized by reference to the remaining portions of the specification and the drawings, which forms a part of this disclosure.\"\n ],\n [\n \"CROSS REFERENCED APPLICATION This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"15/694,677, filed Sep. 1, 2017 and claims priority to U.S.\",\n \"Provisional Application Ser.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"62/383,283, filed Sep. 2, 2016, U.S.\",\n \"Provisional Application Ser.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"62/451,580, filed Jan. 27, 2017, and U.S.\",\n \"Provisional Application Ser.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"62/531,778, filed Jul.\",\n \"12, 2017.The contents of each of these applications are hereby incorporated by reference as if set forth herewith.\",\n \"FIELD OF THE INVENTION This invention generally relates to image synthesis and more specifically relates to image synthesis using convolutional neural networks based upon exemplar images.\",\n \"BACKGROUND With the growth and development of creative projects in a variety of digital spaces (including, but not limited to, virtual reality, digital art, as well as various industrial applications), the ability to create and design new works based on the combination of various existing sources has become an area of interest.\",\n \"However, the actual synthesis of such sources is a hard problem that raises a variety of difficulties.\",\n \"SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Systems and methods for providing convolutional neural network based image synthesis are disclosed.\",\n \"In many embodiments, processes for providing CNN-based image synthesis may be performed by a server system.\",\n \"In accordance with several embodiments, the processes may be performed by a “cloud” server system.\",\n \"In still further embodiments, the processes may be performed on a user device.\",\n \"One embodiment is a system for generating a synthesized image including desired content presented in a desired style includes one or more processors, memory readable by the one or more processors.\",\n \"The system in accordance with some embodiments of the invention includes instructions stored in the memory that when read by the one or more processors direct the one or more processors to receive a source content image that includes desired content for a synthesized image, receive a source style image that includes a desired texture for the synthesized image, determine a localized loss function for a pixel in at least one of the source content image and the source style image, and generate the synthesized image by optimizing a value of a pixel in the synthesized image to a content loss function of a corresponding pixel in the content source image and a style loss function of a corresponding pixel in the source style image wherein at least one of the corresponding pixels is the pixel that has a determined localized loss function and one of the content loss function and the source loss function is the determined localized loss function.\",\n \"In another embodiment, the localized loss function is represented by a Gram matrix.\",\n \"In a further embodiment, the localized loss function is represented by a covariance matrix.\",\n \"In still another embodiment, the localized loss function is determined using a Convolutional Neural Network (CNN).\",\n \"In a still further embodiment, the optimizing is performed by back propagation through the CNN.\",\n \"In yet another embodiment, the localized loss function is determined for a pixel in the source style image.\",\n \"In a yet further embodiment, the instructions to determine a localized loss function for a pixel in the source style image direct the one or more processors to receive a mask that identifies regions of the style source image, determine a group of pixels including the pixel that are included in one of the plurality of regions identified by the mask, determine a localized loss function for the one of the plurality of regions from the groups of pixels included in the one of the plurality of regions, and associate the localized loss function with the pixel.\",\n \"In another additional embodiment, the instructions to determine a localized loss function for a pixel in the source style image direct the one or more processors to group the pixels of the source style image into a plurality of cells determined by a grid applied to the source style image, determine a localized loss function for the one of the plurality of cells that has a group of pixels that include the pixel, and associate the determined localized loss function of the one of the plurality of cells with the pixel.\",\n \"In a further additional embodiment, the instructions to determine a localized loss function for a pixel in the source style image direct the one or more processors to determine a group of neighbor pixels for a pixel in the source content image, determine a group of corresponding pixels in the source style image associated with the group of neighbor pixels in the source content image wherein each of the group of corresponding pixels corresponds to one of the group of neighbor pixels and includes the pixel, and determine a local loss function for the group of corresponding pixels.\",\n \"In another embodiment again, the localized loss function is determined for a pixel in the source content image.\",\n \"In a further embodiment again, the instructions to determine a localized loss function for a pixel in the source content image direct the one or more processors to receive a mask that identifies regions of the source content image, determine a group of pixels including the pixel that are included in one of the plurality of regions identified by the mask, determine a localized loss function for the one of the plurality of regions from the groups of pixels included in the one of the plurality of regions, and associate the localized loss function with the pixel.\",\n \"In still yet another embodiment, the instructions to determine a localized loss function for a pixel in the source style image direct the one or more processors to group the pixels of the source content image into a plurality of cells determined by a grid applied to the source style image, determine a localized loss function for the one of the plurality of cells that has a group of pixels that include the pixel, and associate the determined localized loss function of the one of the plurality of cells with the pixel.\",\n \"In a still yet further embodiment, the instructions to determine a localized loss function for a pixel in the source style image direct the one or more processors to determine a global content loss function for the source content image from the pixels of the source content image, determine a weight for the pixel indicating a contribution to a structure in the source content image, and apply the weight to the global content loss function to determine the localized loss function for the pixel.\",\n \"In still another additional embodiment, the weight is determined based upon a Laplacian pyramid of black and white versions of the source content image.\",\n \"In a still further additional embodiment, a localized loss function is determined for a pixel in the source content image and a corresponding pixel in the source style image.\",\n \"In still another embodiment again, the optimization uses the localized loss function for the pixel in the source content image as the content loss function and the localized loss function of the pixel in the source style image as the style loss function.\",\n \"In a still further embodiment again, pixels in the synthesized image begin as white noise.\",\n \"In yet another additional embodiment, each pixel in the synthesized image begins with a value equal to a pixel value of a corresponding pixel in the source content image.\",\n \"In a yet further additional embodiment, the optimizing is performed to minimize to a loss function that includes the content loss function, a style loss function, and a histogram loss function.\",\n \"In yet another embodiment again, a method for performing style transfer in an image synthesis system where a synthesized image is generated with content from a source content image and texture from a source style image includes receiving a source content image that includes desired content for a synthesized image in the image synthesis system, receiving a source style image that includes a desired texture for the synthesized image in the image synthesis system, determining a localized loss function a pixel in at least one of the source content image and the source style image using the image synthesis system, and generating the synthesized image using the image synthesis system by optimizing a value of a pixel in the synthesized image to a content loss function of a corresponding pixel in the content source image and a style loss function of a corresponding pixel in the source style image wherein at least one of the corresponding pixels is the pixel that has a determined localized loss function and one of the content loss function and the source loss function is the determined localized loss function.\",\n \"In a yet further embodiment again, the localized loss function is represented by a Gram matrix.\",\n \"In another additional embodiment again, the determining of a localized loss function for a pixel in the source style image includes receiving a mask that identifies regions of the style source image in the image synthesis system, determining a group of pixels including the pixel that are included in one of the plurality of regions identified by the mask using the image synthesis system, determining a localized loss function for the one of the plurality of regions from the groups of pixels included in the one of the plurality of regions using the image synthesis system, and associating the localized loss function with the pixel using the image synthesis system.\",\n \"In a further additional embodiment again, the determining a localized loss function for a pixel in the source style image comprises grouping the pixels of the source style image into a plurality of cells determined by a grid applied to the source style image using the image synthesis system, determining a localized loss function for the one of the plurality of cells that has a group of pixels that include the pixel using the image synthesis system, and associating the determined localized loss function of the one of the plurality of cells with the pixel using the image synthesis system.\",\n \"In still yet another additional embodiment, determining of a localized loss function for a pixel in the source style image includes determining a group of neighbor pixels for a pixel in the source content image using the image synthesis system, determining a group of corresponding pixels in the source style image associated with the group of neighbor pixels in the source content image wherein each of the group of corresponding pixels corresponds to one of the group of neighbor pixels and includes the pixel using the image synthesis system, and determining a local loss function for the group of corresponding pixels using the image synthesis system.\",\n \"Additional embodiments and features are set forth in part in the description that follows, and in part will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon examination of the specification or may be learned by the practice of the invention.\",\n \"A further understanding of the nature and advantages of the present invention may be realized by reference to the remaining portions of the specification and the drawings, which forms a part of this disclosure.\",\n \"BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The patent or application file contains at least one drawing executed in color.\",\n \"Copies of this patent or patent application publication with color drawing(s) will be provided by the Office upon request and payment of the necessary fee.\",\n \"The description and claims will be more fully understood with reference to the following figures and data graphs, which are presented as exemplary embodiments of the invention and should not be construed as a complete recitation of the scope of the invention.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"1 is an illustration of various devices that may perform one or more processes to provide Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) based image synthesis in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"2 is an illustration of components of a processing system in a device that executes one or more processes to provide CNN-based image synthesis using localized loss functions in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"3 is an illustration of images showing the instability in a Gram matrix.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"4 is an illustration of images showing a comparison of results of texture synthesis performed in accordance with various embodiments of the invention with and without the use of pyramids.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"5 is an illustration of a flow diagram of a process for providing CNN-based image synthesis that performs style transfer using localized loss functions in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"6 is an illustration of two input images and a resulting image from a style transfer process of the two input images using localized style loss functions in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"7 is an illustration of a flow diagram of a process for generating region-based loss functions in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"8 is an illustration of conceptual images showing masks of regions for two input images used in a style transfer process using region-based loss functions in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"9 is an illustration of conceptual images of cells in two input images in a style transfer process using uniform regions in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"10 is an illustration of a flow diagram of a process for generating localized loss functions in a style transfer process using uniform regions in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"11 is an illustration of a comparison of similar cells in two input images in a style transfer process using uniform regions in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"12 is an illustration of a comparison of similar pixels in two input images in a style transfer process using a per pixel loss transfer in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"13 is an illustration of a process for generating localized style loss functions for a style transfer process using per pixel loss transfer in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"14 is an illustration of two input images that provide an example of the operation of a style transfer process using a global content loss function in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"15 is an illustration of a resulting image from the style transfer from the two input images of FIG.\",\n \"14 performed by a style transfer process using global content loss in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"16 is an illustration of a Laplacian Pyramid of images derived from a content source image from FIG.\",\n \"14 used in a style transfer process using local content loss in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.\",\n \"FIGS.\",\n \"17 and 18 are illustrations of images produced by style transfer processes using global loss functions in accordance with certain embodiments of this invention.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"19 is an illustration of images generated by a style transfer process using localized content loss functions in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"20 is an illustration of a flow diagram of a process for determining localized loss using masks in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"21 is an illustration of images synthesized in accordance with some embodiments of the invention and images generated using other processes.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"22 is an illustration of images of masks used in an aging process in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"23 is an illustration of a synthesis order in a multiscale pyramid framework in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"24 is an illustration of a textured mapped model and components used to form the textured mapped model using a filter process in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"25 is an illustration of a texture and the texture applied to a surface of a mesh by a filter process in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.\",\n \"DETAILED DISCUSSION Turning now to the drawings, systems and methods for providing Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) based image synthesis in accordance with some embodiments of the invention are described.\",\n \"In many embodiments, processes for providing CNN-based image synthesis may be performed by a server system.\",\n \"In accordance with several embodiments, the processes may be performed by a “cloud” server system.\",\n \"In still further embodiments, the processes may be performed on a user device.\",\n \"In accordance with many embodiments, the loss functions may be modeled using Gram matrices.\",\n \"In a number of embodiments, the loss functions may be modeled using covariance matrices.\",\n \"In accordance with several embodiments, the total loss may further include mean activation or histogram loss.\",\n \"In accordance with sundry embodiments, a source content image, including desired structures for a synthesized image and a source style image, including a desired texture for the synthesized image, are received.\",\n \"A CNN may be used to determine localized loss functions for groups of pixels in the source content and/or source style images.\",\n \"The localized content and/or localized style loss functions may be used to generate a synthesized image that includes the content from the source content image and the texture from the source style image.\",\n \"In accordance with many embodiments, an optimization process may be performed to optimize pixels in a synthesized image using the localized content loss function of a corresponding pixel from the source content image and/or the localized style loss function of a corresponding pixel from the source style image.\",\n \"In accordance with a number of embodiments, the optimization may be an iterative optimization that is performed by back propagation through a CNN, or through a purely feed-forward process.\",\n \"In a number of embodiments, a specific pyramid-stack hybrid CNN architecture based on some combination of pooling, strided convolution and dilated convolution is used for image synthesis.\",\n \"As can readily be appreciated, the specific CNN architecture utilized in image synthesis is largely dependent upon the requirements of a given application.\",\n \"In accordance with certain embodiments, the CNN-based image synthesis processes may perform aging of an image.\",\n \"In accordance with many embodiments, CNN-based image synthesis processes may be used to perform continuous weathering by continually modifying the parametric model.\",\n \"In accordance with a number of embodiments, the CNN-based image synthesis processes may be used to perform weathering by controlling the weathering through a “painting by numbers” process.\",\n \"In accordance with several embodiments, CNN-based image synthesis processes may be used to perform continuous multiscale aging.\",\n \"In accordance with many embodiments, CNN-based image synthesis processes may be used to perform aging by transferring weathering patterns from external exemplars.\",\n \"In accordance with sundry embodiments, CNN-based image synthesis processes may combine optimization and feedforward parametric texture synthesis for fast high-resolution synthesis.\",\n \"In accordance with many embodiments, CNN-based image synthesis processes may be used to perform super image super resolution (SISR) for rending.\",\n \"In accordance with a number of embodiments, CNN-based image synthesis processes may combine parametric and non-parametric-non-CNN synthesis within a pyramid framework.\",\n \"In several embodiments, dilated convolution neural networks can be utilized to synthesize image hybrids.\",\n \"Image hybridization involves starting from a set of several source images within a category and mixing them together in a way that produces a new member of that category.\",\n \"In a number of embodiments, image hybridization is performed using either an optimization or feedforward based synthesis strategy.\",\n \"In either case, a key aspect of the image hybridization is to generate new activations at different levels of the network which combine the activation features extracted from the input images into new hybrid configurations.\",\n \"Processes in accordance with many embodiments of the invention integrate an on-model synthesis approach into the CNN approach.\",\n \"The goal of processes in accordance with some embodiments of the invention is to provide an on-model texture synthesis scheme that allows the user to supply a fully textured model as the input exemplar instead of just a texture, and apply that texture from the model onto a different untextured model.\",\n \"In many embodiments, the processes produce textures that conform to geometric shapes and the feature contents of that texture are guided by the underlying shape itself.\",\n \"This results in image synthesis that can be applied on top of already textured meshes, and can also produce appearance transfer from one textured mesh onto another.\",\n \"In a number of embodiments, a specific class of artificial neural networks that can be referred to as Condensed Feature Extraction Networks are generated from CNNs trained to perform image classification.\",\n \"Systems and methods in accordance with many embodiments of the invention generate Condensed Feature Extraction Networks by utilizing an artificial neural network with a specific number of neurons to learn a network that approximates the intermediate neural activations of a different network with a larger number (or the same number) of artificial neurons.\",\n \"In several embodiments, the artificial neural network that is utilized to train a Condensed Feature Extraction Network is a CNN.\",\n \"In certain embodiments, the computation required to generate outputs from the Condensed Feature Extraction Network for a set of input images is reduced relative to the CNN used to train the Condensed Feature Extraction Networks.\",\n \"Systems and methods for providing CNN-based image synthesis are described in more detail below.\",\n \"Systems for Providing Convolutional Neural Network Based Image Synthesis A system that provides CNN-based image synthesis in accordance with some embodiments of the invention is shown in FIG.\",\n \"1.Network 100 includes a communications network 160.The communications network 160 is a network such as the Internet that allows devices connected to the network 160 to communicate with other connected devices.\",\n \"Server systems 110, 140, and 170 are connected to the network 160.Each of the server systems 110, 140, and 170 may be a group of one or more server computer systems communicatively connected to one another via internal networks that execute processes that provide cloud services to users over the network 160.For purposes of this discussion, cloud services are one or more applications that are executed by one or more server systems to provide data and/or executable applications to devices over a network.\",\n \"The server systems 110, 140, and 170 are shown each having three servers in the internal network.\",\n \"However, the server systems 110, 140 and 170 may include any number of servers and any additional number of server systems may be connected to the network 160 to provide cloud services including (but not limited to) virtualized server systems.\",\n \"In accordance with various embodiments of this invention, processes for providing CNN-based image synthesis processes and/or systems may be provided by one or more software applications executing on a single server system and/or a group of server systems communicating over network 160.Users may use personal devices 180 and 120 that connect to the network 160 to perform processes for providing CNN-based image synthesis in accordance with various embodiments of the invention.\",\n \"In the illustrated embodiment, the personal devices 180 are shown as desktop computers that are connected via a conventional “wired” connection to the network 160.However, the personal device 180 may be a desktop computer, a laptop computer, a smart television, an entertainment gaming console, or any other device that connects to the network 160 via a “wired” or “wireless” network connection.\",\n \"The mobile device 120 connects to network 160 using a wireless connection.\",\n \"A wireless connection is a connection that may use Radio Frequency (RF) signals, Infrared (IR) signals, or any other form of wireless signaling to connect to the network 160.In FIG.\",\n \"1, the mobile device 120 is a mobile telephone.\",\n \"However, mobile device 120 may be a mobile phone, a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), a tablet, a smartphone, or any other type of device that connects to network 160 via wireless connection in accordance with various other embodiments of the invention.\",\n \"In accordance with some embodiments of the invention, the processes for providing CNN-based image synthesis may be performed by the user device.\",\n \"In several other embodiments, an application being executed by the user device may capture or obtain the two or more input images and transmit the captured image(s) to a server system that performs the processes for providing CNN-based image synthesis.\",\n \"In accordance with a number of embodiments where one or more of the images is captured by the user device, the user device may include a camera or some other image capture system that captures the image.\",\n \"The specific computing system(s) used to capture images and/or processing images to perform CNN-based image synthesis often is largely dependent upon the requirements of a given application and should not be considered as limited to any specific computing system(s) implementation(s).\",\n \"Computing systems and processes for performing CNN based image synthesis are discussed further below.\",\n \"Example of Processing Systems An example of a processing system in a device that executes instructions to perform processes that provide CNN-based image synthesis in accordance with an embodiment of the invention is shown in FIG.\",\n \"2.One may recognize that a particular processing system may include other components that are omitted for brevity without departing from various embodiments of the invention.\",\n \"The processing device 200 includes a processor 205, a non-volatile memory 210, and a volatile memory 215.The processor 205 may be a processor, microprocessor, controller or a combination of processors, microprocessors and/or controllers that perform instructions stored in the volatile memory 215 and/or the non-volatile memory 210 to manipulate data stored in the memory.\",\n \"The non-volatile memory 210 can store the processor instructions utilized to configure the processing system 200 to perform processes including processes in accordance with particular embodiments of the invention and/or data for the processes being utilized.\",\n \"In accordance with some embodiments, the processing system software and/or firmware can be stored in any of a variety of non-transient computer readable media appropriate to a specific application.\",\n \"A network interface is a device that allows processing system 200 to transmit and receive data over a network based upon the instructions performed by processor 205.Although an example of processing system 200 is illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"2, any of a variety of processing systems in the various devices may be configured to provide the methods and systems in accordance with various embodiments of the invention.\",\n \"Convolutional Neural Network Based Image Synthesis CNNs can be powerful tools for synthesizing similar but different version of an image or transferring the style of one image onto the content of another image.\",\n \"Recently, compelling results have been achieved through parametric modeling of the image statistics using a deep CNN.\",\n \"An example CNN used for image style transfer is described by Leon Gatys in a paper entitled, “Image Style Transfer Using Convolutional Neural Networks” that may be obtained at www.cv-foundation.org/openacess/content_cvpr_2016/papers/Gatys_Image_Style_Transfer_CV PR_2016_paper.pdf.\",\n \"In particular, CNN-based image synthesis processes are particularly suited for performing texture synthesis and style transfer.\",\n \"In particular, CNN-based image synthesis systems may perform texture synthesis in the following manner: A CNN image synthesis system receives an input source texture, S, and synthesizes an output texture, O.\",\n \"S and O are passed through a CNN such as VGG that generates feature maps for the activations of the first L convolutional layers of the CNN.\",\n \"For purposes of this discussion, the activations of the first L convolutional layers are denoted as S1 .\",\n \".\",\n \".\",\n \"SL and O1 .\",\n \".\",\n \".\",\n \"OL.\",\n \"A loss gram over the layers, which preserves some properties of the input texture by means of a Gram matrix can be expressed as: ℒ gram = ∑ l = 1 L α l S l 2 G ( S l ) - G ( O l ) ) F 2 ( 1 ) where Al are user parameters that weight terms in the loss, |⋅| is the number of elements in a tensor, F is the Frobenius norm, and the Gram matrix G(F) is defined over any feature map F as an Nl×Nl matrix of inner products between pairs of features: G ij ( F ) = ∑ k F ik F jk ( 2 ) Fi,j refers to feature i's pixel j within the feature map.\",\n \"The synthesized output image O is initialized with white noise and is then optimized by applying gradient descent to equation (1).\",\n \"Specifically, the gradient of equation (1) with respect to the output image O is computed via backpropagation.\",\n \"CNN-based image synthesis processes that perform style transfer synthesis operate in a similar manner to the texture synthesis process described above.\",\n \"However, a CNN-based image synthesis system receives a content image, C, and a style image, S, that are used to generate a styled image, O.\",\n \"All three images are passed through a CNN, such as a VGG, that gives activations for the first L convolutional layers denoted as C1 .\",\n \".\",\n \".\",\n \"CL, S1 .\",\n \".\",\n \".\",\n \"SL, O1 .\",\n \".\",\n \".\",\n \"Ol.\",\n \"The total style transfer loss combines the losses for the style image (ζgram) and the content image (ζcontent): transfer=gram+content (3) The content loss is a feature distance between content and output that attempts to make output and content look similar: ℒ content = ∑ l = 1 L β l C l C l - O l F 2 ( 4 ) Where βl are user weight parameters, the output image O is initialized with white noise and optimized using a gradient descent.\",\n \"As such, CNN-based image synthesis processes performing style transfer may use an iterative optimization process to cause the white noise image of the synthesized image to incrementally begin to resemble some user-specified combination of the source content and style images.\",\n \"In accordance with many embodiments of the invention, a CNN backpropagation training procedure may be used as the iterative optimization process to turn the white noise or content image into an image that combines features of the content and style images.\",\n \"During backpropagation training procedures performed in accordance with a number of embodiments, the iterative optimization process can be directed by a loss function (equation 4) that the backpropagation training procedure is trying to minimize.\",\n \"In accordance with several embodiments, the loss function is calculated as the difference between parametric models encoding the style of a style image and the image being synthesized.\",\n \"In addition, in some embodiments of this invention, a content loss can be included as well, where the content loss is some distance metric between raw neural activations calculated for the content image and the image being synthesized.\",\n \"If a style loss is used without a content loss and the image being synthesized starts from noise, then the resulting operation is texture synthesis.\",\n \"If a style loss is used without content loss and the image being synthesized starts from the content image, then the resulting operation is style transfer.\",\n \"If both style and content loss are used then the operation will always be style transfer.\",\n \"In accordance with various other embodiments of the invention, other image processing applications including, but not limited to, image hybridization, super-resolution upscaling and time-varying weathering, could be achieved using the same CNN framework but using different loss functions.\",\n \"CNN-based image synthesis processes in accordance with certain embodiments of the invention may use loss functions to direct the optimization process in various synthesis processes that may be performed.\",\n \"However, CNN-based image synthesis processes in accordance with particular embodiments of this invention use a collection of stable loss functions for the CNN-based image synthesis to achieve various results.\",\n \"In accordance with some embodiments, CNN-based image synthesis processes use multiple stable loss functions for texture synthesis and style transfer.\",\n \"Thus, multiple stable loss functions for the style transfer including loss functions for the style and content are addressed separately below.\",\n \"Problems with the Use of Gram Matrices A problem that can be experienced when using Gram matrices as loss functions in style transfer is that the results are often unstable.\",\n \"The cause of the instability is illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"3.In FIG.\",\n \"3, an input image 301 has a uniform distribution of intensities with a mean of μ1=½ ≈0.707 and a standard deviation of σ1=0.An output image 302 has a non-uniform distribution with a mean of μ2=½ and a standard deviation of σ2=½.\",\n \"If interpreted as the activation of a feature map with one feature, these two distributions have equivalent non-central second moments of ½, and equal Gram matrices.\",\n \"The problem is that there are many distributions that result in an equivalent Gram matrix.\",\n \"However, the Gram matrices do not match image intensities.\",\n \"Instead, Gram matrices match feature activations, i.e.\",\n \"feature maps, after applying the activation functions but the same argument applies: activation maps with quite different means and variances can still have the same Gram matrix.\",\n \"The problem arises because a Gram matrix is statistically related to neither the mean nor covariance matrices.\",\n \"Instead, a Gram matrix is related to a matrix of non-central second moments.\",\n \"To show this, a feature activation map, F, with m features, is used as an example.\",\n \"For brevity, “feature map activations” are simply referred to as “features,” such that a “feature” refers to the result of applying an activation function.\",\n \"The statistics of the features in the feature map F can be summarized by using an m dimensional random variable X to model the probability distribution of a given m-tuple of features.\",\n \"The random vector of features X can be related to the feature map F. For example, the Gram matrix, G(F), may be normalized by the number of samples n to obtain a sample estimator for the second non-central mixed moments E[XXT].\",\n \"As such, the terms (normalized) “Gram matrix” and E[XXT] may be used interchangeably in the following discussion even though one is actually a sampled estimator of the other.\",\n \"In the following argument, 1 n G ( F ) = E [ XX T ] and the mean feature is defined as μ=E[X].\",\n \"By a general property of covariance matrices, Σ(X)=E[XXT]−μμT, Σ indicates a covariance matrix.\",\n \"After rearranging, the following equation results: E[XXT]=Σ(X)+μμT (5) In the case where there is only one feature, m=1, equation (5) becomes: 1 n G ( F ) = E [ X 2 ] = σ 2 + μ 2 = ( σ , μ ) 2 ( 6 ) Where σ is the standard deviation of feature X.\",\n \"For a feature map, F1 for the input source image, and a feature map, F2, for the synthesized output image that have respective feature distributions X1, X2, means μ1, μ2, and standard deviations σ1, σ2, the features maps will have the same Gram matrix if the following condition for equation (6) holds: ∥(σ1,μ1)∥=∥(σ2,μ2)∥ (7) As such, an infinite number of 1D feature maps with different variances but equal Gram matrices may be created.\",\n \"This is not optimal for image synthesis.\",\n \"Specifically, this means that even if a Gram matrix is held constant, the variance ρ22 of the synthesized texture map can freely change (with corresponding changes to the mean, μ2, based on equation (7)).\",\n \"Conversely, the mean, μ2, of the synthesized texture map can freely change (with corresponding changes to the variance, σ22).\",\n \"This property often leads to the instabilities.\",\n \"For simplicity, it can be assumed that a CNN may be flexible enough to generate any distribution of output image features.\",\n \"To generate an output texture with a different variance (e.g.\",\n \"σ2»σ1) but equal Gram matrix, equation (6) can be solved for μ2 to obtain μ1=√{square root over (σ12+μ12−σ22)}.\",\n \"This is shown in FIG.\",\n \"3 where the distribution X1 of the image 301 has μ 1 = 1 2 and σ1=0 and the image 302 has larger standard deviation of σ2=½.\",\n \"In the multidimensional case where m>1, if there is no correlation between features, the m separate cases of the previous 1D scenario.\",\n \"Thus, while maintaining the same Gram matrix, all of the variances can be changed, as long as a corresponding change to the mean is made.\",\n \"This can lead to instabilities in variance or mean.\",\n \"However, in the multidimensional scenario, typically there are correlations between features.\",\n \"The following example illustrates this point.\",\n \"In this example, an input feature map F1, has an input feature random vector X1, a mean μ, and covariance matrix Σ(X1).\",\n \"To generate a set of output feature random vectors X2 with an equal Gram matrix but different variance, an affine transformation is applied to the input random feature vector X1 to obtain a transformed random vector of output features activation X2=AX1+b, where A is an m×m matrix, and b is an m vector.\",\n \"The Gram matrices X1 and X2 are set equal to one another using equation (5) above to obtain: E[X2X2T]=AΣ(X1)AT+(Aμ+b)(Aμ+b)T=E[X1X1T]=Σ(X1)+μμT.\",\n \"(8) The variances of the output random feature activation vector X2 may be constrained along the main diagonal of its covariance matrix so that the variances are equal to a set of “target” output image feature activation variances.\",\n \"The remains may be an unknown variable in the transformation matrix A, and vector b may be determined using closed form solutions of the resulting quadratic equations.\",\n \"However, these equations are often long and computationally intensive to solve.\",\n \"Yet, it does show that there are more unknowns than equations.\",\n \"Thus, it is possible to generate an output distribution X2 with different variances that the input feature distribution X1, but with the same Gram matrix.\",\n \"Specifically, there are m(m+3)/2 constraints due to equation (8) (there are m(m+1)/2 constraints due to the upper half of the symmetric matrix, plus m constraints for the known output feature variances).\",\n \"Covariance and Mean Loss In accordance with sundry embodiments of the invention, due to the Gram matrix stability issues identified above, CNN-based image synthesis processes use a covariance matrix instead of a Gram matrix to guide the synthesis process.\",\n \"Covariance matrices are similar to Gram matrices but do not share the same limitation.\",\n \"By subtracting off the mean activation before computing inner products, covariance matrices explicitly preserve statistical moments of various orders in the parametric model.\",\n \"By this we explicitly refer to the mean of all feature vectors as the first order moment and to the co-activations of feature vectors centered around their mean as second order moments.\",\n \"Replacing Gram matrices with Covariance matrices can stabilize the synthesis process for some textures, however, subtracting the mean can affect the desired features to be reproduced during the synthesis process in undesirable ways.\",\n \"To counteract this effect, we introduce an additional loss term for mean activations.\",\n \"This new parametric model allows the covariance loss and means loss to drive the synthesis.\",\n \"This can make the combined loss for texture synthesis: Ltexture=Lcovariance+Lmean+Ltv (12) The replacement of the Gram matrix with a Covariance matrix may improve but does not decisively solve the stability issues inherent in texture synthesis and/or style transfer.\",\n \"However, the covariance matrix may be a powerful method for describing image style in a stable form when the texture being parameterized is highly stochastic and can be represented as a single cluster in feature space.\",\n \"It may still be a problem that many textures and most natural images contain multiple clusters.\",\n \"In other words, these textures or natural images contain a combination of multiple distinct textures.\",\n \"When an input texture exhibits multiple feature space clusters and the cluster centers are far apart from each other, a covariance matrix may exhibit the same unstable behavior as a Gram matrix.\",\n \"The reason for the unstable behavior is that the center between multiple clusters ensures that every cluster will be un-centered and, thus, will not exhibit stable mathematical properties.\",\n \"Although CNN-based image synthesis processes that use covariance loss and/or mean loss in accordance with various embodiments of the invention are described above, other processes that use covariance loss and mean loss in accordance with various other embodiments of the invention that add, combine and/or remove steps as necessitated by the requirements of particular systems and/or processes are possible.\",\n \"Histogram Losses Due to the multiple cluster problem, processes in accordance with a number of embodiments of the invention may use Histogram loss as described above to achieve consistently high-quality results.\",\n \"In accordance with several embodiments, the multiple cluster problem may be dealt with by using an automatic clustering process on the feature vectors to identify different textures in an image.\",\n \"The clustering process could transform the image so that each cluster is centered around its mean.\",\n \"However, the use of an automatic clustering process may introduce a number of additional problems.\",\n \"For example, if different linear transforms are applied to different regions of the image in a discrete way, seam lines may appear along the borders between different texture clusters.\",\n \"To deal with these seams, processes in accordance with many embodiments of the invention interpolate the transform between clusters.\",\n \"The interpolation may be more difficult than simply adding a histogram loss that has been shown to solve the same problem as discussed above.\",\n \"In accordance with particular embodiments of the invention, the instability of Gram or Covariance matrices is addressed by explicitly preserving statistical moments of various orders in the activations of a texture.\",\n \"In accordance with many embodiments, an entire histogram of feature activations is preserved.\",\n \"More specifically, systems and processes in accordance with a number of embodiments augment synthesis loss with m additional histogram losses, one for each feature in each feature map.\",\n \"Additionally, systems and processes in accordance with several embodiments incorporate a total variation loss that may improve smoothness in the synthesized image.\",\n \"As such, the combined loss for texture synthesis in CNN-based image synthesis processes in accordance with some embodiments of the invention is: texture(ours)=gram+histogram+tv (9) where Lgram can be interchanged with Lcovariance arbitrarily.\",\n \"However, it can be slightly subtle to develop a suitable histogram loss.\",\n \"For example, a naive approach of directly placing L2 loss between histograms of the input source texture image S and output synthesized image O has zero gradient almost everywhere and does not contribute to the optimization process.\",\n \"As such, CNN-based image synthesis processes in accordance with many embodiments of the invention use loss based on histogram matching.\",\n \"To do so, the synthesized layer-wise feature activations are transformed so that their histograms match the corresponding histograms of the input source texture image S. The transformation can be performed once for each histogram loss encountered during backpropagation.\",\n \"To do so, CNN-based image synthesis processes in accordance with a number of embodiments of the invention use an ordinary histogram matching technique to remap the synthesized output activation to match the input source image activations.\",\n \"In such a technique, Oij represents the output activations for a convolutional layer i and feature j, and O′ij represents the remapped activations.\",\n \"The technique may compute a normalized histogram for the output activations Oij and match it to the normalized histogram for the activations of input source image S to obtain the remapped activations O′ij.\",\n \"This technique is then repeated from each feature in the feature map to determine a Frobenius norm distance between Oij and O′ij.\",\n \"The loss of the histograms may be expressed as: ℒ histogram = ∑ l = 1 L γ l O i - R ( O i ) F 2 ( 10 ) Where Oi is the activation map for feature map I and R(Oi) is the histogram remapped activation map, and γl is a user weight parameter that controls the strength of the loss.\",\n \"As R(Oi) has zero gradient almost everywhere, it can be treated as a constant for the gradient operator.\",\n \"Thus, the gradient of equation (10) can be computed by realizing R(Oi) into a temporary array O′l and computing the Frobenius norm loss between Oi and O′i.\",\n \"Although CNN-based image synthesis processes that use histogram loss in accordance with various embodiments of the invention are described above, other processes that provide histogram loss in accordance with various other embodiments of the invention that add, combine and/or remove steps as necessitated by the requirements of particular systems and/or processes are possible.\",\n \"Application of Histogram Loss to Style Transfers Style transfer is a broadening of texture synthesis.\",\n \"In texture synthesis, an input texture is statistically resynthesized.\",\n \"Style transfer is similar with the additional constraint that the synthesized image O should not deviate too much from a content image C. To do so, CNN-based image synthesis processes that perform style transfer in accordance with sundry embodiments of the invention include both a per-pixel content loss and a histogram loss in the parametric synthesis equation such that the overall loss becomes: transfer(ours)=gram+histogram+content+tv (11) where Lgram is interchangeable with Lcovariance for the purposes of our algorithm.\",\n \"Although CNN-based image synthesis processes that use histogram loss to perform style transfer in accordance with various embodiments of the invention are described above, other processes that use histogram loss to perform style transfer in accordance with various other embodiments of the invention that add, combine and/or remove steps as necessitated by the requirements of particular systems and/or processes are possible.\",\n \"Automatic Tuning of Parameters CNN-based image synthesis processes in accordance with some embodiment automatically determine parameters for the processes performed.\",\n \"The parameters may include, but are not limited to, the coefficients α1 in the Gram/Covariance loss equation (1), β1 in the content loss of equation (4), γl in the histogram/mean loss equation (1) and ω that is multiplied against the total variation loss.\",\n \"Automatic tuning processes in accordance with many embodiments of the invention are inspired by batch normalization that tunes hyper-parameters during a training process to reduce extreme values of gradients.\",\n \"The parameters may also be dynamically adjusted during the optimization process.\",\n \"In accordance with a number of embodiments, the dynamic tuning can be performed with the aid of gradient information.\",\n \"During backpropagation, different loss terms Li, may be encountered.\",\n \"Each loss term Li has an associated parameter ci that needs to be determined (ci is one of the parameters αl, βl, γl, and ω).\",\n \"A backpropagated gradient gi may first be calculated from the current loss term as if ci were 1.However, if the magnitude of gi exceeds a constant magnitude threshold Ti, then the gradient gi may be normalized so that its length is equal to Ti.\",\n \"Magnitude thresholds of 1 can be used for all parameters except for the coefficient αl of the Gram/Covariance loss, which may have a magnitude threshold of 100 in accordance with several embodiments.\",\n \"As can readily be appreciated, magnitude thresholds and/or other constraints can be specified as appropriate to the requirements of a given application.\",\n \"Although CNN-based image synthesis processes that perform automatic tuning in accordance with various embodiments of the invention are described above, other processes that provide automatic tuning in accordance with various other embodiments of the invention that add, combine and/or remove steps as necessitated by the requirements of particular systems and/or processes are possible.\",\n \"Multiscale Pyramid Based Synthesis CNN-based image synthesis processes in accordance with certain embodiments include manual and automatic control maps that were previously used in non-parametric approaches.\",\n \"To achieve this, processes in accordance with many embodiments perform a coarse-to-fine synthesis using image pyramids.\",\n \"In accordance with a number of embodiments, a ratio of two is used between successive image widths in the pyramid.\",\n \"A comparison of results of texture synthesis performed in accordance with various embodiments of the invention with and without the use of pyramids are shown in FIG.\",\n \"4.In FIG.\",\n \"4, images 401 and 402 are the style images and images 410-411 and 420-421 are the content images.\",\n \"Images 410 and 411 were generated without the use of pyramids and images 420 and 421 were generated with the use of pyramids.\",\n \"Images 410 and 420 show that pyramids blend coarse scale style features with content features better.\",\n \"Images 411 and 421 may show that pyramids transfer coarse scale features better and reduce CNN noise artifacts.\",\n \"Images 412 and 422 are magnified from images 411 and 421, respectively, and may show noise artifacts (in image 412) and better transfer of coarse-scale features (in image 422).\",\n \"Processes for Providing Convolutional Neural Network Based Image Synthesis Using Localized Loss Functions A process for providing CNN-based image synthesis that performs style transfer using localized loss functions in accordance with an embodiment of the invention is shown in FIG.\",\n \"5.In process 500, a source content image and a source style image are received (505, 510).\",\n \"The source content image includes the structures that are to be included in a synthesized image and the source style image includes a texture that is to be applied to the synthesized image.\",\n \"The process 500 determines localized content loss functions for groups of pixels in the source content image (515) and/or localized style loss functions for groups of pixels in the source style image (520).\",\n \"In accordance with some embodiments, the localized content loss functions and/or localized style loss functions may be generated using a CNN.\",\n \"The determinations of the localized content and/or style loss functions based upon various groupings of the pixels in accordance with various embodiments of the invention are described below.\",\n \"Process 500 performs an optimization process using the localized content loss functions and/or localized style loss functions to cause the pixels in the synthesized image to form an image with a desired amount of content from the content source image and a desired amount of texture from the source style image (525).\",\n \"In accordance with certain embodiments, the optimization process may be an iterative optimization process that is performed until a desired result is achieved.\",\n \"In accordance with many embodiments, the iterative optimization process may be performed by a backpropagation through a CNN iterative optimization processes in accordance with various embodiments of the invention are described in more detail below.\",\n \"Although processes for providing convolutional neural network based image synthesis by performing style transfer using localized loss functions in accordance with various embodiments of the invention are discussed above, other processes may be modified by adding, removing, and/or combining steps of the described processes as necessitated by system and/or process requirements in accordance with various embodiments of the inventions.\",\n \"Localizing Style Losses Style loss functions reproduce the textural component of the style image.\",\n \"Thus, a global style loss function may be transformed into a stationary representation (i.e.\",\n \"the representation is a culmination of the local patches of texture independent of the location of each local patch in the image).\",\n \"A global style loss function approach may generate the global style loss function by applying the source style image to a CNN, gathering all activations for a layer in a CNN and building a parametric model from the gathered activations of the layer.\",\n \"An optimization process may then be used to cause the loss function of one image to appear statistically similar to the loss function of another image by minimizing the error distance between the parametric model of the loss functions of the two images (which act as a statistical fingerprint that is being matched).\",\n \"A style transfer approach using a global style loss function may lead to unimpressive results as shown by the images illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"6.In FIG.\",\n \"6, Brad Pitt's image 601 is matched to an image of Picasso's self-portrait 602.In the resulting image 603, the overall style of the painting in the image 602 is transferred including the individual brush strokes, the general color palette and the overall look.\",\n \"This makes the image 603 look similar to the image 602.However, the individual features that compose the face are not transferred.\",\n \"Thus, Brad Pitt's eyes, nose and mouth do not look like Picasso's corresponding features.\",\n \"In accordance with sundry embodiments of the invention, a collection of strategies designed to transform the style of an image locally rather than globally may be performed.\",\n \"However, the various strategies used in the various embodiments involve a similar core idea of using a collection of parametric models representing local loss functions in either one or both of the source content image and the source style image, as opposed to using a single parametric model for each image.\",\n \"Each of the parametric models of an image summarize specific features in the image and are distinct and/or unique from the other parametric models in the collection of matrices for the image.\",\n \"The application of local loss functions may vary greatly between the various embodiments, depending on a desired degree of locality.\",\n \"Thus, each of the models may represent very large regions of the image in accordance with some embodiments when it is desired to have very little locality.\",\n \"Alternatively, the models may each represent smaller groups down to an individual pixel in accordance with particular embodiments of the invention where a very high degree of locality is desired.\",\n \"Region-Based Style Transfers Region-based style transfer may be used in accordance with some embodiments of the invention.\",\n \"A process for generating a region-based loss function in accordance with an embodiment of the invention is shown in FIG.\",\n \"7.A process 700 may generate a mask with one or more regions for both of the source content and source style images (710).\",\n \"In accordance with various embodiments, the regions may be determined by a user and received as a manual input of the user into the system.\",\n \"In accordance with many embodiments, processes may generate the regions of the mask through a neighbor matching process and/or other similar process for structure identification.\",\n \"The process 700 applies the masks to each image and determines a region of the mask associated with each pixel in each of the images (715).\",\n \"The process 700 assigns each pixel to the region determined to be associated with the pixel (720).\",\n \"The process 700 then generates parametric models for each of the identified regions of the masks from the pixels associated with the regions (725) and may add the generated parametric model for each region to an array of matrices stored in memory.\",\n \"In accordance with many embodiments, the mask value of each pixel may be used to index the pixel into the proper parametric model in the array for use in the style transfer process described above.\",\n \"Images that illustrate a region-based style transfer process performed on the images of Brad Pitt and Picasso's self-portrait 601 and 602 in accordance with an embodiment of the invention are shown in FIG.\",\n \"8.In region-based style transfer, distinct features of an image can be clustered together.\",\n \"As shown by image 802, Picasso's portrait from image 602 is segmented into a few distinct regions.\",\n \"For example, the eyes may be one region with the lips, nose, hair, skin shirt and background each being in their own regions.\",\n \"A mask 802 may be applied over image 602 to identify the region that contains each pixel in the image 602.Likewise, a mask shown in image 801 may be applied to the image 601 of Brad Pitt to identify the pixels that belong to each of the identified regions of the image 601.Although processes that provide region-based loss functions in accordance with various embodiments of the invention are described above, other processes that provide region-based loss functions in accordance with various other embodiments of the invention that add, combine and/or remove steps as necessitated by the requirements of particular systems and/or processes are possible.\",\n \"Uniform Segments Style Transfer In accordance with a number of embodiments of the invention, a uniform segment style transfer process may be performed.\",\n \"In uniform segment style transfer, the images are divided into uniform segments.\",\n \"The images of Brad Pitt and Picasso's self-portrait divided into uniform segments in accordance with an embodiment of the invention that uses uniform segments are shown in FIG.\",\n \"9.A process for performing uniform style transfer in accordance with an embodiment of the invention is shown in FIG.\",\n \"10.As shown in images 901 and 902 of FIG.\",\n \"9, a process 1000 of FIG.\",\n \"10 divides each image into a grid of regions or cells (1005).\",\n \"In particular, images 901 and 902 are divided into grids of 8×8 cells in the shown embodiment.\",\n \"However, any number of cells may be used in grids, for example 16×16 and 20×20 grids, in accordance with various other embodiments of the invention.\",\n \"Each cell is associated with an individual parametric model of a localized loss function (1010).\",\n \"In many embodiments, the generated parametric models can be added (1015) to an array of models for each image.\",\n \"In accordance with some embodiments, an individual parametric model may be associated (1020) with groups of cells that are determined by similarity of the cells or by some other manner.\",\n \"After the parametric models are generated, the parametric models may be used as a descriptor for nearest neighbor matching of the pixels in associated cell(s).\",\n \"The nearest neighbor matching binds cells together so that each cell in the content image is optimized more closely resemble a cell in the style image that is determined to most closely approximate the cell as shown in FIG.\",\n \"11.In FIG.\",\n \"11, a cell 1101 in the image 901 is optimized to a cell 1102 in the image 902.In accordance with some embodiments, one or more cells in the style image that most closely approximate a cell in the content image may be identified by determining the cell(s) in the style image that has a minimum L2 distance between its parametric model and the parametric model of the cell in the content image.\",\n \"In accordance with certain embodiments, the optimizing processes for all of the cells in the content image are performed in parallel.\",\n \"Although processes that provide uniform segment style transfer in accordance with various embodiments of the invention are described above, other processes that provide segment-based style transfer in accordance with various other embodiments of the invention that add, combine and/or remove steps as necessitated by the requirements of particular systems and/or processes are possible.\",\n \"Per Pixel Style Transfer In accordance with particular embodiments of the invention, each pixel is a local region.\",\n \"Images that show the association between pixels in a source content image and a source style image in accordance with a certain embodiment of this invention are shown in FIG.\",\n \"12.In accordance with many embodiments, a parametric model of a localized style loss function is generated for each pixel in the content image cell 1201 and the style image cell 1202.A process for generating localized style loss functions in accordance with an embodiment of the invention is shown in FIG.\",\n \"13.The process 1300 includes gathering a neighborhood of pixels surrounding each particular pixel in the source content image (1305).\",\n \"A group of pixels in the source style image that are associated with the neighbor pixels of each particular pixel is determined (1310).\",\n \"In accordance with sundry embodiments, a pre-computed nearest neighbor set may be used to associate each pixel in the content image with a pixel in the source style image.\",\n \"The group of pixels in the source style image associated with the neighborhood of each particular pixel is used to generate the parametric model of the localized style loss function that the particular pixel is optimized toward (1315).\",\n \"Although processes that provide per pixel-based style transfer in accordance with various embodiments of the invention are described above, other processes that provide per pixel-based style transfer in accordance with sundry embodiments of the invention that add, combine and/or remove steps as necessitated by the requirements of particular systems and/or processes are possible.\",\n \"From the above descriptions of the various transfer strategies, one may see that regional segment style transfer is simple and fast compared to the other transfer strategies.\",\n \"However, the regional segment style transfer can be imprecise, whether a human or a CNN is used to determine how the parametric models are generated.\",\n \"The cell transfer can differ from the regional transfer in that many more parametric models are generated and the matrices themselves are used to determine the correspondence of features.\",\n \"The per pixel approach is typically the most precise and the slowest possible transfer strategy because the amount of computations needed is increased by generation of a parametric model for each particular pixel from patches of pixels around the particular pixel.\",\n \"The increase in computations stems from the fact that in the other approaches each of the pixels in an image contribute to one parametric model and in the per pixel approach each pixel contributes to the parametric model of each of the neighboring pixels.\",\n \"Furthermore, it is noted that various other embodiments may select certain other manners in determining local regions to refine the trade-off between speed and/or memory versus accuracy.\",\n \"Localizing for Content Loss In accordance with particular embodiments, content loss can be used for the transfer process instead of style loss.\",\n \"The difference is that style loss attempts to be stationary and content loss does not.\",\n \"For purposes of this discussion, stationary means that the location of a pixel is the main factor influencing what the pixel should look like.\",\n \"The content loss function can be simple in accordance with some embodiments in that the L2 (or Euclidian) distance is summed for each pixel in the synthesized image to each pixel at the same location in the content image.\",\n \"The goal of content loss, on the other hand, is to reproduce the “structure” of the content image (image 1401 of FIG.\",\n \"14 showing the Golden Gate Bridge) while allowing the nonstructural aspects of the image to mutate towards resembling the style image (image 1402 of FIG.\",\n \"14 showing Starry Night).\",\n \"In accordance with other known transfer processes, one may assume that the deeper layers of the network represent the higher order image features, so by maintaining a low error between content and synthesis deeper in the network but allowing the style to be optimized at the shallow layers, a balance is reached between the style and content.\",\n \"However, these processes often do not regularly provide compelling results.\",\n \"A problem with using a global content loss in a style transfer process may be that all of the regions of the content image may not be equally as important in terms of key shapes and structures in the image.\",\n \"For instance, in FIG.\",\n \"15, image 1501 of the Golden Gate Bridge, the low-importance content features including the low frequency sky and ocean are given a high enough content loss to overpower the style contribution and stop large, swirly clouds and stars from forming.\",\n \"In parallel, the high-importance content features including the bridge are largely being distorted by the style image.\",\n \"This makes the high-importance content features lose fine scale qualities such as the cable stretching from tower to tower.\",\n \"Furthermore, the tower in the background is more distorted than the larger tower in the foreground because the tower in the background is smaller in terms of image size.\",\n \"However, the tower in the background is not less important than the tower in the foreground in terms of content as the tower is a key structure in the image.\",\n \"Style transfer processes that use localized content loss functions in accordance with some embodiments of the invention may provide weights to each pixel based on the amount that the pixel contributes to a key shape or structure in the image.\",\n \"However, “content” can be a poorly defined concept with respect to art as “content is subjective and can be subject to personal interpretation.\",\n \"As such, the process for localizing content loss in accordance with some embodiments of the invention is based on the following observations about “content.” For the purposes of determining the contribution of a pixel to content, one may observe that flat, low frequency regions of an image generally do not contribute to the content of the image (for purposes of human perception) while high frequency regions generally are important contributors to the content.\",\n \"Therefore, style transfer processes in accordance with many embodiments of the invention may use a Laplacian Pyramid of black and white versions of the content image (Images 1601-1604 in FIG.\",\n \"16) to determine content loss weights for each pixel in the image being synthesized where the high frequency pixels (whiter pixels) have a higher influence on content than low frequency pixels (darker pixels).\",\n \"Alternatively, convolutional neural networks (CNNs) trained on image classification tend to learn kernels at the deeper levels of the network that recognize shapes which are structurally meaningful to humans.\",\n \"Therefore, the magnitude of feature vectors produced from the content image deep in the network can also be used as a scaling factor for the content loss itself.\",\n \"The difference between the use of global style loss and global content loss is shown by the images shown in FIG.\",\n \"17.An image 1701 shows an image generated using global style loss and an image 1702 shows an image generated using global content loss starting from noise and use the respective global loss functions to generate the final image.\",\n \"The image 1701 illustrates global style loss with no content loss producing a “texturized” version of the style image (Starry Night).\",\n \"Image 1702, on the other hand, introduces global content loss to the texturized version and the texturized version of Starry Night is reshaped into the form of the Golden State Bridge but with the flaws identified above.\",\n \"The difference between the use of a global content loss functions and the use of localized content loss functions determined using a Laplacian Pyramid in accordance with a certain embodiment of the invention is shown in FIG.\",\n \"18.An image 1801 is the same as the image 1702 and introduces global content loss to the texturized version of the image, and an image 1802 introduces local content loss based upon a Laplacian Pyramid to the texturized version instead of the global content loss.\",\n \"The features in the image 1802 emerge (i.e.\",\n \"the bridge and the land) while the rest of the image reproduces the texture of Starry Night more accurately.\",\n \"Although previous processes may start from noise, noise does not have to be the starting point in some embodiments of this invention.\",\n \"The logic of starting from noise may be that noise often produces a slightly different version of the transfer each time.\",\n \"In accordance with a number of embodiments of the invention, CNN backpropagation may be used to provide a style transfer process using global and/or local content loss.\",\n \"The use of CNN backpropagation can allow the image to be thought of as a point in a super-high dimensional space (a dimension for each color channel in each pixel of the image).\",\n \"The optimization process is a gradient descent optimization that pulls an image at that point through the image's high dimensional space toward a new point that is within a small region of the high dimensional space that is considered “good output.” The force that pulls the image may be the combined loss function for style and content as well as optimizing towards a local minimum of the function, depending on where the noise commences in this space.\",\n \"Alternatively, the optimization process may be started from the content image instead of noise in accordance with a number of embodiments.\",\n \"Using the standard approach, the use of the content image to start may not offer an advantage because the content loss may begin from an optimal position and play a more aggressive “tug of war” against the style loss resulting in an image that has more content and less style.\",\n \"In summary, when starting from noise, both loss functions (content and style) are often very bad and move together toward a mutually optimal choice for most of the processes whereas, when starting from the content image, the two loss functions are often fighting against each other during the entire process, and that may return a less than pleasing result.\",\n \"The use of content loss in style transfer processes in accordance with particular embodiments of the invention has certain advantages that known style transfer processes typically have previously overlooked.\",\n \"If the content loss is removed from the function leaving only style loss, a texturized version of the image (as shown in FIG.\",\n \"19, image 1901) is generated with the subtle difference that the content image (i.e.\",\n \"the starting point in high dimensional space) exists in a local minimum within the space of all possible versions of the texturized version of the style image.\",\n \"As such, starting at the content image and removing the content loss causes the process to start at a point in space that is the content image and move away from this point in the high dimension space to a point that is pure style, but the process arrives at a local minimum that represents both style and content in a much better localized ratio than is typically produced by known processes as shown in an image 1901 of FIG.\",\n \"19.The image 1901 was generated by starting at the content image of the Golden Gate Bridge and then optimizing using only style loss so that the image mutated to better resemble “Starry Night” until the process reached a local minimum.\",\n \"This produces better results than previously known style transfer processes.\",\n \"However, the results may be improved by re-introducing localized content loss instead of global content loss that results in image 1902.This approach addresses the problem of removing content loss completely by trying to reach a local minimum in the optimization process that does not cause key structures (e.g.\",\n \"the cables on the bridge and the tower in the background) to be mutated too much by the style loss and lose the distinguishing characteristics of these structures.\",\n \"By re-introducing local content loss in accordance with some embodiments of the invention, the mutation of structurally important aspects of the content too far in the style direction may be reduced leading to an optimization process that reaches a more desirable local minimum.\",\n \"Localized style and content loss are also applicable within a feedforward texture synthesis and style transfer algorithm and are not limited to an optimization framework using backpropagation.\",\n \"Although processes that provide style transfer using global and/local content loss in accordance with various embodiments of the invention are described above, other processes that provide style transfer using global and/or local content loss in accordance with various other embodiments of the invention that add, combine and/or remove steps as necessitated by the requirements of particular systems and/or processes are possible.\",\n \"Localized Style Loss for Artistic Controls In accordance with sundry embodiments of the invention, CNN-based image synthesis processes separate multiple textures in an image into multiple models to determine localized loss.\",\n \"To do so, processes in accordance with many embodiments receive an index mask for the source texture or style image and an index mask for the synthesized image.\",\n \"In accordance with a number of embodiments, each mask is input by a user.\",\n \"Each mask may include M indices.\",\n \"This may sometimes be referred to as a “painting by numbers” process.\",\n \"A process for determining localized loss using masks in accordance with an embodiment of the invention is shown in FIG.\",\n \"20.A process 2000 applies the mask for the source image to the source image to determine the pixels that belong to each of the M indices (2005) and the mask to the synthesized image to determine the pixels that belong to each of the M indices of the synthesized mask.\",\n \"A parametric model is generated for each of the M indices of the source style mask from the pixels that belong to each of the M matrices (2010).\",\n \"The indices of the synthesized output may be tracked though an image pyramid for coarse-to-fine synthesis (2015).\",\n \"During synthesis, the previous losses are modified to be spatially varying (2020).\",\n \"In accordance with many embodiments, spatially varying Gram/Covariance matrix and histogram losses may be imposed where the style Gram/Covariance matrices and histograms vary spatially based on the output index for the current pixel.\",\n \"Histogram matching is then performed (2025).\",\n \"In accordance with several embodiments, the histogram matching may be performed separately in each of the M regions defined by the indexed masks.\",\n \"Blending of adjacent regions may then be performed (2030).\",\n \"In accordance with a number of embodiments, the bending of adjacent regions can be automatically performed during backpropagation.\",\n \"In accordance with certain embodiments of CNN-based image synthesis, it is important to note that often the style and content source images contain sets of textures that are semantically similar and should be transferred to each other.\",\n \"An example of this is shown in FIG.\",\n \"21.FIG.\",\n \"21 also shows images synthesized in accordance with particular embodiments of the invention and images generated using other processes.\",\n \"In FIG.\",\n \"21, images 2101 an example of controllable parametric neural texture synthesis.\",\n \"Original images are on the left, synthesis results on the right; corresponding masks are above each image.\",\n \"Rows of images 2105, 2110 and 2115 are examples of portrait style transfer using painting by numbers.\",\n \"Rows of images 2110 and 2115 show style transfer results for an embodiment of the invention on the far right as compared to images generated by another process in middle.\",\n \"The images can show that processes in accordance with some embodiments of the invention may preserve fine-scale artistic texture better.\",\n \"However, processes in accordance with certain embodiments of the invention may also transfer a bit more of the person's “identity,” primarily due to hair and eye color changes.\",\n \"Implementation Details of CNN Based Image Synthesis Systems that Use Histograms In accordance with sundry embodiments of the invention, the CNN used may be a VGG-19 network pre-trained on the ImageNet dataset.\",\n \"In accordance with many embodiments, layer Rectified Linear Unit (relu) 1_1, relu 2_1, relu 3_1 and relu 4_1 may be used for Gram losses.\",\n \"The histogram losses may be computed only at layers relu 1_1 and relu 4_1 in a number of embodiments.\",\n \"Content loss is computed only at relu 4_1 In accordance with several embodiments.\",\n \"Furthermore, the total may only be performed on the first convolutional layer to smooth out noise that results from the optimization process.\",\n \"In accordance with particular embodiments, the images are synthesized in a multi-resolution process using an image pyramid.\",\n \"During synthesis, the process begins at the bottom of the pyramid that can be initialized to white noise, and after each level is finished synthesizing, a bi-linear interpolation is used to upsample to the next level of the pyramid.\",\n \"Although CNN-based image synthesis systems in accordance with various embodiments of the invention are described above, other configurations of the CNN-based systems that add, modify and/or remove portions of the CNN in accordance with various embodiments of the invention are possible.\",\n \"Controlling Age Appearance within Parametric Models The apparent realism and/or quality of a synthesized image can be improved by applying synthetic weathering.\",\n \"Textures that display the characteristics of some weathering processes may incorporate a collection of multiple textures consolidated into one weathered texture.\",\n \"As such, CNN-based image synthesis processes in accordance with some embodiments of the invention may provide a new approach for controlling the synthesis of these complex textures without having to separate the textures into different parametric models.\",\n \"This may be achieved by directly controlling the synthesis process by strategically waxing and waning specific parameters in the model to create new outputs that express different ratios of desired features to control the appearance of age for certain textures.\",\n \"Identifying Age Features within Exemplar Images A separate but entangled problem to controlling age appearance during synthesis is first identifying which features in the input exemplar image display characteristics of age and to what degree.\",\n \"In accordance with sundry embodiments, user-created masks that delineate feature age may be received and used to identify the features.\",\n \"Processes in accordance with many embodiments may use an automatic clustering approach to segregate different textures.\",\n \"Still other processes in accordance with a number of embodiments may use a patch-based method that uses the average feature distance between a patch and its K nearest neighbors as a metric for “rarity” that may be interpreted as age.\",\n \"This method is based on the assumption that features created by the weathering process are highly random and have a low chance of finding a perfect match caused by the same process.\",\n \"However, there may be a limitation in the patch-based approach when a texture has rare features that are not a product of age, such as knots in wood.\",\n \"In accordance with several embodiments, a CNN may be trained to learn and identify weathered features for a multitude of weathering types.\",\n \"Processes for Controlling Aging Once weathered regions in an image have been identified, CNN-based image synthesis processes in accordance with particular embodiments of the invention can extract a parametric model for each region.\",\n \"The desired age can be produced as a linear combination of the separate models.\",\n \"In the simplest case, weathering may just be an interpolation between a Young and Old parametric model as follows: Page=Y*(1−age)+O*(age) (13) This naive approach cannot generate fully young or fully old textures due to the large receptive fields common in CNN architectures mixing the two parametric models.\",\n \"To circumvent this problem, processes in accordance with many embodiments may introduce a “transition” parametric model built from the bordering pixels between young and old regions.\",\n \"To do so, processes in accordance with a number of embodiments of the invention may dynamically generate masks for each layer of the network corresponding to the receptive field.\",\n \"Examples of a mask are shown in FIG.\",\n \"22 where black is used to delineate the young model, white for the old model and grey for the transition model.\",\n \"With specific regard to FIG.\",\n \"22, (a) indicates an input texture image, (b) indicates a mask delineating young and old textures, (c)-(f) indicate different receptive fields measured in terms of layers of rectified linear units for the Gram losses in texture synthesis and style transfer.\",\n \"The aging process in accordance with some embodiments then may become a two-step process where, first, Young to Transition is synthesized and then Transition to Old is synthesized.\",\n \"This strategy works for textures that completely change from one material to a completely different material as the textures age.\",\n \"However, weathering often damages or deforms a young material rather than transforming it into a completely different material (e.g.\",\n \"scratching, cracking, peeling).\",\n \"Therefore, it is typical that a young model should not contain old features, but the old model should contain young features.\",\n \"In this scenario, the old and transition regions may be combined into a single combined parametric model.\",\n \"Aging processes in accordance with many embodiments of the invention may use a simple strategy for determining whether the transition and old models should be combined or not.\",\n \"The strategy is based upon the observations that when generating the transition masks as shown in FIG.\",\n \"22, the transition region becomes larger for deeper layers of the network.\",\n \"Therefore, if at some layer in the network the transition region completely replaces either a young or an old region, the processes assign that region into transition model at all layers of the network.\",\n \"Thus, the transition region can effectively “annex” other features if the features are too small to justify having their own parametric model.\",\n \"Given the introduction of a third “transition” model, the equation (12) above no longer suffices.\",\n \"In addition to the three-model system, processes in accordance with a number of embodiments may extend the algorithm to account for an arbitrary number of parametric models for complex aging scenarios.\",\n \"When more than two age models are present, there are two equally appropriate synthesis strategies.\",\n \"First, each parametric model can have an age assigned to it between 0 and 1.In the first strategy used by processes in accordance with a number of embodiments of the invention, a list of N parametric models is sorted by age value from smallest to largest giving N−1 pairs of models to linearly interpolate between.\",\n \"These interpolations are sequentially chained such that the youngest model is the Y model and the next youngest is the O model.\",\n \"Once the old texture is fully synthesized, set the Y model to the O model and replace the O model with the next youngest model.\",\n \"The process may then iterate until all of the parametric models have been processed.\",\n \"In the second strategy used by a few embodiments, all N parametric models may be combined in parallel.\",\n \"This results in a single parametric model that is a combination of an arbitrary number of models in any proportion.\",\n \"Although CNN-based image synthesis processes that perform aging in accordance with various embodiments of the invention are described above, other processes that perform aging in accordance with various other embodiments of the invention that add, combine and/or remove steps as necessitated by the requirements of particular systems and/or processes are possible.\",\n \"Continuous Weathering Once a new texture is synthesized at a starting age, it can be a simple process to continue the optimization while iteratively replacing the combined parametric model to reflect a new age.\",\n \"CNN-based image synthesis processes in accordance with particular embodiments of the invention may use this approach to synthesize smoothly varying animations from one age to another.\",\n \"Since a new parametric model for texture or “style” is introduced, and the optimization process starts from a prior model that represents the desired content, this process can be considered a special type of style transfer process where the style transfer process is a useful way to frame the problem.\",\n \"One complication to note is that changing the parametric model can cause a subtle mutation of features that should otherwise be static.\",\n \"While the ultimate goal is to replace young features with old ones, it is also possible for the young features to mutate into new but equally young-looking features due to the parametric model being in flux.\",\n \"In addition, old features may continue to optimize once they are synthesized, breaking the illusion of an aging process.\",\n \"In order to stabilize non-transitional features, processes in accordance with many embodiments introduce a new component, a multi-target localized content loss.\",\n \"In the most basic case, there are only young and old regions in a texture.\",\n \"In order to avoid the continuous mutation effect, these processes may introduce a new content loss strategy that applies different targets to local regions.\",\n \"These processes may begin by first synthesizing a full image for each of the two parametric models to be used as multiple content images.\",\n \"For each local point in the synthesis image, the processes may dynamically choose which content loss to apply based on a “parametric heat map.” To generate the parametric heat map, the mean of a parametric model is subtracted from each pixel of the model and the co-activations to form a covariance matrix for that individual feature.\",\n \"In accordance with a number of embodiments, this may be performed in the rectified linear units for the Gram losses in texture synthesis and style transfer for layer 4 (relu_4) of the VGG-19 network.\",\n \"Next, the L2 distance between this covariance matrix and the covariance matrix component of the young and old parametric models is found for each pixel.\",\n \"The parametric model that has the lowest error can be used to compute the content loss for the pixel using the corresponding content image.\",\n \"Alternatively, processes in accordance with a few embodiments implement this approach by generating a new single content image by choosing pixels from the different content images using the lowest error mask.\",\n \"As can readily be appreciated, the specific approach that is pursued is typically dependent upon the requirements of a given application.\",\n \"Controlling Weathering Through “Painting by Numbers” Continuously updating a single parametric model can lead to natural weathering patterns.\",\n \"However, it is difficult to manually control this process.\",\n \"As an alternative weathering approach, processes in accordance with sundry embodiments extend the painting by numbers strategy presented above where masks are directly drawn or procedurally generated which direct young, old and transition textures to different regions of the synthesis image over time.\",\n \"The ability to procedurally control a weathering process may be important for many textures where different regions can be affected by different environmental conditions in a 3D scene.\",\n \"Although CNN-based image synthesis processes that control weathering through “painting by numbers” in accordance with various embodiments of the invention are described above, other processes that control weathering through “painting by numbers” in accordance with certain embodiments of the invention that add, combine and/or remove steps as necessitated by the requirements of particular systems and/or processes are possible.\",\n \"Continuous Multiscale Aging In accordance with sundry embodiments, CNN-based image synthesis processes re-purpose style transfer to generate a continuous and progressive aging/de-aging process in a multiscale pyramid framework.\",\n \"Style transfer may be considered an extension to texture synthesis in which a second content image is introduced to guide the optimization process.\",\n \"Processes in accordance with many embodiments use the same concept to synthesize time sequences in a multiscale pyramid framework.\",\n \"These processes may bootstrap the animation by synthesizing the first frame in the sequence using the strategy described above.\",\n \"After the first frame is generated, subsequent frames can be created by using the frame before as a prior frame.\",\n \"As such, at any given point in time, two image pyramids are stored in memory, the pyramid for the previous frame and the pyramid for the current frame being synthesized.\",\n \"The synthesis order is illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"23.As the multiple image sizes may be synthesized in parallel, processes in accordance with a number of embodiments may store an optimizer state for each pyramid level.\",\n \"When synthesizing the first frame in the sequence, the base of the pyramid may use white noise as a prior frame to start the synthesis and then each subsequent pyramid level starts from the final result of the previous level that is bi-linearly re-sized to the correct resolution.\",\n \"For all subsequent frames synthesized, a new image pyramid may be synthesized.\",\n \"In accordance with a number of embodiments, the first level of the new pyramid uses the first level of the previous frame as a prior image.\",\n \"For higher layers in the pyramid, the same layer from the previous frame is used as a prior image and a content loss is introduced by re-sizing the previous layer in the same frame, this content image can be seen as a blurry version of the desired result.\",\n \"This process is conceptually illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"23 where image 5 is synthesized using image 2 as a prior and image 4 is re-sized and used as a content image to guide the process.\",\n \"By synthesizing a sequence of images in this manner CNN-based image synthesis processes in accordance with some embodiments achieve the same benefits as synthesizing a single image using the pyramid strategy.\",\n \"However, the fidelity of larger structures may be improved, noise artifacts may be reduced and synthesis speed may be improved.\",\n \"Although CNN-based image synthesis processes that perform continuous multiscale aging in accordance with various embodiments of the invention are described above, other processes that perform continuous multiscale aging in accordance with various other embodiments of the invention that add, combine and/or remove steps as necessitated by the requirements of particular systems and/or processes are possible.\",\n \"Transferring Weathered Patterns from External Exemplars Arguably, it is more useful sometimes to transfer the weathering effects of one material “W” onto another material “C.” This is a more difficult problem as the parameters within W that represent aged features must be completely extracted and isolated from the parameters that encode the underlying texture.\",\n \"The only way to do this accurately is to give every pixel a high fidelity age scoring.\",\n \"While, other systems may be able to accomplish this through a nearest neighbor search, this approach is too coarse and approximate to accurately transfer weathering.\",\n \"Also, some of these other processes may rank pixels based on how unique the pixels are within the image.\",\n \"To perform transferring of weathering patterns in accordance with several embodiments of the invention, pixels may also need to be ranked based on which distinct features they contribute to and by how much.\",\n \"CNN-based image synthesis processes in accordance with particular embodiments can accomplish this using the heat-map approach presented in the previous section on continuous weathering.\",\n \"However, rather than finding the best match among all parametric models, Processes performing weather transfer keep a separate L1 distance score between each parametric model.\",\n \"Thus, these processes may discriminate on a pixel-by-pixel basis to determine the pixels in a weathered region that contribute to the actual age artifacts and to what degree.\",\n \"Given a region of image W with age features as well as transition features and the resulting parametric model, the goal is to remove any features that are not the desired “aged” features and replace these features in the correct proportion with the target parametric model of C. To do so, processes in accordance with many embodiments normalize an L1 distance to each parametric model between 0 and 1 and invert the result so that a region in the synthesized image that strongly matches with a parametric model will receive a score close to 1 and regions that do not match receive a score closer to 0.For a parametric model that should be removed from the mixture, processes in accordance with a number of embodiments compute a mean activation of the model (note, co-activations are not used for this process as the features become very difficult to de-tangle).\",\n \"For each pixel, the processes may multiply the mean activation by the local L1 distance to that parametric model and subtract it from the activations at this target pixel to remove those features in their correct proportion from neural activations of the pixels.\",\n \"The processes may take the mean activations from the new parametric model from image C and multiply it by the same L1 distance to determine an activation value.\",\n \"The activation value is then added to the target pixel in W to replace the young features in the original image with young features from a new image where the weathered features are being introduced.\",\n \"After the texture has been updated, the processes can now perform weathering on image W using the processes described above.\",\n \"Although CNN-based image synthesis processes that transfer weathered patterns from external exemplars in accordance with various embodiments of the invention are described above, other processes that transfer weathered patterns in accordance with various other embodiments of the invention that add, combine and/or remove steps as necessitated by the requirements of particular systems and/or processes are possible.\",\n \"Combining Optimization and Feedforward Parametric Texture Synthesis for Fast, High Resolution Syntheses Neural network-based texture synthesis processes can be grouped into two categories based on their underlying algorithmic strategy.\",\n \"These include optimization-based and feedforward-based approaches.\",\n \"Optimization-based approaches often produce superior quality but may be computationally expensive.\",\n \"This often makes these processes impractical for real world applications.\",\n \"Feedforward-based approaches were developed as a fast alternative to optimization.\",\n \"This is achieved by moving the computational burden to the training phase rather than at run time.\",\n \"While being fast, feedforward approaches are typically poor in quality and inflexible.\",\n \"The first feedforward approach baked the transformation for a single texture into each network.\",\n \"Later, several methods introduced the idea that multiple texture transformations could be baked into a single network.\",\n \"One such method introduced the idea of interpolating between these styles by matching the statistics of deep neural activations from some content image to those of a style image.\",\n \"In addition to baking style transformations into a network, another strategy has been to train an auto-encoder that uses the standard fixed pre-trained VGG network as an encoder with a decoder that is trained to invert VGG.\",\n \"Style transfer can be achieved by directly modifying the activation values produced by the encoder so that they better match the style image.\",\n \"One approach is to replace each feature vector from the content with its nearest neighbor in the style.\",\n \"Impressive results can be achieved by transforming the content activations to better mimic the style activations through a whitening color transform (WCT), which is a linear transformation that is capable of matching covariance statistics.\",\n \"While these methods have greatly improved the flexibility and quality of feedforward methods, they can still be inferior to optimization.\",\n \"CNN-based image synthesis processes in accordance with some embodiments of the invention use a coarse-to-fine multiscale synthesis strategy for neural texture synthesis.\",\n \"These processes can achieve significant speedup over previous optimization methods by performing a majority of iterations on small images early in the process and the further the processes move up the pyramid, the less iterations are used to maintain the already established structure.\",\n \"The use of multiscale pyramid based synthesis is not only computationally cheaper as the processes move up the pyramid, but the problem formulation actually changes.\",\n \"Rather than performing texture synthesis or style transfer, the problem changes to Single Image Super Resolution (SISR) that takes an additional parametric texture model to help guide the up-resolution process.\",\n \"As such, CNN-based image synthesis processes in accordance with many embodiments of the invention may utilize the optimization-based approach described above up until an arbitrary threshold (for example, around the 512×512 pixel size image, varies depending upon the requirements of a given application) and then switch to an arbitrary feedforward approach utilizing VGG encoding/decoding with activation transforms along the way.\",\n \"Switching synthesis algorithms as the processes move up the pyramid can have additional benefits beyond speed.\",\n \"Some CNN-based texture synthesis processes are only capable of generating RGB color textures, a standard that has been obsolete in the video game and movie industries for nearly 20 years.\",\n \"Color textures have been replaced by “Materials” which consist of several maps encoding the fine scale geometry of the surface as well as parameters that direct how light interacts with each pixel.\",\n \"By utilizing a nearest neighbor search from the previous pyramid level to the most similar feature in the style exemplar, the encoder/decoder process in accordance with a number of embodiments can both up-resolution the previous synthesis level while also decoding the entire material.\",\n \"While it may be possible to train a new auto-encoder to process color images along with normal maps, roughness maps, etc.\",\n \"this process would have to be done for every possible combination of maps.\",\n \"This may be costly and awkward.\",\n \"This approach may provide a more flexible and elegant solution.\",\n \"Extending this concept to the arbitrary case, a method in accordance with several embodiments of the invention generates arbitrary material formats applied to any synthesis operation including, but not limited to, texture synthesis, time-varying weathering, style transfer, hybridization and super resolution.\",\n \"This synthesis strategy involves using some color texture generated using another process as input.\",\n \"In addition, an exemplar material is given as input, where this material contains at least one map that is similar in appearance and purpose as the input color map.\",\n \"The input color map is then used as a guide to direct the synthesis of the full material.\",\n \"This is done through a nearest neighbor search where a pixel/patch is found in one of the maps in the material that is similar to a pixel/patch in the input color image.\",\n \"The pointer map resulting from the nearest neighbor search directs how to re-arrange all maps within the material and then each can be synthesized using this same new guiding structure.\",\n \"These processes may be additionally attractive for style transfer because they are fully feedforward and the full resolution image can easily be broken up into deterministic windows that can be synthesized separately and stitched back together.\",\n \"This allows processes in accordance with particular embodiments to synthesize arbitrarily sized images with minimal engineering.\",\n \"Although CNN-based image synthesis processes that combine optimization and feed forward processes in accordance with various embodiments of the invention are described above, other processes that combine optimization and feed forward processes in accordance with various other embodiments of the invention that add, combine and/or remove steps as necessitated by the requirements of particular systems and/or processes are possible.\",\n \"SISR for Renderings In accordance with certain embodiments, a style transfer process used to perform SISR may have applications for rendering.\",\n \"SISR is an ill-posed problem where many high-resolution images can be downsampled to the same low-resolution result.\",\n \"This one-to-many inversion is especially bad at reproducing texture because it targets inverting to an average of all the possible higher resolution images.\",\n \"The latest trend in SISR is to train very deep (i.e.\",\n \"many layered) artificial neural networks on a large dataset using adversarial training.\",\n \"The high capacity of the deep network in conjunction with the adversarial training is meant to help reduce the loss of texture features.\",\n \"Recent advances in rendering algorithms as well as advances in high-resolution displays has resulted in an associated rise in rendering costs.\",\n \"The problem is that that there are more pixels and each pixel is more expensive to render.\",\n \"In particular, the recent jump from 1080p to 4 k rendering has left many animation houses incapable of meeting market needs.\",\n \"For small studios, the costs may be restrictive.\",\n \"For large and famous studios, rendering at 4 k may also be challenging.\",\n \"However, when rendering a movie or other video content, frames typically do not change significantly from one frame to the next.\",\n \"Therefore, it can be assumed that the parametric model or high-resolution texture statistics extracted from one frame are probably also appropriate for guiding similar but slightly different frames.\",\n \"Processes in accordance with some embodiments perform a video up-resolution strategy where the video content is rendered at a low resolution (LR).\",\n \"From the LR source, the processes cluster frames together based on their feature statistics.\",\n \"The mean frame from each cluster is determined and rendered at high resolution (HR).\",\n \"The processes then perform the same guided LR to HR synthesis as proposed for video streaming, with the one important difference that in video streaming the HR statistics for each frame are known whereas for rendering similar HR statistics are shared across multiple frames.\",\n \"Although CNN-based image synthesis processes that perform SISR for rendering in accordance with various embodiments of the invention are described above, other processes that perform SISR for rendering in accordance with various other embodiments of the invention that add, combine and/or remove steps as necessitated by the requirements of particular systems and/or processes are possible.\",\n \"Combining Parametric and Non-Parametric-Non-CNN Synthesis within Pyramid Frameworks Based on the processes described above, CNN-based image synthesis processes in accordance with many embodiments of the invention can use a nearest neighbor search between patches in the synthesized result to determine the most similar patches in the input exemplar in order to create a bridge between parametric CNN-based texture synthesis frameworks and many established non-parametric texture synthesis methods that do not require a neural network to operate.\",\n \"The ability to tether a neural network approach on low-resolution images with non-neural network based methods higher in the synthesis pyramid can represent a “best of both worlds” solution between the two strategies.\",\n \"CNN-based approaches, especially parametric methods may be better at producing creative new features at the cost of speed, memory and image quality (these methods may contain many noise artifacts).\",\n \"Non-parametric models that do not rely on neural networks tend to shuffle around patches directly from the input exemplar.\",\n \"As such, these approaches exhibit the inverse of these behaviors.\",\n \"They are fast, low memory approaches that largely match the fine details of the input.\",\n \"However, they are not as powerful at creating new shapes and features.\",\n \"Although processes that combine parametric and non-parametric-non-CNN synthesis within a pyramid framework in accordance with various embodiments of the invention are described above, other processes that combine parametric and non-parametric-non-CNN synthesis within a pyramid framework in accordance with various other embodiments of the invention that add, combine and/or remove steps as necessitated by the requirements of particular systems and/or processes are possible.\",\n \"Although the present invention has been described in certain specific aspects, many additional modifications and variations would be apparent to those skilled in the art.\",\n \"It is, therefore, to be understood that the present invention may be practiced otherwise than specifically described, including various changes in the implementation without departing from the scope and spirit of the present invention.\",\n \"Thus, embodiments of the present invention should be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive.\",\n \"Dilated Network Architecture The examples disclosed above have largely been agnostic to network architecture and are transversal to many Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) architectures.\",\n \"However, in addition to the examples above, the system in accordance with several embodiments of the invention implements a new network architecture for image synthesis that is particularly well suited to the problem.\",\n \"In accordance with some embodiments of the invention, a combination of Pooling Layers, Strided Convolution Layers and Dilated Convolution Layers are used to arrange neurons into a hierarchical multiscale relationship.\",\n \"Typically, image synthesis algorithms utilize pooling layers and sometimes strided convolution layers in order to form an image pyramid structure within the neural network architecture.\",\n \"Typically, only one such strategy is used throughout the network architecture.\",\n \"Recent work in image segmentation has achieved performance improvements utilizing a dilated convolutional network (https://arxiv.org/pdf/1511.07122.pdf—the disclosure of which related to dilated convolutional networks is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety), with a follow-up work showing that dilated convolution can also be used to learn image filters (http://vladlen.info/papers/fast-image-processing-with-supplement.pdf—the disclosure of which related to dilated convolutional networks is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety).\",\n \"Dilated convolution is a similar concept to image stacks, first introduced for the purposes of image processing using signal and statistics based methods and later adapted for texture synthesis (Sylvain Lefebvre and Hugues Hoppe.\",\n \"2005.Parallel controllable texture synthesis.\",\n \"ACM Trans.\",\n \"Graph.\",\n \"24, 3 (July 2005), 777-786—the disclosure of which related to dilated convolutional networks is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety).\",\n \"The image stack is a collection of image pyramids sampled from a single image at regular translation intervals.\",\n \"Image stacks were developed to address the problem that the image pyramid data structure leads to discretization errors, e.g.\",\n \"the same input image when translated could lead to very different downsampled results.\",\n \"The image stack is effectively a translation invariant alternative to image pyramids.\",\n \"It also follows that other types of symmetry transformations could also lead to similar discretization artifacts, e.g.\",\n \"two otherwise identical images would produce very different averages at coarser levels of an image pyramid.\",\n \"Other solutions to this problem include, but are not limited to, using a collection of image pyramids at different translations of an input image.\",\n \"An image stack can extend this concept to the most extreme conclusion where every possible image pyramid configuration is extracted from the original image, and then packed together efficiently so that all redundant data is removed.\",\n \"The efficient packing can be achieved using a “quadtree pyramid,” which was originally developed to accelerate an Approximate Nearest Neighbor (ANN) search utilizing KD-Trees.\",\n \"However, an image stack re-orders the data into a tightly packed image where features remain coherent across scale levels.\",\n \"The same data structure was actually first introduced a few years earlier by Masaki Kawase during a Game Developers Conference lecture for the purpose of blurring an image (slides published online by GDC, https://www.gamedev.net/forums/topic/615132-dof-basic-steps/Slides 15-18—the disclosure of which related to dilated convolutional networks is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety).\",\n \"In an image pyramid structure, each level of the pyramid is typically half the resolution in each dimension as the previous level.\",\n \"In an image stack structure, each level is the same resolution as the previous level.\",\n \"In an image pyramid, samples are typically averaged together or combined in some way using a convolution kernel with a stride of 1, used uniformly at every pyramid level.\",\n \"In an image stack, samples are typically averaged together or combined in some way using a convolution kernel with a stride of 2level where level is the number of scale factors relative to the original image.\",\n \"This can be thought of as analogous to a downscaling transition in an image pyramid.\",\n \"In summary, image pyramids both downsample and subsample an image.\",\n \"While downsampling is a desirable operation, subsampling rarely is.\",\n \"Image stacks get around this problem by downsampling without subsampling.\",\n \"The same data structures and hierarchical relationships used for an image pyramid and an image stack can also be used for convolutional network architectures that utilize pooling layers or strided convolution as well as dilated convolution.\",\n \"As such, the advantages/disadvantages of using a stack versus a pyramid in an image processing framework are transversal and carry over to a convolutional neural network architecture.\",\n \"Replacing pooling or strided convolution with a dilated convolution will often yield superior image synthesis results.\",\n \"Previous image synthesis methods using a Convolutional Neural Network have used some kind of pooling or dilated convolution strategy, thus they typically go through some form of subsampling operation followed by a supersampling operation.\",\n \"In the optimization based framework, the feedforward pass is a subsampling pyramid operation as higher order features are extracted deeper in the network, then the generation of the new image is a supersampling process through backpropagation as gradients traverse upwards through the network to the higher resolution shallow layers.\",\n \"In a feedforward architecture, many approaches are typically some form of auto-encoder or cascading image pyramid, both of which utilize some form of subsampled data and attempt to supersample it during the synthesis process.\",\n \"In many embodiments of the invention, network architectures designed for image synthesis, which may rely on pooling or strided convolution to do downsampling, can be improved by using a dilated convolution architecture instead.\",\n \"Therefore, the system in accordance with several embodiments of the invention makes use of dilated alternatives to such network architectures, as dilation is often a superior form of downsampling for image synthesis operations.\",\n \"In addition, where a synthesis strategy also relies on the use of image pyramids (typically Gaussian pyramids) of the input data for additional multiscale synthesis, the system in accordance with some embodiments of the invention uses an image stack to replace the image pyramid (typically a Gaussian stack).\",\n \"The dilated network strategy is particularly well suited for auto-encoders where the decoder network is a layer-wise inverter of the encoder network (i.e.\",\n \"each layer in the encoder has a “mirror” layer in the decoder which inverts that layer as accurately as possible).\",\n \"This particular network architecture is desirable for fast image synthesis because the encoder side of the network can distill an image into its most meaningful features, which can be modified in some way by another algorithm (e.g.\",\n \"including, but not limited to, a whitening transform, histogram match, or nearest neighbor search).\",\n \"The newly updated values can then be inverted by the decoder in order to produce a new image.\",\n \"This synthesis strategy is attractive because it's much faster and more memory efficient than an optimization based approach.\",\n \"It is however very difficult to implement because inverting a network that includes pooling is very difficult (historically literature has always used a pre-trained VGG network as the encoder).\",\n \"Inverting pooling layers typically leads to blurring or other such supersampling artifacts.\",\n \"Systems in accordance with many embodiments of the invention implement a dilated architecture as an alternative, which is easy and more accurate to invert on a layer-by-layer basis.\",\n \"In many embodiments, a whitening transform, multiscale NNS search or histogram matching algorithm can continue to be applied to features at each network layer as they progress through the decoder.\",\n \"Note that dilation shares the same drawback as the image stacks, it is a memory inefficient way to encode data, especially deeper in the network.\",\n \"Previous texture synthesis approaches utilizing image stacks were generally limited to 256×256 pixels in resolution due to the high memory demands.\",\n \"However, conventional images may have much higher pixel resolutions (e.g., up to or exceeding a 8192×8192 pixel resolution).\",\n \"The size of these images can make the image stack representation too memory demanding.\",\n \"Instead, processes in accordance with some embodiments of the invention combine pooling or strided convolution layers at the shallow end of a convolutional neural network architecture with dilated convolution layers deeper in the network.\",\n \"This “hybrid” network architecture exhibits the properties of a pyramid network up to a specific depth in the network and then switches to the properties of a dilated stack.\",\n \"From a memory viewpoint, this is attractive because large images quickly get condensed into much smaller images for the majority of the network.\",\n \"This is also a good compromise from an image processing viewpoint because the deeper layers of the network encode the complex shapes and patterns and thus need the highest resolution.\",\n \"Shallow layers of the network only encode simple shapes and textures and don't require the same degree of network capacity.\",\n \"This new network architecture can be visualized as an image stack with a pyramid sitting on top of it.\",\n \"Although a specific pyramid-stack hybrid convolutional neural network architecture based on some combination of pooling, strided convolution and dilated convolution is used for image synthesis in a number of examples discussed above, in several embodiments of the invention, the pyramid-stack hybrid may be modified in a variety of ways, including (but not limited to) adding, removing, and/or combining components of the stack.\",\n \"Image Hybridization Starting from a set of several source images within the same category, systems and methods in accordance with many embodiments of the invention can hybridize, or mix them together in a way that produces a new member from that category.\",\n \"This is a follow-up work to Risser, Eric, et al.\",\n \"“Synthesizing structured image hybrids.” ACM Transactions on Graphics (TOG).\",\n \"Vol.\",\n \"29.No.\",\n \"4.ACM, 2010.the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.\",\n \"While this work is based on the same theories as the original approach, this version of image hybridization is re-designed from the ground up in order to utilize convolutional neural networks both for image description and as the machinery for performing synthesis.\",\n \"The three key observations for image hybridization are: (1) instead of taking a small sample from an infinite plane of texture and synthesizing more of that infinite plane, grab a small sample across an infinite set within a “category” and synthesize more instances of that category, (2) structure exists across scales and should be observed across scales, and (3) manifesting structure from noise is difficult, so don't break structure in the first place.\",\n \"CNN based image synthesis is an ideal approach for hybridizing images due to the CNN's ability to learn and identify complex shapes and structures across multiple scales.\",\n \"Unlike other image synthesis methods which can be improved by dilated convolution, but do not require it, hybridization is likely to produce poor results and artifacts if deeper layers of the CNN are subsampled.\",\n \"Therefore, the input images can be passed in a feedforward manner through a dilated convolutional neural network to produce deep neural activations that have a 1-to-1 mapping with input image pixels.\",\n \"The logic behind using a stack as opposed to a pyramid is that when performing coarse to fine synthesis, the texture built at a coarse level largely influences whether a local or global minimum will be found.\",\n \"When a sub-optimal choice is made at the coarse level of the synthesis pyramid, synthesis will get stuck in a local min, so it is important to be very careful when synthesizing at the coarse level, in order to achieve a good result.\",\n \"When doing stochastic texture synthesis, there are many local mins that are all very similar to the global min, so this is less of a concern.\",\n \"When doing image hybridization though, most local minima are significantly worse than the global minimum and a small set of local minima surrounding the global minimum.\",\n \"This can be tied to breaking versus preserving the global structure of the image.\",\n \"The reason why stacks typically preserve global structure as opposed to pyramids is very simple.\",\n \"Imagine the same picture of a face in image A and image B.\",\n \"The only difference is that image B is transposed along the x axis.\",\n \"When turning A and B into pyramids, the right eye is subsampled into a single pixel at a coarse level.\",\n \"The same eye in image B, however, is spread across two pixels which also have features surrounding the eye, thanks to the transposed position drastically changing the quantization in the pyramid.\",\n \"When synthesizing the texture at a coarse level, there are no good nearest neighbor matches between image A and B, the center of the eye is represented by a pixel in image A but image B only has the right and left sides of the eye as candidates to be linked to.\",\n \"While it's theoretically possible to recover the eye feature at finer levels, this is a much harder problem and in practice rarely happens.\",\n \"By using a stack, the system in accordance with many embodiments of the invention avoids quantization and maintains the maximum number of features to compare, drastically increasing the chance of finding good matches.\",\n \"To bootstrap the synthesis process, choose one of the input images at random and pass it feedforward through a network.\",\n \"Unlike the first step that extracts feature vectors for each exemplar, synthesis itself does not strictly require a dilated architecture.\",\n \"Dilated versus strided convolution have their own benefits and weaknesses and are compared below.\",\n \"The important thing to note is that the same convolution kernels used for extracting exemplar features typically must also be used during synthesis.\",\n \"Luckily, a dilated architecture can be thought of as a collection of pyramid architectures, so the same set of kernels can be used in either strategy.\",\n \"Many of the examples described herein refer to VGG-19 feature kernels pre-trained on the ImageNet dataset, however one skilled in the art will recognize that convolutional kernels from any network architecture trained on any dataset may be applied in accordance with various embodiments of the invention.\",\n \"Hybridization, unlike other image synthesis operations, is a non-parametric process that relies on finding similar matching features between input and output images and building new images by re-combining sets of exemplar features into new configurations while tracking the global feature error between these new features being mixed and the original input features that they were derived from.\",\n \"Note that hybridization can be performed in either an optimization or feedforward based synthesis strategy.\",\n \"In either case, the key aspect of image hybridization is to algorithmically generate new activations at different levels of the network which combine the activation features extracted from the input images into new hybrid configurations.\",\n \"Before we describe how these new hybrid configurations are generated, we'll identify how they are used to synthesize new images.\",\n \"When performing optimization based synthesis, an input image (typically noise, but it could be anything) is iteratively updated to minimize some loss function.\",\n \"The “hybrid loss” function is the summed L2 distance between each pixel in the current image being synthesized and the hybrid activation maps at a given layer.\",\n \"This is the same strategy as the “content loss” described above, however, whereas the content loss was taken directly from an input image, the “hybrid loss” is a new activation map that is generated by recombining activation features taken from different input images.\",\n \"In the original image synthesis work, content loss is only used at RELU4_1, so that it does not overpower style loss at shallow layers of the network.\",\n \"Hybridization in accordance with a number of embodiments of the invention incorporates a style loss in order to perform style transfer combined with hybridization all in one operation.\",\n \"Alternatively, in several embodiments, the basic hybridization algorithm assumes that there is no style loss.\",\n \"Therefore, hybrid loss can be used at multiple layers in the network.\",\n \"Feedforward networks on the other hand do not perform an optimization process turning one image into another, instead they transform an image into a new image.\",\n \"Therefore, using the dilated auto-encoder network described above, the encoder portion is run on all input images, their features are hybridized in the middle of the network using another process, and then this hybridized set of activation values are inverted by the decoder.\",\n \"Note that in both optimization and feedforward synthesis, the results of hybridizing deep features in the network can be passed up to shallow layers and then become further hybridized through another hybridization step.\",\n \"In order to describe the process in which activation maps are reconfigured to produce hybrid activation maps, it is helpful to first introduce the concept of feature space.\",\n \"The idea behind feature space is that similar visual features in the image will map to points in feature space that are close to each other in terms of Euclidean distance, while very different looking features will be very far away from each other.\",\n \"The neural network in accordance with some embodiments of the invention is a feature descriptor and converts a neighborhood of raw pixel values into a single point in a high dimensional feature space.\",\n \"Given this background, the creation of hybrid activations for a layer can be explained.\",\n \"Given the layer activations for one of the random input images, the goal is to traverse every pixel location in the layer and replace the current feature vector at that location with a new feature vector taken from some other pixel location in that layer or from some pixel location taken from another input image's neural activations at that layer.\",\n \"This can be done through a two-step process where the process introduces randomness or “jitter” and then “corrects” any artifacts or broken structures caused by the jitter.\",\n \"In certain embodiments, the process optionally pre-computes k-nearest neighbors between each input image and every other input image as a part of an acceleration strategy.\",\n \"In the next phase, for each pixel in the image being synthesized, the process in accordance with many embodiments of the invention gathers k nearest neighbors from the input exemplars.\",\n \"In certain embodiments, the process divides up the k samples equally across all the exemplars.\",\n \"In a number of embodiments, the distance metric used for these KNNs is the L2 distance between feature vectors at the neural network layer of interest.\",\n \"This is equivalent to transforming all of the image data into points in high dimensional feature space.\",\n \"Around each synthesis feature point, the process in accordance with some embodiments of the invention gathers the cluster of exemplar feature points surrounding it, such that the process samples the same number of points from each exemplar.\",\n \"The next step is to sort these K nearest neighbors from smallest to largest distance.\",\n \"In certain embodiments, the one parameter exposed to the user is a “jitter slider” that goes from 0-1 (or an equivalent linear or non-linear range), where 0 should produce one of the original inputs and 1 should be the maximum hybridization and mutation.\",\n \"Therefore, the 0-1 range is mapped to the min distance and max distance of the closest to farthest neighbors.\",\n \"Depending on the jitter setting, the process in accordance with many embodiments of the invention gathers the K nearest neighbors with distances less than the jitter value and randomly selects one of them to update the synthesis patch with.\",\n \"This is akin to constraining noise.\",\n \"Instead of starting from noise and trying to recover structure from it (which is very difficult), instead the process in accordance with a number of embodiments starts from pure structure (i.e.\",\n \"the input) and adds noise strategically and intelligently in order to not break the structure to a degree from which it cannot be recovered.\",\n \"To this end, the process in accordance with several embodiments of the invention adds noise or randomness in “feature space” rather than color space or image space as is typical for these types of algorithms.\",\n \"This strategy adds noise in feature space, which essentially allows the process to randomize the image in a way that preserves the important structures of the image.\",\n \"This operation can be performed at one or more convolution layers within the CNN.\",\n \"After jitter is used to modify the details of the new image being synthesized, the second step “correction” then “fixes” the image so that it maintains statistical similarity to the exemplar input.\",\n \"For each n×n neighborhood of synthesized neural activation vectors (where n×n could be any size, including 1×1 e.g.\",\n \"a single element vector), correction seeks out the neighborhood of neural activation vectors in any exemplar that has the lowest L2 distance.\",\n \"The current synthesis neural activation vector is then replaced with that closest exemplar neural activation vector.\",\n \"The correction scheme is based on coherence (Ashikhmin, Michael.\",\n \"“Synthesizing natural textures.” Proceedings of the 2001 symposium on Interactive 3D graphics.\",\n \"ACM, 2001—the relevant disclosure from which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety), which states that nearest neighbor selection is not always the best method for finding perceptual similarity.\",\n \"Rather coherence, or the relationship between neighboring pixels, plays a large role in structure and perceptual similarity.\",\n \"Therefore, the process in accordance with many embodiments of the invention introduces a bias so that exemplar activation vectors that form a coherent patch with the surrounding synthesis activation vectors are given a reduction in L2 distance.\",\n \"This incentivizes the formation of coherent patches from the exemplar.\",\n \"For both jitter and correction, the process in accordance with various embodiments of the invention can either perform a nearest neighbor search from the synthesis layer to the exemplar layers during runtime of the algorithm, or could pre-compute a candidate list of k-nearest neighbors from every exemplar feature to every other k exemplar feature.\",\n \"Then, during synthesis, each activation vector also maintains a pointer to the exemplar activation vector that it is mimicking.\",\n \"Whether pre-computing nearest neighbors, or finding them at runtime, a nearest neighbor searching algorithm that is designed with neural networks in mind is needed.\",\n \"To this end, several embodiments in accordance with the invention use a nearest neighbor algorithm as described in U.S.\",\n \"Provisional Application 62/528,372, entitled “Systems and Methods for Providing convolutional Neural Network Based Non-Parametric Texture Synthesis in Graphic Objects, filed on Jul.\",\n \"3, 2017, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein in its entirety.\",\n \"The synthesis process for an optimization based algorithm in accordance with some embodiments of the invention runs E input images through a dilated version of a CNN, resulting in a set of activation vectors for specific layers of interest (for the sake of VGG-19, these are RELU1_1, RELU2_1, RELU3_1 AND RELU4_1).\",\n \"The synthesis process runs a randomly selected input image through either a dilated or un-dilated version of the CNN to produce the starting point for the hybrid activations.\",\n \"The process runs a jitter pass and runs the standard neural optimization based synthesis method starting from some prior (typically noise) for several iterations of backpropagation until the prior has turned into a manifestation of the jittered activations at the deep layer.\",\n \"The process then runs a correction pass on the activations at the coarsest layer in the network (for VGG-19, this is RELU4_1), thus producing the hybrid activations for that layer.\",\n \"The process runs the standard neural optimization based synthesis method again for several iterations of backpropagation until the prior has turned into a manifestation of the hybrid activations at the deep layer.\",\n \"Once the current level has converged, the process moves to the next most shallow layer of interest in the network (e.g.\",\n \"RELU3_1 for VGG-19) and repeats the process, jitter and correct in order to find new hybrid activations for that layer to use as the target for hybrid loss and reruns the optimization process now only going to that layer and no farther down the network.\",\n \"Repeat this process until the shallowest layer of interest is optimized.\",\n \"The synthesis process for feedforward networks in accordance with a number of embodiments of the invention runs all inputs through the encoder, producing the deep neural activations.\",\n \"Before running the decoder, the process runs the jitter pass on one of the exemplars in order to randomize the features.\",\n \"In order to correct, the process samples a neighborhood of activation vectors (at least 3×3) around each activation vector and performs the correction phase of the algorithm.\",\n \"The jitter and correction phase can either use pre-computed nearest neighbor sets or run a full nearest neighbor search during the algorithm.\",\n \"Once correction is finished, the process continues through the decoder, inverting the new hybrid layer.\",\n \"This process can be repeated for each layer moving through the decoder or only run at target layers.\",\n \"This is a tradeoff between algorithm speed and the scale at which features are hybridized.\",\n \"Optimization based synthesis is slower than feedforward, however it achieves superior quality.\",\n \"On Model Image Synthesis Using Convolutional Neural Networks In computer graphics, a 3D model is typically “texture mapped”.\",\n \"For purposes of this discussion, “texture mapped,” means an image is wrapped over the surface of the 3D shape as shown in FIG.\",\n \"24.3D models typically contain UV coordinates at each vertex which define the 2D parameterization of the 3D surface.\",\n \"In FIG.\",\n \"24, the left image displays the underlying geometry of the mesh 2401, the middle image shows the geometry with a texture mapped over the mesh 2402 and the image on the right shows what that texture 2403 looks like as a 2D mapping of a 3D surface.\",\n \"We refer to synthesizing texture maps as “on-model synthesis.” Processes in accordance with many embodiments of the invention integrate an on-model synthesis approach into the CNN approach.\",\n \"To do so, these processes have to spread out atlas maps and build a gutter space of pointers re-directing to neighboring charts.\",\n \"The CNN based synthesis approach in accordance with many embodiments of the invention relies on the process of convolution in which each pixel of the synthesis kernel is filtered based on a neighborhood of its surrounding pixels.\",\n \"On-model synthesis introduces two complications on top of the standard synthesis approach in image space: (1) Flow field over a 3D model is generated using its curvature properties along with user guidance.\",\n \"That flow field can then be projected as a 2D vector field in the parameterized texture space.\",\n \"This flow field typically contains both directional components as well as scale components along each axis.\",\n \"Rather than convolving the neural network along the image x and y axis unit vectors globally, each pixel now has its own local coordinate frame and scale.\",\n \"(2) Because an arbitrary 3D surface cannot be mapped to a single plane, UV texture space is typically broken up into a set of “charts” where each chart covers a relatively flat portion of the model.\",\n \"This adds another level of complication because texture colors that are coherent along the surface of the model are not coherent in texture space where we perform our convolutions.\",\n \"To accommodate this, the process in accordance with many embodiments of the invention adds a gutter space of a few pixels in radius around each chart.\",\n \"These gutter pixels store pointers to other charts in texture space that encode coherent pixels along the model's surface.\",\n \"This additional pointer buffer is referred to as a “jump map”.\",\n \"When performing convolution, rather than sampling directly from the image, the process in accordance with a number of embodiments first samples from the jump map which points to the image pixel that should be sampled.\",\n \"Because texture space might have tightly packed charts, as a pre-process, the process in accordance with some embodiments spreads out the charts so that there is a gutter space of at least two pixels around each chart at the coarsest synthesis pyramid level plus however many pooling layers are passed through in the CNN.\",\n \"Note that when using dilated convolution, the gutter space typically must be two to the power of the number of dilated convolutions.\",\n \"Processes in accordance with some of these embodiments introduce an underlying vector field that frames the local orientation around each pixel.\",\n \"As CNNs work by performing convolution across an image, the vector field directs the local orientation of the convolution.\",\n \"Thus, these processes can bi-linearly interpolate sampling of neural activations from the previous layer.\",\n \"Where the convolution kernel extends beyond the scope of an atlas chart, the gutter space of pointers redirects to another atlas chart.\",\n \"During the back-propagation phase of the process, inverse mapping can be used in a manner similar to what is described above with respect to convolution.\",\n \"This allows these processes to perform CNN image synthesis directly in UV space for on-model synthesis.\",\n \"Thus far the algorithm described is designed to use a rectangular texture and a single model (with no relationship between the two) as input and synthesize a new image which maps into the model's unwrapped texture space, as shown in the FIG.\",\n \"25, where texture 2501 is wrapped around mesh 2502.In this regard the input is still a rectangular image and the output uses the mesh as a canvas on which to paint over.\",\n \"In many instances, a pre-textured mesh is given as input and the textures already parameterized into some UV space are used as the source data to feed an image synthesis process.\",\n \"Processes in accordance with some embodiments of the invention follow a similar approach.\",\n \"These processes take this concept a step further and produce textures that conform to geometric shapes and the feature contents of that texture are guided by the underlying shape itself.\",\n \"This results in image synthesis that can be applied on top of already textured meshes, and can also produce appearance transfer from one textured mesh onto another.\",\n \"The goal of processes in accordance with some embodiments of the invention is to go one step further and provide an on-model texture synthesis scheme that allows the user to supply a fully textured model as the input exemplar (for example texture mapped mesh (2402)) instead of just a texture (2403), and apply that texture from the model onto a different untextured model.\",\n \"The advantage to this approach is that a lot of useful information is represented by a textured mesh, including (but not limited to) the relationship between varying texture features and the underlying geometric shape on which they would typically exist.\",\n \"Texture and shape are often not independent.\",\n \"Instead, texture and shape are related.\",\n \"Thus, by learning or associating the relationships between a texture and a shape to which the texture is applied, processes in accordance with some embodiments of the invention can provide artists with more powerful and convenient tools.\",\n \"There are two key ideas behind this approach in accordance with some embodiments of the invention.\",\n \"The first is that deep neural activation features and their resulting parametric models for UV mapped textures should be calculated using the same vector field and jump map approach proposed above for the purposes of synthesis.\",\n \"The second is to find a shape descriptor that is both effective as well as compatible with an image descriptor maintained by the system and the image based GPU accelerated framework upon which the system is built.\",\n \"A key insight is that geometric shape information can be projected onto an image (i.e.\",\n \"a regular grid) and the shape descriptor is able to work by sampling patches from this grid in order to maintain compatibility with the GPU framework.\",\n \"Because it is desirable that geometric neighborhoods correspond to texture neighborhoods, it makes sense that the geometric projection into image space should match the texture unwrapping.\",\n \"The only issue is that texture information can map to multiple portions of a single mesh.\",\n \"As such, processes in accordance with some embodiments of the invention utilize a texture parameterization that provides a 1-to-1 mapping between points on a model and pixels in a texture image.\",\n \"This amounts to simply making copies of charts or chart regions that are pointed to from multiple polygons so that each polygon maps to its own region in texture space.\",\n \"Once each point on the 3D surface of a mesh points to a unique pixel in image space, any arbitrary shape description, ranging from point location in 3D space to more sophisticated descriptors, can be fed into a CNN framework in order to learn local shape features using a CNN training process.\",\n \"One such training approach could be mesh categorization, however, other training approaches such as mesh compression, feature clustering or upres could also be viable training strategies for learning meaningful shape features.\",\n \"Condensed Feature Extraction Networks In several embodiments, a learning strategy for condensing networks that have been trained for purposes other than image synthesis allows for the production of new networks that are more efficient at extracting image features used for image synthesis.\",\n \"Typically, VGG-19 pre-trained for image classification is used as a high quality, learned image descriptor for extracting out meaningful image features for the purposes of image synthesis.\",\n \"Many networks designed for classification have been designed for a different and more difficult problem than texture feature extraction and often require more capacity than is needed for feature extraction.\",\n \"VGG, for example, is computationally expensive to run, which can result in small images, long wait times and a reliance on expensive hardware.\",\n \"One of the benefits of systems in accordance with various embodiments of the invention is to improve memory/speed performance, without sacrificing synthesis quality.\",\n \"Again, for the purposes of image synthesis, VGG or some other network architecture trained on classification can be of interest on the basis that the kernels that were produced as a byproduct of the learning process for image classification can be useful in image synthesis.\",\n \"For image synthesis, not all activation maps produced by a network are needed, only a small subset of those feature maps.\",\n \"As such, there are layers in the network that are not used directly for image synthesis, rather blocks of layers are run between layers of interest.\",\n \"In many embodiments, the number of hidden layers in a previously trained CNN can be reduced and/or the capacity of those hidden layers can be reduced.\",\n \"The simplest strategy is to train a new network on image classification.\",\n \"Unfortunately, if a new set of kernels for classification on a lower capacity network is learned, there's a good chance that there won't be enough capacity to perform classification as well as VGG and if the classification isn't as good then the resulting kernels might not do as good a job at feature extraction.\",\n \"Rather than learning a leaner feature extraction network by reproducing the classification learning process, the learning strategy in accordance with many embodiments of the invention uses the activation maps produced by VGG (or some other artificial neural network) as the ground truth (since they will produce good synthesis results) and a network is trained to try and reproduce the input/output pairings using fewer neurons then VGG.\",\n \"The assumption behind this condensed network learning strategy is that a reduction in network capacity has a larger effect on the quality of classification performance than it does on feature extraction for the purposes of image synthesis.\",\n \"For example, if a small network approximates a VGG convolutional block at 95% accuracy at 25% VGG's neurons, that would introduce so much error that the classification results would be dramatically affected.\",\n \"However, for the purposes of image synthesis, 95% accuracy would still find very good image features and synthesis quality would not be noticeably effected.\",\n \"Stated another way, systems and methods in accordance with many embodiments of the invention utilize an artificial neural network with a specific number of neurons to learn a network that approximates the intermediate neural activations of a different network with a larger number (or the same number) of artificial neurons for the purposes of efficient image synthesis.\",\n \"Although various processes for generating a geometric description map for convolutional neural network based texture synthesis are discussed above, many different systems and methods can be implemented in accordance with various embodiments of the invention.\",\n \"It is therefore to be understood that the present invention may be practiced in ways other than specifically described, without departing from the scope and spirit of the present invention.\",\n \"Thus, embodiments of the present invention should be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive.\",\n \"Accordingly, the scope of the invention should be determined not by the embodiments illustrated, but by the appended claims and their equivalents.\"\n ]\n]"},"source":{"kind":"string","value":"Patent_15876011"}}},{"rowIdx":4495053,"cells":{"text":{"kind":"list like","value":[["PIPELINED VIDEO DECODER SYSTEM","Efficient decoding of video content that may involve intra block copy operations, such as copying pixel data from one region of a frame to another region of the same frame is described.","For example, a method to decode the video content may involve identifying the video frame in which intra block copy operation is to be performed, prior to the intra block copy operation being initiated.","A video decoder may prefetch the pixel data from the source region to a local buffer with low memory latency such that the source pixel data to be copied into the destination blocks in the video frame is readily available.","Thus, costly, and time consuming memory access may be avoided, and in turn a video decoding pipeline may operate smoothly without any stalling."],["1.A device comprising: at least one circuit configured to: decode a current block within a frame of video data, the frame comprised of a plurality of blocks; identify an intra-block copy request (IBC request) for the current block, wherein the IBC request comprises copying content from a source block to the current block of the frame, wherein the source block is within the frame and has been decoded; and copy the content of the source block to the current block.","from the internal memory 2.The device of claim 7, wherein memory latency of the internal memory is lower than memory latency of the external memory.","3.The device of claim 1, wherein the at least one circuit is further configured to: pre-fetch the content of the source block prior to completion of decoding of the current block.","4.The device of claim 1, wherein the at least one circuit is further configured to filter decoded blocks of the video data.","5.The device of claim 4, wherein, an internal memory is configured to store a predetermined number of decoded blocks within the frame of the video data, the frame being currently decoded by the device.","6.The device of claim 5, wherein the predetermined number of decoded blocks stored within the internal memory are stored prior to a block copy operation of the device.","7.The device of claim 6, wherein the decoded blocks, prior to the block copy operation, are further stored in an external memory.","8.A method comprising: receiving, using at least one circuit, a frame, the frame divided into a plurality of blocks; decoding, using the at least one circuit, a block from among the blocks of the frame; and decoding, using the at least one circuit, another block from among the blocks of the frame, the decoding the another block comprising copying contents of the decoded block of the frame as decoded contents of the another block, wherein the block is different than the another block.","9.The method of claim 10, further comprising: storing, using the at least one circuit, at least a part of the decoded block of the frame, prior to filtering, in a local buffer.","10.The method of claim 8, further comprising: filtering, using circuitry, the decoded block of the frame; and storing, using circuitry, the filtered block of the frame in a memory storage device, for display.","11.The method of claim 9, wherein, copying the contents of the decoded block comprises copying at least part of the contents of the decoded block from a memory storage device.","12.The method of claim 11, wherein, copying the contents of the decoded block further comprises copying at least part of the contents of the decoded block from the local buffer.","13.The method of claim 8, wherein the received frame is received from a source device for screen casting.","14.A computer program product comprising code stored in a non-transitory computer-readable medium, the code comprising: code to receive video data, the video data comprising a plurality of video frames, each video frame of the video frames further comprising blocks of pixels; code to decode a first block of pixels; code to identify an intra block copy instruction associated with decoding a the second block of pixels; and code to, in response to the intra block copy instruction, copy part of the decoded first block of pixels to the second block of pixels.","15.The computer program product of claim 14, wherein the intra block copy instruction identifies the first block of pixels as a source of contents for the second block of pixels.","16.The computer program product of claim 15, wherein the code further comprises: code to filter the decoded first block of pixels; and code to store the filtered first block of pixels for display.","17.The computer program product of claim 15, wherein the code further comprises: code to, in response to the intra block copy instruction, copy part of a decoded third block of pixels to the second block of pixels, wherein the intra block copy instruction further identifies the third block of pixels as another source of contents for the second block of pixels.","18.The computer program product of claim 14, wherein the code further comprises: code to parse the intra block copy instruction to determine one or more source blocks for the intra block copy instruction for the second block of pixels, wherein contents of the one or more source blocks are copied into the second block of pixels; code to identify one or more locations of the one or more source blocks for the intra block copy instruction; and code to copy contents from the one or more source blocks from the identified one or more locations into the second block of pixels.","19.The computer program product of claim 18, wherein: the first block of pixels is identified as a source block for the intra block copy instruction and a location of the first block of pixels is identified as a first memory device; and a third block of pixels is identified as another source block for the intra block copy instruction and a location of the third block of pixels is identified as a second memory device that has a higher latency than the first memory device.","20.The computer program product of claim 19, wherein the code further comprises: code to identify the one or more locations of the one or more source blocks for the intra block copy instruction based on a predetermined number of blocks of pixel stored in the first memory device."],[" BACKGROUND Rapid advances in electronics and communication technologies, driven by immense customer demand, have resulted in the worldwide adoption of devices that display a wide variety of video content.","Examples of such devices include smartphones, flat screen televisions, and tablet computers.","Improvements in video processing techniques will continue to enhance the capabilities of these devices.","Accordingly, coding of screen content video is becoming important because of applications such as wireless displays, remote desktop, remote gaming, automotive infotainment, cloud computing, distance education and many others."],[" BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG.","1 illustrates a block diagram of an example video decoder.","FIG.","2 illustrates an example intra block copy operation.","FIG.","3 illustrates an exemplary video decoder.","FIG.","4 illustrates example memory access cases during video decoding.","FIG.","5 illustrates an example video decoder.","FIG.","6 illustrates an example video decoder.","FIG.","7 illustrates exemplary steps performed when processing an example frame FIG.","8 illustrates a flowchart of example steps performed by an example video decoder.","detailed-description description=\"Detailed Description\" end=\"lead\"?"],["PRIORITY CLAIM This application claims priority to provisional application Ser.","No.","61/979,255 filed Apr.","14, 2014, which is entirely incorporated by reference.","TECHNICAL FIELD This disclosure relates to video decoding and particularly to pipelined video decoding techniques.","BACKGROUND Rapid advances in electronics and communication technologies, driven by immense customer demand, have resulted in the worldwide adoption of devices that display a wide variety of video content.","Examples of such devices include smartphones, flat screen televisions, and tablet computers.","Improvements in video processing techniques will continue to enhance the capabilities of these devices.","Accordingly, coding of screen content video is becoming important because of applications such as wireless displays, remote desktop, remote gaming, automotive infotainment, cloud computing, distance education and many others.","BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG.","1 illustrates a block diagram of an example video decoder.","FIG.","2 illustrates an example intra block copy operation.","FIG.","3 illustrates an exemplary video decoder.","FIG.","4 illustrates example memory access cases during video decoding.","FIG.","5 illustrates an example video decoder.","FIG.","6 illustrates an example video decoder.","FIG.","7 illustrates exemplary steps performed when processing an example frame FIG.","8 illustrates a flowchart of example steps performed by an example video decoder.","DETAILED DESCRIPTION Video content is encoded using various encoding techniques and standards such as MPEG-1, MPEG-2, H.264, H.265, and many others.","The H.265 standard is also referred to as High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC).","The encoding techniques may be used to compress video content for efficient transmission over wired or wireless networks.","The compression may involve predicting pixel values based on video content that may be used as reference video content.","For example, spatial prediction may be performed to predict pixel values based on immediate neighboring pixels in a video frame.","In addition, or alternatively, temporal prediction may be performed in which pixel values are predicted based on corresponding pixel values in previous or subsequent frames.","Additional operations may be performed when the video content being transmitted is screen content.","Screen content sharing may involve sharing, or transmitting content being displayed on one display device, or screen, to another display device or screen.","Alternatively, content may be transmitted from a source device without display capability to a display device.","For example, wireless screen sharing from mobile devices to large screens may enable displaying video content being displayed on a mobile device, such as a phone, tablet, or a computer to a large screen, such as a television (TV) or projector.","For example, technologies such as Miracast, Apple AirPlay, or Chromecast may be used.","Additionally, or alternatively video content may be shared between a set-top box and a TV.","Further yet, the content may be communicated and shared via a wired transmission.","The video content being shared may have mixed content consisting of video, text and graphics in the same picture.","Further, the shared video content may include camera captured content and computer generated content such as text and graphics.","For example, during a video conference, camera captured content, such as an image of a presenter may be shared along with contents being displayed on a device being used by the presenter, such as a computer with a presentation slides or other such content.","In one exemplary scenario the source device may decode the content before transmitting to the display device.","Alternatively, the shared video content may be decoded at a receiver to display the contents.","The video content may be decoded on a macroblock-by-macroblock basis.","FIG.","1 illustrates a block diagram of an example video decoder 100.A video decoder may also be referred to as a stream parser, or simply a decoder.","The video decoder 100 may include circuitry to perform various functions.","For example, the video decoder 100 may include circuitry for a symbol decoder 110, a spatial mode generator 120, coefficient generator 130, vector generator 140, inverse transformer 150, temporal predictor 160, spatial predictor 170, loop filter 180, and a memory storage unit 190.Other examples of video decoders may include circuitry that performs operations of a combination of more than one of the above listed components of video decoder 100.Alternatively, or in addition the components of the video decoder 100 may use additional circuitry, such as one or more processors.","The memory storage unit 190 may be a computer readable storage medium, such as random access storage memory (RAM) for example dynamic random access memory (DRAM).","The memory storage unit 190 may contain data that is used by the components of the video decoder 100 to decode video content.","The video content to be decoded may be received by the video decoder 100 and may be stored in the memory storage unit 190, for example in the coded data buffer 192.The data stored in the coded data buffer 192 may involve a raw video stream that is generated after completion of steps such as finding start code, byte destuffing, and other preliminary analysis of the received video content.","The received video content, which may be received as a video stream, may comprise video data encoded according to one or more of a plurality of encoding standards, such as H.261, H.263, H.263+(Annex J), H.264, VC-1, MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-4, and/or H.265, for example.","The video decoder may be adapted to detect one or more start codes and start code suffixes, to determine the encoding type and generate the raw video content in the video stream.","The memory storage unit 190 may also contain reference data that may be used during the decoding, such as in the reference picture buffers 196.The data in the reference picture buffers may be stored by the components of the video decoder 100, before, after or during the decoding process.","The symbol decoder 110 may also be referred to as a symbol interpreter.","The symbol decoder 110 may receive or access the video content stored in the memory storage unit 190.Alternatively, or in addition, the symbol decoder 110 may receive the video content to be decoded via a communication interface, such as a communication port.","The symbol decoder 110 may decode/interpret received content, such as, for example, single syntax elements from the video content that were encoded utilizing fixed length coding (FLC), variable length coding (VLC) or Context-Adaptive Binary Arithmetic Coding (CABAC) coding techniques.","The video content may be divided into frames with each frame further composed of blocks (macroblocks) of pixels.","The spatial mode generator 120 may determine prediction mode to be used by the temporal predictor 160 and/or the spatial predictor 170.The prediction mode, for example, and among other factors may indicate size of the macroblock partition used during prediction by the predictors.","The coefficient generator 130 may generate one or more quantized frequency coefficients from the video content.","Quantized frequency coefficients generated by the coefficient generator 130 may be subsequently utilized within the video decoder 100 to generate prediction error information utilized during reconstruction of one or more macroblocks, or blocks of the video content.","The generated quantized frequency coefficients may be communicated to the inverse transformer 150 for further processing.","The vector generator 140 may be adapted to generate one or more motion vectors from the video content.","The motion vectors generated by the vector generator 140 may be utilized within the video decoder 100 to generate prediction pixels utilized during reconstruction of one or more macroblocks.","The generated motion vector information may be communicated to components responsible for other functions, such as motion compensation, for further processing.","The inverse transformer, or inverse quantization transformer (IQT) 150 includes suitable circuitry, logic and/or code to transform quantized frequency coefficients received from the symbol interpreter 110 into one or more prediction errors.","The IQT 150 may transform the quantized frequency coefficients back to spatial domain, thus generating prediction error information.","The prediction error information generated by the IQT 150 may then be communicated to the other components of the video decoder 100 for further processing during reconstruction of a macroblock.","The temporal predictor 160 may involve suitable circuitry, logic and/or code to generate prediction pixels utilizing motion vector information received from motion vector generator 140.For example, the temporal predictor 160 may generate prediction pixels for temporally predicted macroblocks, which may be associated with pixels in frames/fields neighboring a current frame/field.","The temporal predictor 160 may acquire previous and/or subsequent frames/fields from the reference picture buffers 196 and utilize the acquired previous and/or subsequent frames/fields for predicting temporally encoded pixels within a current macroblock.","The reference picture buffers 196 may also be referred to as frame buffers.","The temporal predictor 160 may be further adapted to interpolate one or more prediction pixels within a current frame utilizing motion vector information, as well as one or more reference frames that are temporally adjacent to the current frame.","Further, prediction pixels may be interpolated utilizing only one reference frame or more than one prediction reference frame, during the temporal prediction of a current frame.","The temporal predictor 160 may include separate circuitry to handle the bi-directional prediction that may be utilized to generate the prediction pixels from more than one reference frame.","The spatial predictor 170 may involve suitable circuitry, logic and/or code to generate prediction pixels.","The prediction pixels may be generated from neighboring pixels in the same frame.","The spatial predictor 170 may also contain a reconstruction block (not shown) to add the prediction and the prediction error to generate a decoded macroblock.","The spatial predictor 170 acquires macroblock type information, slice type information and/or prediction mode information, for example, from the symbol interpreter 110 and the spatial mode generator 120.The spatial predictor 170 may then utilize the acquired macroblock type information, slice type information and/or prediction mode information to generate prediction pixels for spatially predicted macroblocks.","The loop filter 180 may include suitable circuitry, logic and/or code to further filter a decoded/reconstructed macroblock.","Depending on the encoding method of the video content, the loop filter may use a deblocking filter.","The deblocking filter may be utilized by the loop filter 180 to reduce edge artifacts and transform blockiness effects along one or more edges of a reconstructed macroblock.","The video decoding performed by the video decoder 100 can thus be performed in a deterministic pipelined structure.","The memory fetches performed during the decoding are pre-determined.","For example, prior to processing video frame data received by the video decoder 100, components of the video decoder 100 may initiate memory access to retrieve data that may be used for the processing.","For example, the vector generator 140, may identify and determine reference blocks to be used for the temporal prediction that needs to be performed for the received video frame.","Accordingly, before the temporal predictor 160 begins the actual process of temporal prediction, the temporal predictor 160 may fetch the reference frames to be used for processing the video frame.","Further, while the temporal predictor is performing the temporal prediction, the spatial predictor 170 may identify the data that may be used for spatial prediction and overlap a memory access required to retrieve the data with the temporal prediction operation.","As such, memory latency may be hidden by overlapping the memory fetch operations with operations of the decoding process.","In addition, or alternatively, video content sharing, such as screen content sharing may use Intra block copy (IBC) when encoding and decoding the shared video content.","IBC may involve a block matching technique in which a Coding Unit (CU) may be predicted as a displacement from already reconstructed block of samples from neighboring regions in the same frame, or picture.","FIG.","2 illustrates an example intra block copy.","The intra block copy is being performed on a frame 200.The frame 200 is an image.","The image may be a stand-alone image or a part of a video content stream.","The frame 200 may be divided into various blocks, including blocks that are already decoded 210 and blocks that are yet to be decoded 240.Block 220 is currently being decoded.","The encoded video content stream indicates that the contents of the block 220 may be copied from content of the blocks that are already decoded 210.FIG.","2 illustrates that block 220 may be decoded, by copying contents of the block 230, that is block 230 is a source block and block 220 is a destination block.","It will be understood that various other combinations of source and destination blocks are possible, including source blocks 230 which do not align with blocks already decoded 210; some possible exemplary situations are detailed throughout this disclosure.","FIG.","3 illustrates an exemplary video decoder 300 with circuitry capable to perform the intra block copy operation.","The video decoder 300 may use the spatial predictor 170 for block copy operations and at least parts of the memory 190, such as IBC buffer 320, for the intra block copy.","The IBC buffer 320 may be part of the memory storage unit 190 which may be off-chip, or external to the circuitry.","The decoder 300 may further include an internal, or on-chip storage unit represented by a local buffer 330.In other examples, memory storage 190 and local buffer 330 may be on-chip, off-chip and/or some combination of on-chip and off-chip such that the local buffer 330 provides temporary local storage that is accessible more quickly than the relatively long term storage in the memory storage 190.Although, FIG.","3 does not illustrate a spatial predictor block 170, other example video decoders may include the spatial predictor block 170.The spatial predictor 170 may include suitable circuitry, which may be operable with logic and/or code, to perform the intra block copy.","The blocks 210 of the frame that have been already decoded and filtered may be written into the memory storage unit 190.In addition, a copy of the blocks 210, prior to the operations by the loop filter 180, may be stored in the IBC buffer 320.Thus, two copies of the blocks 210 may exist—one pre-filtered stored the IBC buffer 320 and one post-filtered, stored in the reference picture frames 196.The pre-filtered content in the IBC buffer 320 may be used as data source for the intra block copy.","Alternatively, or in addition, at least a part of the pre-filtered decoded blocks 210 may be stored in a faster storage location, such as a local storage location, which may be an internal or on-chip storage, such as a local buffer 330.In another exemplary scenario, the local storage location may be used to store part of the post-filtered decoded blocks 210.The local storage unit 330 may have lower memory latency than the memory storage unit 190.The local buffer 330 may have lesser capacity than the memory storage unit 190 and therefore, all of the pre-filtered decoded blocks 210 may not be stored in the local buffer 330.FIG.","4 illustrates three example memory access cases.","There may be other memory access scenarios possible, and these are just example cases for purpose of explanation.","The decoded blocks 210 may be distributed across the slower and faster memory locations, such as the local buffer 330 and the IBC buffer 320 in the memory 190.The local buffer 330 may be on-chip storage and the IBC buffer 320 may be off-chip storage.","Thus, the spatial predictor 170 may access the decoded blocks 210 from the memory storage unit 190 and/or the local buffer 330 to copy contents of the decoded blocks 210 to the block 220 that is currently being decoded.","In case 1 shown in FIG.","4, the source data to be copied into block 220 is part of decoded blocks 210 that are all stored in the local buffer 330.In case 2, the source data blocks 210 are all stored in the IBC buffer 320.Case 3 illustrates an example where part of the source data blocks 210 to be copied into block 220 are stored in the faster, local buffer 330 and the rest of the data blocks are in the relatively slower memory 190, particularly in the IBC buffer 320.In all cases, the intra block copy operation may be performed in response to the video content stream including an indicator to perform the intra block copy operation.","The intra block copy performed may have to access slower memory, such as the memory storage unit 190, which may slow down the video decoding process, for example due to the memory latency.","The memory access fetching time may stall the pipeline.","Further yet, since the intra block copy operates on blocks of the same frame data, the data that is to be copied into block 220 may have been decoded recently, and may not have yet been written into the IBC buffer 320.Thus, the decoder pipeline may have to first wait for the write operation for the decoded blocks 210 to complete and then incur the memory latency to read the written decoded blocks 210.Although a cache may be partial solution, cache misses may still lead to memory latency, which in a real time operation such as video decoding are not affordable.","FIG.","5 illustrates an example video decoder 500 that provides a technical solution involving a combination of the local buffer 330 combined with the temporal prediction unit 160, an intra block control unit 510, and a prefetch buffer 520 to manage the memory requests.","This solution presents an implementation of the intra block copy with minimal incremental area addition to the existing video decoder chip/circuitry architecture, and no loss of pipeline performance.","The control unit 510 may include suitable circuitry and logic and/or code to perform the control and perform the intra block copy operations.","The control unit 510 may identify the IBC operation to be performed based on the output of the symbol decoder 110.The symbol decoder 110 may decode the symbols of the input video content stream, which may contain a series of communication packets with encoded video data as payload.","Alternatively, or in addition, the symbol decoder 110 may identify the intra block copy operation in response to symbols, such as instructions, or intra block copy information in the decoded video content.","The symbols may be in the header or payload portion of the incoming video stream.","The incoming video stream may include information indicating that the intra block copy is to be performed for one or more blocks.","The information may further indicate the source blocks from which video data is to be copied.","The information may further include identification of the destination blocks to which the data is to be copied.","Alternatively, or in addition, if the data is to be copied from a sequence of blocks to another sequence, the information may indicate an identity of the starting blocks of each sequence and the number of blocks to be copied.","Thus, the control unit 510 may parse the intra block copy ‘command’ in the bit stream of the incoming video content.","Upon identification of the intra block copy operations to be performed, the control unit 510 may identify source data which can be prefetched so as to hide latency.","That is, the control unit 510, upon interpreting the decoded intra block copy related symbols, may operate ahead of pixel processing components of the video decoder 500.The control unit 510 may schedule fetches of the source data into the prefetch buffer 520, which is a buffer for prefetched data.","Accordingly, when the current block 220 is being processed by the other components of the video decoder, the data would be readily available in the prefetch buffer 520, instead of the IBC buffer 320.Since the prefetch buffer 520 provides memory access at lower memory latency than the IBC buffer 320, the video decoder pipeline may operate faster to provide decoded video content output at the desired real-time frame rate for continuous playback.","The data stored in the prefetch buffer 520 may be associated with the intra block copy operation to be performed, so that when a component of the decoder 100 performs or initiates performance of the intra block copy, the component may fetch the data from the prefetch buffer 520, instead of the IBC buffer 320.The control unit 510 may control the prefetches so as to handle the possible distribution of the source decoded blocks 210 across the local buffer 330 and the IBC buffer 320.The control unit 510 may know the predetermined size of the local buffer 330.Further, the control unit 510 may know the present block being decoded, and thus which pixels will be in the local buffer 330 at the time the intra block copy is to be performed.","Based on the predetermined size, and the current block being decoded, the control unit 510 may be able to calculate and thus predict, which pixels will be in the local buffer 330.The pixels that may not fit in the local buffer 330 may be stored in the IBC buffer 320 and may need a slower memory fetch request.","The control unit 510 may further compute details to fetch the content from the IBC buffer 320, such as an address of the source data, based on the intra block copy request and current block being decoded.","The prefetch buffer may be sized to accommodate the largest possible block copy size, thereby guaranteeing that block copy fetches will hit valid data.","Thus, the fixed local buffer 330 size may be large enough to guarantee memory fetches will hit valid data.","The control unit 510 may handle the example cases illustrated in FIG.","4 as described further.","As in case 1, if the source data may be stored in the local buffer 330, no pipeline-stalling memory request, such as a DRAM request, may be performed.","In cases 2 and/or 3, when the source data is partially or wholly in the off-chip storage 320, the control unit 510 may perform a memory request to prefetch the source data stored in the IBC buffer 320 into the local buffer 330.The control unit 510 may either perform the prefetch or schedule the prefetches so that the source data is copied into the local buffer 330 at a later time, but before the data is requested for the block copy by the spatial predictor 170 of the video decoder 500.Thus, the source data to be copied into the block 220 may be available in the local buffer 330 at the time block 220 is being decoded.","Additionally, or alternatively, the source data will be available in the local buffer 330 at the time the intra block copy function associated with the block 220 is being performed by the video decoder, for example in the spatial predictor 170.Further, the control unit 510 may communicate to the spatial predictor 170, the availability of the source data in the local buffer 330.For example, the control unit 510 may set a value of a flag that is accessible by the spatial predictor 170 such that the flag indicates the availability of the source data in the local buffer 330.For example, the flag may be set to value 1 in case the source data is available in the local buffer and 0 otherwise.","Alternatively, or in addition, the control unit 510 may pass a message to the spatial predictor 170 indicating such availability.","Other techniques to communicate the availability may also be used.","The spatial predictor 170, in response to the communication, may access the source data from the local buffer 330 or the IBC buffer 320.Alternatively, or in addition, in an example video decoder, the spatial predictor 170 may first attempt to fetch the source data from the local buffer 330.In case the source data is not available via the local buffer 330, the spatial predictor 170 may proceed to access the source data from the IBC buffer 320.The control unit 510 may use the memory access functionality of the temporal predictor 160 and spatial predictor 170 to perform or schedule the prefetches from the memory 190.For example, in the exemplary video decoder of FIG.","6, the temporal predictor 160 may be adapted to fetch data from the memory 190, as part of the temporal prediction operations that may involve older frames.","The spatial predictor 170 may be adapted to fetch data from the memory 190 as part of the spatial prediction operations that may involve decoded blocks from the same frame, as described elsewhere in this document.","Further yet, the control unit 510 may use the spatial predictor 170 to copy the data into the local buffer 330.The spatial decoder 170 may be adapted to store data in the local buffer 330 after completion of reconstruction operations.","In one example video decoder, the local buffer 330 may be a part of the spatial predictor 170.Thus, the control unit 510 may send prefetch instructions to the temporal predictor 160 to prefetch the source data from decoded blocks 210 stored in the memory 190, and further send copy, or write instructions to the spatial predictor 170 to store the prefetched data in the local buffer 330.The prefetched data may be stored in the local buffer 330 at a location allocated to the current block 220.The temporal predictor 160 may not otherwise be active during intra block copy operations and hence is available to perform the prefetches.","Thus, video decoder 600 may hide the memory latency of the prefetches performed by the temporal predictor 160 in response to the intra block copy requests, and eliminate memory-latency performance bottleneck.","At least some of the steps performed during a method to decode video content related bit stream with intra block copy operations are illustrated in the example flowchart of FIG.","8.The steps illustrated in FIG.","8 may hide memory latency performance bottlenecks by using prefetches of the source data to be used for the intra block copy operations, thus allowing a continuous real time video playback.","The method may be performed by example video decoders such as those described throughout this disclosure.","The method may involve parsing an incoming bitstream (802).","The bitstream may be an encoded bitstream containing video content.","For example, the bitstream may be encoded using a HEVC standard, or any other video encoding standard.","The incoming bitstream may be transmitted by another device and/or may be read from the memory storage unit 190.The control unit 510 may parse the bitstream to identify the intra block command in the bitstream (806).","The parsing may be performed after the bitstream is decoded by the symbol decoder 110.The intra block copy command may involve a block that the decoder may handle at a later time, after completion of the current block that the video decoder is working on.","The control unit 510 may identify the source data from the decoded blocks 210 that may be copied into the block that will be processed at a later time (810).","The control unit 510 may identify the earlier decoded blocks 210 from which the source data may be copied.","The control unit 510 may determine whether the source data is stored in the local buffer 330 or in memory 190 (816, 820).","The control unit 510 may make this determination based on a predetermined size of the local buffer 330, the current block being processed by the decoder, and how many blocks in the video stream have been processed since the blocks containing the source data.","In addition, or alternatively, a predetermined number of decoded blocks may be stored in the local buffer 330.The local buffer 330 may store a predetermined number of previously decoded blocks.","The spatial predictor 170 may overwrite the local buffer 330 with the most recently decoded blocks.","For example, assume the predetermined number of blocks stored in the local buffer 330 is three.","In this exemplary case, blocks k, k+1,and k+2 may be stored in the local buffer 330 after the blocks k, k+1, and k+2 are decoded, but prior to filtering of those blocks.","However, a block k+3, after decoding would be stored in the local buffer 330 overwriting block k. It will be understood that the predetermined number of blocks may have a different value than 3, as used in this example.","Therefore, based on the predetermined number of blocks in the local buffer 330, the control unit 510 may determine whether the source data blocks 210 are stored in the local buffer 330 or the memory 190, or a combination of the two.","In case the source data blocks are stored in the local buffer 330, the control unit 510 may not have to perform any further steps to fetch the data blocks, rather copy contents from location of the source data blocks on the local buffer 330 to the location allocated to the current block 220 in the local buffer 330 (824).","In case the source data is partially or wholly stored in the memory 190, the control unit 510 may request prefetching the source data form the memory 190 and storing the prefetched data into prefetch buffer 520, if required, and use the on-chip prefetched data.","(826, 828).","The data stored in the memory 190 may be directly stored in the location allocated to the current block 220 in the prefetch buffer 520.The control unit 510 may request the temporal predictor 160 to perform the operations for prefetching the source data from the memory 190.The control unit 510 may request the spatial predictor 170 to perform the operations to store the prefetched source data into the local buffer 330.The control unit 510 may schedule the prefetch and copy operations so that the video decoder has the pixel data to be copied into the block associated with the intra block copy, when the block is processed by the video processor (830).","Further, the control unit 510 may communicate to the decoder, for example to the spatial predictor 170, that the source data is available in the local buffer 330.In addition, the control unit 510 may prefetch the data from the IBC buffer 320, in the memory 190, to the location in the local buffer 330 allocated to the block for which the intra block copy is to be performed.","Accessing the content from the local buffer 330 or the prefetch buffer may have negligible memory latency as compared to the IBC buffer 320 in the memory 190.In case, the content is not copied into the local buffer in this prefetch manner, a memory access will result at a later time, which may stall the decoder pipeline.","FIG.","7 illustrates exemplary steps performed when processing an example frame.","FIG.","7 represents the circuitry of example video decoder except the symbol decode 110, control unit 510, and loop filter 180 as one block titled pixel processing.","Further, when processing blocks 1 through n of the frame, the processing is initiated at 710ab, decoded at 720ab by the pixel processing circuitry, and further stored in the local buffer 330 and memory 190 at 730ab before forwarding for the loop filter operation at 740ab.","Block n+1 may involve an intra block copy instruction.","Accordingly, at 750, the intra block copy instruction may be parsed and the control unit 510 notified of the instruction.","The control unit 510 may identify the location of the source blocks.","In case the source block involves a recently decoded block that may be stored in the local buffer 330, such as n−1, the contents of such a recent source block may be copied from the local buffer 330 itself at 770.In case, the source block involves a decoded block such that it is no longer in the local buffer 330, for example block 1, a prefetch operation may be initiated to copy the contents of that block from the memory 190 at 780.Once all contents of the block n+1 have been copied, from decoded source blocks, the block n+1 may be forwarded for the loop filtering, as indicated by 790.While FIG.","7 illustrates an exemplary sequence, it should be noted that the order of the events may be modified according to the decoder pipeline timing requirements.","For example, the IBC control unit 510 may identify an intra block copy in block n substantially simultaneously while a prefetch operation is in progress for block n−1.Further, a block copy operation may be in progress for block n−2 at substantially the same time.","The methods, devices, processing, and logic described above may be implemented in many different ways and in many different combinations of hardware and software.","For example, all or parts of the implementations may be circuitry that includes an instruction processor, such as a Central Processing Unit (CPU), microcontroller, or a microprocessor; an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), Programmable Logic Device (PLD), or Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA); or circuitry that includes discrete logic or other circuit components, including analog circuit components, digital circuit components or both; or any combination thereof.","The circuitry may include discrete interconnected hardware components and/or may be combined on a single integrated circuit die, distributed among multiple integrated circuit dies, or implemented in a Multiple Chip Module (MCM) of multiple integrated circuit dies in a common package, as examples.","The circuitry may further include or access instructions for execution by the circuitry.","The instructions may be stored in a tangible storage medium that is other than a transitory signal, such as a flash memory, a Random Access Memory (RAM), a Read Only Memory (ROM), an Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory (EPROM); or on a magnetic or optical disc, such as a Compact Disc Read Only Memory (CDROM), Hard Disk Drive (HDD), or other magnetic or optical disk; or in or on another machine-readable medium.","A product, such as a computer program product, may include a storage medium and instructions stored in or on the medium, and the instructions when executed by the circuitry in a device may cause the device to implement any of the processing described above or illustrated in the drawings.","The implementations may be distributed as circuitry among multiple system components, such as among multiple processors and memories, optionally including multiple distributed processing systems.","Parameters, databases, and other data structures may be separately stored and managed, may be incorporated into a single memory or database, may be logically and physically organized in many different ways, and may be implemented in many different ways, including as data structures such as linked lists, hash tables, arrays, records, objects, or implicit storage mechanisms.","Programs may be parts (e.g., subroutines) of a single program, separate programs, distributed across several memories and processors, or implemented in many different ways, such as in a library, such as a shared library (e.g., a Dynamic Link Library (DLL)).","The DLL, for example, may store instructions that perform any of the processing described above or illustrated in the drawings, when executed by the circuitry.","Various implementations have been specifically described.","However, many other implementations are also possible."]],"string":"[\n [\n \"PIPELINED VIDEO DECODER SYSTEM\",\n \"Efficient decoding of video content that may involve intra block copy operations, such as copying pixel data from one region of a frame to another region of the same frame is described.\",\n \"For example, a method to decode the video content may involve identifying the video frame in which intra block copy operation is to be performed, prior to the intra block copy operation being initiated.\",\n \"A video decoder may prefetch the pixel data from the source region to a local buffer with low memory latency such that the source pixel data to be copied into the destination blocks in the video frame is readily available.\",\n \"Thus, costly, and time consuming memory access may be avoided, and in turn a video decoding pipeline may operate smoothly without any stalling.\"\n ],\n [\n \"1.A device comprising: at least one circuit configured to: decode a current block within a frame of video data, the frame comprised of a plurality of blocks; identify an intra-block copy request (IBC request) for the current block, wherein the IBC request comprises copying content from a source block to the current block of the frame, wherein the source block is within the frame and has been decoded; and copy the content of the source block to the current block.\",\n \"from the internal memory 2.The device of claim 7, wherein memory latency of the internal memory is lower than memory latency of the external memory.\",\n \"3.The device of claim 1, wherein the at least one circuit is further configured to: pre-fetch the content of the source block prior to completion of decoding of the current block.\",\n \"4.The device of claim 1, wherein the at least one circuit is further configured to filter decoded blocks of the video data.\",\n \"5.The device of claim 4, wherein, an internal memory is configured to store a predetermined number of decoded blocks within the frame of the video data, the frame being currently decoded by the device.\",\n \"6.The device of claim 5, wherein the predetermined number of decoded blocks stored within the internal memory are stored prior to a block copy operation of the device.\",\n \"7.The device of claim 6, wherein the decoded blocks, prior to the block copy operation, are further stored in an external memory.\",\n \"8.A method comprising: receiving, using at least one circuit, a frame, the frame divided into a plurality of blocks; decoding, using the at least one circuit, a block from among the blocks of the frame; and decoding, using the at least one circuit, another block from among the blocks of the frame, the decoding the another block comprising copying contents of the decoded block of the frame as decoded contents of the another block, wherein the block is different than the another block.\",\n \"9.The method of claim 10, further comprising: storing, using the at least one circuit, at least a part of the decoded block of the frame, prior to filtering, in a local buffer.\",\n \"10.The method of claim 8, further comprising: filtering, using circuitry, the decoded block of the frame; and storing, using circuitry, the filtered block of the frame in a memory storage device, for display.\",\n \"11.The method of claim 9, wherein, copying the contents of the decoded block comprises copying at least part of the contents of the decoded block from a memory storage device.\",\n \"12.The method of claim 11, wherein, copying the contents of the decoded block further comprises copying at least part of the contents of the decoded block from the local buffer.\",\n \"13.The method of claim 8, wherein the received frame is received from a source device for screen casting.\",\n \"14.A computer program product comprising code stored in a non-transitory computer-readable medium, the code comprising: code to receive video data, the video data comprising a plurality of video frames, each video frame of the video frames further comprising blocks of pixels; code to decode a first block of pixels; code to identify an intra block copy instruction associated with decoding a the second block of pixels; and code to, in response to the intra block copy instruction, copy part of the decoded first block of pixels to the second block of pixels.\",\n \"15.The computer program product of claim 14, wherein the intra block copy instruction identifies the first block of pixels as a source of contents for the second block of pixels.\",\n \"16.The computer program product of claim 15, wherein the code further comprises: code to filter the decoded first block of pixels; and code to store the filtered first block of pixels for display.\",\n \"17.The computer program product of claim 15, wherein the code further comprises: code to, in response to the intra block copy instruction, copy part of a decoded third block of pixels to the second block of pixels, wherein the intra block copy instruction further identifies the third block of pixels as another source of contents for the second block of pixels.\",\n \"18.The computer program product of claim 14, wherein the code further comprises: code to parse the intra block copy instruction to determine one or more source blocks for the intra block copy instruction for the second block of pixels, wherein contents of the one or more source blocks are copied into the second block of pixels; code to identify one or more locations of the one or more source blocks for the intra block copy instruction; and code to copy contents from the one or more source blocks from the identified one or more locations into the second block of pixels.\",\n \"19.The computer program product of claim 18, wherein: the first block of pixels is identified as a source block for the intra block copy instruction and a location of the first block of pixels is identified as a first memory device; and a third block of pixels is identified as another source block for the intra block copy instruction and a location of the third block of pixels is identified as a second memory device that has a higher latency than the first memory device.\",\n \"20.The computer program product of claim 19, wherein the code further comprises: code to identify the one or more locations of the one or more source blocks for the intra block copy instruction based on a predetermined number of blocks of pixel stored in the first memory device.\"\n ],\n [\n \" BACKGROUND Rapid advances in electronics and communication technologies, driven by immense customer demand, have resulted in the worldwide adoption of devices that display a wide variety of video content.\",\n \"Examples of such devices include smartphones, flat screen televisions, and tablet computers.\",\n \"Improvements in video processing techniques will continue to enhance the capabilities of these devices.\",\n \"Accordingly, coding of screen content video is becoming important because of applications such as wireless displays, remote desktop, remote gaming, automotive infotainment, cloud computing, distance education and many others.\"\n ],\n [\n \" BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG.\",\n \"1 illustrates a block diagram of an example video decoder.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"2 illustrates an example intra block copy operation.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"3 illustrates an exemplary video decoder.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"4 illustrates example memory access cases during video decoding.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"5 illustrates an example video decoder.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"6 illustrates an example video decoder.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"7 illustrates exemplary steps performed when processing an example frame FIG.\",\n \"8 illustrates a flowchart of example steps performed by an example video decoder.\",\n \"detailed-description description=\\\"Detailed Description\\\" end=\\\"lead\\\"?\"\n ],\n [\n \"PRIORITY CLAIM This application claims priority to provisional application Ser.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"61/979,255 filed Apr.\",\n \"14, 2014, which is entirely incorporated by reference.\",\n \"TECHNICAL FIELD This disclosure relates to video decoding and particularly to pipelined video decoding techniques.\",\n \"BACKGROUND Rapid advances in electronics and communication technologies, driven by immense customer demand, have resulted in the worldwide adoption of devices that display a wide variety of video content.\",\n \"Examples of such devices include smartphones, flat screen televisions, and tablet computers.\",\n \"Improvements in video processing techniques will continue to enhance the capabilities of these devices.\",\n \"Accordingly, coding of screen content video is becoming important because of applications such as wireless displays, remote desktop, remote gaming, automotive infotainment, cloud computing, distance education and many others.\",\n \"BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG.\",\n \"1 illustrates a block diagram of an example video decoder.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"2 illustrates an example intra block copy operation.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"3 illustrates an exemplary video decoder.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"4 illustrates example memory access cases during video decoding.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"5 illustrates an example video decoder.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"6 illustrates an example video decoder.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"7 illustrates exemplary steps performed when processing an example frame FIG.\",\n \"8 illustrates a flowchart of example steps performed by an example video decoder.\",\n \"DETAILED DESCRIPTION Video content is encoded using various encoding techniques and standards such as MPEG-1, MPEG-2, H.264, H.265, and many others.\",\n \"The H.265 standard is also referred to as High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC).\",\n \"The encoding techniques may be used to compress video content for efficient transmission over wired or wireless networks.\",\n \"The compression may involve predicting pixel values based on video content that may be used as reference video content.\",\n \"For example, spatial prediction may be performed to predict pixel values based on immediate neighboring pixels in a video frame.\",\n \"In addition, or alternatively, temporal prediction may be performed in which pixel values are predicted based on corresponding pixel values in previous or subsequent frames.\",\n \"Additional operations may be performed when the video content being transmitted is screen content.\",\n \"Screen content sharing may involve sharing, or transmitting content being displayed on one display device, or screen, to another display device or screen.\",\n \"Alternatively, content may be transmitted from a source device without display capability to a display device.\",\n \"For example, wireless screen sharing from mobile devices to large screens may enable displaying video content being displayed on a mobile device, such as a phone, tablet, or a computer to a large screen, such as a television (TV) or projector.\",\n \"For example, technologies such as Miracast, Apple AirPlay, or Chromecast may be used.\",\n \"Additionally, or alternatively video content may be shared between a set-top box and a TV.\",\n \"Further yet, the content may be communicated and shared via a wired transmission.\",\n \"The video content being shared may have mixed content consisting of video, text and graphics in the same picture.\",\n \"Further, the shared video content may include camera captured content and computer generated content such as text and graphics.\",\n \"For example, during a video conference, camera captured content, such as an image of a presenter may be shared along with contents being displayed on a device being used by the presenter, such as a computer with a presentation slides or other such content.\",\n \"In one exemplary scenario the source device may decode the content before transmitting to the display device.\",\n \"Alternatively, the shared video content may be decoded at a receiver to display the contents.\",\n \"The video content may be decoded on a macroblock-by-macroblock basis.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"1 illustrates a block diagram of an example video decoder 100.A video decoder may also be referred to as a stream parser, or simply a decoder.\",\n \"The video decoder 100 may include circuitry to perform various functions.\",\n \"For example, the video decoder 100 may include circuitry for a symbol decoder 110, a spatial mode generator 120, coefficient generator 130, vector generator 140, inverse transformer 150, temporal predictor 160, spatial predictor 170, loop filter 180, and a memory storage unit 190.Other examples of video decoders may include circuitry that performs operations of a combination of more than one of the above listed components of video decoder 100.Alternatively, or in addition the components of the video decoder 100 may use additional circuitry, such as one or more processors.\",\n \"The memory storage unit 190 may be a computer readable storage medium, such as random access storage memory (RAM) for example dynamic random access memory (DRAM).\",\n \"The memory storage unit 190 may contain data that is used by the components of the video decoder 100 to decode video content.\",\n \"The video content to be decoded may be received by the video decoder 100 and may be stored in the memory storage unit 190, for example in the coded data buffer 192.The data stored in the coded data buffer 192 may involve a raw video stream that is generated after completion of steps such as finding start code, byte destuffing, and other preliminary analysis of the received video content.\",\n \"The received video content, which may be received as a video stream, may comprise video data encoded according to one or more of a plurality of encoding standards, such as H.261, H.263, H.263+(Annex J), H.264, VC-1, MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-4, and/or H.265, for example.\",\n \"The video decoder may be adapted to detect one or more start codes and start code suffixes, to determine the encoding type and generate the raw video content in the video stream.\",\n \"The memory storage unit 190 may also contain reference data that may be used during the decoding, such as in the reference picture buffers 196.The data in the reference picture buffers may be stored by the components of the video decoder 100, before, after or during the decoding process.\",\n \"The symbol decoder 110 may also be referred to as a symbol interpreter.\",\n \"The symbol decoder 110 may receive or access the video content stored in the memory storage unit 190.Alternatively, or in addition, the symbol decoder 110 may receive the video content to be decoded via a communication interface, such as a communication port.\",\n \"The symbol decoder 110 may decode/interpret received content, such as, for example, single syntax elements from the video content that were encoded utilizing fixed length coding (FLC), variable length coding (VLC) or Context-Adaptive Binary Arithmetic Coding (CABAC) coding techniques.\",\n \"The video content may be divided into frames with each frame further composed of blocks (macroblocks) of pixels.\",\n \"The spatial mode generator 120 may determine prediction mode to be used by the temporal predictor 160 and/or the spatial predictor 170.The prediction mode, for example, and among other factors may indicate size of the macroblock partition used during prediction by the predictors.\",\n \"The coefficient generator 130 may generate one or more quantized frequency coefficients from the video content.\",\n \"Quantized frequency coefficients generated by the coefficient generator 130 may be subsequently utilized within the video decoder 100 to generate prediction error information utilized during reconstruction of one or more macroblocks, or blocks of the video content.\",\n \"The generated quantized frequency coefficients may be communicated to the inverse transformer 150 for further processing.\",\n \"The vector generator 140 may be adapted to generate one or more motion vectors from the video content.\",\n \"The motion vectors generated by the vector generator 140 may be utilized within the video decoder 100 to generate prediction pixels utilized during reconstruction of one or more macroblocks.\",\n \"The generated motion vector information may be communicated to components responsible for other functions, such as motion compensation, for further processing.\",\n \"The inverse transformer, or inverse quantization transformer (IQT) 150 includes suitable circuitry, logic and/or code to transform quantized frequency coefficients received from the symbol interpreter 110 into one or more prediction errors.\",\n \"The IQT 150 may transform the quantized frequency coefficients back to spatial domain, thus generating prediction error information.\",\n \"The prediction error information generated by the IQT 150 may then be communicated to the other components of the video decoder 100 for further processing during reconstruction of a macroblock.\",\n \"The temporal predictor 160 may involve suitable circuitry, logic and/or code to generate prediction pixels utilizing motion vector information received from motion vector generator 140.For example, the temporal predictor 160 may generate prediction pixels for temporally predicted macroblocks, which may be associated with pixels in frames/fields neighboring a current frame/field.\",\n \"The temporal predictor 160 may acquire previous and/or subsequent frames/fields from the reference picture buffers 196 and utilize the acquired previous and/or subsequent frames/fields for predicting temporally encoded pixels within a current macroblock.\",\n \"The reference picture buffers 196 may also be referred to as frame buffers.\",\n \"The temporal predictor 160 may be further adapted to interpolate one or more prediction pixels within a current frame utilizing motion vector information, as well as one or more reference frames that are temporally adjacent to the current frame.\",\n \"Further, prediction pixels may be interpolated utilizing only one reference frame or more than one prediction reference frame, during the temporal prediction of a current frame.\",\n \"The temporal predictor 160 may include separate circuitry to handle the bi-directional prediction that may be utilized to generate the prediction pixels from more than one reference frame.\",\n \"The spatial predictor 170 may involve suitable circuitry, logic and/or code to generate prediction pixels.\",\n \"The prediction pixels may be generated from neighboring pixels in the same frame.\",\n \"The spatial predictor 170 may also contain a reconstruction block (not shown) to add the prediction and the prediction error to generate a decoded macroblock.\",\n \"The spatial predictor 170 acquires macroblock type information, slice type information and/or prediction mode information, for example, from the symbol interpreter 110 and the spatial mode generator 120.The spatial predictor 170 may then utilize the acquired macroblock type information, slice type information and/or prediction mode information to generate prediction pixels for spatially predicted macroblocks.\",\n \"The loop filter 180 may include suitable circuitry, logic and/or code to further filter a decoded/reconstructed macroblock.\",\n \"Depending on the encoding method of the video content, the loop filter may use a deblocking filter.\",\n \"The deblocking filter may be utilized by the loop filter 180 to reduce edge artifacts and transform blockiness effects along one or more edges of a reconstructed macroblock.\",\n \"The video decoding performed by the video decoder 100 can thus be performed in a deterministic pipelined structure.\",\n \"The memory fetches performed during the decoding are pre-determined.\",\n \"For example, prior to processing video frame data received by the video decoder 100, components of the video decoder 100 may initiate memory access to retrieve data that may be used for the processing.\",\n \"For example, the vector generator 140, may identify and determine reference blocks to be used for the temporal prediction that needs to be performed for the received video frame.\",\n \"Accordingly, before the temporal predictor 160 begins the actual process of temporal prediction, the temporal predictor 160 may fetch the reference frames to be used for processing the video frame.\",\n \"Further, while the temporal predictor is performing the temporal prediction, the spatial predictor 170 may identify the data that may be used for spatial prediction and overlap a memory access required to retrieve the data with the temporal prediction operation.\",\n \"As such, memory latency may be hidden by overlapping the memory fetch operations with operations of the decoding process.\",\n \"In addition, or alternatively, video content sharing, such as screen content sharing may use Intra block copy (IBC) when encoding and decoding the shared video content.\",\n \"IBC may involve a block matching technique in which a Coding Unit (CU) may be predicted as a displacement from already reconstructed block of samples from neighboring regions in the same frame, or picture.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"2 illustrates an example intra block copy.\",\n \"The intra block copy is being performed on a frame 200.The frame 200 is an image.\",\n \"The image may be a stand-alone image or a part of a video content stream.\",\n \"The frame 200 may be divided into various blocks, including blocks that are already decoded 210 and blocks that are yet to be decoded 240.Block 220 is currently being decoded.\",\n \"The encoded video content stream indicates that the contents of the block 220 may be copied from content of the blocks that are already decoded 210.FIG.\",\n \"2 illustrates that block 220 may be decoded, by copying contents of the block 230, that is block 230 is a source block and block 220 is a destination block.\",\n \"It will be understood that various other combinations of source and destination blocks are possible, including source blocks 230 which do not align with blocks already decoded 210; some possible exemplary situations are detailed throughout this disclosure.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"3 illustrates an exemplary video decoder 300 with circuitry capable to perform the intra block copy operation.\",\n \"The video decoder 300 may use the spatial predictor 170 for block copy operations and at least parts of the memory 190, such as IBC buffer 320, for the intra block copy.\",\n \"The IBC buffer 320 may be part of the memory storage unit 190 which may be off-chip, or external to the circuitry.\",\n \"The decoder 300 may further include an internal, or on-chip storage unit represented by a local buffer 330.In other examples, memory storage 190 and local buffer 330 may be on-chip, off-chip and/or some combination of on-chip and off-chip such that the local buffer 330 provides temporary local storage that is accessible more quickly than the relatively long term storage in the memory storage 190.Although, FIG.\",\n \"3 does not illustrate a spatial predictor block 170, other example video decoders may include the spatial predictor block 170.The spatial predictor 170 may include suitable circuitry, which may be operable with logic and/or code, to perform the intra block copy.\",\n \"The blocks 210 of the frame that have been already decoded and filtered may be written into the memory storage unit 190.In addition, a copy of the blocks 210, prior to the operations by the loop filter 180, may be stored in the IBC buffer 320.Thus, two copies of the blocks 210 may exist—one pre-filtered stored the IBC buffer 320 and one post-filtered, stored in the reference picture frames 196.The pre-filtered content in the IBC buffer 320 may be used as data source for the intra block copy.\",\n \"Alternatively, or in addition, at least a part of the pre-filtered decoded blocks 210 may be stored in a faster storage location, such as a local storage location, which may be an internal or on-chip storage, such as a local buffer 330.In another exemplary scenario, the local storage location may be used to store part of the post-filtered decoded blocks 210.The local storage unit 330 may have lower memory latency than the memory storage unit 190.The local buffer 330 may have lesser capacity than the memory storage unit 190 and therefore, all of the pre-filtered decoded blocks 210 may not be stored in the local buffer 330.FIG.\",\n \"4 illustrates three example memory access cases.\",\n \"There may be other memory access scenarios possible, and these are just example cases for purpose of explanation.\",\n \"The decoded blocks 210 may be distributed across the slower and faster memory locations, such as the local buffer 330 and the IBC buffer 320 in the memory 190.The local buffer 330 may be on-chip storage and the IBC buffer 320 may be off-chip storage.\",\n \"Thus, the spatial predictor 170 may access the decoded blocks 210 from the memory storage unit 190 and/or the local buffer 330 to copy contents of the decoded blocks 210 to the block 220 that is currently being decoded.\",\n \"In case 1 shown in FIG.\",\n \"4, the source data to be copied into block 220 is part of decoded blocks 210 that are all stored in the local buffer 330.In case 2, the source data blocks 210 are all stored in the IBC buffer 320.Case 3 illustrates an example where part of the source data blocks 210 to be copied into block 220 are stored in the faster, local buffer 330 and the rest of the data blocks are in the relatively slower memory 190, particularly in the IBC buffer 320.In all cases, the intra block copy operation may be performed in response to the video content stream including an indicator to perform the intra block copy operation.\",\n \"The intra block copy performed may have to access slower memory, such as the memory storage unit 190, which may slow down the video decoding process, for example due to the memory latency.\",\n \"The memory access fetching time may stall the pipeline.\",\n \"Further yet, since the intra block copy operates on blocks of the same frame data, the data that is to be copied into block 220 may have been decoded recently, and may not have yet been written into the IBC buffer 320.Thus, the decoder pipeline may have to first wait for the write operation for the decoded blocks 210 to complete and then incur the memory latency to read the written decoded blocks 210.Although a cache may be partial solution, cache misses may still lead to memory latency, which in a real time operation such as video decoding are not affordable.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"5 illustrates an example video decoder 500 that provides a technical solution involving a combination of the local buffer 330 combined with the temporal prediction unit 160, an intra block control unit 510, and a prefetch buffer 520 to manage the memory requests.\",\n \"This solution presents an implementation of the intra block copy with minimal incremental area addition to the existing video decoder chip/circuitry architecture, and no loss of pipeline performance.\",\n \"The control unit 510 may include suitable circuitry and logic and/or code to perform the control and perform the intra block copy operations.\",\n \"The control unit 510 may identify the IBC operation to be performed based on the output of the symbol decoder 110.The symbol decoder 110 may decode the symbols of the input video content stream, which may contain a series of communication packets with encoded video data as payload.\",\n \"Alternatively, or in addition, the symbol decoder 110 may identify the intra block copy operation in response to symbols, such as instructions, or intra block copy information in the decoded video content.\",\n \"The symbols may be in the header or payload portion of the incoming video stream.\",\n \"The incoming video stream may include information indicating that the intra block copy is to be performed for one or more blocks.\",\n \"The information may further indicate the source blocks from which video data is to be copied.\",\n \"The information may further include identification of the destination blocks to which the data is to be copied.\",\n \"Alternatively, or in addition, if the data is to be copied from a sequence of blocks to another sequence, the information may indicate an identity of the starting blocks of each sequence and the number of blocks to be copied.\",\n \"Thus, the control unit 510 may parse the intra block copy ‘command’ in the bit stream of the incoming video content.\",\n \"Upon identification of the intra block copy operations to be performed, the control unit 510 may identify source data which can be prefetched so as to hide latency.\",\n \"That is, the control unit 510, upon interpreting the decoded intra block copy related symbols, may operate ahead of pixel processing components of the video decoder 500.The control unit 510 may schedule fetches of the source data into the prefetch buffer 520, which is a buffer for prefetched data.\",\n \"Accordingly, when the current block 220 is being processed by the other components of the video decoder, the data would be readily available in the prefetch buffer 520, instead of the IBC buffer 320.Since the prefetch buffer 520 provides memory access at lower memory latency than the IBC buffer 320, the video decoder pipeline may operate faster to provide decoded video content output at the desired real-time frame rate for continuous playback.\",\n \"The data stored in the prefetch buffer 520 may be associated with the intra block copy operation to be performed, so that when a component of the decoder 100 performs or initiates performance of the intra block copy, the component may fetch the data from the prefetch buffer 520, instead of the IBC buffer 320.The control unit 510 may control the prefetches so as to handle the possible distribution of the source decoded blocks 210 across the local buffer 330 and the IBC buffer 320.The control unit 510 may know the predetermined size of the local buffer 330.Further, the control unit 510 may know the present block being decoded, and thus which pixels will be in the local buffer 330 at the time the intra block copy is to be performed.\",\n \"Based on the predetermined size, and the current block being decoded, the control unit 510 may be able to calculate and thus predict, which pixels will be in the local buffer 330.The pixels that may not fit in the local buffer 330 may be stored in the IBC buffer 320 and may need a slower memory fetch request.\",\n \"The control unit 510 may further compute details to fetch the content from the IBC buffer 320, such as an address of the source data, based on the intra block copy request and current block being decoded.\",\n \"The prefetch buffer may be sized to accommodate the largest possible block copy size, thereby guaranteeing that block copy fetches will hit valid data.\",\n \"Thus, the fixed local buffer 330 size may be large enough to guarantee memory fetches will hit valid data.\",\n \"The control unit 510 may handle the example cases illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"4 as described further.\",\n \"As in case 1, if the source data may be stored in the local buffer 330, no pipeline-stalling memory request, such as a DRAM request, may be performed.\",\n \"In cases 2 and/or 3, when the source data is partially or wholly in the off-chip storage 320, the control unit 510 may perform a memory request to prefetch the source data stored in the IBC buffer 320 into the local buffer 330.The control unit 510 may either perform the prefetch or schedule the prefetches so that the source data is copied into the local buffer 330 at a later time, but before the data is requested for the block copy by the spatial predictor 170 of the video decoder 500.Thus, the source data to be copied into the block 220 may be available in the local buffer 330 at the time block 220 is being decoded.\",\n \"Additionally, or alternatively, the source data will be available in the local buffer 330 at the time the intra block copy function associated with the block 220 is being performed by the video decoder, for example in the spatial predictor 170.Further, the control unit 510 may communicate to the spatial predictor 170, the availability of the source data in the local buffer 330.For example, the control unit 510 may set a value of a flag that is accessible by the spatial predictor 170 such that the flag indicates the availability of the source data in the local buffer 330.For example, the flag may be set to value 1 in case the source data is available in the local buffer and 0 otherwise.\",\n \"Alternatively, or in addition, the control unit 510 may pass a message to the spatial predictor 170 indicating such availability.\",\n \"Other techniques to communicate the availability may also be used.\",\n \"The spatial predictor 170, in response to the communication, may access the source data from the local buffer 330 or the IBC buffer 320.Alternatively, or in addition, in an example video decoder, the spatial predictor 170 may first attempt to fetch the source data from the local buffer 330.In case the source data is not available via the local buffer 330, the spatial predictor 170 may proceed to access the source data from the IBC buffer 320.The control unit 510 may use the memory access functionality of the temporal predictor 160 and spatial predictor 170 to perform or schedule the prefetches from the memory 190.For example, in the exemplary video decoder of FIG.\",\n \"6, the temporal predictor 160 may be adapted to fetch data from the memory 190, as part of the temporal prediction operations that may involve older frames.\",\n \"The spatial predictor 170 may be adapted to fetch data from the memory 190 as part of the spatial prediction operations that may involve decoded blocks from the same frame, as described elsewhere in this document.\",\n \"Further yet, the control unit 510 may use the spatial predictor 170 to copy the data into the local buffer 330.The spatial decoder 170 may be adapted to store data in the local buffer 330 after completion of reconstruction operations.\",\n \"In one example video decoder, the local buffer 330 may be a part of the spatial predictor 170.Thus, the control unit 510 may send prefetch instructions to the temporal predictor 160 to prefetch the source data from decoded blocks 210 stored in the memory 190, and further send copy, or write instructions to the spatial predictor 170 to store the prefetched data in the local buffer 330.The prefetched data may be stored in the local buffer 330 at a location allocated to the current block 220.The temporal predictor 160 may not otherwise be active during intra block copy operations and hence is available to perform the prefetches.\",\n \"Thus, video decoder 600 may hide the memory latency of the prefetches performed by the temporal predictor 160 in response to the intra block copy requests, and eliminate memory-latency performance bottleneck.\",\n \"At least some of the steps performed during a method to decode video content related bit stream with intra block copy operations are illustrated in the example flowchart of FIG.\",\n \"8.The steps illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"8 may hide memory latency performance bottlenecks by using prefetches of the source data to be used for the intra block copy operations, thus allowing a continuous real time video playback.\",\n \"The method may be performed by example video decoders such as those described throughout this disclosure.\",\n \"The method may involve parsing an incoming bitstream (802).\",\n \"The bitstream may be an encoded bitstream containing video content.\",\n \"For example, the bitstream may be encoded using a HEVC standard, or any other video encoding standard.\",\n \"The incoming bitstream may be transmitted by another device and/or may be read from the memory storage unit 190.The control unit 510 may parse the bitstream to identify the intra block command in the bitstream (806).\",\n \"The parsing may be performed after the bitstream is decoded by the symbol decoder 110.The intra block copy command may involve a block that the decoder may handle at a later time, after completion of the current block that the video decoder is working on.\",\n \"The control unit 510 may identify the source data from the decoded blocks 210 that may be copied into the block that will be processed at a later time (810).\",\n \"The control unit 510 may identify the earlier decoded blocks 210 from which the source data may be copied.\",\n \"The control unit 510 may determine whether the source data is stored in the local buffer 330 or in memory 190 (816, 820).\",\n \"The control unit 510 may make this determination based on a predetermined size of the local buffer 330, the current block being processed by the decoder, and how many blocks in the video stream have been processed since the blocks containing the source data.\",\n \"In addition, or alternatively, a predetermined number of decoded blocks may be stored in the local buffer 330.The local buffer 330 may store a predetermined number of previously decoded blocks.\",\n \"The spatial predictor 170 may overwrite the local buffer 330 with the most recently decoded blocks.\",\n \"For example, assume the predetermined number of blocks stored in the local buffer 330 is three.\",\n \"In this exemplary case, blocks k, k+1,and k+2 may be stored in the local buffer 330 after the blocks k, k+1, and k+2 are decoded, but prior to filtering of those blocks.\",\n \"However, a block k+3, after decoding would be stored in the local buffer 330 overwriting block k. It will be understood that the predetermined number of blocks may have a different value than 3, as used in this example.\",\n \"Therefore, based on the predetermined number of blocks in the local buffer 330, the control unit 510 may determine whether the source data blocks 210 are stored in the local buffer 330 or the memory 190, or a combination of the two.\",\n \"In case the source data blocks are stored in the local buffer 330, the control unit 510 may not have to perform any further steps to fetch the data blocks, rather copy contents from location of the source data blocks on the local buffer 330 to the location allocated to the current block 220 in the local buffer 330 (824).\",\n \"In case the source data is partially or wholly stored in the memory 190, the control unit 510 may request prefetching the source data form the memory 190 and storing the prefetched data into prefetch buffer 520, if required, and use the on-chip prefetched data.\",\n \"(826, 828).\",\n \"The data stored in the memory 190 may be directly stored in the location allocated to the current block 220 in the prefetch buffer 520.The control unit 510 may request the temporal predictor 160 to perform the operations for prefetching the source data from the memory 190.The control unit 510 may request the spatial predictor 170 to perform the operations to store the prefetched source data into the local buffer 330.The control unit 510 may schedule the prefetch and copy operations so that the video decoder has the pixel data to be copied into the block associated with the intra block copy, when the block is processed by the video processor (830).\",\n \"Further, the control unit 510 may communicate to the decoder, for example to the spatial predictor 170, that the source data is available in the local buffer 330.In addition, the control unit 510 may prefetch the data from the IBC buffer 320, in the memory 190, to the location in the local buffer 330 allocated to the block for which the intra block copy is to be performed.\",\n \"Accessing the content from the local buffer 330 or the prefetch buffer may have negligible memory latency as compared to the IBC buffer 320 in the memory 190.In case, the content is not copied into the local buffer in this prefetch manner, a memory access will result at a later time, which may stall the decoder pipeline.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"7 illustrates exemplary steps performed when processing an example frame.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"7 represents the circuitry of example video decoder except the symbol decode 110, control unit 510, and loop filter 180 as one block titled pixel processing.\",\n \"Further, when processing blocks 1 through n of the frame, the processing is initiated at 710ab, decoded at 720ab by the pixel processing circuitry, and further stored in the local buffer 330 and memory 190 at 730ab before forwarding for the loop filter operation at 740ab.\",\n \"Block n+1 may involve an intra block copy instruction.\",\n \"Accordingly, at 750, the intra block copy instruction may be parsed and the control unit 510 notified of the instruction.\",\n \"The control unit 510 may identify the location of the source blocks.\",\n \"In case the source block involves a recently decoded block that may be stored in the local buffer 330, such as n−1, the contents of such a recent source block may be copied from the local buffer 330 itself at 770.In case, the source block involves a decoded block such that it is no longer in the local buffer 330, for example block 1, a prefetch operation may be initiated to copy the contents of that block from the memory 190 at 780.Once all contents of the block n+1 have been copied, from decoded source blocks, the block n+1 may be forwarded for the loop filtering, as indicated by 790.While FIG.\",\n \"7 illustrates an exemplary sequence, it should be noted that the order of the events may be modified according to the decoder pipeline timing requirements.\",\n \"For example, the IBC control unit 510 may identify an intra block copy in block n substantially simultaneously while a prefetch operation is in progress for block n−1.Further, a block copy operation may be in progress for block n−2 at substantially the same time.\",\n \"The methods, devices, processing, and logic described above may be implemented in many different ways and in many different combinations of hardware and software.\",\n \"For example, all or parts of the implementations may be circuitry that includes an instruction processor, such as a Central Processing Unit (CPU), microcontroller, or a microprocessor; an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), Programmable Logic Device (PLD), or Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA); or circuitry that includes discrete logic or other circuit components, including analog circuit components, digital circuit components or both; or any combination thereof.\",\n \"The circuitry may include discrete interconnected hardware components and/or may be combined on a single integrated circuit die, distributed among multiple integrated circuit dies, or implemented in a Multiple Chip Module (MCM) of multiple integrated circuit dies in a common package, as examples.\",\n \"The circuitry may further include or access instructions for execution by the circuitry.\",\n \"The instructions may be stored in a tangible storage medium that is other than a transitory signal, such as a flash memory, a Random Access Memory (RAM), a Read Only Memory (ROM), an Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory (EPROM); or on a magnetic or optical disc, such as a Compact Disc Read Only Memory (CDROM), Hard Disk Drive (HDD), or other magnetic or optical disk; or in or on another machine-readable medium.\",\n \"A product, such as a computer program product, may include a storage medium and instructions stored in or on the medium, and the instructions when executed by the circuitry in a device may cause the device to implement any of the processing described above or illustrated in the drawings.\",\n \"The implementations may be distributed as circuitry among multiple system components, such as among multiple processors and memories, optionally including multiple distributed processing systems.\",\n \"Parameters, databases, and other data structures may be separately stored and managed, may be incorporated into a single memory or database, may be logically and physically organized in many different ways, and may be implemented in many different ways, including as data structures such as linked lists, hash tables, arrays, records, objects, or implicit storage mechanisms.\",\n \"Programs may be parts (e.g., subroutines) of a single program, separate programs, distributed across several memories and processors, or implemented in many different ways, such as in a library, such as a shared library (e.g., a Dynamic Link Library (DLL)).\",\n \"The DLL, for example, may store instructions that perform any of the processing described above or illustrated in the drawings, when executed by the circuitry.\",\n \"Various implementations have been specifically described.\",\n \"However, many other implementations are also possible.\"\n ]\n]"},"source":{"kind":"string","value":"Patent_15876015"}}},{"rowIdx":4495054,"cells":{"text":{"kind":"list like","value":[["HYPERVISOR ENFORCEMENT OF CRYPTOGRAPHIC POLICY","Techniques for restricting the execution of algorithms contained in applications executing on virtual machines executing within a computer system are described herein.","A first sampled set of computer executable instructions is gathered from a virtual machine by a controlling domain and compared against a reference set of computer executable instructions.","If the first set is similar to the reference set, and if the execution of the algorithm corresponding to the reference set is restricted by one or more computer system polices, one or more operations limiting the execution of the restricted algorithm are performed, thus ensuring conformance with the computer system policies."],["1.A computer-implemented method, comprising: identifying, based at least in part on computer executable instructions executing on a computer system, a plurality of execution traces, each of the plurality of execution traces including information corresponding to an algorithm that is restricted by one or more system policies; determining whether the plurality of identified execution traces satisfies a set of conditions; and causing the computer system to perform one or more actions based at least in part on the determination.","2.The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the set of conditions further comprise determining whether a number of the plurality of identified execution traces exceeds a threshold value.","3.The computer-implemented method of claim 2, further comprising computing a statistical measure for each of the plurality of identified execution traces based at least in part on determining that the number of the plurality of identified execution traces exceeds the threshold value.","4.The computer-implemented method of claim 3, further comprising: determining that the statistical measure satisfies a second set of conditions; and causing the computer system to perform the one or more actions based at least in part on the determination.","5.A system, comprising: memory to store instructions that, if executed by one or more processors of the system, cause the system to: identify, based at least in part on computer executable instructions executing on a computer system, a plurality of execution traces, each of the plurality of execution traces including information corresponding to an algorithm that is restricted by one or more system policies; and as a result of the plurality of identified execution traces satisfying a set of conditions, cause the computer system to perform one or more actions based at least in part on the determination.","6.The system of claim 5, wherein the set of conditions comprises instructions that, if executed by the one or more processors of the system, further cause the system to determine whether a number of the plurality of identified execution traces exceeds a threshold value.","7.The system of claim 6, wherein the instructions that, if executed by the one or more processors of the system, further cause the system to compute a statistical measure for each of the plurality of identified execution traces based at least in part on the determination that the number of the plurality of identified execution traces exceeds the threshold value.","8.The system of claim 7, wherein the statistical measure is at least one of: an average; an arithmetic mean; a median; a time-weighted average; or a histogram.","9.The system of claim 7, wherein the instructions that, if executed by the one or more processors of the system, further cause the system to: determine whether the statistical measure satisfies a second set of conditions; and cause the computer system to perform the one or more actions based at least in part on the determination.","10.The system of claim 9, wherein perform the one or more actions further comprises instructions that, if executed by the one or more processors of the system, further cause the system to restrict the computer executable instructions based at least in part on the determination that the statistical measure satisfies the second set of conditions.","11.The system of claim 9, wherein perform the one or more actions further comprise instructions that, if executed by the one or more processors of the system, further cause the system to identify additional execution traces that include information corresponding to the algorithm that is restricted by the one or more system policies based at least in part on the determination that the statistical measure does not satisfy the second set of conditions.","12.The system of claim 5, wherein each of the plurality of execution traces including information corresponding to an algorithm that is restricted by one or more system policies are identified by sampling an application executing computer executable instructions on the computer system.","13.A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having stored thereon executable instructions that, if executed by one or more processors of a computer system, cause the computer system to at least: determine, based at least in part on computer executable instructions executing on a computer system, whether a plurality of execution traces satisfies a set of conditions, wherein the plurality of execution traces are obtained by identifying execution traces that include information corresponding to an algorithm restricted by one or more system policies; and cause the computer system to perform one or more actions based at least in part on the determination.","14.The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 13, wherein the set of conditions comprises instructions that, if executed by the one or more processors of the system, further cause the system to determine whether a number of the plurality of execution traces exceeds a threshold value.","15.The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 14, wherein the instructions that, if executed by the one or more processors of the system, further cause the system to compute a statistical measure for each of the plurality of execution traces based at least in part on the determination that the number of the plurality of execution traces exceeds the threshold value.","16.The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 15, wherein the statistical measure is at least one of: an average; an arithmetic mean; a median; a time-weighted average; or a histogram.","17.The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 15, wherein the instructions that, if executed by the one or more processors of the system, further cause the system to: determine whether the statistical measure satisfies a second set of conditions; and cause the computer system to perform the one or more actions based at least in part on the determination.","18.The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 17, wherein perform the one or more actions further comprises instructions that, if executed by the one or more processors of the system, further cause the system to restrict the computer executable instructions based at least in part on the determination that the statistical measure satisfies the second set of conditions.","19.The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 17, wherein perform the one or more instructions further comprise instructions that, if executed by the one or more processors of the system, further cause the system to identify additional execution traces that include information corresponding to the algorithm that is restricted by the one or more system policies based at least in part on the determination that the statistical measure does not satisfy the second set of conditions.","20.The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 13, wherein each of the plurality of execution traces including information corresponding to an algorithm that is restricted by one or more system policies are identified by sampling an application executing computer executable instructions on the computer system."],[" BACKGROUND Modern computing systems place high importance on system security, and also place high importance on conformance with system policies.","In many computer systems, particularly distributed computer systems, and especially those involving virtualized computing environments where a plurality of guest virtual machines may be hosted on shared physical host machines, both system security and policy conformance may become a concern.","The distributed systems in which the guest virtual machines are implemented are often highly complex, comprising large numbers of networked host machines and a correspondingly large number of guest virtual machines.","Such computer systems often operate with a large variety of operating systems and applications, and these operating systems and applications are often required to conform to a variety of system security policies.","Frequently, implementations of cryptographic algorithms do not integrate well with policy systems, particularly without direct hardware or operating system integration.","Such hardware or operating system integration is not easily achievable on distributed systems with a plurality of guest virtual computing systems because of lack of access to system hardware and/or operating system resources.","Additionally, identifying and remediating restricted cryptographic algorithms implemented on distributed computing systems with the accompanying varied computing system environments is often problematic due to the nature of the computer system environments, making enforcement of consistent cryptographic policies on such systems difficult."],[" BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Various embodiments in accordance with the present disclosure will be described with reference to the drawings, in which: FIG.","1 illustrates an example environment where applications may be analyzed for cryptographic policy violations in accordance with at least one embodiment; FIG.","2 illustrates an example environment where applications may be verified for conformance with cryptographic policies in accordance with at least one embodiment; FIG.","3 illustrates an example environment where computer executable instructions may be collected and analyzed in accordance with at least one embodiment; FIG.","4 illustrates an example process for collecting and analyzing computer executable instructions to determine the presence of cryptographic algorithms in accordance with at least one embodiment; FIG.","5 illustrates an example environment where a trace of a group of computer executable instructions may be represented by a graph in accordance with at least one embodiment; FIG.","6 illustrates an example environment where a trace of a group of computer executable instructions may be weighted by a multiple-edge and a weighted graph in accordance with at least one embodiment; FIG.","7 illustrates an example environment where a trace graph may be analyzed in accordance with at least one embodiment; FIG.","8 illustrates an example environment where a trace graph with patterns may be analyzed in accordance with at least one embodiment; FIG.","9 illustrates an example process for computing the likelihood that a group of computer executable instructions comprise at least a portion of a cryptographic algorithm in accordance with at least one embodiment; and FIG.","10 illustrates an environment in which various embodiments can be implemented.","detailed-description description=\"Detailed Description\" end=\"lead\"?"],["CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser.","No.","14/852,361, filed Sep. 11, 2015, entitled “HYPERVISOR ENFORCEMENT OF CRYPTOGRAPHIC POLICY,” which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser.","No.","14/223,868, filed on Mar.","24, 2014, now U.S. Pat.","No.","9,135,437, entitled “HYPERVISOR ENFORCEMENT OF CRYPTOGRAPHIC POLICY,” the disclosures of which are incorporated by reference herein in their entirety.","BACKGROUND Modern computing systems place high importance on system security, and also place high importance on conformance with system policies.","In many computer systems, particularly distributed computer systems, and especially those involving virtualized computing environments where a plurality of guest virtual machines may be hosted on shared physical host machines, both system security and policy conformance may become a concern.","The distributed systems in which the guest virtual machines are implemented are often highly complex, comprising large numbers of networked host machines and a correspondingly large number of guest virtual machines.","Such computer systems often operate with a large variety of operating systems and applications, and these operating systems and applications are often required to conform to a variety of system security policies.","Frequently, implementations of cryptographic algorithms do not integrate well with policy systems, particularly without direct hardware or operating system integration.","Such hardware or operating system integration is not easily achievable on distributed systems with a plurality of guest virtual computing systems because of lack of access to system hardware and/or operating system resources.","Additionally, identifying and remediating restricted cryptographic algorithms implemented on distributed computing systems with the accompanying varied computing system environments is often problematic due to the nature of the computer system environments, making enforcement of consistent cryptographic policies on such systems difficult.","BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Various embodiments in accordance with the present disclosure will be described with reference to the drawings, in which: FIG.","1 illustrates an example environment where applications may be analyzed for cryptographic policy violations in accordance with at least one embodiment; FIG.","2 illustrates an example environment where applications may be verified for conformance with cryptographic policies in accordance with at least one embodiment; FIG.","3 illustrates an example environment where computer executable instructions may be collected and analyzed in accordance with at least one embodiment; FIG.","4 illustrates an example process for collecting and analyzing computer executable instructions to determine the presence of cryptographic algorithms in accordance with at least one embodiment; FIG.","5 illustrates an example environment where a trace of a group of computer executable instructions may be represented by a graph in accordance with at least one embodiment; FIG.","6 illustrates an example environment where a trace of a group of computer executable instructions may be weighted by a multiple-edge and a weighted graph in accordance with at least one embodiment; FIG.","7 illustrates an example environment where a trace graph may be analyzed in accordance with at least one embodiment; FIG.","8 illustrates an example environment where a trace graph with patterns may be analyzed in accordance with at least one embodiment; FIG.","9 illustrates an example process for computing the likelihood that a group of computer executable instructions comprise at least a portion of a cryptographic algorithm in accordance with at least one embodiment; and FIG.","10 illustrates an environment in which various embodiments can be implemented.","DETAILED DESCRIPTION In the following description, various embodiments will be described.","For purposes of explanation, specific configurations and details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the embodiments.","However, it will also be apparent to one skilled in the art that the embodiments may be practiced without the specific details.","Furthermore, well-known features may be omitted or simplified in order not to obscure the embodiment being described.","Techniques described and suggested herein include systems and methods for enforcing cryptographic policies in applications running on distributed systems under the control of a controlling domain such as a hypervisor.","An application running on a virtual machine (VM) instance may be subject to a variety of system policies such as policies regarding access to cryptographic resources, access by users to such resources, allowed and/or disallowed cryptographic algorithms, minimal cryptographic security requirements and/or other such policies.","An extensive and varied number of standards exist for computer-implemented cryptographic methods and an organization and/or system may wish to enforce policies associated with several of these standards.","Some implementations of cryptographic algorithms may be integrated with systems to enforce policy.","For example, many applications integrate well with the Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS) Publication 140-2 (FIPS PUB 140-2, also referred to herein simply as “FIPS”) security standard and a system compliant with the standard may be referred to as “FIPS compliant.” Deploying a system that is FIPS compliant generally involves deploying a FIPS compliant version of an operating system and then selecting only FIPS compliant applications on that system.","Such a deployment, while conforming to the standard of FIPS PUB 140-2, is limited in that it may require alteration of the operating system, may require integration with system hardware, may restrict the use of many applications (including custom applications) and may not fully support a full subset of policy capabilities that may be contemplated by an organization.","Some other implementations of cryptographic algorithms may not integrate well with systems to enforce policy, lacking support within operating systems or support for integration with policy systems.","Additionally, both systems that integrate well and those that do not integrate well generally do not perform well at identifying unapproved and/or insufficiently secure use of cryptography algorithms that may be introduced into a system by users, services, procedures and/or other such computer system entities, making identifying and/or remediating unauthorized use of cryptography difficult.","Techniques described and suggested herein include techniques for enforcing cryptographic policies in applications running on distributed systems with a plurality of virtual machines operating under the control of a controlling domain such as a hypervisor.","As used herein, unless otherwise stated or made clear from context, the term “hypervisor” may be understood to refer to the hypervisor and/or to one or more processes, applications, services and/or combinations thereof, running under the control of and/or in conjunction with the hypervisor.","The hypervisor may first collect traces of computer executable instructions executed inside of a virtual machine running under the control of the hypervisor.","A hypervisor may examine the computer executable instructions executed inside of a virtual machine running under its control by recording at least a subset of the computer executable instructions that are forwarded to the host computer hardware for execution as they are executed.","In some embodiments, the hypervisor may organize the examining and recording of the computer executable instructions according to the CPU, the virtual CPU, the virtual machine, the application, the application thread, the application hyperthread and/or by other such groupings.","In some embodiments, the hypervisor may collect and/or record samples of computer executable instructions (also referred to herein simply as “sampling”) by intermittently examining the contents of memory locations within the virtual machine to determine information such as which instruction is currently executing, the location of the instruction within memory, data being used by the instruction, parameters being used by the instruction, the time of execution and/or other such information.","Sampling may be performed by the hypervisor, or by a process such as a trace collector running within, or under the control of, the hypervisor.","In some embodiments, sampling may be started and stopped according to one or more system conditions.","For example, sampling may be a resource intensive operation and, consequently, may be turned off when system resources are unavailable.","Sampling may also be “turned down” (executed less frequently) when, for example, system resources are scarce, when well-known and/or verified applications are running, according to system policies or according to other such system conditions.","Sampling may similarly be turned on or “turned up” (executed more frequently) as a result of one or more system polices or conditions.","For example, a system configured for high-security use may always keep sampling turned on and fully turned up in order to ensure system security compliance while a system configured for lower-security use may sample less frequently.","Sampling frequency may also be adjusted in response to one or more events that occur in a system.","In some embodiments, sampling may be turned on and/or turned up when a new user accesses the system, or when a new and/or unrecognized application starts, or when suspicious activity is detected by one or more processes and/or services running on the computer system or when other such similar events occur.","Sampling may also be turned off and/or turned down after such new processes, users, or applications have be examined and found to be acceptable.","In some embodiments, sampling may always be turned off for certain users, modules and applications including, but not limited to, the guest operating system, administrative users, verified modules running under the control of the hypervisor and/or the guest operating system and other such trusted entities.","In some embodiments, one or more of the policies relating to whether sampling occurs and the frequency at which sampling occurs may exist as part of cryptographic policies, as part of system policies, as part of hypervisor policies or in a combination of these and/or other such polices.","As may be contemplated, the factors for adjusting sampling and/or sampling rates described herein are illustrative examples, and other such factors for adjusting sampling and/or sampling rates may be considered as within the scope of the present disclosure.","After a plurality of samples has been gathered by the hypervisor, sample analysis may begin.","In some embodiments, the hypervisor may continue to gather samples while performing the analysis of the previous set of samples.","The hypervisor may also suspend and/or turn down the sampling during analysis in, for example, scarce resource situations and, may also turn up the sampling during analysis if, for example, system security demands are high.","The hypervisor may begin analysis by first creating a graph representation of the sampled computer executable instructions (the graph may also be referred to herein as a “walk-through” or as a “walk-through graph”), grouping the sampled computer executable instructions (also referred to herein as the “instructions”) temporally, where the term graph is used in the mathematical sense, comprising a collection of vertices and edges connecting the vertices.","So, for example, if at time “A”, an application executes instruction “X”, at time “B”, an application executes instruction “Y” and at time “C”, an application executes instruction “Z”, and if times “A”, “B”, and “C” are close together, then the hypervisor may create a walk-through graph with vertices representing the instructions “X”, “Y” and “Z”, with edges representing the temporal connection between “X” and “Y” and between “Y” and “Z.” Structures of interest within the walk-through may include sets of instructions that are executed in a consistent pattern, with a consistent starting and stopping point, wherein the instructions executed are both temporally located (all occurring within a short period of time) and spatially located (all located near one another and generally executed in a consistent order).","The hypervisor may look for certain structures that are executed multiple times, with consistent entry and exit points.","In the above example, if instructions “X”, “Y” and “Z” may be frequently executed and in that same order, with consistent entry and exit points, the hypervisor may flag and/or otherwise denote that repeated executed instruction set.","The hypervisor may also flag and/or otherwise denote looping structures within the walk-through.","If, for example, in the above mentioned instruction set, the application, after executing instruction “Z”, repeatedly returned to execute instruction “X”, followed by instruction “Y”, followed by instruction “Z” again, this is a looping structure.","After repeating the loop a number of times, the application may exit the loop and execute a different instruction (call it “W”).","A hypervisor may flag and/or otherwise denote the repeated execution of “X-Y-Z” followed by a single execution of “W” as a recognizable execution pattern in the walk-through graph.","Loops may be identified by the hypervisor by identifying back edges in the walk through.","A back edge is an edge of a graph which, in a depth-first traversal of the graph, points to a first vertex of a set of vertices that has already been traversed.","A back edge is an indicator of a loop in a graph.","Back edges may be indicated by an instruction order that is different than an expected instruction order.","In the above example, with the “X”−“Y”−“Z” instruction set, the expected order of execution of the instructions is “X”, followed by “Y”, followed by “Z” (instructions “X”, “Y” and “Z” are in that order, in the computer system memory of the virtual machine).","When instruction “X” follows instruction “Z” in the loop, that edge of the walk-through graph may be contrary to the expected order and may indicate the possibility of a back-edge in the walk-through graph.","Loops in the graph may correspond to loops in the executed code and may also be indicators of certain algorithms.","Strong loops, where the same set of instructions may be executed in order, and a large number of times, may be indicated by graphs with multiple edges and/or by applying weights to temporal connection edges (edges between vertices that occur sequentially).","For example, if the set of instructions “X”−“Y”−“Z” is executed one-hundred times in a row in a loop, there may be one-hundred edges between each of the instruction vertices.","In some embodiments, the weight of repeated walk-through edges may be computed as a function of the number of repetitions of the associated pair of instructions such as, for example, a quadratic function, an exponential function, an inverse quadratic function, a logarithmic function and/or other such functional relationships.","After identifying loops, the hypervisor may next group computer executable instructions together into one or more functional groups based at least in part on the identified loop structures.","In each of the groups, each of the sets of executable instructions may comprise instructions that share temporal and/or spatial locality.","In the example described herein, the instructions “X”, “Y” and “Z” may form a functional group based at least in part on their temporal and spatial locality as well as based, at least in part, on the identified loop structure.","In some embodiments, instruction “W” may be included in the same functional group based at least in part on spatial locality and/or on temporal locality as being a common exit point of the “X”-“Y”−“Z” loop.","The hypervisor and/or the trace analyzer may determine whether to include instruction “W” in the functional group based on policy, user preferences, administrator preferences, resource availability, computational complexity and/or other such disparate factors.","In some embodiments, the hypervisor may select a subset of the groups for further analysis based at least in part on a variety of factors for the selection.","The factors for selection of groups for further analysis include, but may not be limited to, a plurality of instructions sharing common data based on examining data transfer through one or more registers and/or memory locations specified in the computer executable instructions, a plurality of instructions sharing common parameters based on examining data transfer through one or more other registers and/or memory locations specified in the computer executable instructions, meta-sequences of instructions where group “A” of instructions temporally and/or spatially follows group “B” of instructions, one or more threshold values on intervening instructions that may be executed between the instructions in the group of instructions and/or between the meta-sequences of instructions and/or other such factors for selection for further analysis.","As may be contemplated, the factors for selection of groups for further analysis described herein are merely illustrative examples, and other such factors for selection may be considered as within the scope of the present disclosure.","Next, the hypervisor may determine whether the instructions in the groups selected for further analysis may comprise at least a portion of the implementation of one or more cryptographic algorithms.","The hypervisor may determine whether the instructions comprise at least a portion of one or more cryptographic algorithms by comparing the detected loop structures and the computer executable instructions in the groups selected for further analysis against one or more reference implementations of cryptographic algorithms that may be stored in a repository of reference implementations of cryptographic algorithms (also referred to herein as a cryptographic database).","For example, if it is known that a cryptographic algorithm uses one or more different loop structures, a cryptographic database may store one or more reference implementations of those one or more different loop structures.","For example, if the looped instruction set “X”-“Y”-“Z” mentioned above was selected for further analysis, the hypervisor may compare the looped instruction set against a repository of reference implementations of known cryptographic algorithms.","The repository may contain reference implementations that say, for example, that the instructions “X”, “Y” and “Z”, executed in a loop and in that order, comprise at least a portion of a known implementation of a cryptographic algorithm.","The repository may contain reference implementations for “X”-“Z”-“Y”, or “X”-“Y”-“Q”-“Z” and/or other such ordered groupings of instructions and may also store indications as to whether such implementations do, do not and/or might indicate implementations of cryptographic algorithms.","It should be noted that the examples of the “X”−“Y”−“Z” and other such computer executed instruction patterns mentioned herein are merely illustrative examples and are not meant to convey the scope or size of a group of related instructions.","The number of instructions in a group of instructions may vary by implementation, by system, by type and scope of analysis and/or by other such factors.","The hypervisor may determine whether the instructions in the groups of instructions selected for further analysis may comprise at least a portion of an implementation of one or more cryptographic algorithms by, for example, lists of instructions against reference lists of instructions, comparing sequences of instructions against reference sequences of instructions, comparing loops of instructions against reference loops of instructions, comparing sequences of loops and/or sequences of instructions against reference sequences of loops and/or sequences of instructions and/or other such comparisons.","The reference implementation may include a number of markers (also referred to herein as “patterns” or “fingerprints”) for the hypervisor to compare groups of instructions against.","For example, a reference implementation may indicate that any algorithm that executes instructions “X”, “Y” and “Z”, in that order, more than a threshold number of times, is probably a cryptographic algorithm.","Another reference implementation may look at patterns in using a certain type of data in the algorithm.","For example, a set of instructions which use a certain lookup table with known values to transform values may be an indicator of a cryptographic algorithm.","The hypervisor may use the patterns or fingerprints to determine the likelihood that a group of related instructions may comprise at least a portion of an implementation of a cryptographic algorithm.","A group of instructions that strongly matches a reference implementation in the instructions used, the sequence of instructions, the lack of unfamiliar and/or out-of-sequence instructions, the looping structure, the sequence of loops and/or sequences, the data used and/or other such markers may indicate a strong likelihood that the group of instructions may comprise at least a portion of an implementation of a cryptographic algorithm.","By contrast, a group of instructions that, for example, only partially matches the above factors or that has a large number of unfamiliar and/or out of sequence instructions may indicate a less-strong likelihood that the group of instructions may comprise at least a portion of an implementation of a cryptographic algorithm.","In some embodiments, the hypervisor may assign one or more scores indicating a confidence level that the group of instructions may comprise at least a portion of an implementation of one or more reference cryptographic algorithms.","A group of instructions may, for example, be a 25% match for one reference cryptographic algorithm, a 5% match for another, a 90% match for a third and a 99% match for a fourth.","In some embodiments, the hypervisor may use a variety of analysis tools to determine the likelihood that a group of instructions is at least similar to a reference implementation.","For example, a graph of the group of instructions may be compared against a graph of the instructions in the reference implementation.","Sequences of instructions may also be compared against sequences of instructions in the reference implementation.","Where there are differences, the likelihood of a match may be computed by using similarity quantification techniques such as a distance metric, an edit distance (comparing the number of steps required to make two dissimilar objects the same), measurement of alignment (measuring deviation from a standard) and/or other such quantification techniques.","As mentioned herein, there are several factors that the hypervisor may use to determine the likelihood that a group of instructions is similar to a reference implementation.","For example, back edges may identify loop structures which, in turn, may be compared against reference loop structures.","A loop structure that does not exactly conform to a reference loop structure, but that may be altered to exactly conform to a reference loop structure with a small number of changes (and a small distance metric or edit distance) may indicate a strong likelihood that the given loop structure may comprise at least a portion of an implementation of the cryptographic algorithm corresponding to the reference implementation.","Similarly, close conformity of common entry and exit points from an algorithm, strongly correlated physical locality, strongly correlated temporal locality, presence and/or absence of intervening instructions and/or other such factors may be used by the hypervisor to assign one or more scores for the likelihood that a group of instructions may comprise at least a portion of an implementation of a cryptographic algorithm.","In some embodiments, the hypervisor may select one or more data parameters from gathered sample data and compare the one or more data parameters to a data model associated with a reference implementation.","The presence or absence of data that is similar to data in a reference implementation may be used to increase or decrease the likelihood that a group of instructions and a group of associated data parameters comprise at least a portion of an implementation of a cryptographic algorithm.","For example, a reference implementation of a cryptographic algorithm may require the presence of a lookup table to transform data values.","A group of instructions that is similar to the reference implementation, but that does not include any such lookup table, may have a decreased likelihood of comprising an implementation of the reference cryptographic algorithm.","Similarly, a group of instructions that is not very similar to the reference implementation, but that has a lookup table that is very similar to the reference lookup table, may have an increased likelihood of comprising an implementation of the reference cryptographic algorithm.","In some embodiments selecting and/or comparing data parameters may be omitted if the reference implementation has no reference parameters or if the reference implementation indicates a match for all choices of data parameters.","Using the one or more likelihood scores based on the reference implementation and/or the comparison with the reference implementation data parameters, the hypervisor may next determine whether the likelihood that a group of instructions may comprise at least a portion of an implementation of a reference cryptographic algorithm is sufficient to consider whether that implementation may be prohibited by one or more cryptographic policies.","In one embodiment, the hypervisor may evaluate the likelihood that a group of instructions may comprise at least a portion of an implementation of a reference cryptographic algorithm by first looking at the percentage of the samples whose likelihood score exceeds a certain threshold value.","The threshold value may be used to prevent skewing of the average by samples that were taken when the virtual machine was performing some other action.","Such samples are not likely to conform to any particular implementation of a reference cryptographic algorithm and thus, would skew the average with a 0% likelihood score.","As an illustrative example, consider ten samples of an application that comprise at least a portion of an implementation of a reference cryptographic algorithm.","Five of the samples may show that there is a 95% likelihood that the samples may comprise at least a portion of a reference cryptographic algorithm and five of the samples may show that there is a 5% likelihood that the samples may comprise at least a portion of a reference cryptographic algorithm.","The 5% samples may be because at the time that the samples were taken, the virtual machine may have been performing a different function.","The average may indicate that there is a 50% likelihood that the samples comprise at least a portion of the implementation of a reference cryptographic algorithm, but a much stronger indicator may be that 50% of the samples indicate that there is a 95% likelihood that the samples comprise at least a portion of the implementation of a reference cryptographic algorithm.","If it is determined that a group of instructions being executed by an application is likely to comprise at least a portion of an implementation of a reference cryptographic algorithm, the hypervisor may determine whether the cryptographic algorithm implementation is prohibited by a cryptographic policy based on the reference implementation and/or the data parameters.","In the event that an implementation is prohibited by system policy, the likelihood score described above herein may be used to determine whether an application should be prevented from continuing to execute the cryptographic algorithm.","One or more likelihood score conditions may be evaluated.","A likelihood score condition is a condition based at least in part on computed likelihood scores and also based at least in part on one or more system policies.","For example, a computer system may have a likelihood score condition indicating that if a percentage of the likelihood scores exceed a threshold value, one or more policy operations should be performed.","In another example, a computer system may have a likelihood score condition indicating that if the maximum likelihood score is within one range of values, a first set of one or more policy operations should be performed and if the maximum likelihood score is within a different range of values, a second set of one or more policy operations should be performed.","As may be contemplated, the examples of likelihood score conditions described herein are merely illustrative examples and other such likelihood score conditions may be considered as within the scope of the present disclosure.","In some embodiments, where the likelihood is low, the hypervisor may elect to continue sampling the application to see if the likelihood increases or decreases.","An application may be put on a watch list where it is allowed to continue to execute, but sampling and analysis may continue.","Policy determinations for how to react to various algorithms may vary.","For example, some algorithms may always be disallowed if there is even a slight likelihood that the algorithm in question comprises at least a portion of the implementation of a reference cryptographic algorithm.","Some algorithms may only be disallowed if the likelihood exceeds a certain threshold value.","Some algorithms may be allowed for some data parameters and disallowed for other data parameters.","For example, a system may have a cryptographic policy that a certain type of encryption may be used, but only if, for example, a cryptographic key associated with the cryptographic algorithm exceeds a certain minimum complexity.","An application that uses a key that exceeds that minimum complexity may be allowed, while an application that uses a key that does not exceed that minimum complexity may not be allowed.","In some embodiments, if the hypervisor determines that an application is executing a disallowed cryptographic algorithm, the hypervisor may perform one or more operations to address the execution of the disallowed algorithm.","The hypervisor may, for example, block execution of a portion of computer executable instructions by the virtual machine based at least in part on the determination that the implementation of the cryptographic algorithm is disallowed.","The hypervisor may also shut down the virtual machine, suspend the application, notify an administrator, notify the user, notify the virtual machine, notify the application, notify an administrator of the machine or some other such action.","In some embodiments the hypervisor may allow a grace period for the application and/or the guest computer system to remediate the violation and in others, the disallowed application may be quarantined immediately.","As mentioned previously, the hypervisor may elect to turn on and/or turn up sampling for an application as needed.","The hypervisor may also elect to turn on and/or turn up sampling for a user that was previously found to be executing a disallowed algorithm and/or for the virtual machine where a disallowed algorithm was previously executed.","Similarly, the hypervisor may turn down or turn off analysis for an application that was analyzed and not found to contain any disallowed algorithms and/or data.","FIG.","1 illustrates an example environment 100 where one or more applications running on one or more computer systems within a computer system environment as well as the associated code running thereon may be verified by cryptographic policy enforcement implementations in accordance with at least one embodiment.","A user 102 may connect 106 to a computer system through a computer system client device 104 and may initiate connection with or interaction with one or more applications 114 running on a host 112 operating within a computing resource service provider 110.In some embodiments, the computing resource service provider may provide a distributed, virtualized and/or datacenter environment within which one or more applications, processes, services, virtual machines and/or other such computer system entities may be executed.","In some embodiments, the user 102 may be a person, or may be a process running on one or more remote computer systems, or may be some other computer system entity, user or process.","The command or commands to connect to the computer system and/or to connect the applications running thereon may originate from an outside computer system and/or server, or may originate from an entity, user or process on a remote network location, or may originate from an entity, user or process within the computer system, or may originate from a user of the computer system client device 104, or may originate as a result of an automatic process or may originate as a result of a combination of these and/or other such originating entities.","In some embodiments, the command or commands to initiate the connection 106 to the computing resource service provider 110 and/or an application 114 running thereon may be initiated by the computer system, without the intervention of a user 102.The command or commands to initiate the connection 106 to the host 112 and/or an application 114 running thereon may originate from the same origin as the command or commands to connect to the computing resource service provider 110 or may originate from another computer system and/or server, or may originate from a different entity, user or process on the same or a different remote network location, or may originate from a different entity, user or process within the computer system, or may originate from a different user of a computer system client device 104, or may originate as a result of a combination of these and/or other such same and/or different entities.","The user 102 may request connection to the computing resource service provider via one or more connections 106 and, in some embodiments, via one or more networks 108 and/or entities associated therewith, such as servers connected to the network, either directly or indirectly.","The computer system client device 104 that may request access to the host computer system may include any device that is capable of connecting with a computer system via a network, including at least servers, laptops, mobile devices such as smartphones or tablets, other smart devices such as smart watches, smart televisions, set-top boxes, video game consoles and other such network enabled smart devices, distributed computing systems and components thereof, abstracted components such as guest computer systems or virtual machines and/or other types of computing devices and/or components.","The network may include, for example, a local network, an internal network, a public network such as the Internet, a wide-area network, a wireless network, a mobile network, a satellite network, a distributed computing system with a plurality of network nodes and/or the like.","The network may also operate in accordance with various protocols, such as those listed below, Bluetooth, WiFi, cellular network protocols, satellite network protocols and/or others.","The computing resource service provider 110 may provide access to one or more host machines as well as provide access to computer services such as virtual machine (VM) instances, automatic scaling groups, file-based database storage systems, block storage services, redundant data storage services, data archive services, data warehousing services, user access management services, content management services and/or other such computer system services as may be running thereon.","The computing resource service provider 110 may also provide access to computer system resources such as user resources, policy resources, network resources and/or storage resources.","In some distributed and/or virtualized computer system environments, the resources associated with the computer services may be physical devices, virtual devices, combinations of physical and/or virtual devices or other such device embodiments.","In some embodiments, the host machines may be physical machines located within the computer system environment.","In some embodiments, the host machines may be guest virtual machines operating on physical machines located within the computer system environment.","The application 114 may be running within a virtual machine 120 (also referred to herein as a “VM”, a “guest virtual machine”, “a guest machine”) running on the host 112.A virtual machine is a computer system implemented in software which may be configured to execute one or more programs, services, applications, processes, modules and/or other such computer system entities.","A virtual machine runs on a host computer system and may obtain access to host computer system hardware and resources in order to execute the one or more programs, services, applications, processes, modules and/or other such computer system entities.","A virtual machine typically runs under the control of a controlling domain which also provides the access to host computer system hardware and resources.","A virtual machine may be a general implementation of a computer system, with an operating system, user access, virtual memory, virtual hardware devices and/or other such computer system elements.","A virtual machine may also be a specifically configured implementation of a computer system with only a minimal subset of the resources and capabilities that may be necessary to perform a specific task.","The application 114 may use one or more services, processes and/or applications also running on the virtual machine 120 and/or on the host 112 to connect 118 to a system on the host machine configured to at least enforce one or more cryptographic policies on the system.","The system that is configured to at least enforce one or more cryptographic policies (also referred to herein as the “cryptographic policy system”) may be comprised of one or more subsystems.","The subsystems may include, but not be limited to, one or more controlling domains such as a hypervisor, one or more repositories containing computer system policies, one or more repositories containing data used in enforcing policies, one or more processes, services or applications configured to perform one or more operations relating to enforcement of computer system cryptographic policies and/or other such computer system entities.","The cryptographic policy system may selectively sample operation of the virtual machine 120 for computer executable instructions executed by the application 114 in order to determine whether the application 114 employs cryptographic algorithms.","If the cryptographic policy system determines that an application does employ cryptographic algorithms, the cryptographic system may then determine if those cryptographic algorithms may be allowed or disallowed by policy and if disallowed, the cryptographic policy system may take one or more remediating actions in response to the determination and policy evaluation.","FIG.","2 illustrates an example environment 200 where applications running within a computer system may be verified for conformance with computer system cryptographic policies as described herein at least in connection with FIG.","1 and in accordance with at least one embodiment.","An application 212 running on a virtual machine 208 may be one of one or more applications, including one or more other applications 210 running on the virtual machine 208.The application 212 maybe running on the virtual machine 208, which may be running on a host 204 within computing resource service provider 202 as described herein at least in connection with FIG.","1 and in accordance with at least one embodiment.","The virtual machine 208 may be running on the control of a controlling domain such a hypervisor 206.In an embodiment, a hypervisor is a controlling domain running on a host computer system that may provide access to computer system resources for guest virtual machine instances and their applications also running on the host computer system.","A hypervisor typically has direct access to the host computer system resources and provides scheduled access by guests to those resources.","For example, it is the hypervisor that provides system memory to guest computer systems and also manages that memory by reclaiming memory from the guest computer systems in the event that system memory becomes scarce.","A hypervisor may also be called a controlling domain or domain-zero (DOM0) and typically runs as a privileged domain.","The hypervisor 206 may monitor the computer executable instructions executed on the virtual machine 208 including, but not limited to, the computer executable instructions executed by application 212.The hypervisor 206 may monitor the computer executable instructions to at least determine whether the application 212 may be executing one or more instructions that may comprise at least a portion of an implementation of a cryptographic algorithm.","The hypervisor 206 may make this determination by connecting to one or more policy analysis systems that may be configured to identify violations of cryptographic policy and may also be configured to enforce such policies.","In some embodiments, the hypervisor may connect 220 to a policy analysis subsystem 216 running on the host computer system 204.The policy analysis subsystem may in turn connect to a policy repository 214, which may be one of one or more policy repositories on the host computer system 204.The policy analysis subsystem may include one or more systems configured to record and analyze executable instructions, one or more subsystems to detect cryptographic policy violations, one or more subsystems configured to respond to cryptographic policy violations and/or one or more other cryptographic policy subsystems.","The policy repository 214 may include one or more repositories of reference cryptographic algorithm implementations, one or more repositories of system policy rules, one or more repositories of reference cryptographic data and/or one or more other cryptographic policy repositories.","In some embodiments, the hypervisor may connect 222 to one or more cryptographic policy services 218 running within the computing resource service provider 202 on one or more other computer systems.","The cryptographic policy services may also include a policy analysis subsystem 226 and one or more policy repositories 224.In some embodiments, the hypervisor may use a combination of on-host and off-host policy analysis subsystems and policy repositories.","FIG.","3 illustrates an example environment 300 where computer executable instructions may be collected and analyzed to determine whether an application may be executing instructions that may comprise at least a portion of the implementation of a cryptographic algorithm as described herein at least in connection with FIG.","1 and in accordance with at least one embodiment.","A hypervisor 302 may contain a trace collector 304 which may be a module, service, process, application, device or combination of these and/or other such operational computer system entities as described herein below.","A trace collector 304 may configured to sample and record computer executable instructions and/or data referenced by the computer executable instructions, from applications running on a VM 306 which may be one of one or more VMs running on a host computer system 308.In some embodiments, the trace collector 304 may be running on the host computer system 308, within and/or under control of the hypervisor 302.The trace collector 304 may forward 310 sampled and recorded computer executable instructions to a trace analyzer 312 which may be a module, service, process, application, device or combination of these and/or other such operational computer system entities as described herein below.","A trace analyzer 312 may be configured to receive the sampled and recorded computer executable instructions and may also be configured to begin the analysis of the sampled and recorded computer executable instructions.","In some embodiments, the trace analyzer 312 may be running on the host computer system 308, within and/or under the control of the hypervisor 302.In some embodiments, the trace analyzer 312 may be running on a different computer system entity as described herein above.","The trace analyzer 312 may receive the sampled and recorded computer executable instructions and may first process and then analyze the instructions by, for example, arranging them into groups and/or representing them as subgraphs and analyzing the resulting representations.","The trace analyzer 312 may be connected 316 to and/or otherwise have access to a cryptography repository 314 which may contain data relating to one or more cryptographic algorithms that may be used to process and/or analyze the groups of instructions.","Data in the cryptography repository may include, but not be limited to, descriptions of cryptographic algorithms, reference implementations cryptographic algorithms, example data used in cryptographic algorithms, example parameters used in cryptographic algorithms and/or other such cryptography related data.","In some embodiments, the cryptography repository 314 may include one or more databases configured to provide organization of and/or access to the data in the cryptographic repository.","The trace analyzer 312 may select at least a portion of the processed and analyzed instructions received from the trace collector 304 and may send these selected instruction groups 318 to a policy analyzer 322 which may be a module, service, process, application, device or combination of these and/or other such operational computer system entities as described herein below.","A policy analyzer 322 may be configured to analyze the selected groups 318 to determine whether the selected groups comprise at least a portion of an implementation of a cryptographic algorithm.","In some embodiments the trace analyzer 312 may also select at least a portion of the data and parameters received from the trace collector 304 and send the selected data and parameters 320 to the policy analyzer 322.The policy analyzer may be connected to 326 and/or otherwise have access to a policy repository 326 which may contain data relating to one or more system cryptographic policies.","Data in the policy repository may include, but not be limited to, policy rules, policy mitigation strategies, policy related data, allowed lists of applications, disallowed lists of applications, allowed lists of users, disallowed lists of users and/or other such policy data.","In some embodiments, the policy repository 324 may include one or more databases configured to provide organization of and/or access to the data in the cryptographic repository.","The policy analyzer 322 may be connected to 330 and/or otherwise have access to the cryptography repository 314 described herein above.","In some embodiments, the cryptography repository 314 and the policy repository 324 may be the same entity.","As a result of analyzing the selected groups 318 and, in some embodiments, the data and parameters 320, the policy analyzer 322 may determine that an application running on the VM 306 may be executing one or more disallowed cryptographic applications.","The policy analyzer may perform one or more operations to halt and/or otherwise mitigate the execution of the one or more disallowed cryptographic applications by sending one or more messages and/or commands 328 to the hypervisor 302.The messages and/or commands 328 may include, but not be limited to, commands to halt the application, commands to halt the virtual machine, messages to a user and/or process on the virtual machine, administrative messages to a privileged user and/or process on the virtual machine or other such messages and/or commands.","The hypervisor 302 may be configured to at least receive and process such mitigating messages and/or command.","As mentioned previously in this disclosure, the components described herein at least in connection with FIG.","3 such as the trace collector 304, the trace analyzer 312 and the policy analyzer 322 may be a computer system modules, services, processes, applications, devices or combinations of these and/or other such operational computer system entities.","In some embodiments, these components may be operational computer system entities running within and/or under the control of a controlling domain such as a hypervisor, or running within and/or under the control of a guest operating system, or running as, within and/or under the control of a separate operational computer system entity or running as, within and/or under the control of some other such computer system entity.","Additionally, it should be understood that while this disclosure may describe the components such as the trace collector 304, the trace analyzer 312 and the policy analyzer 322 performing one or more operations, functions, processes and/or other such actions, a computer system configured in accordance with the component may be performing the described actions.","FIG.","4 illustrates an example process 400 for collecting and analyzing computer executable instructions to determine whether an application may be executing cryptographic algorithms as described at least in connection with FIG.","1 and in accordance with at least one embodiment.","A controlling domain such as the hypervisor 302 as described at least in connection with FIG.","3 may perform some or all parts of the process illustrated in FIG.","4.A service such as the trace collector 304 as described at least in connection with FIG.","3 may also perform some or all parts of the process illustrated in FIG.","4.A service such as trace analyzer 312 illustrated at least in connection with FIG.","3 may also perform some or all parts of the process illustrated in FIG.","4.A service such as policy analyzer 332 illustrated at least in connection with FIG.","3 may also perform some or all parts of the process illustrated in FIG.","4.Other services and/or processes running on a computer system may also perform some or all parts of the process illustrated in FIG.","4 including, but not limited to, applications, processes and/or services running on host and/or virtual machines within the computer system, operating system elements of host and/or virtual machines within the computer system, dedicated network hardware on the computer system, controlling domains such as a hypervisor and/or combinations of these and/or other such operational entities within the computer system.","A trace collector may collect traces from a virtual machine 402, including traces of computer executable instructions, parameters, data and/or other such trace data.","The trace collector may collect instructions, parameters, data and/or other such trace data by intermittent sampling, or by constant sampling or by some other such collection method.","A trace analyzer may then create a graph representation 404 of the traces from the virtual machine and may identify loop structures 406 using the information in the graph representation.","If candidate loop structures are found 408, the trace analyzer may then group the computer executable instructions based on the loop structures 410.The trace analyzer may then select one or more of the groups based at least in part on shared or common data 412.The group selection may be based on data received from the trace collector, or may be based on data stored in a cryptography repository such as the cryptography repository 314 described herein at least in connection with FIG.","3 or may be based on a combination of data from these and/or other such data sources.","The trace analyzer may then compare the selected groups to one or more reference cryptographic algorithm implementations 414 to determine whether the selected groups comprise at least a portion of a reference cryptographic algorithm implementation.","The reference cryptographic algorithm implementation may be stored in a cryptography repository such as the cryptography repository 314 described herein at least in connection with FIG.","3.In some embodiments, the trace analyzer may also use data and/or parameters received from the trace collector to determine whether the selected groups comprise at least a portion of the reference cryptographic algorithm implementation.","If it is determined that one or more of the selected groups comprise at least a portion of a reference cryptographic algorithm implementation 416, a policy may determine whether the one or more parameters associated with the selected groups should be examined 418.In some embodiments, a reference cryptographic algorithm implementation may be disallowed for all parameters, or may be disallowed for some parameters and allowed for others or may be allowed for all parameters.","If the parameters should be examined 418, the policy analyzer may compare the parameters to allowed parameters 420.If as a result of determining that a group of instructions and optionally, the associated parameters, comprise at least a portion of a reference cryptographic algorithm implementation, the policy analyzer may determine whether one or more policies of the system prohibit 422 the execution of such an algorithm.","If the algorithm is prohibited, the policy analyzer may direct a controlling domain such as a hypervisor to restrict 424 or mitigate the execution of the application by, for example, halting the execution of the application, halting the virtual machine or other such restricting and/or mitigating actions.","At a number of steps in the process described herein, the process may determine whether sampling should continue 426 including, but not limited to, after no candidate loop structures are found 408, after it is determined that none of the selected groups comprise at least a portion of a reference cryptographic algorithm implementation 416, after it is determined that none of the policies of the system prohibit 422 the execution of a found cryptographic algorithm or after steps are taken to restrict 424 or mitigate the execution of the algorithm.","FIG.","5 illustrates an example environment 500 where a trace of a group of computer executable instructions may be represented by a graph as described herein at least in connection with FIG.","4 and in accordance with at least one embodiment.","A trace list 502 may include a sequential list of sampled information about one or more computer executable instructions.","Each element in the sequential list (referred to herein simply as an “execution trace”) may contain information about a computer executable instruction that may have been executed in one or more virtual machines.","The information about the computer executable instruction may have been collected by a computer system entity such as the trace collector 304 described herein at least in connection with FIG.","3.Each execution trace may have been collected by the trace collector by sampling one or more memory locations as described herein above.","The trace list 502 may be converted 506 to a trace graph 504 representation by a computer system entity such as the trace analyzer 312 described herein at least in connection with FIG.","3.The trace graph 504 illustrated in FIG.","5 has vertices (also referred to herein as “nodes”) corresponding to the instructions in the trace list 502 and edges corresponding to the sequential execution of the pairs of instructions.","The directed edge between the vertex labeled “0x01” in trace graph 504 and the vertex labeled “0x02” in trace graph 504 indicates that instruction 0x02 was executed immediately after instruction 0x01 in the trace list 502 (instructions 1 and 2 in the trace list).","Similarly, the directed edge between the vertex labeled “0x02” in trace graph 504 and the vertex labeled “0x03” in trace graph 504 indicates that instruction 0x03 was executed immediately after instruction 0x02 in the trace list 502 (instructions 2 and 3 in the trace list).","The directed edge between the vertex labeled “0x03” in trace graph 504 and the vertex labeled “0x01” in trace graph 504 is a back edge as described herein above, representing a sequential order that may be contrary to the expected temporal order and one that, in this example, indicates a loop in the sequence of instruction execution.","The dashed directed edge entering into the vertex labeled “0x01” in trace graph 504 indicates that instruction 0x01 is an entry point of the trace.","The dashed directed edge exiting out of the vertex labeled “0x05” in trace graph 504 indicates that instruction 0x05 is an exit point of the trace.","FIG.","6 illustrates an example environment 600 where a trace of a group of computer executable instructions may be represented by a graph with multiple edges and may also be represented by a graph with weighted edges as described herein at least in connection with FIGS.","4 and 5, and in accordance with at least one embodiment.","The trace list 602 may be represented by the trace graph 604, with the plurality of edges (in this example, five edges) between vertex “0x01” and vertex “0x02”, between vertex “0x02” and vertex “0x03” and between vertex “0x03” and vertex “0x01”.","There are five edges between each of these pairs of vertices in trace graph 504 because the trace list 502 contains five instances of the instruction sequence 0x01, 0x02, 0x03 and back to 0x01.The trace graph 604, with multiple edges may also be represented by the weighted trace graph 606 with weighted edges, where the five edges between, for example, vertex “0x01” and vertex “0x02” may be replaced by a single weighted edge with weight five.","FIG.","7 illustrates an example environment 700 where a trace graph may be analyzed by comparing it to one or more reference patterns as described herein at least in connection with FIG.","3 and in accordance with at least one embodiment.","A trace graph 702 such as the trace graph 604 or the weighted trace graph 606 described herein in connection with FIG.","6 may be analyzed by a trace analyzer 704 such as the trace analyzer 312 described herein at least in connection with FIG.","3.The trace analyzer 704 may be connected to and/or otherwise have access to a cryptography repository 706 such as the cryptography repository 314 described herein at least in connection with FIG.","3.In some embodiments, the cryptography repository may contain one or more patterns 708 which the trace analyzer 704 may compare the trace graph 702 against.","The comparisons of the trace graph 702 against the patterns 708 in the cryptography repository 706 may be used to determine whether the sequence of execution traces represented by the trace graph 702 corresponds to one or more of the patterns 708 and thus, whether an application running on a virtual machine that the sampled sequence of execution traces came from may be running a restricted algorithm as described herein at least in connection with FIG.","3 and in accordance with at least one embodiment.","In some embodiments, the trace analyzer may use one or more comparison and/or measurement techniques to determine whether the sequence of execution traces represented by the trace graph 702 corresponds to one or more of the patterns 708, how similar the sequence of execution traces represented by the trace graph 702 is to one or more of the patterns 708 and thus, how likely is it that an application running on a virtual machine that the sampled sequence of execution traces came from may be running a restricted algorithm.","One measurement technique, an edit distance, may be used to measure the similarity between two graphs by determining, for example, the number of additions and/or deletions of vertices and/or edges that may be required to convert one graph to another.","In the example illustrated in FIG.","7, the edit distance between trace graph 702 and pattern 710 may be eight, the edit distance between trace graph 702 and pattern 712 may be six, the edit distance between trace graph 702 and pattern 714 may be eight and the edit distance between trace graph 702 and pattern 716 may be zero.","The trace analyzer may use these edit distances to determine that it very likely that the application running on the virtual machine is running a restricted algorithm corresponding to pattern 716 and it is much less likely that the application running on the virtual machine is running restricted algorithms corresponding to pattern 710, pattern 712 or pattern 714.As may be contemplated, the comparison technique described herein is merely an illustrative example, and other such comparison and/or measurement techniques for determining the similarity between two graphs may be considered as within the scope of the present disclosure.","FIG.","8 illustrates an example environment 800 where a trace graph with parameters may be analyzed by a policy analyzer as described herein at least in connection with FIG.","3 and in accordance with at least one embodiment.","The trace list 802 containing instructions 804 and parameters 806 may have been analyzed by a trace analyzer as described herein at least in connection with FIG.","3 and that analysis may have found a strong likelihood that an application running on a virtual machine where the computer executable instructions contained in trace list 802 were sampled from is running a restricted algorithm corresponding to pattern 812.A policy analyzer 808 such as the policy analyzer 322 described herein at least in connection with FIG.","3 may have one or more policies associated with pattern 812 including, for example, the policy 810 which may contain the pattern 812 and one or more rules regarding acceptable use of the pattern 812.For example, the rule R1 814 says that, for computer executable instructions 0x01, 0x02 and 0x03, the instructions must use a certain value for parameter P1 and must use a certain value for parameter P2 and the rule R2 826 says that, for computer executable instructions 0x04 and 0x05, the instructions must use a certain value for parameter P2.In the example illustrated in FIG.","8, five out of six of the execution traces violate the rules.","In some embodiments, one or more violations of these rules may indicate one or more remediation actions as described herein at least in connection with FIG.","3 and in accordance with at least one embodiment.","As may be contemplated, the rules described herein are merely illustrative examples, and other such rules may be considered as within the scope of the present disclosure.","FIG.","9 illustrates an example process 900 for computing the likelihood that a group of computer executable instructions may comprise at least a portion of the implementation of a cryptographic algorithm as described herein at least in connection with FIG.","3 and in accordance with at least one embodiment.","A controlling domain such as the hypervisor 302 as described at least in connection with FIG.","3 may perform some or all parts of the process illustrated in FIG.","9.A service such as the trace collector 304 as described at least in connection with FIG.","3 may also perform some or all parts of the process illustrated in FIG.","9.A service such as trace analyzer 312 illustrated at least in connection with FIG.","3 may also perform some or all parts of the process illustrated in FIG.","9.A service such as policy analyzer 332 illustrated at least in connection with FIG.","3 may also perform some or all parts of the process illustrated in FIG.","9.Other services and/or processes running on a computer system may also perform some or all parts of the process illustrated in FIG.","9 including, but not limited to, applications, processes and/or services running on host and/or virtual machines within the computer system, operating system elements of host and/or virtual machines within the computer system, dedicated network hardware on the computer system, controlling domains such as a hypervisor and/or combinations of these and/or other such operational entities within the computer system.","A trace collector may collect one or more samples 902.A trace analyzer may, for each sample collected, determine whether the sample should be flagged 904 based on, for example, there being a certain likelihood that the sample may include one or more instructions that comprise at least a part of an algorithm such as a cryptographic algorithm and that may be restricted by one or more policies such as cryptographic policies.","The trace analyzer may then compare the number of flagged samples to a first threshold value 906 to determine whether that number of flagged samples exceeds the first threshold value 908.If the number of flagged samples exceeds the threshold value, the trace analyzer may compute a statistical measure of whether a flagged sample was flagged 912 as described herein above.","If that statistical measure exceeds a second threshold value 914, one or more operations may be executed by the hypervisor to restrict the algorithm.","The statistical measure may include an average, an arithmetic mean, a median, a time-weighted average, a histogram or a combination of these and/or some other such statistical measures.","If thresholds are not exceeded, and if it is determined that sampling should be continued 910, the trace collector may once again collect one or more samples 902.If it is determine that sampling should not continue, then sampling will stopped and/or suspended 918.FIG.","10 illustrates aspects of an example environment 1000 for implementing aspects in accordance with various embodiments.","As will be appreciated, although a web-based environment is used for purposes of explanation, different environments may be used, as appropriate, to implement various embodiments.","The environment includes an electronic client device 1002, which can include any appropriate device operable to send and/or receive requests, messages or information over an appropriate network 1004 and, in some embodiments, convey information back to a user of the device.","Examples of such client devices include personal computers, cell phones, handheld messaging devices, laptop computers, tablet computers, set-top boxes, personal data assistants, embedded computer systems, electronic book readers and the like.","The network can include any appropriate network, including an intranet, the Internet, a cellular network, a local area network, a satellite network or any other such network and/or combination thereof.","Components used for such a system can depend at least in part upon the type of network and/or environment selected.","Protocols and components for communicating via such a network are well known and will not be discussed herein in detail.","Communication over the network can be enabled by wired or wireless connections and combinations thereof.","In this example, the network includes the Internet, as the environment includes a web server 1006 for receiving requests and serving content in response thereto, although for other networks an alternative device serving a similar purpose could be used as would be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art.","The illustrative environment includes at least one application server 1008 and a data store 1010.It should be understood that there can be several application servers, layers or other elements, processes or components, which may be chained or otherwise configured, which can interact to perform tasks such as obtaining data from an appropriate data store.","Servers, as used herein, may be implemented in various ways, such as hardware devices or virtual computer systems.","In some contexts, servers may refer to a programming module being executed on a computer system.","As used herein, unless otherwise stated or clear from context, the term “data store” refers to any device or combination of devices capable of storing, accessing and retrieving data, which may include any combination and number of data servers, databases, data storage devices and data storage media, in any standard, distributed, virtual or clustered environment.","The application server can include any appropriate hardware, software and firmware for integrating with the data store as needed to execute aspects of one or more applications for the client device, handling some or all of the data access and business logic for an application.","The application server may provide access control services in cooperation with the data store and is able to generate content including, but not limited to, text, graphics, audio, video and/or other content usable to be provided to the user, which may be served to the user by the web server in the form of HyperText Markup Language (“HTML”), Extensible Markup Language (“XML”), JavaScript, Cascading Style Sheets (“CSS”) or another appropriate client-side structured language.","Content transferred to a client device may be processed by the client device to provide the content in one or more forms including, but not limited to, forms that are perceptible to the user audibly, visually and/or through other senses including touch, taste, and/or smell.","The handling of all requests and responses, as well as the delivery of content between the client device 1002 and the application server 1008, can be handled by the web server using PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor (“PHP”), Python, Ruby, Perl, Java, HTML, XML or another appropriate server-side structured language in this example.","It should be understood that the web and application servers are not required and are merely example components, as structured code discussed herein can be executed on any appropriate device or host machine as discussed elsewhere herein.","Further, operations described herein as being performed by a single device may, unless otherwise clear from context, be performed collectively by multiple devices, which may form a distributed and/or virtual system.","The data store 1010 can include several separate data tables, databases, data documents, dynamic data storage schemes and/or other data storage mechanisms and media for storing data relating to a particular aspect of the present disclosure.","For example, the data store illustrated may include mechanisms for storing production data 1012 and user information 1016, which can be used to serve content for the production side.","The data store also is shown to include a mechanism for storing log data 1014, which can be used for reporting, analysis or other such purposes.","It should be understood that there can be many other aspects that may need to be stored in the data store, such as page image information and access rights information, which can be stored in any of the above listed mechanisms as appropriate or in additional mechanisms in the data store 1010.The data store 1010 is operable, through logic associated therewith, to receive instructions from the application server 1008 and obtain, update or otherwise process data in response thereto.","The application server 1008 may provide static, dynamic or a combination of static and dynamic data in response to the received instructions.","Dynamic data, such as data used in web logs (blogs), shopping applications, news services and other such applications may be generated by server-side structured languages as described herein or may be provided by a content management system (“CMS”) operating on, or under the control of, the application server.","In one example, a user, through a device operated by the user, might submit a search request for a certain type of item.","In this case, the data store might access the user information to verify the identity of the user and can access the catalog detail information to obtain information about items of that type.","The information then can be returned to the user, such as in a results listing on a web page that the user is able to view via a browser on the user device 1002.Information for a particular item of interest can be viewed in a dedicated page or window of the browser.","It should be noted, however, that embodiments of the present disclosure are not necessarily limited to the context of web pages, but may be more generally applicable to processing requests in general, where the requests are not necessarily requests for content.","Each server typically will include an operating system that provides executable program instructions for the general administration and operation of that server and typically will include a computer-readable storage medium (e.g., a hard disk, random access memory, read only memory, etc.)","storing instructions that, when executed by a processor of the server, allow the server to perform its intended functions.","Suitable implementations for the operating system and general functionality of the servers are known or commercially available and are readily implemented by persons having ordinary skill in the art, particularly in light of the disclosure herein.","The environment, in one embodiment, is a distributed and/or virtual computing environment utilizing several computer systems and components that are interconnected via communication links, using one or more computer networks or direct connections.","However, it will be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art that such a system could operate equally well in a system having fewer or a greater number of components than are illustrated in FIG.","10.Thus, the depiction of the system 1000 in FIG.","10 should be taken as being illustrative in nature and not limiting to the scope of the disclosure.","The various embodiments further can be implemented in a wide variety of operating environments, which in some cases can include one or more user computers, computing devices or processing devices which can be used to operate any of a number of applications.","User or client devices can include any of a number of general purpose personal computers, such as desktop, laptop or tablet computers running a standard operating system, as well as cellular, wireless and handheld devices running mobile software and capable of supporting a number of networking and messaging protocols.","Such a system also can include a number of workstations running any of a variety of commercially-available operating systems and other known applications for purposes such as development and database management.","These devices also can include other electronic devices, such as dummy terminals, thin-clients, gaming systems and other devices capable of communicating via a network.","These devices also can include virtual devices such as virtual machines, hypervisors and other virtual devices capable of communicating via a network.","Various embodiments of the present disclosure utilize at least one network that would be familiar to those skilled in the art for supporting communications using any of a variety of commercially-available protocols, such as Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (“TCP/IP”), User Datagram Protocol (“UDP”), protocols operating in various layers of the Open System Interconnection (“OSI”) model, File Transfer Protocol (“FTP”), Universal Plug and Play (“UpnP”), Network File System (“NFS”), Common Internet File System (“CIFS”) and AppleTalk.","The network can be, for example, a local area network, a wide-area network, a virtual private network, the Internet, an intranet, an extranet, a public switched telephone network, an infrared network, a wireless network, a satellite network and any combination thereof.","In embodiments utilizing a web server, the web server can run any of a variety of server or mid-tier applications, including Hypertext Transfer Protocol (“HTTP”) servers, FTP servers, Common Gateway Interface (“CGI”) servers, data servers, Java servers, Apache servers and business application servers.","The server(s) also may be capable of executing programs or scripts in response to requests from user devices, such as by executing one or more web applications that may be implemented as one or more scripts or programs written in any programming language, such as Java®, C, C# or C++, or any scripting language, such as Ruby, PHP, Perl, Python or TCL, as well as combinations thereof.","The server(s) may also include database servers, including without limitation those commercially available from Oracle °, Microsoft®, Sybase® and IBM® as well as open-source servers such as MySQL, Postgres, SQLite, MongoDB, and any other server capable of storing, retrieving and accessing structured or unstructured data.","Database servers may include table-based servers, document-based servers, unstructured servers, relational servers, non-relational servers or combinations of these and/or other database servers.","The environment can include a variety of data stores and other memory and storage media as discussed above.","These can reside in a variety of locations, such as on a storage medium local to (and/or resident in) one or more of the computers or remote from any or all of the computers across the network.","In a particular set of embodiments, the information may reside in a storage-area network (“SAN”) familiar to those skilled in the art.","Similarly, any necessary files for performing the functions attributed to the computers, servers or other network devices may be stored locally and/or remotely, as appropriate.","Where a system includes computerized devices, each such device can include hardware elements that may be electrically coupled via a bus, the elements including, for example, at least one central processing unit (“CPU” or “processor”), at least one input device (e.g., a mouse, keyboard, controller, touch screen or keypad) and at least one output device (e.g., a display device, printer or speaker).","Such a system may also include one or more storage devices, such as disk drives, optical storage devices and solid-state storage devices such as random access memory (“RAM”) or read-only memory (“ROM”), as well as removable media devices, memory cards, flash cards, etc.","Such devices also can include a computer-readable storage media reader, a communications device (e.g., a modem, a network card (wireless or wired), an infrared communication device, etc.)","and working memory as described above.","The computer-readable storage media reader can be connected with, or configured to receive, a computer-readable storage medium, representing remote, local, fixed and/or removable storage devices as well as storage media for temporarily and/or more permanently containing, storing, transmitting and retrieving computer-readable information.","The system and various devices also typically will include a number of software applications, modules, services or other elements located within at least one working memory device, including an operating system and application programs, such as a client application or web browser.","It should be appreciated that alternate embodiments may have numerous variations from that described above.","For example, customized hardware might also be used and/or particular elements might be implemented in hardware, software (including portable software, such as applets) or both.","Further, connection to other computing devices such as network input/output devices may be employed.","Storage media and computer readable media for containing code, or portions of code, can include any appropriate media known or used in the art, including storage media and communication media, such as, but not limited to, volatile and non-volatile, removable and non-removable media implemented in any method or technology for storage and/or transmission of information such as computer readable instructions, data structures, program modules or other data, including RAM, ROM, Electrically Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory (“EEPROM”), flash memory or other memory technology, Compact Disc Read-Only Memory (“CD-ROM”), digital versatile disk (DVD) or other optical storage, magnetic cassettes, magnetic tape, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices or any other medium which can be used to store the desired information and which can be accessed by the system device.","Based on the disclosure and teachings provided herein, a person of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate other ways and/or methods to implement the various embodiments.","The specification and drawings are, accordingly, to be regarded in an illustrative rather than a restrictive sense.","It will, however, be evident that various modifications and changes may be made thereunto without departing from the broader spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the claims.","Other variations are within the spirit of the present disclosure.","Thus, while the disclosed techniques are susceptible to various modifications and alternative constructions, certain illustrated embodiments thereof are shown in the drawings and have been described above in detail.","It should be understood, however, that there is no intention to limit the invention to the specific form or forms disclosed, but on the contrary, the intention is to cover all modifications, alternative constructions and equivalents falling within the spirit and scope of the invention, as defined in the appended claims.","The use of the terms “a” and “an” and “the” and similar referents in the context of describing the disclosed embodiments (especially in the context of the following claims) are to be construed to cover both the singular and the plural, unless otherwise indicated herein or clearly contradicted by context.","The terms “comprising,” “having,” “including” and “containing” are to be construed as open-ended terms (i.e., meaning “including, but not limited to,”) unless otherwise noted.","The term “connected,” when unmodified and referring to physical connections, is to be construed as partly or wholly contained within, attached to or joined together, even if there is something intervening.","Recitation of ranges of values herein are merely intended to serve as a shorthand method of referring individually to each separate value falling within the range, unless otherwise indicated herein and each separate value is incorporated into the specification as if it were individually recited herein.","The use of the term “set” (e.g., “a set of items”) or “subset” unless otherwise noted or contradicted by context, is to be construed as a nonempty collection comprising one or more members.","Further, unless otherwise noted or contradicted by context, the term “subset” of a corresponding set does not necessarily denote a proper subset of the corresponding set, but the subset and the corresponding set may be equal.","Conjunctive language, such as phrases of the form “at least one of A, B, and C,” or “at least one of A, B and C,” unless specifically stated otherwise or otherwise clearly contradicted by context, is otherwise understood with the context as used in general to present that an item, term, etc., may be either A or B or C, or any nonempty subset of the set of A and B and C. For instance, in the illustrative example of a set having three members, the conjunctive phrases “at least one of A, B, and C” and “at least one of A, B and C” refer to any of the following sets: {A}, {B}, {C}, {A, B}, {A, C}, {B, C}, {A, B, C}.","Thus, such conjunctive language is not generally intended to imply that certain embodiments require at least one of A, at least one of B and at least one of C each to be present.","Operations of processes described herein can be performed in any suitable order unless otherwise indicated herein or otherwise clearly contradicted by context.","Processes described herein (or variations and/or combinations thereof) may be performed under the control of one or more computer systems configured with executable instructions and may be implemented as code (e.g., executable instructions, one or more computer programs or one or more applications) executing collectively on one or more processors, by hardware or combinations thereof.","The code may be stored on a computer-readable storage medium, for example, in the form of a computer program comprising a plurality of instructions executable by one or more processors.","The computer-readable storage medium may be non-transitory.","The use of any and all examples, or exemplary language (e.g., “such as”) provided herein, is intended merely to better illuminate embodiments of the invention and does not pose a limitation on the scope of the invention unless otherwise claimed.","No language in the specification should be construed as indicating any non-claimed element as essential to the practice of the invention.","Preferred embodiments of this disclosure are described herein, including the best mode known to the inventors for carrying out the invention.","Variations of those preferred embodiments may become apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art upon reading the foregoing description.","The inventors expect skilled artisans to employ such variations as appropriate and the inventors intend for embodiments of the present disclosure to be practiced otherwise than as specifically described herein.","Accordingly, the scope of the present disclosure includes all modifications and equivalents of the subject matter recited in the claims appended hereto as permitted by applicable law.","Moreover, any combination of the above-described elements in all possible variations thereof is encompassed by the scope of the present disclosure unless otherwise indicated herein or otherwise clearly contradicted by context.","All references, including publications, patent applications and patents, cited herein are hereby incorporated by reference to the same extent as if each reference were individually and specifically indicated to be incorporated by reference and were set forth in its entirety herein."]],"string":"[\n [\n \"HYPERVISOR ENFORCEMENT OF CRYPTOGRAPHIC POLICY\",\n \"Techniques for restricting the execution of algorithms contained in applications executing on virtual machines executing within a computer system are described herein.\",\n \"A first sampled set of computer executable instructions is gathered from a virtual machine by a controlling domain and compared against a reference set of computer executable instructions.\",\n \"If the first set is similar to the reference set, and if the execution of the algorithm corresponding to the reference set is restricted by one or more computer system polices, one or more operations limiting the execution of the restricted algorithm are performed, thus ensuring conformance with the computer system policies.\"\n ],\n [\n \"1.A computer-implemented method, comprising: identifying, based at least in part on computer executable instructions executing on a computer system, a plurality of execution traces, each of the plurality of execution traces including information corresponding to an algorithm that is restricted by one or more system policies; determining whether the plurality of identified execution traces satisfies a set of conditions; and causing the computer system to perform one or more actions based at least in part on the determination.\",\n \"2.The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the set of conditions further comprise determining whether a number of the plurality of identified execution traces exceeds a threshold value.\",\n \"3.The computer-implemented method of claim 2, further comprising computing a statistical measure for each of the plurality of identified execution traces based at least in part on determining that the number of the plurality of identified execution traces exceeds the threshold value.\",\n \"4.The computer-implemented method of claim 3, further comprising: determining that the statistical measure satisfies a second set of conditions; and causing the computer system to perform the one or more actions based at least in part on the determination.\",\n \"5.A system, comprising: memory to store instructions that, if executed by one or more processors of the system, cause the system to: identify, based at least in part on computer executable instructions executing on a computer system, a plurality of execution traces, each of the plurality of execution traces including information corresponding to an algorithm that is restricted by one or more system policies; and as a result of the plurality of identified execution traces satisfying a set of conditions, cause the computer system to perform one or more actions based at least in part on the determination.\",\n \"6.The system of claim 5, wherein the set of conditions comprises instructions that, if executed by the one or more processors of the system, further cause the system to determine whether a number of the plurality of identified execution traces exceeds a threshold value.\",\n \"7.The system of claim 6, wherein the instructions that, if executed by the one or more processors of the system, further cause the system to compute a statistical measure for each of the plurality of identified execution traces based at least in part on the determination that the number of the plurality of identified execution traces exceeds the threshold value.\",\n \"8.The system of claim 7, wherein the statistical measure is at least one of: an average; an arithmetic mean; a median; a time-weighted average; or a histogram.\",\n \"9.The system of claim 7, wherein the instructions that, if executed by the one or more processors of the system, further cause the system to: determine whether the statistical measure satisfies a second set of conditions; and cause the computer system to perform the one or more actions based at least in part on the determination.\",\n \"10.The system of claim 9, wherein perform the one or more actions further comprises instructions that, if executed by the one or more processors of the system, further cause the system to restrict the computer executable instructions based at least in part on the determination that the statistical measure satisfies the second set of conditions.\",\n \"11.The system of claim 9, wherein perform the one or more actions further comprise instructions that, if executed by the one or more processors of the system, further cause the system to identify additional execution traces that include information corresponding to the algorithm that is restricted by the one or more system policies based at least in part on the determination that the statistical measure does not satisfy the second set of conditions.\",\n \"12.The system of claim 5, wherein each of the plurality of execution traces including information corresponding to an algorithm that is restricted by one or more system policies are identified by sampling an application executing computer executable instructions on the computer system.\",\n \"13.A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having stored thereon executable instructions that, if executed by one or more processors of a computer system, cause the computer system to at least: determine, based at least in part on computer executable instructions executing on a computer system, whether a plurality of execution traces satisfies a set of conditions, wherein the plurality of execution traces are obtained by identifying execution traces that include information corresponding to an algorithm restricted by one or more system policies; and cause the computer system to perform one or more actions based at least in part on the determination.\",\n \"14.The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 13, wherein the set of conditions comprises instructions that, if executed by the one or more processors of the system, further cause the system to determine whether a number of the plurality of execution traces exceeds a threshold value.\",\n \"15.The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 14, wherein the instructions that, if executed by the one or more processors of the system, further cause the system to compute a statistical measure for each of the plurality of execution traces based at least in part on the determination that the number of the plurality of execution traces exceeds the threshold value.\",\n \"16.The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 15, wherein the statistical measure is at least one of: an average; an arithmetic mean; a median; a time-weighted average; or a histogram.\",\n \"17.The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 15, wherein the instructions that, if executed by the one or more processors of the system, further cause the system to: determine whether the statistical measure satisfies a second set of conditions; and cause the computer system to perform the one or more actions based at least in part on the determination.\",\n \"18.The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 17, wherein perform the one or more actions further comprises instructions that, if executed by the one or more processors of the system, further cause the system to restrict the computer executable instructions based at least in part on the determination that the statistical measure satisfies the second set of conditions.\",\n \"19.The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 17, wherein perform the one or more instructions further comprise instructions that, if executed by the one or more processors of the system, further cause the system to identify additional execution traces that include information corresponding to the algorithm that is restricted by the one or more system policies based at least in part on the determination that the statistical measure does not satisfy the second set of conditions.\",\n \"20.The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 13, wherein each of the plurality of execution traces including information corresponding to an algorithm that is restricted by one or more system policies are identified by sampling an application executing computer executable instructions on the computer system.\"\n ],\n [\n \" BACKGROUND Modern computing systems place high importance on system security, and also place high importance on conformance with system policies.\",\n \"In many computer systems, particularly distributed computer systems, and especially those involving virtualized computing environments where a plurality of guest virtual machines may be hosted on shared physical host machines, both system security and policy conformance may become a concern.\",\n \"The distributed systems in which the guest virtual machines are implemented are often highly complex, comprising large numbers of networked host machines and a correspondingly large number of guest virtual machines.\",\n \"Such computer systems often operate with a large variety of operating systems and applications, and these operating systems and applications are often required to conform to a variety of system security policies.\",\n \"Frequently, implementations of cryptographic algorithms do not integrate well with policy systems, particularly without direct hardware or operating system integration.\",\n \"Such hardware or operating system integration is not easily achievable on distributed systems with a plurality of guest virtual computing systems because of lack of access to system hardware and/or operating system resources.\",\n \"Additionally, identifying and remediating restricted cryptographic algorithms implemented on distributed computing systems with the accompanying varied computing system environments is often problematic due to the nature of the computer system environments, making enforcement of consistent cryptographic policies on such systems difficult.\"\n ],\n [\n \" BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Various embodiments in accordance with the present disclosure will be described with reference to the drawings, in which: FIG.\",\n \"1 illustrates an example environment where applications may be analyzed for cryptographic policy violations in accordance with at least one embodiment; FIG.\",\n \"2 illustrates an example environment where applications may be verified for conformance with cryptographic policies in accordance with at least one embodiment; FIG.\",\n \"3 illustrates an example environment where computer executable instructions may be collected and analyzed in accordance with at least one embodiment; FIG.\",\n \"4 illustrates an example process for collecting and analyzing computer executable instructions to determine the presence of cryptographic algorithms in accordance with at least one embodiment; FIG.\",\n \"5 illustrates an example environment where a trace of a group of computer executable instructions may be represented by a graph in accordance with at least one embodiment; FIG.\",\n \"6 illustrates an example environment where a trace of a group of computer executable instructions may be weighted by a multiple-edge and a weighted graph in accordance with at least one embodiment; FIG.\",\n \"7 illustrates an example environment where a trace graph may be analyzed in accordance with at least one embodiment; FIG.\",\n \"8 illustrates an example environment where a trace graph with patterns may be analyzed in accordance with at least one embodiment; FIG.\",\n \"9 illustrates an example process for computing the likelihood that a group of computer executable instructions comprise at least a portion of a cryptographic algorithm in accordance with at least one embodiment; and FIG.\",\n \"10 illustrates an environment in which various embodiments can be implemented.\",\n \"detailed-description description=\\\"Detailed Description\\\" end=\\\"lead\\\"?\"\n ],\n [\n \"CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"14/852,361, filed Sep. 11, 2015, entitled “HYPERVISOR ENFORCEMENT OF CRYPTOGRAPHIC POLICY,” which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"14/223,868, filed on Mar.\",\n \"24, 2014, now U.S. Pat.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"9,135,437, entitled “HYPERVISOR ENFORCEMENT OF CRYPTOGRAPHIC POLICY,” the disclosures of which are incorporated by reference herein in their entirety.\",\n \"BACKGROUND Modern computing systems place high importance on system security, and also place high importance on conformance with system policies.\",\n \"In many computer systems, particularly distributed computer systems, and especially those involving virtualized computing environments where a plurality of guest virtual machines may be hosted on shared physical host machines, both system security and policy conformance may become a concern.\",\n \"The distributed systems in which the guest virtual machines are implemented are often highly complex, comprising large numbers of networked host machines and a correspondingly large number of guest virtual machines.\",\n \"Such computer systems often operate with a large variety of operating systems and applications, and these operating systems and applications are often required to conform to a variety of system security policies.\",\n \"Frequently, implementations of cryptographic algorithms do not integrate well with policy systems, particularly without direct hardware or operating system integration.\",\n \"Such hardware or operating system integration is not easily achievable on distributed systems with a plurality of guest virtual computing systems because of lack of access to system hardware and/or operating system resources.\",\n \"Additionally, identifying and remediating restricted cryptographic algorithms implemented on distributed computing systems with the accompanying varied computing system environments is often problematic due to the nature of the computer system environments, making enforcement of consistent cryptographic policies on such systems difficult.\",\n \"BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Various embodiments in accordance with the present disclosure will be described with reference to the drawings, in which: FIG.\",\n \"1 illustrates an example environment where applications may be analyzed for cryptographic policy violations in accordance with at least one embodiment; FIG.\",\n \"2 illustrates an example environment where applications may be verified for conformance with cryptographic policies in accordance with at least one embodiment; FIG.\",\n \"3 illustrates an example environment where computer executable instructions may be collected and analyzed in accordance with at least one embodiment; FIG.\",\n \"4 illustrates an example process for collecting and analyzing computer executable instructions to determine the presence of cryptographic algorithms in accordance with at least one embodiment; FIG.\",\n \"5 illustrates an example environment where a trace of a group of computer executable instructions may be represented by a graph in accordance with at least one embodiment; FIG.\",\n \"6 illustrates an example environment where a trace of a group of computer executable instructions may be weighted by a multiple-edge and a weighted graph in accordance with at least one embodiment; FIG.\",\n \"7 illustrates an example environment where a trace graph may be analyzed in accordance with at least one embodiment; FIG.\",\n \"8 illustrates an example environment where a trace graph with patterns may be analyzed in accordance with at least one embodiment; FIG.\",\n \"9 illustrates an example process for computing the likelihood that a group of computer executable instructions comprise at least a portion of a cryptographic algorithm in accordance with at least one embodiment; and FIG.\",\n \"10 illustrates an environment in which various embodiments can be implemented.\",\n \"DETAILED DESCRIPTION In the following description, various embodiments will be described.\",\n \"For purposes of explanation, specific configurations and details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the embodiments.\",\n \"However, it will also be apparent to one skilled in the art that the embodiments may be practiced without the specific details.\",\n \"Furthermore, well-known features may be omitted or simplified in order not to obscure the embodiment being described.\",\n \"Techniques described and suggested herein include systems and methods for enforcing cryptographic policies in applications running on distributed systems under the control of a controlling domain such as a hypervisor.\",\n \"An application running on a virtual machine (VM) instance may be subject to a variety of system policies such as policies regarding access to cryptographic resources, access by users to such resources, allowed and/or disallowed cryptographic algorithms, minimal cryptographic security requirements and/or other such policies.\",\n \"An extensive and varied number of standards exist for computer-implemented cryptographic methods and an organization and/or system may wish to enforce policies associated with several of these standards.\",\n \"Some implementations of cryptographic algorithms may be integrated with systems to enforce policy.\",\n \"For example, many applications integrate well with the Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS) Publication 140-2 (FIPS PUB 140-2, also referred to herein simply as “FIPS”) security standard and a system compliant with the standard may be referred to as “FIPS compliant.” Deploying a system that is FIPS compliant generally involves deploying a FIPS compliant version of an operating system and then selecting only FIPS compliant applications on that system.\",\n \"Such a deployment, while conforming to the standard of FIPS PUB 140-2, is limited in that it may require alteration of the operating system, may require integration with system hardware, may restrict the use of many applications (including custom applications) and may not fully support a full subset of policy capabilities that may be contemplated by an organization.\",\n \"Some other implementations of cryptographic algorithms may not integrate well with systems to enforce policy, lacking support within operating systems or support for integration with policy systems.\",\n \"Additionally, both systems that integrate well and those that do not integrate well generally do not perform well at identifying unapproved and/or insufficiently secure use of cryptography algorithms that may be introduced into a system by users, services, procedures and/or other such computer system entities, making identifying and/or remediating unauthorized use of cryptography difficult.\",\n \"Techniques described and suggested herein include techniques for enforcing cryptographic policies in applications running on distributed systems with a plurality of virtual machines operating under the control of a controlling domain such as a hypervisor.\",\n \"As used herein, unless otherwise stated or made clear from context, the term “hypervisor” may be understood to refer to the hypervisor and/or to one or more processes, applications, services and/or combinations thereof, running under the control of and/or in conjunction with the hypervisor.\",\n \"The hypervisor may first collect traces of computer executable instructions executed inside of a virtual machine running under the control of the hypervisor.\",\n \"A hypervisor may examine the computer executable instructions executed inside of a virtual machine running under its control by recording at least a subset of the computer executable instructions that are forwarded to the host computer hardware for execution as they are executed.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the hypervisor may organize the examining and recording of the computer executable instructions according to the CPU, the virtual CPU, the virtual machine, the application, the application thread, the application hyperthread and/or by other such groupings.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the hypervisor may collect and/or record samples of computer executable instructions (also referred to herein simply as “sampling”) by intermittently examining the contents of memory locations within the virtual machine to determine information such as which instruction is currently executing, the location of the instruction within memory, data being used by the instruction, parameters being used by the instruction, the time of execution and/or other such information.\",\n \"Sampling may be performed by the hypervisor, or by a process such as a trace collector running within, or under the control of, the hypervisor.\",\n \"In some embodiments, sampling may be started and stopped according to one or more system conditions.\",\n \"For example, sampling may be a resource intensive operation and, consequently, may be turned off when system resources are unavailable.\",\n \"Sampling may also be “turned down” (executed less frequently) when, for example, system resources are scarce, when well-known and/or verified applications are running, according to system policies or according to other such system conditions.\",\n \"Sampling may similarly be turned on or “turned up” (executed more frequently) as a result of one or more system polices or conditions.\",\n \"For example, a system configured for high-security use may always keep sampling turned on and fully turned up in order to ensure system security compliance while a system configured for lower-security use may sample less frequently.\",\n \"Sampling frequency may also be adjusted in response to one or more events that occur in a system.\",\n \"In some embodiments, sampling may be turned on and/or turned up when a new user accesses the system, or when a new and/or unrecognized application starts, or when suspicious activity is detected by one or more processes and/or services running on the computer system or when other such similar events occur.\",\n \"Sampling may also be turned off and/or turned down after such new processes, users, or applications have be examined and found to be acceptable.\",\n \"In some embodiments, sampling may always be turned off for certain users, modules and applications including, but not limited to, the guest operating system, administrative users, verified modules running under the control of the hypervisor and/or the guest operating system and other such trusted entities.\",\n \"In some embodiments, one or more of the policies relating to whether sampling occurs and the frequency at which sampling occurs may exist as part of cryptographic policies, as part of system policies, as part of hypervisor policies or in a combination of these and/or other such polices.\",\n \"As may be contemplated, the factors for adjusting sampling and/or sampling rates described herein are illustrative examples, and other such factors for adjusting sampling and/or sampling rates may be considered as within the scope of the present disclosure.\",\n \"After a plurality of samples has been gathered by the hypervisor, sample analysis may begin.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the hypervisor may continue to gather samples while performing the analysis of the previous set of samples.\",\n \"The hypervisor may also suspend and/or turn down the sampling during analysis in, for example, scarce resource situations and, may also turn up the sampling during analysis if, for example, system security demands are high.\",\n \"The hypervisor may begin analysis by first creating a graph representation of the sampled computer executable instructions (the graph may also be referred to herein as a “walk-through” or as a “walk-through graph”), grouping the sampled computer executable instructions (also referred to herein as the “instructions”) temporally, where the term graph is used in the mathematical sense, comprising a collection of vertices and edges connecting the vertices.\",\n \"So, for example, if at time “A”, an application executes instruction “X”, at time “B”, an application executes instruction “Y” and at time “C”, an application executes instruction “Z”, and if times “A”, “B”, and “C” are close together, then the hypervisor may create a walk-through graph with vertices representing the instructions “X”, “Y” and “Z”, with edges representing the temporal connection between “X” and “Y” and between “Y” and “Z.” Structures of interest within the walk-through may include sets of instructions that are executed in a consistent pattern, with a consistent starting and stopping point, wherein the instructions executed are both temporally located (all occurring within a short period of time) and spatially located (all located near one another and generally executed in a consistent order).\",\n \"The hypervisor may look for certain structures that are executed multiple times, with consistent entry and exit points.\",\n \"In the above example, if instructions “X”, “Y” and “Z” may be frequently executed and in that same order, with consistent entry and exit points, the hypervisor may flag and/or otherwise denote that repeated executed instruction set.\",\n \"The hypervisor may also flag and/or otherwise denote looping structures within the walk-through.\",\n \"If, for example, in the above mentioned instruction set, the application, after executing instruction “Z”, repeatedly returned to execute instruction “X”, followed by instruction “Y”, followed by instruction “Z” again, this is a looping structure.\",\n \"After repeating the loop a number of times, the application may exit the loop and execute a different instruction (call it “W”).\",\n \"A hypervisor may flag and/or otherwise denote the repeated execution of “X-Y-Z” followed by a single execution of “W” as a recognizable execution pattern in the walk-through graph.\",\n \"Loops may be identified by the hypervisor by identifying back edges in the walk through.\",\n \"A back edge is an edge of a graph which, in a depth-first traversal of the graph, points to a first vertex of a set of vertices that has already been traversed.\",\n \"A back edge is an indicator of a loop in a graph.\",\n \"Back edges may be indicated by an instruction order that is different than an expected instruction order.\",\n \"In the above example, with the “X”−“Y”−“Z” instruction set, the expected order of execution of the instructions is “X”, followed by “Y”, followed by “Z” (instructions “X”, “Y” and “Z” are in that order, in the computer system memory of the virtual machine).\",\n \"When instruction “X” follows instruction “Z” in the loop, that edge of the walk-through graph may be contrary to the expected order and may indicate the possibility of a back-edge in the walk-through graph.\",\n \"Loops in the graph may correspond to loops in the executed code and may also be indicators of certain algorithms.\",\n \"Strong loops, where the same set of instructions may be executed in order, and a large number of times, may be indicated by graphs with multiple edges and/or by applying weights to temporal connection edges (edges between vertices that occur sequentially).\",\n \"For example, if the set of instructions “X”−“Y”−“Z” is executed one-hundred times in a row in a loop, there may be one-hundred edges between each of the instruction vertices.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the weight of repeated walk-through edges may be computed as a function of the number of repetitions of the associated pair of instructions such as, for example, a quadratic function, an exponential function, an inverse quadratic function, a logarithmic function and/or other such functional relationships.\",\n \"After identifying loops, the hypervisor may next group computer executable instructions together into one or more functional groups based at least in part on the identified loop structures.\",\n \"In each of the groups, each of the sets of executable instructions may comprise instructions that share temporal and/or spatial locality.\",\n \"In the example described herein, the instructions “X”, “Y” and “Z” may form a functional group based at least in part on their temporal and spatial locality as well as based, at least in part, on the identified loop structure.\",\n \"In some embodiments, instruction “W” may be included in the same functional group based at least in part on spatial locality and/or on temporal locality as being a common exit point of the “X”-“Y”−“Z” loop.\",\n \"The hypervisor and/or the trace analyzer may determine whether to include instruction “W” in the functional group based on policy, user preferences, administrator preferences, resource availability, computational complexity and/or other such disparate factors.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the hypervisor may select a subset of the groups for further analysis based at least in part on a variety of factors for the selection.\",\n \"The factors for selection of groups for further analysis include, but may not be limited to, a plurality of instructions sharing common data based on examining data transfer through one or more registers and/or memory locations specified in the computer executable instructions, a plurality of instructions sharing common parameters based on examining data transfer through one or more other registers and/or memory locations specified in the computer executable instructions, meta-sequences of instructions where group “A” of instructions temporally and/or spatially follows group “B” of instructions, one or more threshold values on intervening instructions that may be executed between the instructions in the group of instructions and/or between the meta-sequences of instructions and/or other such factors for selection for further analysis.\",\n \"As may be contemplated, the factors for selection of groups for further analysis described herein are merely illustrative examples, and other such factors for selection may be considered as within the scope of the present disclosure.\",\n \"Next, the hypervisor may determine whether the instructions in the groups selected for further analysis may comprise at least a portion of the implementation of one or more cryptographic algorithms.\",\n \"The hypervisor may determine whether the instructions comprise at least a portion of one or more cryptographic algorithms by comparing the detected loop structures and the computer executable instructions in the groups selected for further analysis against one or more reference implementations of cryptographic algorithms that may be stored in a repository of reference implementations of cryptographic algorithms (also referred to herein as a cryptographic database).\",\n \"For example, if it is known that a cryptographic algorithm uses one or more different loop structures, a cryptographic database may store one or more reference implementations of those one or more different loop structures.\",\n \"For example, if the looped instruction set “X”-“Y”-“Z” mentioned above was selected for further analysis, the hypervisor may compare the looped instruction set against a repository of reference implementations of known cryptographic algorithms.\",\n \"The repository may contain reference implementations that say, for example, that the instructions “X”, “Y” and “Z”, executed in a loop and in that order, comprise at least a portion of a known implementation of a cryptographic algorithm.\",\n \"The repository may contain reference implementations for “X”-“Z”-“Y”, or “X”-“Y”-“Q”-“Z” and/or other such ordered groupings of instructions and may also store indications as to whether such implementations do, do not and/or might indicate implementations of cryptographic algorithms.\",\n \"It should be noted that the examples of the “X”−“Y”−“Z” and other such computer executed instruction patterns mentioned herein are merely illustrative examples and are not meant to convey the scope or size of a group of related instructions.\",\n \"The number of instructions in a group of instructions may vary by implementation, by system, by type and scope of analysis and/or by other such factors.\",\n \"The hypervisor may determine whether the instructions in the groups of instructions selected for further analysis may comprise at least a portion of an implementation of one or more cryptographic algorithms by, for example, lists of instructions against reference lists of instructions, comparing sequences of instructions against reference sequences of instructions, comparing loops of instructions against reference loops of instructions, comparing sequences of loops and/or sequences of instructions against reference sequences of loops and/or sequences of instructions and/or other such comparisons.\",\n \"The reference implementation may include a number of markers (also referred to herein as “patterns” or “fingerprints”) for the hypervisor to compare groups of instructions against.\",\n \"For example, a reference implementation may indicate that any algorithm that executes instructions “X”, “Y” and “Z”, in that order, more than a threshold number of times, is probably a cryptographic algorithm.\",\n \"Another reference implementation may look at patterns in using a certain type of data in the algorithm.\",\n \"For example, a set of instructions which use a certain lookup table with known values to transform values may be an indicator of a cryptographic algorithm.\",\n \"The hypervisor may use the patterns or fingerprints to determine the likelihood that a group of related instructions may comprise at least a portion of an implementation of a cryptographic algorithm.\",\n \"A group of instructions that strongly matches a reference implementation in the instructions used, the sequence of instructions, the lack of unfamiliar and/or out-of-sequence instructions, the looping structure, the sequence of loops and/or sequences, the data used and/or other such markers may indicate a strong likelihood that the group of instructions may comprise at least a portion of an implementation of a cryptographic algorithm.\",\n \"By contrast, a group of instructions that, for example, only partially matches the above factors or that has a large number of unfamiliar and/or out of sequence instructions may indicate a less-strong likelihood that the group of instructions may comprise at least a portion of an implementation of a cryptographic algorithm.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the hypervisor may assign one or more scores indicating a confidence level that the group of instructions may comprise at least a portion of an implementation of one or more reference cryptographic algorithms.\",\n \"A group of instructions may, for example, be a 25% match for one reference cryptographic algorithm, a 5% match for another, a 90% match for a third and a 99% match for a fourth.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the hypervisor may use a variety of analysis tools to determine the likelihood that a group of instructions is at least similar to a reference implementation.\",\n \"For example, a graph of the group of instructions may be compared against a graph of the instructions in the reference implementation.\",\n \"Sequences of instructions may also be compared against sequences of instructions in the reference implementation.\",\n \"Where there are differences, the likelihood of a match may be computed by using similarity quantification techniques such as a distance metric, an edit distance (comparing the number of steps required to make two dissimilar objects the same), measurement of alignment (measuring deviation from a standard) and/or other such quantification techniques.\",\n \"As mentioned herein, there are several factors that the hypervisor may use to determine the likelihood that a group of instructions is similar to a reference implementation.\",\n \"For example, back edges may identify loop structures which, in turn, may be compared against reference loop structures.\",\n \"A loop structure that does not exactly conform to a reference loop structure, but that may be altered to exactly conform to a reference loop structure with a small number of changes (and a small distance metric or edit distance) may indicate a strong likelihood that the given loop structure may comprise at least a portion of an implementation of the cryptographic algorithm corresponding to the reference implementation.\",\n \"Similarly, close conformity of common entry and exit points from an algorithm, strongly correlated physical locality, strongly correlated temporal locality, presence and/or absence of intervening instructions and/or other such factors may be used by the hypervisor to assign one or more scores for the likelihood that a group of instructions may comprise at least a portion of an implementation of a cryptographic algorithm.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the hypervisor may select one or more data parameters from gathered sample data and compare the one or more data parameters to a data model associated with a reference implementation.\",\n \"The presence or absence of data that is similar to data in a reference implementation may be used to increase or decrease the likelihood that a group of instructions and a group of associated data parameters comprise at least a portion of an implementation of a cryptographic algorithm.\",\n \"For example, a reference implementation of a cryptographic algorithm may require the presence of a lookup table to transform data values.\",\n \"A group of instructions that is similar to the reference implementation, but that does not include any such lookup table, may have a decreased likelihood of comprising an implementation of the reference cryptographic algorithm.\",\n \"Similarly, a group of instructions that is not very similar to the reference implementation, but that has a lookup table that is very similar to the reference lookup table, may have an increased likelihood of comprising an implementation of the reference cryptographic algorithm.\",\n \"In some embodiments selecting and/or comparing data parameters may be omitted if the reference implementation has no reference parameters or if the reference implementation indicates a match for all choices of data parameters.\",\n \"Using the one or more likelihood scores based on the reference implementation and/or the comparison with the reference implementation data parameters, the hypervisor may next determine whether the likelihood that a group of instructions may comprise at least a portion of an implementation of a reference cryptographic algorithm is sufficient to consider whether that implementation may be prohibited by one or more cryptographic policies.\",\n \"In one embodiment, the hypervisor may evaluate the likelihood that a group of instructions may comprise at least a portion of an implementation of a reference cryptographic algorithm by first looking at the percentage of the samples whose likelihood score exceeds a certain threshold value.\",\n \"The threshold value may be used to prevent skewing of the average by samples that were taken when the virtual machine was performing some other action.\",\n \"Such samples are not likely to conform to any particular implementation of a reference cryptographic algorithm and thus, would skew the average with a 0% likelihood score.\",\n \"As an illustrative example, consider ten samples of an application that comprise at least a portion of an implementation of a reference cryptographic algorithm.\",\n \"Five of the samples may show that there is a 95% likelihood that the samples may comprise at least a portion of a reference cryptographic algorithm and five of the samples may show that there is a 5% likelihood that the samples may comprise at least a portion of a reference cryptographic algorithm.\",\n \"The 5% samples may be because at the time that the samples were taken, the virtual machine may have been performing a different function.\",\n \"The average may indicate that there is a 50% likelihood that the samples comprise at least a portion of the implementation of a reference cryptographic algorithm, but a much stronger indicator may be that 50% of the samples indicate that there is a 95% likelihood that the samples comprise at least a portion of the implementation of a reference cryptographic algorithm.\",\n \"If it is determined that a group of instructions being executed by an application is likely to comprise at least a portion of an implementation of a reference cryptographic algorithm, the hypervisor may determine whether the cryptographic algorithm implementation is prohibited by a cryptographic policy based on the reference implementation and/or the data parameters.\",\n \"In the event that an implementation is prohibited by system policy, the likelihood score described above herein may be used to determine whether an application should be prevented from continuing to execute the cryptographic algorithm.\",\n \"One or more likelihood score conditions may be evaluated.\",\n \"A likelihood score condition is a condition based at least in part on computed likelihood scores and also based at least in part on one or more system policies.\",\n \"For example, a computer system may have a likelihood score condition indicating that if a percentage of the likelihood scores exceed a threshold value, one or more policy operations should be performed.\",\n \"In another example, a computer system may have a likelihood score condition indicating that if the maximum likelihood score is within one range of values, a first set of one or more policy operations should be performed and if the maximum likelihood score is within a different range of values, a second set of one or more policy operations should be performed.\",\n \"As may be contemplated, the examples of likelihood score conditions described herein are merely illustrative examples and other such likelihood score conditions may be considered as within the scope of the present disclosure.\",\n \"In some embodiments, where the likelihood is low, the hypervisor may elect to continue sampling the application to see if the likelihood increases or decreases.\",\n \"An application may be put on a watch list where it is allowed to continue to execute, but sampling and analysis may continue.\",\n \"Policy determinations for how to react to various algorithms may vary.\",\n \"For example, some algorithms may always be disallowed if there is even a slight likelihood that the algorithm in question comprises at least a portion of the implementation of a reference cryptographic algorithm.\",\n \"Some algorithms may only be disallowed if the likelihood exceeds a certain threshold value.\",\n \"Some algorithms may be allowed for some data parameters and disallowed for other data parameters.\",\n \"For example, a system may have a cryptographic policy that a certain type of encryption may be used, but only if, for example, a cryptographic key associated with the cryptographic algorithm exceeds a certain minimum complexity.\",\n \"An application that uses a key that exceeds that minimum complexity may be allowed, while an application that uses a key that does not exceed that minimum complexity may not be allowed.\",\n \"In some embodiments, if the hypervisor determines that an application is executing a disallowed cryptographic algorithm, the hypervisor may perform one or more operations to address the execution of the disallowed algorithm.\",\n \"The hypervisor may, for example, block execution of a portion of computer executable instructions by the virtual machine based at least in part on the determination that the implementation of the cryptographic algorithm is disallowed.\",\n \"The hypervisor may also shut down the virtual machine, suspend the application, notify an administrator, notify the user, notify the virtual machine, notify the application, notify an administrator of the machine or some other such action.\",\n \"In some embodiments the hypervisor may allow a grace period for the application and/or the guest computer system to remediate the violation and in others, the disallowed application may be quarantined immediately.\",\n \"As mentioned previously, the hypervisor may elect to turn on and/or turn up sampling for an application as needed.\",\n \"The hypervisor may also elect to turn on and/or turn up sampling for a user that was previously found to be executing a disallowed algorithm and/or for the virtual machine where a disallowed algorithm was previously executed.\",\n \"Similarly, the hypervisor may turn down or turn off analysis for an application that was analyzed and not found to contain any disallowed algorithms and/or data.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"1 illustrates an example environment 100 where one or more applications running on one or more computer systems within a computer system environment as well as the associated code running thereon may be verified by cryptographic policy enforcement implementations in accordance with at least one embodiment.\",\n \"A user 102 may connect 106 to a computer system through a computer system client device 104 and may initiate connection with or interaction with one or more applications 114 running on a host 112 operating within a computing resource service provider 110.In some embodiments, the computing resource service provider may provide a distributed, virtualized and/or datacenter environment within which one or more applications, processes, services, virtual machines and/or other such computer system entities may be executed.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the user 102 may be a person, or may be a process running on one or more remote computer systems, or may be some other computer system entity, user or process.\",\n \"The command or commands to connect to the computer system and/or to connect the applications running thereon may originate from an outside computer system and/or server, or may originate from an entity, user or process on a remote network location, or may originate from an entity, user or process within the computer system, or may originate from a user of the computer system client device 104, or may originate as a result of an automatic process or may originate as a result of a combination of these and/or other such originating entities.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the command or commands to initiate the connection 106 to the computing resource service provider 110 and/or an application 114 running thereon may be initiated by the computer system, without the intervention of a user 102.The command or commands to initiate the connection 106 to the host 112 and/or an application 114 running thereon may originate from the same origin as the command or commands to connect to the computing resource service provider 110 or may originate from another computer system and/or server, or may originate from a different entity, user or process on the same or a different remote network location, or may originate from a different entity, user or process within the computer system, or may originate from a different user of a computer system client device 104, or may originate as a result of a combination of these and/or other such same and/or different entities.\",\n \"The user 102 may request connection to the computing resource service provider via one or more connections 106 and, in some embodiments, via one or more networks 108 and/or entities associated therewith, such as servers connected to the network, either directly or indirectly.\",\n \"The computer system client device 104 that may request access to the host computer system may include any device that is capable of connecting with a computer system via a network, including at least servers, laptops, mobile devices such as smartphones or tablets, other smart devices such as smart watches, smart televisions, set-top boxes, video game consoles and other such network enabled smart devices, distributed computing systems and components thereof, abstracted components such as guest computer systems or virtual machines and/or other types of computing devices and/or components.\",\n \"The network may include, for example, a local network, an internal network, a public network such as the Internet, a wide-area network, a wireless network, a mobile network, a satellite network, a distributed computing system with a plurality of network nodes and/or the like.\",\n \"The network may also operate in accordance with various protocols, such as those listed below, Bluetooth, WiFi, cellular network protocols, satellite network protocols and/or others.\",\n \"The computing resource service provider 110 may provide access to one or more host machines as well as provide access to computer services such as virtual machine (VM) instances, automatic scaling groups, file-based database storage systems, block storage services, redundant data storage services, data archive services, data warehousing services, user access management services, content management services and/or other such computer system services as may be running thereon.\",\n \"The computing resource service provider 110 may also provide access to computer system resources such as user resources, policy resources, network resources and/or storage resources.\",\n \"In some distributed and/or virtualized computer system environments, the resources associated with the computer services may be physical devices, virtual devices, combinations of physical and/or virtual devices or other such device embodiments.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the host machines may be physical machines located within the computer system environment.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the host machines may be guest virtual machines operating on physical machines located within the computer system environment.\",\n \"The application 114 may be running within a virtual machine 120 (also referred to herein as a “VM”, a “guest virtual machine”, “a guest machine”) running on the host 112.A virtual machine is a computer system implemented in software which may be configured to execute one or more programs, services, applications, processes, modules and/or other such computer system entities.\",\n \"A virtual machine runs on a host computer system and may obtain access to host computer system hardware and resources in order to execute the one or more programs, services, applications, processes, modules and/or other such computer system entities.\",\n \"A virtual machine typically runs under the control of a controlling domain which also provides the access to host computer system hardware and resources.\",\n \"A virtual machine may be a general implementation of a computer system, with an operating system, user access, virtual memory, virtual hardware devices and/or other such computer system elements.\",\n \"A virtual machine may also be a specifically configured implementation of a computer system with only a minimal subset of the resources and capabilities that may be necessary to perform a specific task.\",\n \"The application 114 may use one or more services, processes and/or applications also running on the virtual machine 120 and/or on the host 112 to connect 118 to a system on the host machine configured to at least enforce one or more cryptographic policies on the system.\",\n \"The system that is configured to at least enforce one or more cryptographic policies (also referred to herein as the “cryptographic policy system”) may be comprised of one or more subsystems.\",\n \"The subsystems may include, but not be limited to, one or more controlling domains such as a hypervisor, one or more repositories containing computer system policies, one or more repositories containing data used in enforcing policies, one or more processes, services or applications configured to perform one or more operations relating to enforcement of computer system cryptographic policies and/or other such computer system entities.\",\n \"The cryptographic policy system may selectively sample operation of the virtual machine 120 for computer executable instructions executed by the application 114 in order to determine whether the application 114 employs cryptographic algorithms.\",\n \"If the cryptographic policy system determines that an application does employ cryptographic algorithms, the cryptographic system may then determine if those cryptographic algorithms may be allowed or disallowed by policy and if disallowed, the cryptographic policy system may take one or more remediating actions in response to the determination and policy evaluation.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"2 illustrates an example environment 200 where applications running within a computer system may be verified for conformance with computer system cryptographic policies as described herein at least in connection with FIG.\",\n \"1 and in accordance with at least one embodiment.\",\n \"An application 212 running on a virtual machine 208 may be one of one or more applications, including one or more other applications 210 running on the virtual machine 208.The application 212 maybe running on the virtual machine 208, which may be running on a host 204 within computing resource service provider 202 as described herein at least in connection with FIG.\",\n \"1 and in accordance with at least one embodiment.\",\n \"The virtual machine 208 may be running on the control of a controlling domain such a hypervisor 206.In an embodiment, a hypervisor is a controlling domain running on a host computer system that may provide access to computer system resources for guest virtual machine instances and their applications also running on the host computer system.\",\n \"A hypervisor typically has direct access to the host computer system resources and provides scheduled access by guests to those resources.\",\n \"For example, it is the hypervisor that provides system memory to guest computer systems and also manages that memory by reclaiming memory from the guest computer systems in the event that system memory becomes scarce.\",\n \"A hypervisor may also be called a controlling domain or domain-zero (DOM0) and typically runs as a privileged domain.\",\n \"The hypervisor 206 may monitor the computer executable instructions executed on the virtual machine 208 including, but not limited to, the computer executable instructions executed by application 212.The hypervisor 206 may monitor the computer executable instructions to at least determine whether the application 212 may be executing one or more instructions that may comprise at least a portion of an implementation of a cryptographic algorithm.\",\n \"The hypervisor 206 may make this determination by connecting to one or more policy analysis systems that may be configured to identify violations of cryptographic policy and may also be configured to enforce such policies.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the hypervisor may connect 220 to a policy analysis subsystem 216 running on the host computer system 204.The policy analysis subsystem may in turn connect to a policy repository 214, which may be one of one or more policy repositories on the host computer system 204.The policy analysis subsystem may include one or more systems configured to record and analyze executable instructions, one or more subsystems to detect cryptographic policy violations, one or more subsystems configured to respond to cryptographic policy violations and/or one or more other cryptographic policy subsystems.\",\n \"The policy repository 214 may include one or more repositories of reference cryptographic algorithm implementations, one or more repositories of system policy rules, one or more repositories of reference cryptographic data and/or one or more other cryptographic policy repositories.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the hypervisor may connect 222 to one or more cryptographic policy services 218 running within the computing resource service provider 202 on one or more other computer systems.\",\n \"The cryptographic policy services may also include a policy analysis subsystem 226 and one or more policy repositories 224.In some embodiments, the hypervisor may use a combination of on-host and off-host policy analysis subsystems and policy repositories.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"3 illustrates an example environment 300 where computer executable instructions may be collected and analyzed to determine whether an application may be executing instructions that may comprise at least a portion of the implementation of a cryptographic algorithm as described herein at least in connection with FIG.\",\n \"1 and in accordance with at least one embodiment.\",\n \"A hypervisor 302 may contain a trace collector 304 which may be a module, service, process, application, device or combination of these and/or other such operational computer system entities as described herein below.\",\n \"A trace collector 304 may configured to sample and record computer executable instructions and/or data referenced by the computer executable instructions, from applications running on a VM 306 which may be one of one or more VMs running on a host computer system 308.In some embodiments, the trace collector 304 may be running on the host computer system 308, within and/or under control of the hypervisor 302.The trace collector 304 may forward 310 sampled and recorded computer executable instructions to a trace analyzer 312 which may be a module, service, process, application, device or combination of these and/or other such operational computer system entities as described herein below.\",\n \"A trace analyzer 312 may be configured to receive the sampled and recorded computer executable instructions and may also be configured to begin the analysis of the sampled and recorded computer executable instructions.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the trace analyzer 312 may be running on the host computer system 308, within and/or under the control of the hypervisor 302.In some embodiments, the trace analyzer 312 may be running on a different computer system entity as described herein above.\",\n \"The trace analyzer 312 may receive the sampled and recorded computer executable instructions and may first process and then analyze the instructions by, for example, arranging them into groups and/or representing them as subgraphs and analyzing the resulting representations.\",\n \"The trace analyzer 312 may be connected 316 to and/or otherwise have access to a cryptography repository 314 which may contain data relating to one or more cryptographic algorithms that may be used to process and/or analyze the groups of instructions.\",\n \"Data in the cryptography repository may include, but not be limited to, descriptions of cryptographic algorithms, reference implementations cryptographic algorithms, example data used in cryptographic algorithms, example parameters used in cryptographic algorithms and/or other such cryptography related data.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the cryptography repository 314 may include one or more databases configured to provide organization of and/or access to the data in the cryptographic repository.\",\n \"The trace analyzer 312 may select at least a portion of the processed and analyzed instructions received from the trace collector 304 and may send these selected instruction groups 318 to a policy analyzer 322 which may be a module, service, process, application, device or combination of these and/or other such operational computer system entities as described herein below.\",\n \"A policy analyzer 322 may be configured to analyze the selected groups 318 to determine whether the selected groups comprise at least a portion of an implementation of a cryptographic algorithm.\",\n \"In some embodiments the trace analyzer 312 may also select at least a portion of the data and parameters received from the trace collector 304 and send the selected data and parameters 320 to the policy analyzer 322.The policy analyzer may be connected to 326 and/or otherwise have access to a policy repository 326 which may contain data relating to one or more system cryptographic policies.\",\n \"Data in the policy repository may include, but not be limited to, policy rules, policy mitigation strategies, policy related data, allowed lists of applications, disallowed lists of applications, allowed lists of users, disallowed lists of users and/or other such policy data.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the policy repository 324 may include one or more databases configured to provide organization of and/or access to the data in the cryptographic repository.\",\n \"The policy analyzer 322 may be connected to 330 and/or otherwise have access to the cryptography repository 314 described herein above.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the cryptography repository 314 and the policy repository 324 may be the same entity.\",\n \"As a result of analyzing the selected groups 318 and, in some embodiments, the data and parameters 320, the policy analyzer 322 may determine that an application running on the VM 306 may be executing one or more disallowed cryptographic applications.\",\n \"The policy analyzer may perform one or more operations to halt and/or otherwise mitigate the execution of the one or more disallowed cryptographic applications by sending one or more messages and/or commands 328 to the hypervisor 302.The messages and/or commands 328 may include, but not be limited to, commands to halt the application, commands to halt the virtual machine, messages to a user and/or process on the virtual machine, administrative messages to a privileged user and/or process on the virtual machine or other such messages and/or commands.\",\n \"The hypervisor 302 may be configured to at least receive and process such mitigating messages and/or command.\",\n \"As mentioned previously in this disclosure, the components described herein at least in connection with FIG.\",\n \"3 such as the trace collector 304, the trace analyzer 312 and the policy analyzer 322 may be a computer system modules, services, processes, applications, devices or combinations of these and/or other such operational computer system entities.\",\n \"In some embodiments, these components may be operational computer system entities running within and/or under the control of a controlling domain such as a hypervisor, or running within and/or under the control of a guest operating system, or running as, within and/or under the control of a separate operational computer system entity or running as, within and/or under the control of some other such computer system entity.\",\n \"Additionally, it should be understood that while this disclosure may describe the components such as the trace collector 304, the trace analyzer 312 and the policy analyzer 322 performing one or more operations, functions, processes and/or other such actions, a computer system configured in accordance with the component may be performing the described actions.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"4 illustrates an example process 400 for collecting and analyzing computer executable instructions to determine whether an application may be executing cryptographic algorithms as described at least in connection with FIG.\",\n \"1 and in accordance with at least one embodiment.\",\n \"A controlling domain such as the hypervisor 302 as described at least in connection with FIG.\",\n \"3 may perform some or all parts of the process illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"4.A service such as the trace collector 304 as described at least in connection with FIG.\",\n \"3 may also perform some or all parts of the process illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"4.A service such as trace analyzer 312 illustrated at least in connection with FIG.\",\n \"3 may also perform some or all parts of the process illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"4.A service such as policy analyzer 332 illustrated at least in connection with FIG.\",\n \"3 may also perform some or all parts of the process illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"4.Other services and/or processes running on a computer system may also perform some or all parts of the process illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"4 including, but not limited to, applications, processes and/or services running on host and/or virtual machines within the computer system, operating system elements of host and/or virtual machines within the computer system, dedicated network hardware on the computer system, controlling domains such as a hypervisor and/or combinations of these and/or other such operational entities within the computer system.\",\n \"A trace collector may collect traces from a virtual machine 402, including traces of computer executable instructions, parameters, data and/or other such trace data.\",\n \"The trace collector may collect instructions, parameters, data and/or other such trace data by intermittent sampling, or by constant sampling or by some other such collection method.\",\n \"A trace analyzer may then create a graph representation 404 of the traces from the virtual machine and may identify loop structures 406 using the information in the graph representation.\",\n \"If candidate loop structures are found 408, the trace analyzer may then group the computer executable instructions based on the loop structures 410.The trace analyzer may then select one or more of the groups based at least in part on shared or common data 412.The group selection may be based on data received from the trace collector, or may be based on data stored in a cryptography repository such as the cryptography repository 314 described herein at least in connection with FIG.\",\n \"3 or may be based on a combination of data from these and/or other such data sources.\",\n \"The trace analyzer may then compare the selected groups to one or more reference cryptographic algorithm implementations 414 to determine whether the selected groups comprise at least a portion of a reference cryptographic algorithm implementation.\",\n \"The reference cryptographic algorithm implementation may be stored in a cryptography repository such as the cryptography repository 314 described herein at least in connection with FIG.\",\n \"3.In some embodiments, the trace analyzer may also use data and/or parameters received from the trace collector to determine whether the selected groups comprise at least a portion of the reference cryptographic algorithm implementation.\",\n \"If it is determined that one or more of the selected groups comprise at least a portion of a reference cryptographic algorithm implementation 416, a policy may determine whether the one or more parameters associated with the selected groups should be examined 418.In some embodiments, a reference cryptographic algorithm implementation may be disallowed for all parameters, or may be disallowed for some parameters and allowed for others or may be allowed for all parameters.\",\n \"If the parameters should be examined 418, the policy analyzer may compare the parameters to allowed parameters 420.If as a result of determining that a group of instructions and optionally, the associated parameters, comprise at least a portion of a reference cryptographic algorithm implementation, the policy analyzer may determine whether one or more policies of the system prohibit 422 the execution of such an algorithm.\",\n \"If the algorithm is prohibited, the policy analyzer may direct a controlling domain such as a hypervisor to restrict 424 or mitigate the execution of the application by, for example, halting the execution of the application, halting the virtual machine or other such restricting and/or mitigating actions.\",\n \"At a number of steps in the process described herein, the process may determine whether sampling should continue 426 including, but not limited to, after no candidate loop structures are found 408, after it is determined that none of the selected groups comprise at least a portion of a reference cryptographic algorithm implementation 416, after it is determined that none of the policies of the system prohibit 422 the execution of a found cryptographic algorithm or after steps are taken to restrict 424 or mitigate the execution of the algorithm.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"5 illustrates an example environment 500 where a trace of a group of computer executable instructions may be represented by a graph as described herein at least in connection with FIG.\",\n \"4 and in accordance with at least one embodiment.\",\n \"A trace list 502 may include a sequential list of sampled information about one or more computer executable instructions.\",\n \"Each element in the sequential list (referred to herein simply as an “execution trace”) may contain information about a computer executable instruction that may have been executed in one or more virtual machines.\",\n \"The information about the computer executable instruction may have been collected by a computer system entity such as the trace collector 304 described herein at least in connection with FIG.\",\n \"3.Each execution trace may have been collected by the trace collector by sampling one or more memory locations as described herein above.\",\n \"The trace list 502 may be converted 506 to a trace graph 504 representation by a computer system entity such as the trace analyzer 312 described herein at least in connection with FIG.\",\n \"3.The trace graph 504 illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"5 has vertices (also referred to herein as “nodes”) corresponding to the instructions in the trace list 502 and edges corresponding to the sequential execution of the pairs of instructions.\",\n \"The directed edge between the vertex labeled “0x01” in trace graph 504 and the vertex labeled “0x02” in trace graph 504 indicates that instruction 0x02 was executed immediately after instruction 0x01 in the trace list 502 (instructions 1 and 2 in the trace list).\",\n \"Similarly, the directed edge between the vertex labeled “0x02” in trace graph 504 and the vertex labeled “0x03” in trace graph 504 indicates that instruction 0x03 was executed immediately after instruction 0x02 in the trace list 502 (instructions 2 and 3 in the trace list).\",\n \"The directed edge between the vertex labeled “0x03” in trace graph 504 and the vertex labeled “0x01” in trace graph 504 is a back edge as described herein above, representing a sequential order that may be contrary to the expected temporal order and one that, in this example, indicates a loop in the sequence of instruction execution.\",\n \"The dashed directed edge entering into the vertex labeled “0x01” in trace graph 504 indicates that instruction 0x01 is an entry point of the trace.\",\n \"The dashed directed edge exiting out of the vertex labeled “0x05” in trace graph 504 indicates that instruction 0x05 is an exit point of the trace.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"6 illustrates an example environment 600 where a trace of a group of computer executable instructions may be represented by a graph with multiple edges and may also be represented by a graph with weighted edges as described herein at least in connection with FIGS.\",\n \"4 and 5, and in accordance with at least one embodiment.\",\n \"The trace list 602 may be represented by the trace graph 604, with the plurality of edges (in this example, five edges) between vertex “0x01” and vertex “0x02”, between vertex “0x02” and vertex “0x03” and between vertex “0x03” and vertex “0x01”.\",\n \"There are five edges between each of these pairs of vertices in trace graph 504 because the trace list 502 contains five instances of the instruction sequence 0x01, 0x02, 0x03 and back to 0x01.The trace graph 604, with multiple edges may also be represented by the weighted trace graph 606 with weighted edges, where the five edges between, for example, vertex “0x01” and vertex “0x02” may be replaced by a single weighted edge with weight five.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"7 illustrates an example environment 700 where a trace graph may be analyzed by comparing it to one or more reference patterns as described herein at least in connection with FIG.\",\n \"3 and in accordance with at least one embodiment.\",\n \"A trace graph 702 such as the trace graph 604 or the weighted trace graph 606 described herein in connection with FIG.\",\n \"6 may be analyzed by a trace analyzer 704 such as the trace analyzer 312 described herein at least in connection with FIG.\",\n \"3.The trace analyzer 704 may be connected to and/or otherwise have access to a cryptography repository 706 such as the cryptography repository 314 described herein at least in connection with FIG.\",\n \"3.In some embodiments, the cryptography repository may contain one or more patterns 708 which the trace analyzer 704 may compare the trace graph 702 against.\",\n \"The comparisons of the trace graph 702 against the patterns 708 in the cryptography repository 706 may be used to determine whether the sequence of execution traces represented by the trace graph 702 corresponds to one or more of the patterns 708 and thus, whether an application running on a virtual machine that the sampled sequence of execution traces came from may be running a restricted algorithm as described herein at least in connection with FIG.\",\n \"3 and in accordance with at least one embodiment.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the trace analyzer may use one or more comparison and/or measurement techniques to determine whether the sequence of execution traces represented by the trace graph 702 corresponds to one or more of the patterns 708, how similar the sequence of execution traces represented by the trace graph 702 is to one or more of the patterns 708 and thus, how likely is it that an application running on a virtual machine that the sampled sequence of execution traces came from may be running a restricted algorithm.\",\n \"One measurement technique, an edit distance, may be used to measure the similarity between two graphs by determining, for example, the number of additions and/or deletions of vertices and/or edges that may be required to convert one graph to another.\",\n \"In the example illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"7, the edit distance between trace graph 702 and pattern 710 may be eight, the edit distance between trace graph 702 and pattern 712 may be six, the edit distance between trace graph 702 and pattern 714 may be eight and the edit distance between trace graph 702 and pattern 716 may be zero.\",\n \"The trace analyzer may use these edit distances to determine that it very likely that the application running on the virtual machine is running a restricted algorithm corresponding to pattern 716 and it is much less likely that the application running on the virtual machine is running restricted algorithms corresponding to pattern 710, pattern 712 or pattern 714.As may be contemplated, the comparison technique described herein is merely an illustrative example, and other such comparison and/or measurement techniques for determining the similarity between two graphs may be considered as within the scope of the present disclosure.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"8 illustrates an example environment 800 where a trace graph with parameters may be analyzed by a policy analyzer as described herein at least in connection with FIG.\",\n \"3 and in accordance with at least one embodiment.\",\n \"The trace list 802 containing instructions 804 and parameters 806 may have been analyzed by a trace analyzer as described herein at least in connection with FIG.\",\n \"3 and that analysis may have found a strong likelihood that an application running on a virtual machine where the computer executable instructions contained in trace list 802 were sampled from is running a restricted algorithm corresponding to pattern 812.A policy analyzer 808 such as the policy analyzer 322 described herein at least in connection with FIG.\",\n \"3 may have one or more policies associated with pattern 812 including, for example, the policy 810 which may contain the pattern 812 and one or more rules regarding acceptable use of the pattern 812.For example, the rule R1 814 says that, for computer executable instructions 0x01, 0x02 and 0x03, the instructions must use a certain value for parameter P1 and must use a certain value for parameter P2 and the rule R2 826 says that, for computer executable instructions 0x04 and 0x05, the instructions must use a certain value for parameter P2.In the example illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"8, five out of six of the execution traces violate the rules.\",\n \"In some embodiments, one or more violations of these rules may indicate one or more remediation actions as described herein at least in connection with FIG.\",\n \"3 and in accordance with at least one embodiment.\",\n \"As may be contemplated, the rules described herein are merely illustrative examples, and other such rules may be considered as within the scope of the present disclosure.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"9 illustrates an example process 900 for computing the likelihood that a group of computer executable instructions may comprise at least a portion of the implementation of a cryptographic algorithm as described herein at least in connection with FIG.\",\n \"3 and in accordance with at least one embodiment.\",\n \"A controlling domain such as the hypervisor 302 as described at least in connection with FIG.\",\n \"3 may perform some or all parts of the process illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"9.A service such as the trace collector 304 as described at least in connection with FIG.\",\n \"3 may also perform some or all parts of the process illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"9.A service such as trace analyzer 312 illustrated at least in connection with FIG.\",\n \"3 may also perform some or all parts of the process illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"9.A service such as policy analyzer 332 illustrated at least in connection with FIG.\",\n \"3 may also perform some or all parts of the process illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"9.Other services and/or processes running on a computer system may also perform some or all parts of the process illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"9 including, but not limited to, applications, processes and/or services running on host and/or virtual machines within the computer system, operating system elements of host and/or virtual machines within the computer system, dedicated network hardware on the computer system, controlling domains such as a hypervisor and/or combinations of these and/or other such operational entities within the computer system.\",\n \"A trace collector may collect one or more samples 902.A trace analyzer may, for each sample collected, determine whether the sample should be flagged 904 based on, for example, there being a certain likelihood that the sample may include one or more instructions that comprise at least a part of an algorithm such as a cryptographic algorithm and that may be restricted by one or more policies such as cryptographic policies.\",\n \"The trace analyzer may then compare the number of flagged samples to a first threshold value 906 to determine whether that number of flagged samples exceeds the first threshold value 908.If the number of flagged samples exceeds the threshold value, the trace analyzer may compute a statistical measure of whether a flagged sample was flagged 912 as described herein above.\",\n \"If that statistical measure exceeds a second threshold value 914, one or more operations may be executed by the hypervisor to restrict the algorithm.\",\n \"The statistical measure may include an average, an arithmetic mean, a median, a time-weighted average, a histogram or a combination of these and/or some other such statistical measures.\",\n \"If thresholds are not exceeded, and if it is determined that sampling should be continued 910, the trace collector may once again collect one or more samples 902.If it is determine that sampling should not continue, then sampling will stopped and/or suspended 918.FIG.\",\n \"10 illustrates aspects of an example environment 1000 for implementing aspects in accordance with various embodiments.\",\n \"As will be appreciated, although a web-based environment is used for purposes of explanation, different environments may be used, as appropriate, to implement various embodiments.\",\n \"The environment includes an electronic client device 1002, which can include any appropriate device operable to send and/or receive requests, messages or information over an appropriate network 1004 and, in some embodiments, convey information back to a user of the device.\",\n \"Examples of such client devices include personal computers, cell phones, handheld messaging devices, laptop computers, tablet computers, set-top boxes, personal data assistants, embedded computer systems, electronic book readers and the like.\",\n \"The network can include any appropriate network, including an intranet, the Internet, a cellular network, a local area network, a satellite network or any other such network and/or combination thereof.\",\n \"Components used for such a system can depend at least in part upon the type of network and/or environment selected.\",\n \"Protocols and components for communicating via such a network are well known and will not be discussed herein in detail.\",\n \"Communication over the network can be enabled by wired or wireless connections and combinations thereof.\",\n \"In this example, the network includes the Internet, as the environment includes a web server 1006 for receiving requests and serving content in response thereto, although for other networks an alternative device serving a similar purpose could be used as would be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art.\",\n \"The illustrative environment includes at least one application server 1008 and a data store 1010.It should be understood that there can be several application servers, layers or other elements, processes or components, which may be chained or otherwise configured, which can interact to perform tasks such as obtaining data from an appropriate data store.\",\n \"Servers, as used herein, may be implemented in various ways, such as hardware devices or virtual computer systems.\",\n \"In some contexts, servers may refer to a programming module being executed on a computer system.\",\n \"As used herein, unless otherwise stated or clear from context, the term “data store” refers to any device or combination of devices capable of storing, accessing and retrieving data, which may include any combination and number of data servers, databases, data storage devices and data storage media, in any standard, distributed, virtual or clustered environment.\",\n \"The application server can include any appropriate hardware, software and firmware for integrating with the data store as needed to execute aspects of one or more applications for the client device, handling some or all of the data access and business logic for an application.\",\n \"The application server may provide access control services in cooperation with the data store and is able to generate content including, but not limited to, text, graphics, audio, video and/or other content usable to be provided to the user, which may be served to the user by the web server in the form of HyperText Markup Language (“HTML”), Extensible Markup Language (“XML”), JavaScript, Cascading Style Sheets (“CSS”) or another appropriate client-side structured language.\",\n \"Content transferred to a client device may be processed by the client device to provide the content in one or more forms including, but not limited to, forms that are perceptible to the user audibly, visually and/or through other senses including touch, taste, and/or smell.\",\n \"The handling of all requests and responses, as well as the delivery of content between the client device 1002 and the application server 1008, can be handled by the web server using PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor (“PHP”), Python, Ruby, Perl, Java, HTML, XML or another appropriate server-side structured language in this example.\",\n \"It should be understood that the web and application servers are not required and are merely example components, as structured code discussed herein can be executed on any appropriate device or host machine as discussed elsewhere herein.\",\n \"Further, operations described herein as being performed by a single device may, unless otherwise clear from context, be performed collectively by multiple devices, which may form a distributed and/or virtual system.\",\n \"The data store 1010 can include several separate data tables, databases, data documents, dynamic data storage schemes and/or other data storage mechanisms and media for storing data relating to a particular aspect of the present disclosure.\",\n \"For example, the data store illustrated may include mechanisms for storing production data 1012 and user information 1016, which can be used to serve content for the production side.\",\n \"The data store also is shown to include a mechanism for storing log data 1014, which can be used for reporting, analysis or other such purposes.\",\n \"It should be understood that there can be many other aspects that may need to be stored in the data store, such as page image information and access rights information, which can be stored in any of the above listed mechanisms as appropriate or in additional mechanisms in the data store 1010.The data store 1010 is operable, through logic associated therewith, to receive instructions from the application server 1008 and obtain, update or otherwise process data in response thereto.\",\n \"The application server 1008 may provide static, dynamic or a combination of static and dynamic data in response to the received instructions.\",\n \"Dynamic data, such as data used in web logs (blogs), shopping applications, news services and other such applications may be generated by server-side structured languages as described herein or may be provided by a content management system (“CMS”) operating on, or under the control of, the application server.\",\n \"In one example, a user, through a device operated by the user, might submit a search request for a certain type of item.\",\n \"In this case, the data store might access the user information to verify the identity of the user and can access the catalog detail information to obtain information about items of that type.\",\n \"The information then can be returned to the user, such as in a results listing on a web page that the user is able to view via a browser on the user device 1002.Information for a particular item of interest can be viewed in a dedicated page or window of the browser.\",\n \"It should be noted, however, that embodiments of the present disclosure are not necessarily limited to the context of web pages, but may be more generally applicable to processing requests in general, where the requests are not necessarily requests for content.\",\n \"Each server typically will include an operating system that provides executable program instructions for the general administration and operation of that server and typically will include a computer-readable storage medium (e.g., a hard disk, random access memory, read only memory, etc.)\",\n \"storing instructions that, when executed by a processor of the server, allow the server to perform its intended functions.\",\n \"Suitable implementations for the operating system and general functionality of the servers are known or commercially available and are readily implemented by persons having ordinary skill in the art, particularly in light of the disclosure herein.\",\n \"The environment, in one embodiment, is a distributed and/or virtual computing environment utilizing several computer systems and components that are interconnected via communication links, using one or more computer networks or direct connections.\",\n \"However, it will be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art that such a system could operate equally well in a system having fewer or a greater number of components than are illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"10.Thus, the depiction of the system 1000 in FIG.\",\n \"10 should be taken as being illustrative in nature and not limiting to the scope of the disclosure.\",\n \"The various embodiments further can be implemented in a wide variety of operating environments, which in some cases can include one or more user computers, computing devices or processing devices which can be used to operate any of a number of applications.\",\n \"User or client devices can include any of a number of general purpose personal computers, such as desktop, laptop or tablet computers running a standard operating system, as well as cellular, wireless and handheld devices running mobile software and capable of supporting a number of networking and messaging protocols.\",\n \"Such a system also can include a number of workstations running any of a variety of commercially-available operating systems and other known applications for purposes such as development and database management.\",\n \"These devices also can include other electronic devices, such as dummy terminals, thin-clients, gaming systems and other devices capable of communicating via a network.\",\n \"These devices also can include virtual devices such as virtual machines, hypervisors and other virtual devices capable of communicating via a network.\",\n \"Various embodiments of the present disclosure utilize at least one network that would be familiar to those skilled in the art for supporting communications using any of a variety of commercially-available protocols, such as Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (“TCP/IP”), User Datagram Protocol (“UDP”), protocols operating in various layers of the Open System Interconnection (“OSI”) model, File Transfer Protocol (“FTP”), Universal Plug and Play (“UpnP”), Network File System (“NFS”), Common Internet File System (“CIFS”) and AppleTalk.\",\n \"The network can be, for example, a local area network, a wide-area network, a virtual private network, the Internet, an intranet, an extranet, a public switched telephone network, an infrared network, a wireless network, a satellite network and any combination thereof.\",\n \"In embodiments utilizing a web server, the web server can run any of a variety of server or mid-tier applications, including Hypertext Transfer Protocol (“HTTP”) servers, FTP servers, Common Gateway Interface (“CGI”) servers, data servers, Java servers, Apache servers and business application servers.\",\n \"The server(s) also may be capable of executing programs or scripts in response to requests from user devices, such as by executing one or more web applications that may be implemented as one or more scripts or programs written in any programming language, such as Java®, C, C# or C++, or any scripting language, such as Ruby, PHP, Perl, Python or TCL, as well as combinations thereof.\",\n \"The server(s) may also include database servers, including without limitation those commercially available from Oracle °, Microsoft®, Sybase® and IBM® as well as open-source servers such as MySQL, Postgres, SQLite, MongoDB, and any other server capable of storing, retrieving and accessing structured or unstructured data.\",\n \"Database servers may include table-based servers, document-based servers, unstructured servers, relational servers, non-relational servers or combinations of these and/or other database servers.\",\n \"The environment can include a variety of data stores and other memory and storage media as discussed above.\",\n \"These can reside in a variety of locations, such as on a storage medium local to (and/or resident in) one or more of the computers or remote from any or all of the computers across the network.\",\n \"In a particular set of embodiments, the information may reside in a storage-area network (“SAN”) familiar to those skilled in the art.\",\n \"Similarly, any necessary files for performing the functions attributed to the computers, servers or other network devices may be stored locally and/or remotely, as appropriate.\",\n \"Where a system includes computerized devices, each such device can include hardware elements that may be electrically coupled via a bus, the elements including, for example, at least one central processing unit (“CPU” or “processor”), at least one input device (e.g., a mouse, keyboard, controller, touch screen or keypad) and at least one output device (e.g., a display device, printer or speaker).\",\n \"Such a system may also include one or more storage devices, such as disk drives, optical storage devices and solid-state storage devices such as random access memory (“RAM”) or read-only memory (“ROM”), as well as removable media devices, memory cards, flash cards, etc.\",\n \"Such devices also can include a computer-readable storage media reader, a communications device (e.g., a modem, a network card (wireless or wired), an infrared communication device, etc.)\",\n \"and working memory as described above.\",\n \"The computer-readable storage media reader can be connected with, or configured to receive, a computer-readable storage medium, representing remote, local, fixed and/or removable storage devices as well as storage media for temporarily and/or more permanently containing, storing, transmitting and retrieving computer-readable information.\",\n \"The system and various devices also typically will include a number of software applications, modules, services or other elements located within at least one working memory device, including an operating system and application programs, such as a client application or web browser.\",\n \"It should be appreciated that alternate embodiments may have numerous variations from that described above.\",\n \"For example, customized hardware might also be used and/or particular elements might be implemented in hardware, software (including portable software, such as applets) or both.\",\n \"Further, connection to other computing devices such as network input/output devices may be employed.\",\n \"Storage media and computer readable media for containing code, or portions of code, can include any appropriate media known or used in the art, including storage media and communication media, such as, but not limited to, volatile and non-volatile, removable and non-removable media implemented in any method or technology for storage and/or transmission of information such as computer readable instructions, data structures, program modules or other data, including RAM, ROM, Electrically Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory (“EEPROM”), flash memory or other memory technology, Compact Disc Read-Only Memory (“CD-ROM”), digital versatile disk (DVD) or other optical storage, magnetic cassettes, magnetic tape, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices or any other medium which can be used to store the desired information and which can be accessed by the system device.\",\n \"Based on the disclosure and teachings provided herein, a person of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate other ways and/or methods to implement the various embodiments.\",\n \"The specification and drawings are, accordingly, to be regarded in an illustrative rather than a restrictive sense.\",\n \"It will, however, be evident that various modifications and changes may be made thereunto without departing from the broader spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the claims.\",\n \"Other variations are within the spirit of the present disclosure.\",\n \"Thus, while the disclosed techniques are susceptible to various modifications and alternative constructions, certain illustrated embodiments thereof are shown in the drawings and have been described above in detail.\",\n \"It should be understood, however, that there is no intention to limit the invention to the specific form or forms disclosed, but on the contrary, the intention is to cover all modifications, alternative constructions and equivalents falling within the spirit and scope of the invention, as defined in the appended claims.\",\n \"The use of the terms “a” and “an” and “the” and similar referents in the context of describing the disclosed embodiments (especially in the context of the following claims) are to be construed to cover both the singular and the plural, unless otherwise indicated herein or clearly contradicted by context.\",\n \"The terms “comprising,” “having,” “including” and “containing” are to be construed as open-ended terms (i.e., meaning “including, but not limited to,”) unless otherwise noted.\",\n \"The term “connected,” when unmodified and referring to physical connections, is to be construed as partly or wholly contained within, attached to or joined together, even if there is something intervening.\",\n \"Recitation of ranges of values herein are merely intended to serve as a shorthand method of referring individually to each separate value falling within the range, unless otherwise indicated herein and each separate value is incorporated into the specification as if it were individually recited herein.\",\n \"The use of the term “set” (e.g., “a set of items”) or “subset” unless otherwise noted or contradicted by context, is to be construed as a nonempty collection comprising one or more members.\",\n \"Further, unless otherwise noted or contradicted by context, the term “subset” of a corresponding set does not necessarily denote a proper subset of the corresponding set, but the subset and the corresponding set may be equal.\",\n \"Conjunctive language, such as phrases of the form “at least one of A, B, and C,” or “at least one of A, B and C,” unless specifically stated otherwise or otherwise clearly contradicted by context, is otherwise understood with the context as used in general to present that an item, term, etc., may be either A or B or C, or any nonempty subset of the set of A and B and C. For instance, in the illustrative example of a set having three members, the conjunctive phrases “at least one of A, B, and C” and “at least one of A, B and C” refer to any of the following sets: {A}, {B}, {C}, {A, B}, {A, C}, {B, C}, {A, B, C}.\",\n \"Thus, such conjunctive language is not generally intended to imply that certain embodiments require at least one of A, at least one of B and at least one of C each to be present.\",\n \"Operations of processes described herein can be performed in any suitable order unless otherwise indicated herein or otherwise clearly contradicted by context.\",\n \"Processes described herein (or variations and/or combinations thereof) may be performed under the control of one or more computer systems configured with executable instructions and may be implemented as code (e.g., executable instructions, one or more computer programs or one or more applications) executing collectively on one or more processors, by hardware or combinations thereof.\",\n \"The code may be stored on a computer-readable storage medium, for example, in the form of a computer program comprising a plurality of instructions executable by one or more processors.\",\n \"The computer-readable storage medium may be non-transitory.\",\n \"The use of any and all examples, or exemplary language (e.g., “such as”) provided herein, is intended merely to better illuminate embodiments of the invention and does not pose a limitation on the scope of the invention unless otherwise claimed.\",\n \"No language in the specification should be construed as indicating any non-claimed element as essential to the practice of the invention.\",\n \"Preferred embodiments of this disclosure are described herein, including the best mode known to the inventors for carrying out the invention.\",\n \"Variations of those preferred embodiments may become apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art upon reading the foregoing description.\",\n \"The inventors expect skilled artisans to employ such variations as appropriate and the inventors intend for embodiments of the present disclosure to be practiced otherwise than as specifically described herein.\",\n \"Accordingly, the scope of the present disclosure includes all modifications and equivalents of the subject matter recited in the claims appended hereto as permitted by applicable law.\",\n \"Moreover, any combination of the above-described elements in all possible variations thereof is encompassed by the scope of the present disclosure unless otherwise indicated herein or otherwise clearly contradicted by context.\",\n \"All references, including publications, patent applications and patents, cited herein are hereby incorporated by reference to the same extent as if each reference were individually and specifically indicated to be incorporated by reference and were set forth in its entirety herein.\"\n ]\n]"},"source":{"kind":"string","value":"Patent_15876020"}}},{"rowIdx":4495055,"cells":{"text":{"kind":"list like","value":[["SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR REAL-TIME MEASUREMENT OF GAS CONTENT IN DRILLING FLUIDS","Measuring the amount of individual gases in drilling fluids in real-time may be performed with optical computing devices that are calibrated in real-time or periodically with gas analysis devices to provide more accurate gas content measurements.","In some instances, one or more drilling or completion parameters may be altered in response thereto the concentration or change in concentration of individual gases in drilling fluids."],["1.A system comprising: a flow path configured to circulate a drilling fluid, the flow path comprising a degasser that includes a gas outlet fluidly coupled to a first measurement device, the first measurement device configured to produce a first output signal, a second output signal, and a third output signal corresponding to a concentration of a first gas, a second gas, and a third gas, respectively; a second measurement device and a third measurement device arranged along the flow path and configured to generate a fourth output signal and a fifth output signal, respectively, corresponding to a concentration of the first gas present in the drilling fluid and a concentration of the second gas present in the drilling fluid, respectively; and a signal processor communicably coupled to the first, second, and third measurement devices, the signal processor configured to receive the first output signal, the second output signal, the third output signal, the fourth output signal, and the fifth output signal; calculate a calibration factor based on an analysis of the first output signal relative to the fourth output signal and the second output signal relative to the fifth output signal; and apply the calibration factor to the third output signal to produce a calibrated output signal corresponding to a calibrated concentration of the third gas.","2.The system of claim 1, wherein the degasser further comprises at least one of a drilling fluid inlet or a drilling fluid outlet, the flow path is further configured to circulate the drilling fluid into and out of a borehole penetrating a subterranean formation during a drilling operation, and the second and third measurement devices are arranged along the flow path prior to the drilling fluid inlet of the degasser.","3.The system of claim 2, further comprising: one or more peripheral devices communicably coupled to the signal processor and configured to receive the calibrated output signal from the signal processor and report the calibrated concentration of the third gas to a well operator.","4.The system of claim 3, wherein the one or more peripheral devices are further configured to adjust one or more parameters of the drilling operation in response to the calibrated concentration of the third gas.","5.The system of claim 1, wherein the first measurement device comprises a first type of measurement device and the second and third measurement devices comprise a second type of measurement device that differs from the first type of measurement device.","6.The system of claim 5, wherein the first type of measurement device comprises a gas analysis device and the second type of measurement device comprises an optical measurement device.","7.The system of claim 1, wherein the first gas or the second gas is methane.","8.The system of claim 1, wherein the first gas or the second gas is carbon dioxide.","9.A method, comprising: generating a first output signal, a second output signal, and a third output signal corresponding to a concentration of a first gas, a second gas, and a third gas, respectively, with a first measurement device fluidly coupled to a gas outlet of a degasser of a flow path comprising drilling fluid; generating a fourth output signal corresponding to a concentration of the first gas present in the drilling fluid with a second measurement device and a fifth output signal corresponding to a concentration of the second gas present in the drilling fluid with a third measurement device; calculating, with a signal processor, a calibration factor based on an analysis of at least one of the first output signal relative to the fourth output signal or the second output signal relative to the fifth output signal; and applying the calibration factor to the third output signal to produce a calibrated output signal corresponding to a calibrated concentration of the third gas.","10.The method of claim 9 further comprising: conveying the calibrated output signal to one or more peripheral devices; and adjusting one or more drilling or completion parameters in response to the calibrated concentration of the third gas.","11.The method of claim 10, wherein adjusting the one or more drilling or completion parameters comprises altering geosteering of a drill bit.","12.The method of claim 10, wherein adjusting the one or more drilling or completion parameters comprises at least one of changing a cementing program, changing a casing program, changing a casing design, optimizing placement of downhole perforations, sliding sleeves, and slotted liners, and optimizing isolation of zones from which production is not required.","13.The method of claim 9, wherein the signal processor is communicably coupled to at least one of the first measurement device, the second measurement device, or the third measurement device.","14.The method of claim 9, wherein the first measurement device is a first type of measurement device and the second and third measurement devices are a second type of measurement device that differs from the first type of measurement device.","15.The method of claim 9, wherein the flow path extends into and out of a borehole penetrating a subterranean formation, the flow path includes the degasser having a drilling fluid inlet, a drilling fluid outlet, and the gas outlet, and the method further comprises: circulating the drilling fluid within the flow path during drilling operations.","16.The method of claim 15, wherein the first gas and the second gas are from the subterranean formation.","17.The method of claim 9, wherein the first gas or the second gas is methane.","18.The method of claim 9, wherein the first gas or the second gas is carbon dioxide.","19.A device comprising: at least one processor configured to: receive, from a first measurement device fluidly coupled to a gas outlet of a degasser of a flow path comprising drilling fluid, a first output signal, a second output signal, and a third output signal corresponding to a concentration of a first gas, a second gas, and a third gas, respectively; receive, from a second measurement device, a fourth output signal corresponding to a concentration of the first gas present in the drilling fluid and; receive, from a third measurement device, a fifth output signal corresponding to a concentration of the second gas present in the drilling fluid; calculate a calibration factor based on an analysis of at least one of the first output signal relative to the fourth output signal or the second output signal relative to the fifth output signal; and facilitate applying the calibration factor to the third output signal to produce a calibrated output signal corresponding to a calibrated concentration of the third gas.","20.The device of claim 19, wherein the second and third measurement devices are arranged along the flow path prior to a drilling fluid inlet of the degasser, the first measurement device is a first type of measurement device and the second and third measurement devices are a second type of measurement device that differs from the first type of measurement device."],[" BACKGROUND The present disclosure relates to systems and methods for measuring the gas content in drilling fluids.","During the drilling of a hydrocarbon-producing well, a drilling fluid or “mud” is continuously circulated from the surface down to the bottom of the wellbore being drilled and back to the surface again.","The drilling fluid serves several functions, one of them being to transport wellbore cuttings up to the surface where they are separated from the drilling fluid.","Another function of the drilling fluid is to cool the drill bit and provide hydrostatic pressure on the walls of the drilled borehole to prevent wellbore collapse and the resulting influx of gas or liquid from the formations being drilled.","Analyzing the drilling fluid as it returns to the surface is recognized in the oil and gas industry as an important first appraisal of a potential hydrocarbon-bearing reservoir zone, thereby providing important data to guide subsequent evaluation and testing.","Such analysis and testing is commonly referred to as “mud logging” analysis.","Through mud logging, reservoir zones can be evaluated while they are being initially penetrated by measuring the formation gases present in the drilling fluid as it returns to the surface.","The presence and concentration of hydrocarbon and non-hydrocarbon gases in drilling fluids relative to the depth can be used in designing stimulation operations and production operations, as well as in the assessment.","Mud logging analysis of drilling fluids is typically conducted off-line using laboratory analyses which require the extraction of a sample of the drilling fluid and a subsequent controlled testing procedure usually conducted at a separate location.","Because the characteristics of the extracted sample of the drilling fluid often changes during the lag time between collection and analysis, off-line, retrospective analyses can be unsatisfactory for determining true characteristics of a drilling fluid.","Additionally, some mud logging analyses take hours to days to complete.","Therefore, the drilling operation is often finished prior to completion of the analysis.","As a result, proactive control of drilling operations cannot take place, at least without significant process disruption occurring while awaiting the results of the mud logging analyses."],[" BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The following figures are included to illustrate certain aspects of the present disclosure, and should not be viewed as exclusive embodiments.","The subject matter disclosed is capable of considerable modifications, alterations, combinations, and equivalents in form and function, as will occur to those skilled in the art and having the benefit of this disclosure.","FIG.","1 illustrates an exemplary integrated computation element, according to one or more embodiments.","FIG.","2 illustrates an exemplary optical computing device for monitoring a fluid, according to one or more embodiments.","FIG.","3 illustrates another exemplary optical computing device for monitoring a fluid, according to one or more embodiments.","FIG.","4 illustrates an exemplary wellbore drilling assembly that may employ one or more optical computing devices for monitoring a fluid, according to one or more embodiments.","FIG.","5 provides an illustrative representation of a portion of a system suitable for deriving a dual point correction factor for the gas composition of a fluid, according to one or more embodiments.","FIG.","6 illustrates an exemplary wellbore drilling assembly that with optical computing devices in order to monitor a drilling fluid or a completion fluid, according to one or more embodiments.","detailed-description description=\"Detailed Description\" end=\"lead\"?"],["BACKGROUND The present disclosure relates to systems and methods for measuring the gas content in drilling fluids.","During the drilling of a hydrocarbon-producing well, a drilling fluid or “mud” is continuously circulated from the surface down to the bottom of the wellbore being drilled and back to the surface again.","The drilling fluid serves several functions, one of them being to transport wellbore cuttings up to the surface where they are separated from the drilling fluid.","Another function of the drilling fluid is to cool the drill bit and provide hydrostatic pressure on the walls of the drilled borehole to prevent wellbore collapse and the resulting influx of gas or liquid from the formations being drilled.","Analyzing the drilling fluid as it returns to the surface is recognized in the oil and gas industry as an important first appraisal of a potential hydrocarbon-bearing reservoir zone, thereby providing important data to guide subsequent evaluation and testing.","Such analysis and testing is commonly referred to as “mud logging” analysis.","Through mud logging, reservoir zones can be evaluated while they are being initially penetrated by measuring the formation gases present in the drilling fluid as it returns to the surface.","The presence and concentration of hydrocarbon and non-hydrocarbon gases in drilling fluids relative to the depth can be used in designing stimulation operations and production operations, as well as in the assessment.","Mud logging analysis of drilling fluids is typically conducted off-line using laboratory analyses which require the extraction of a sample of the drilling fluid and a subsequent controlled testing procedure usually conducted at a separate location.","Because the characteristics of the extracted sample of the drilling fluid often changes during the lag time between collection and analysis, off-line, retrospective analyses can be unsatisfactory for determining true characteristics of a drilling fluid.","Additionally, some mud logging analyses take hours to days to complete.","Therefore, the drilling operation is often finished prior to completion of the analysis.","As a result, proactive control of drilling operations cannot take place, at least without significant process disruption occurring while awaiting the results of the mud logging analyses.","BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The following figures are included to illustrate certain aspects of the present disclosure, and should not be viewed as exclusive embodiments.","The subject matter disclosed is capable of considerable modifications, alterations, combinations, and equivalents in form and function, as will occur to those skilled in the art and having the benefit of this disclosure.","FIG.","1 illustrates an exemplary integrated computation element, according to one or more embodiments.","FIG.","2 illustrates an exemplary optical computing device for monitoring a fluid, according to one or more embodiments.","FIG.","3 illustrates another exemplary optical computing device for monitoring a fluid, according to one or more embodiments.","FIG.","4 illustrates an exemplary wellbore drilling assembly that may employ one or more optical computing devices for monitoring a fluid, according to one or more embodiments.","FIG.","5 provides an illustrative representation of a portion of a system suitable for deriving a dual point correction factor for the gas composition of a fluid, according to one or more embodiments.","FIG.","6 illustrates an exemplary wellbore drilling assembly that with optical computing devices in order to monitor a drilling fluid or a completion fluid, according to one or more embodiments.","DETAILED DESCRIPTION The present disclosure relates to systems and methods for measuring the gas content in drilling fluids in real-time using optical computing devices that can be calibrated in real-time, which may provide for more accurate gas content measurements.","The gas content measurements may be used for adjusting one or more drilling parameters in response thereto.","The exemplary systems and methods described herein employ various configurations and arrangements of optical computing devices, also commonly referred to as “opticoanalytical devices,” for the real-time or near real-time analysis of a material of interest.","In operation, the exemplary systems and methods may be useful and otherwise advantageous in determining one or more properties or characteristics of the fluid, such as the type and concentration of one or more gases present within the fluid.","This may allow for qualitative and/or quantitative analyses of the fluid to occur without having to extract a sample and undertake time-consuming analyses of the sample at an off-site laboratory, which may be particularly advantageous in real-time mud logging.","The systems and methods disclosed herein may be suitable for use in the oil and gas industry since the described optical computing devices provide a cost-effective, rugged, and accurate means for monitoring oil/gas-related fluids, such as drilling fluids.","In particular, the systems and methods may prove advantageous for use in mud logging gas analysis, thereby providing a stream of continuous data on the hydrocarbon and non-hydrocarbon gas species that may be encountered while drilling into subterranean formations.","When the drilling fluid returns to the surface, for example, it may contain hydrocarbons (and other compounds) contained within the rock that has been drilled as well as additional hydrocarbons that have leaked into the wellbore from the surrounding rock formation.","The real-time measurement of the abundance of these gas compounds will yield information on the hydrocarbon content of the rock.","However, in some instances, it may be difficult to measure some gas species present in the drilling fluid, for example, because of a low concentration of the gas of interest, because of a high concentration of another gas (e.g., methane) that interferes with detection (e.g., having an overlapping spectrum), or a combination thereof.","Accordingly, in some instances, optical computing devices optionally in combination with other analytical devices may be used for analyzing of reference gases in the drilling fluid and each gas of interest in the gas extracted from the drilling fluid.","Then, the concentration of the reference gases in the drilling fluid and in the extracted gas can be compared and related with a correction factor or correction function.","Then, the correction factor/function may be used to extrapolate the concentration of each gas of interest in the drilling fluid from the concentration of each gas of interest in the extracted gas.","Such methods or similar methods may provide more accurate mud logging in real-time at the well site.","In some embodiments, analysis of the gas extracted from the drilling fluid may be performed on the surface, outside of the stringent downhole environmental conditions (high pressure, high temperature, and strong vibrations).","Accordingly, specialized and sophisticated measurement techniques may be available to analyze the extracted gas, such as optical measurement techniques, gas chromatography, and the like.","Moreover, a plurality of measurement techniques may be used at the surface on the extracted gas sample when the signals from two different compounds interfere with one another using a single measurement technique.","For example, when the optical signature of two compounds interferes with one another, a gas chromatographer may be able to distinctly separate each of the two compounds and provide a precise measurement value for the two.","In this regard, systems and methods consistent with the present disclosure enable obtaining a measurement of a gas concentration in the drilling fluid at the downhole location, based on the measurement of the gas concentration in the extracted gas at the surface.","Information regarding the hydrocarbon content of the rock may be provided to a well operator for interpretation and consideration and, if required, the well operator may alter various drilling or completion parameters in response thereto.","For instance, depending on what types and concentrations of gases are detected within the rock being drilled, a well operator may adjust production valves and/or choke settings in order to regulate the progress of the drilling operation and also minimize wellbore kick through early kick detection.","In other cases, the well operator may alter mud properties in an effort to optimize drilling efficiency or formation evaluation efficiency.","Other drilling and completion parameters that may be altered by a well operator upon consideration of the data include changing a planned cementing and/or casing program and optimizing a well completion design.","In some cases, the data may reveal excessive amounts of hazardous or otherwise toxic gases being returned to the surface.","Such gases may pose a potential health hazard to rig workers and the surrounding environment.","In such cases, the well operator may proactively reduce the amount of hazardous/toxic gases by introducing one or more remedial additives or components to the drilling fluid.","In other cases, the data may indicate an increased amount of viable hydrocarbons in the drilled borehole, such as in a particular lateral trajectory of the wellbore.","In such cases, the well operator may manipulate the well plan and/or geosteering so that the resulting wellbore is formed substantially in and through the observed hydrocarbon-rich strata or region.","In other words, the planned trajectory of the well path may be manipulated or otherwise altered by geosteering the drilling equipment such that the borehole penetrates a larger portion of the hydrocarbon-rich strata than would have otherwise been penetrated.","As used herein, the term “fluid” refers to any substance that is capable of flowing, including particulate solids, liquids, gases, slurries, emulsions, powders, muds, mixtures, combinations thereof, and the like.","In some embodiments, the fluid is a drilling fluid or drilling “mud,” including water-based drilling fluids, oil-based drilling fluids, synthetic drilling fluids, and the like.","In other embodiments, the fluid may be a completion fluid or a clean-up fluid such as, but not limited to, fresh water, saltwater (e.g., water containing one or more salts dissolved therein), brine (e.g., saturated salt water, chloride salts, bromide salts, combinations thereof, etc.","), seawater, a spacer fluid, base fluids, or other treatment fluids known in the art.","As used herein, the term “characteristic” refers to a chemical, mechanical, or physical property of the fluid.","A characteristic of the fluid may include a quantitative value or concentration of one or more chemical constituents or compounds present within the fluid.","Such chemical constituents may be referred to herein as “analytes.” Illustrative characteristics of a substance that can be monitored with the optical computing devices disclosed herein can include, for example, chemical composition (e.g., identity and concentration in total or of individual components or compounds), phase presence (e.g., gas, oil, water, etc.","), impurity content, pH, alkalinity, viscosity, density, ionic strength, total dissolved solids, salt content (e.g., salinity), porosity, opacity, bacterial content, total hardness, combinations thereof, state of matter (solid, liquid, gas, emulsion, mixtures, etc.","), and the like.","Moreover, the phrase “characteristic of interest of/in a fluid” may be used herein to refer to the concentration or characteristic of a gas contained in or otherwise entrained within the fluid.","Exemplary gases that may be monitored or otherwise measured with the optical computing devices as contained within a drilling fluid, for example, include, but are not limited to, methane, ethane, propane, n-butane, n-pentane, iso-butane, iso-pentane, neo-pentane, benzene, toluene, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, hydrogen sulfide, acetic acid, argon, helium, oxygen, nitrogen, water, hydrogen, carbonyl sulfide, carbon disulfide, and any combination thereof.","As used herein, the term “flow path” refers to a route through which a fluid is capable of being transported between at least two points.","In some cases, the flow path need not be continuous or otherwise contiguous between the two points.","Exemplary flow paths include, but are not limited to, a flow line, a pipeline, production tubing, drill string, work string, casing, a wellbore, an annulus defined between a wellbore and any tubular arranged within the wellbore, a mud pit, a subterranean formation, etc., combinations thereof, or the like.","It should be noted that the term “flow path” does not necessarily imply that a fluid is flowing therein, rather that a fluid is capable of being transported or otherwise flowable therethrough.","As used herein, the term “electromagnetic radiation” refers to radio waves, microwave radiation, infrared and near-infrared radiation, visible light, ultraviolet light, X-ray radiation and gamma ray radiation.","As used herein, the term “optical computing device” refers to an optical device that is configured to receive an input of electromagnetic radiation associated with a fluid and produce an output of electromagnetic radiation from a processing element arranged within the optical computing device.","The processing element may be, for example, an integrated computational element (ICE), also known as a multivariate optical element (MOE), used in the optical computing device.","The electromagnetic radiation that optically interacts with the processing element is changed so as to be readable by a detector, such that an output of the detector can be correlated to a characteristic of the fluid, such as the type and concentration of a gas in the fluid.","The output of electromagnetic radiation from the processing element can be reflected electromagnetic radiation, transmitted electromagnetic radiation, and/or dispersed electromagnetic radiation.","Whether the detector analyzes reflected, transmitted, or dispersed electromagnetic radiation may be dictated by the structural parameters of the optical computing device as well as other considerations known to those skilled in the art.","In addition, emission and/or scattering of the fluid, for example via fluorescence, luminescence, Raman, Mie, and/or Raleigh scattering, can also be monitored by the optical computing devices.","As used herein, the term “optically interact” or variations thereof refers to the reflection, transmission, scattering, diffraction, or absorption of electromagnetic radiation either on, through, or from one or more processing elements (i.e., integrated computational elements or multivariate optical elements), a fluid, or a gas present within the fluid.","Accordingly, optically interacted light refers to electromagnetic radiation that has been reflected, transmitted, scattered, diffracted, or absorbed by, emitted, or re-radiated, for example, using a processing element, but may also apply to interaction with a fluid or a gas entrained within the fluid.","The exemplary systems and methods described herein will include at least one optical computing device arranged along or in a flow path in order to monitor a fluid contained therein.","Each optical computing device may include an electromagnetic radiation source, at least one processing element (e.g., an integrated computational element), and at least one detector arranged to receive optically interacted light from the at least one processing element or the fluid.","In some embodiments, the exemplary optical computing devices may be specifically configured for detecting, analyzing, and quantitatively measuring a particular characteristic of the fluid, such as the type and concentration of a gas present within the fluid.","In other embodiments, the optical computing devices may be general purpose optical devices, with post-acquisition processing (e.g., through computer means) being used to specifically detect the characteristic of the fluid.","The presently described optical computing devices can perform calculations (analyses) in real-time or near real-time without the need for time-consuming sample processing.","Moreover, the optical computing devices can be specifically configured to detect and analyze particular characteristics of a fluid or a gas present within the fluid.","As a result, interfering signals are discriminated from those of interest in the fluid by appropriate configuration of the optical computing devices, such that the optical computing devices provide a rapid response regarding the characteristics of the fluid as based on the detected output.","In some embodiments, the detected output can be converted into a voltage that is distinctive of the magnitude of the characteristic of the fluid.","The optical computing devices can be configured to detect not only the composition and concentrations of a gas within a fluid, but they also can be configured to determine physical properties and other characteristics of the fluid and/or the gas based on an analysis of the electromagnetic radiation received from the fluid and/or the gas.","For example, the optical computing devices can be configured to determine the concentration of an analyte and correlate the determined concentration to a characteristic of the fluid.","As will be appreciated, the optical computing devices may be configured to detect as many characteristics (e.g., gas compounds and their respective concentrations) of the fluid as desired.","All that is required to accomplish the monitoring of multiple characteristics is the incorporation of suitable processing and detection means within the optical computing device for each characteristic.","In some embodiments, the properties of the fluid can be a combination of the properties of the analytes therein (e.g., a linear, non-linear, logarithmic, and/or exponential combination).","Accordingly, the more characteristics and analytes that are detected and analyzed using the optical computing devices, the more accurately the properties of the given fluid and/or gas will be determined.","The optical computing devices described herein utilize electromagnetic radiation to perform calculations, as opposed to the hardwired circuits of conventional electronic processors.","When electromagnetic radiation interacts with a fluid, unique physical and chemical information about the fluid is encoded in the electromagnetic radiation that is reflected from, transmitted through, or radiated from the fluid.","This information is often referred to as the spectral “fingerprint” of the fluid.","The optical computing devices described herein are capable of extracting the information of the spectral fingerprint of multiple characteristics or analytes within a fluid, and converting that information into a detectable output relating to one or more characteristics of the fluid or a gas present within the fluid.","That is, through suitable configurations of the optical computing devices, electromagnetic radiation associated with a characteristic or analyte of interest of a fluid can be separated from electromagnetic radiation associated with all other components of the fluid in order to estimate the properties of the fluid in real-time or near real-time.","The processing elements used in the exemplary optical computing devices described herein may be characterized as integrated computational elements (ICE).","Each ICE is capable of distinguishing electromagnetic radiation related to the characteristic of interest from electromagnetic radiation related to other components of a fluid.","Referring to FIG.","1, illustrated is an exemplary ICE 100 suitable for use in the optical computing devices used in the systems and methods described herein.","As illustrated, the ICE 100 may include a plurality of alternating layers 102 and 104, such as silicon (Si) and SiO2 (quartz), respectively.","In general, these layers 102, 104 consist of materials whose index of refraction is high and low, respectively.","Other examples might include niobia and niobium, germanium and germania, MgF, SiO, and other high and low index materials known in the art.","The layers 102, 104 may be strategically deposited on an optical substrate 106.In some embodiments, the optical substrate 106 is BK-7 optical glass.","In other embodiments, the optical substrate 106 may be another type of optical substrate, such as quartz, sapphire, silicon, germanium, zinc selenide, zinc sulfide, or various plastics such as polycarbonate, polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA), polyvinylchloride (PVC), diamond, ceramics, combinations thereof, and the like.","At the opposite end (e.g., opposite the optical substrate 106 in FIG.","1), the ICE 100 may include a layer 108 that is generally exposed to the environment of the device or installation.","The number of layers 102, 104 and the thickness of each layer 102, 104 are determined from the spectral attributes acquired from a spectroscopic analysis of a characteristic of the fluid using a conventional spectroscopic instrument.","The spectrum of interest of a given characteristic typically includes any number of different wavelengths.","It should be understood that the exemplary ICE 100 in FIG.","1 does not in fact represent any particular characteristic of a given fluid, but is provided for purposes of illustration only.","Consequently, the number of layers 102, 104 and their relative thicknesses, as shown in FIG.","1, bear no correlation to any particular characteristic.","Nor are the layers 102, 104 and their relative thicknesses necessarily drawn to scale, and therefore should not be considered limiting of the present disclosure.","Moreover, those skilled in the art will readily recognize that the materials that make up each layer 102, 104 (i.e., Si and SiO2) may vary, depending on the application, cost of materials, and/or applicability of the material to the given fluid.","In some embodiments, the material of each layer 102, 104 can be doped or two or more materials can be combined in a manner to achieve the desired optical characteristic.","In addition to solids, the exemplary ICE 100 may also contain liquids and/or gases, optionally in combination with solids, in order to produce a desired optical characteristic.","In the case of gases and liquids, the ICE 100 can contain a corresponding vessel (not shown), which houses the gases or liquids.","Exemplary variations of the ICE 100 may also include holographic optical elements, gratings, piezoelectric, light pipe, digital light pipe (DLP), and/or acousto-optic elements, for example that can create transmission, reflection, and/or absorptive properties of interest.","The multiple layers 102, 104 exhibit different refractive indices.","By properly selecting the materials of the layers 102, 104 and their relative thickness and spacing, the ICE 100 may be configured to selectively pass/reflect/refract predetermined fractions of electromagnetic radiation at different wavelengths.","Each wavelength is given a predetermined weighting or loading factor.","The thickness and spacing of the layers 102, 104 may be determined using a variety of approximation methods from the spectrograph of the characteristic or analyte of interest.","These methods may include inverse Fourier transform (IFT) of the optical transmission spectrum and structuring the ICE 100 as the physical representation of the IFT.","The approximations convert the IFT into a structure based on known materials with constant refractive indices.","The weightings that the layers 102, 104 of the ICE 100 apply at each wavelength are set to the regression weightings described with respect to a known equation, or data, or spectral signature.","Briefly, the ICE 100 may be configured to perform the dot product of the input light beam into the ICE 100 and a desired loaded regression vector represented by each layer 102, 104 for each wavelength.","As a result, the output light intensity of the ICE 100 is related to the characteristic or analyte of interest.","Referring now to FIG.","2, illustrated is an exemplary optical computing device 200 for monitoring a fluid 202, according to one or more embodiments.","In the illustrated embodiment, the fluid 202 may be contained or otherwise flowing within an exemplary flow path 204.The flow path 204 may be a flow line, a pipeline, a wellbore, an annulus defined within a wellbore, or any flow lines or pipelines extending to/from a wellbore.","The fluid 202 present within the flow path 204 may be flowing in the general direction indicated by the arrows A (i.e., from upstream to downstream).","Portions of the flow path 204 may be arranged substantially vertical, substantially horizontal, or any directional configuration therebetween, without departing from the scope of the disclosure.","The optical computing device 200 may be configured to determine a characteristic of interest in the fluid 202, such as the type and/or concentration of a gas present within the fluid 202.In some embodiments, the device 200 may include an electromagnetic radiation source 208 configured to emit or otherwise generate electromagnetic radiation 210.The electromagnetic radiation source 208 may be any device capable of emitting or generating electromagnetic radiation, as defined herein.","For example, the electromagnetic radiation source 208 may be a light bulb, a light emitting diode (LED), a laser, a blackbody, a photonic crystal, an X-Ray source, combinations thereof, or the like.","In some embodiments, a lens 212 may be configured to collect or otherwise receive the electromagnetic radiation 210 and direct a beam 214 of electromagnetic radiation 210 toward the fluid 202.The lens 212 may be any type of optical device configured to transmit or otherwise convey the electromagnetic radiation 210 as desired, such as a normal lens, a Fresnel lens, a diffractive optical element, a holographic graphical element, a mirror (e.g., a focusing mirror), or a type of collimator.","In other embodiments, the lens 212 may be omitted from the device 200 and the electromagnetic radiation 210 may instead be directed toward the fluid 202 directly from the electromagnetic radiation source 208.In one or more embodiments, the device 200 may also include a sampling window 216 arranged adjacent to or otherwise in contact with the fluid 202 for detection purposes.","The sampling window 216 may be made from a variety of transparent, rigid or semi-rigid materials that are configured to allow transmission of the electromagnetic radiation 210 therethrough.","For example, the sampling window 216 may be made of, but is not limited to, glasses, plastics, semi-conductors, crystalline materials, polycrystalline materials, hot or cold-pressed powders, combinations thereof, or the like.","After passing through the sampling window 216, the electromagnetic radiation 210 impinges upon and optically interacts with the fluid 202.As a result, optically interacted radiation 218 is generated by and reflected from the fluid 202.Those skilled in the art, however, will readily recognize that alternative variations of the device 200 may allow the optically interacted radiation 218 to be generated by being transmitted, scattered, diffracted, absorbed, emitted, or re-radiated by and/or from the fluid 202, without departing from the scope of the disclosure.","The optically interacted radiation 218 generated by the interaction with the fluid 202 may be directed to or otherwise be received by an ICE 220 arranged within the device 200.The ICE 220 may be a spectral component substantially similar to the ICE 100 described above with reference to FIG.","1.Accordingly, in operation the ICE 220 may be configured to receive the optically interacted radiation 218 and produce modified electromagnetic radiation 222 corresponding to a particular characteristic of the fluid 202.In particular, the modified electromagnetic radiation 222 is electromagnetic radiation that has optically interacted with the ICE 220, whereby an approximation of the regression vector corresponding to the characteristic of the fluid 202 is obtained.","While FIG.","2 depicts the ICE 220 as receiving reflected electromagnetic radiation from the fluid 202, the ICE 220 may be arranged at any point along the optical train of the device 200, without departing from the scope of the disclosure.","For example, in one or more embodiments, the ICE 220 (as shown in dashed lines) may be arranged within the optical train prior to the sampling window 216 and equally obtain substantially the same results.","In other embodiments, the ICE 220 may generate the modified electromagnetic radiation 222 through reflection, instead of transmission therethrough.","Moreover, while only one ICE 220 is shown in the device 200, embodiments are contemplated herein which include the use of at least two ICE components in the device 200 configured to cooperatively determine the characteristic of interest in the fluid 202.For example, two or more ICE may be arranged in series or parallel within the device 200 and configured to receive the optically interacted radiation 218 and thereby enhance sensitivities and detector limits of the device 200.In other embodiments, two or more ICE may be arranged on a movable assembly, such as a rotating disc or an oscillating linear array, which moves such that individual ICE components are able to be exposed to or otherwise optically interact with electromagnetic radiation for a distinct brief period of time.","The two or more ICE components in any of these embodiments may be configured to be either associated or disassociated with the characteristic of interest in the fluid 202.In other embodiments, the two or more ICE may be configured to be positively or negatively correlated with the characteristic of interest in the fluid 202.In some embodiments, it may be desirable to monitor more than one characteristic of interest at a time using the device 200, such as detecting multiple types or compounds of gases within the fluid 202.In such embodiments, various configurations for multiple ICE components can be used, where each ICE component is configured to detect a particular and/or distinct characteristic of interest.","In some embodiments, the characteristic can be analyzed sequentially using multiple ICE components that are provided a single beam of electromagnetic radiation being reflected from or transmitted through the fluid 202.In some embodiments, multiple ICE components can be arranged on a rotating disc, where the individual ICE components are only exposed to the beam of electromagnetic radiation for a short time.","Advantages of this approach can include the ability to analyze multiple characteristics of the fluid 202 using a single optical computing device 200 and the opportunity to assay additional characteristics (e.g., types or compounds of gases within the fluid 202) simply by adding additional ICE components to the rotating disc.","In other embodiments, multiple optical computing devices can be placed at a single location along the flow path 204, where each optical computing device contains a unique ICE that is configured to detect a particular characteristic of interest in the fluid 202.In such embodiments, a beam splitter can divert a portion of the electromagnetic radiation being reflected by, emitted from, or transmitted through the fluid 202 and into each optical computing device.","Each optical computing device, in turn, can be coupled to a corresponding detector or detector array that is configured to detect and analyze an output of electromagnetic radiation from the respective optical computing device.","Parallel configurations of optical computing devices can be particularly beneficial for applications that require low power inputs and/or no moving parts.","Those skilled in the art will appreciate that any of the foregoing configurations can further be used in combination with a series configuration in any of the present embodiments.","For example, two optical computing devices having a rotating disc with a plurality of ICE components arranged thereon can be placed in series for performing an analysis at a single location along the length of the flow path 204.Likewise, multiple detection stations, each containing optical computing devices in parallel, can be placed in series for performing a similar analysis.","The modified electromagnetic radiation 222 generated by the ICE 220 may subsequently be conveyed to a detector 224 for quantification of the signal.","The detector 224 may be any device capable of detecting electromagnetic radiation, and may be generally characterized as an optical transducer.","In some embodiments, the detector 224 may be, but is not limited to, a thermal detector such as a thermopile or photoacoustic detector, a semiconductor detector, a piezo-electric detector, a charge coupled device (CCD) detector, a video or array detector, a split detector, a photon detector (such as a photomultiplier tube), photodiodes, combinations thereof, or the like, or other detectors known to those skilled in the art.","In some embodiments, the detector 224 may be configured to produce an output signal 226 in real-time or near real-time in the form of a voltage (or current) that corresponds to the particular characteristic of interest in the fluid 202.The voltage returned by the detector 224 is essentially the dot product of the optical interaction of the optically interacted radiation 218 with the respective ICE 220 as a function of the concentration of the characteristic of interest of the fluid 202.As such, the output signal 226 produced by the detector 224 and the concentration of the characteristic may be related, for example, directly proportional.","In other embodiments, however, the relationship may correspond to a polynomial function, an exponential function, a logarithmic function, and/or a combination thereof.","In some embodiments, the device 200 may include a second detector 228, which may be similar to the first detector 224 in that it may be any device capable of detecting electromagnetic radiation.","The second detector 228 may be used to detect radiating deviations stemming from the electromagnetic radiation source 208.Undesirable radiating deviations can occur in the intensity of the electromagnetic radiation 210 due to a wide variety of reasons and potentially causing various negative effects on the device 200.These negative effects can be particularly detrimental for measurements taken over a period of time.","In some embodiments, radiating deviations can occur as a result of a build-up of film or material on the sampling window 216 which has the effect of reducing the amount and quality of light ultimately reaching the first detector 224.Without proper compensation, such radiating deviations could result in false readings and the output signal 226 would no longer be primarily or accurately related to the characteristic of interest.","To compensate for these types of undesirable effects, the second detector 228 may be configured to generate a compensating signal 230 generally indicative of the radiating deviations of the electromagnetic radiation source 208, and thereby normalize the output signal 226 generated by the first detector 224.As illustrated, the second detector 228 may be configured to receive a portion of the optically interacted radiation 218 via a beamsplitter 232 in order to detect the radiating deviations.","In other embodiments, however, the second detector 228 may be arranged to receive electromagnetic radiation from any portion of the optical train in the device 200 in order to detect the radiating deviations, without departing from the scope of the disclosure.","In some applications, the output signal 226 and the compensating signal 230 may be conveyed to or otherwise received by a signal processor 234 communicably coupled to both the detectors 224, 228.The signal processor 234 may be a computer including a processor and a machine-readable storage medium having instructions stored thereon, which, when executed by the processor 234, cause the optical computing device 200 to perform a number of operations, such as determining a characteristic of interest of the fluid 202.For instance, the concentration of each characteristic detected with the optical computing device 200 can be fed into an algorithm operated by the signal processor 234.The algorithm can be part of an artificial neural network configured to use the concentration of each detected characteristic in order to evaluate the overall characteristic(s) or quality of the fluid 202.The signal processor 234 may also be configured to computationally combine the compensating signal 230 with the output signal 226 in order to normalize the output signal 226 in view of any radiating deviations detected by the second detector 228.Computationally combining the output and compensating signals 226, 230 may entail computing a ratio of the two signals 226, 230.For example, the concentration or magnitude of each characteristic determined using the optical computing device 200 can be fed into an algorithm run by the signal processor 234.The algorithm may be configured to make predictions on how the characteristics of the fluid 202 change if the concentrations of one or more components or additives are changed relative to one another.","In real-time or near real-time, the signal processor 234 may be configured to provide a resulting output signal 236 corresponding to the characteristic of interest in the fluid 202, such as the concentration of a gas present in the fluid 202.The resulting output signal 236 may be readable by an operator who can consider the results and make proper adjustments or take appropriate action, if needed.","In some embodiments, the resulting signal output 236 may be conveyed, either wired or wirelessly, to an operator for consideration.","In other embodiments, the resulting output signal 236 may be recognized by the signal processor 234 as being within or without a predetermined or preprogrammed range of suitable operation and may alert the operator of an out of range reading so appropriate corrective action may be taken, or otherwise autonomously undertake the appropriate corrective action such that the resulting output signal 236 returns to a value within the predetermined or preprogrammed range of suitable operation.","Referring now to FIG.","3, illustrated is another exemplary optical computing device 300 for monitoring the fluid 202, according to one or more embodiments.","The optical computing device 300 may be similar in some respects to the optical computing device 200 of FIG.","2, and therefore may be best understood with reference thereto where like numerals indicate like elements that will not be described again.","Again, the optical computing device 300 may be configured to determine the concentration of a characteristic of interest in the fluid 202, such as the concentration of a gas within the fluid 202, as contained within the flow path 204.Unlike the device 200 of FIG.","2, however, the optical computing device 300 in FIG.","3 may be configured to transmit the electromagnetic radiation 210 through the fluid 202 via a first sampling window 302a and a second sampling window 302b arranged radially-opposite the first sampling window 302a on the flow path 204.The first and second sampling windows 302a,b may be similar to the sampling window 216 described above in FIG.","2 and therefore will not be described again.","As the electromagnetic radiation 210 passes through the fluid 202 via the first and second sampling windows 302a,b, it optically interacts with the fluid 202 and optically interacted radiation 218 is subsequently directed to or otherwise received by the ICE 220 as arranged within the device 300.It is again noted that, while FIG.","3 depicts the ICE 220 as receiving the optically interacted radiation 218 as transmitted through the sampling windows 302a,b, the ICE 220 may equally be arranged at any point along the optical train of the device 300, without departing from the scope of the disclosure.","For example, in one or more embodiments, the ICE 220 may be arranged within the optical train prior to the first sampling window 302a and equally obtain substantially the same results.","In yet other embodiments, the ICE 220 may generate the modified electromagnetic radiation 222 through reflection, instead of transmission therethrough.","Moreover, as with the device 200 of FIG.","2, embodiments are contemplated herein which include the use of at least two ICE components in the device 300 configured to cooperatively determine the characteristic of interest in the fluid 202.The modified electromagnetic radiation 222 generated by the ICE 220 is subsequently conveyed to the detector 224 for quantification of the signal and generation of the output signal 226 which corresponds to the particular characteristic of interest in the fluid 202.The device 300 may also include the second detector 228 for detecting radiating deviations stemming from the electromagnetic radiation source 208.As illustrated, the second detector 228 may be configured to receive a portion of the optically interacted radiation 218 via the beamsplitter 232 in order to detect the radiating deviations.","The output signal 226 and the compensating signal 230 may then be conveyed to or otherwise received by the signal processor 234 which may computationally combine the two signals 230, 226 and provide in real-time or near real-time the resulting output signal 236 corresponding to the concentration of the characteristic of interest in the fluid 202.Those skilled in the art will readily appreciate the various and numerous applications that the optical computing devices 200, 300, and various alternative configurations thereof, may be suitably used with.","The systems and methods described herein utilize at least one optical computing device in combination with at least one gas analysis device to more accurately measure the gas composition in the drilling fluid at various points in a drilling fluid circulation system.","The gas analysis devices measure the concentrations of all the gases of interest in the gas extracted from the drilling fluid, and the optical computing devices measure the concentration of only some of the gases of interest.","A correction factor can be derived from a comparison of the measurements of the two types of devices.","Depending on the configuration of the system, the correction factor can be a single point correction factor, a dual point correction factor, or a point-to-point correction factor.","FIG.","4 provides an illustrative representation of a portion of a system 400 suitable for deriving a single point correction factor for the gas composition of a fluid.","The fluid flows into a degasser 410 through feed line 412.The degasser 410 extracts at least a portion of the gas entrained in the fluid.","At least a portion of the extracted gas may then be transferred to at least one gas analysis device 414 via feed line 416.The gas analysis devices 414 may analyze the composition of the extracted gas for the concentration of gases of interest and the amount of total gas.","At least one optical computing device 418 may be arranged in the system 400 before the degasser 410 and be configured to measure the concentration of a reference compound and a gas from the formation (e.g., methane or ethane).","The reference compound may be a volatile compound that is introduced into the fluid (e.g., fluorinated hydrocarbons), indigenous to the fluid (e.g., CO2), or a spectral overlapping gas (e.g., ethane that overlaps with methane or ethane that overlaps ethane).","Each of the gas analysis devices 414 and optical computing devices 418 may produce output signals 420,422, respectively, corresponding to the measurements taken.","The output signals 420,422 are received by a signal processor 424 communicably coupled to the gas analysis devices 414 and optical computing devices 418.The signal processor 424 may be similar to the signal processor 234 of FIGS.","2 and 3 and may be configured to receive and process the output signals 420,422.In particular, the signal processor 424 may employ an algorithm configured to calculate or otherwise determine the concentration of the gases detected by the gas analysis devices 414, calculate a correction factor, apply the correction factor to the output signals 422 of the optical computing devices 418 to calculate the concentration of the gas detected by the optical computing devices 418, and extrapolate the concentration of all the gases of interest in the drilling fluid.","For example, the optical computing devices 418 may be configured to measure the concentration of methane in the drilling fluid (“[CH4]DF”) and the concentration of the reference compound in the drilling fluid (“[ref]DF”).","The gas analysis devices 414 may be configured to measure the concentration of methane in the extracted gas (“[CH4]EG”), the concentration of the reference compound in the extracted gas (“[ref]EG”), and the concentration of one or more other gases of interest in the extracted gas (“[gas]EG”).","A single point correction factor can be determined by comparing [CH4]DF/[CH4]EG and [ref]DF/[ref]EG or variations in [CH4]DF/[CH4]EG and [ref]DF/[ref]EG.","The comparison of the concentrations in the drilling fluid and extracted gas may include sums or other methods to account for interaction factors from other compounds.","When the spectral response of the reference gas has peaks within a spectral response of an overlapping gas, peak fittings can be used to determine overlap at the point of measurement.","The intensity of overlap then be removed before determining the correction factor.","After the correction factor has been determined, curve fitting can be used to apply the correction factor to each of the [gas]EG and extrapolate the concentration of all the gases of interest in the drilling fluid.","FIG.","5 provides an illustrative representation of a portion of a system 500 suitable for deriving a dual point correction factor for the gas composition of a fluid.","The fluid flows into a degasser 510 through feed line 512.The degasser 510 extracts at least a portion of the gas entrained in the fluid.","At least a portion of the extracted gas may then be transferred to at least one gas analysis device 514 via feed line 516.The gas analysis devices 514 may analyze the composition of the extracted gas for the concentration of gases of interest and the amount of total gas.","At least one optical computing device 518 may be arranged in the system 500 before the degasser 510 and be configured to measure the concentration of a reference compound and a gas from the formation.","At least one optical computing device 520 may be arranged in the system 500 between the degasser 510 and the gas analysis devices 514 and be configured to measure the concentration of the reference compound and the gas from the formation.","Each of the gas analysis devices 514 and optical computing devices 518,520 may produce output signals 522,524,526, respectively, corresponding to the measurements taken.","The output signals 522,524,526 are received by a signal processor 528 communicably coupled to the gas analysis devices 514 and optical computing devices 518,520.A dual point calibration may advantageously be able to correct for a non-linear background in measurements, which may be contributed to by a compound with an overlapping spectrum.","In some instances, the foregoing calibration methods may utilize more than one reference compound.","In some instances, no reference gas may be used by developing a direct relationship between and calibration curve for the measurements of the optical computing devices and the gas analysis devices, which may be referred to herein as a point-to-point calibration.","In any of the foregoing calibration arrangements and methods, the calibration may be performed continuously in some embodiments.","Alternatively, in some instance, the calibration may be performed periodically (e.g., once every 15 minutes, once every hour, etc.).","Additionally, the calibration may, in some instance, be performed on-demand (e.g., as triggered by an operator).","This further contributes to the accuracy of the systems and methods described herein for measuring gas content and gas composition in a drilling fluid in real-time.","In the illustrated examples of the calibrations, the optical computing devices are deployed proximal to the degasser.","However, additional optical computing devices can be deployed at various points within a drilling fluid circulation system to monitor the drilling fluid and its associated gas content using the calibrations for each type of optical computing device being determined with one of the above or similar systems/methods.","Depending on the location of the particular optical computing device, different types of information about the fluid can be obtained.","In some cases, for example, the optical computing devices can be used to monitor the type and concentration of gases therein before and after the drilling fluid circulates into and out of a wellbore.","In other cases, the optical computing devices may be used to analyze an extracted gas sample in real-time following its extraction from the drilling fluid via a traditional drilling fluid sampling process.","In other cases, the optical computing devices may be used to monitor the drilling fluid at or near a wellbore choking device so as to register real-time gas concentrations of the drilling fluid while the drilling fluid circulates at wellbore conditions.","For example, referring now to FIG.","6, illustrated is an exemplary wellbore drilling assembly 600 that may employ one or more optical computing devices as described herein in order to monitor a drilling fluid or a completion fluid, according to one or more embodiments.","The drilling assembly 600 may include a drilling platform 602 that supports a derrick 604 having a traveling block 606 for raising and lowering a drill string 608.A kelly 610 supports the drill string 608 as it is lowered through a rotary table 612.A drill bit 614 is attached to the distal end of the drill string 608 and is driven either by a downhole motor and/or via rotation of the drill string 608 from the well surface.","As the bit 614 rotates, it creates a borehole 616 that penetrates various subterranean formations 618.A pump 620 (e.g., a mud pump) circulates drilling fluid 622 through a feed pipe 624 and to the kelly 610, which conveys the drilling fluid 622 downhole through an interior conduit defined in the drill string 608 and through one or more orifices in the drill bit 614.The drilling fluid 622 is then circulated back to the surface via an annulus 626 defined between the drill string 608 and the walls of the borehole 616.The drilling fluid 622 provides hydrostatic pressure to prevent formation fluids from entering into the borehole 616 and keeps the drill bit 614 cool and clean during drilling.","The drilling fluid 622 also serves to carry drill cuttings and solids out of the borehole 616 and suspend the drill cuttings and solids while drilling is paused and/or when the drill bit 614 is brought in and out of the borehole 616.As the spent drilling fluid 622 returns to the surface, it may exit the annulus 626 at the wellhead 627 and subsequently pass through one or more chokes or choke valves 628 (one shown) via an interconnecting flow line 630.The choke valve 628 may be used to maintain or otherwise regulate the pressure on the annulus 626 at surface, for example in the range of about 100 psi to about 1500 psi.","As a result, this will enable drilling to continue underbalanced and is useful in reducing formation damage, but also to facilitate increases in drilling speed.","It will be appreciated, however, that the choke valve(s) 628 may be omitted in other embodiments and the spent drilling fluid 622 may instead return to the surface at atmospheric pressures, without departing from the scope of the disclosure.","Following the choke valve 628, the spent drilling fluid 622 may be conveyed to one or more drilling fluid rehabilitation devices via the interconnecting flow line 630.Such drilling fluid rehabilitation devices may include, but are not limited to, one or more degassing units 632 and solids control equipment 634 (e.g., shakers).","The degassing unit 632 may be any device or machine configured to separate from the drilling fluid 622 gases (i.e., hydrocarbon and non-hydrocarbon gas species) that may have been entrained in the drilling fluid 622 while circulating in and out of the borehole 616.The solids control equipment 634 may be configured to substantially remove the drill cuttings and solids from the drilling fluid 622 and deposit a “cleaned” drilling fluid 622 into a nearby retention pit 636 (i.e., a mud pit).","Several additives or components may be added to the drilling fluid 622 in order to maintain the drilling fluid 622 in proper working order and otherwise enhance drilling capabilities.","In some embodiments, the additives and components may be added to the drilling fluid 622 via a mixing hopper 638 fluidly coupled to the retention pit 636.Exemplary components that may be added to the drilling fluid 622 include, but are not limited to, emulsions, weighting materials, viscosifiers, thickeners, rheology modifiers, thinners, deflocculants, anionic polyelectrolytes (e.g., acrylates, polyphosphates, lignosulfonates, tannic acid derivates, etc.","), high-heat polymers, clay stabilizers, clay inhibitors, tar treatments, water and other base fluids, combinations thereof, and the like.","The rehabilitated drilling fluid 622 may then be recirculated and pumped back into the borehole 616 with the pump 620 via the feed pipe 624.According to the present disclosure, mud logging gas analysis of the drilling fluid 622 may be undertaken using optical computing devices 640 and gas analysis devices 650 with calibrations of the optical computing devices 640 according to the methods and configurations described relative to FIGS.","4-5 or similar thereto.","The gas analysis device 650 received gas from the degassing unit 632 through flow line 652.Depending on the analysis method, optical computing devices may be arranged in various locations throughout the circulation system of the drilling assembly 600.For example, as shown in FIG.","6, optical computing devices 640a, 640b, 640c, 640d, and 640e may be arranged along flow pipe 624, along flow line 630 between the choke valve 628 and the degassing unit 632, along flow line 630 before choke valve 628, along the flow line 652 between the degassing unit 632 and the gas analysis devices 650, and along flow line 630 between the degassing unit 632 and the solids control equipment 634, respectively.","The optical computing devices 640a-e may be substantially similar to at least one of the optical computing devices 200, 300 of FIGS.","2 and 3, respectively, and therefore will not be described again in detail.","In exemplary operation, the optical computing devices 640a-e may be configured to measure and report real-time characteristics of the drilling fluid 622, such as the type and/or concentration of one or more gases present therein at their respective monitoring locations.","In one or more embodiments, the optical computing devices 640a-e may be communicably coupled to a signal processor 642 and configured to convey corresponding output signals 644a-e, respectively, to the signal processor 642.The signal processor 642 may be similar to the signal processor 234 of FIGS.","2 and 3 and may be configured to receive and process the output signals 644a-e.","In particular, the signal processor 642 may employ an algorithm configured to calculate or otherwise determine the concentration or type of a gas detected at each monitoring location.","The signal processor 642 may further be configured to determine the differences between any two or more of the output signals 640a-e.","In other words, the signal processor 642 may be configured to determine how the concentration of the gas and/or the magnitude of the characteristic of interest in the fluid 622 changed between each monitoring location.","Further, the signal processor 642 may be configured receive output signals 654 from the gas analysis devices 650, so as to perform a comparative analysis between the gas concentrations measured by the gas analysis devices 650 and individual optical computing devices 640a-e (described further herein).","In real-time or near real-time, the signal processor 642 may be configured to provide a resulting output signal 646 corresponding to the concentration of individual gases or the total gas, each of which may be measured or derived as described further herein.","In some embodiments, the resulting output signal 646 may be conveyed, either wired or wirelessly, to one or more peripheral devices 648 communicably coupled to the signal processor 642.The peripheral devices 648 may include, but are not limited to, a mobile device, computer monitor, or a printer coupled to a computer.","In some embodiments, the peripheral devices 648 may be configured to provide one or more graphical outputs such as a Pixler plot, a Haworth Plot, or a gas-ratio plot, depicting various properties, parameters, and characteristic(s) detected in the fluid 622 (e.g., the concentration of individual gases or the total gas in the drilling fluid).","A well operator may then be able to consult and interpret the graphical output and thereby make intelligent decisions on how best to manage the well in response thereto.","In other embodiments, the peripheral devices 648 may include an audible or visual alarm mechanism or device that may be triggered.","For example, the one or more of the output signals 644a-e, 654 or an analysis thereof may be recognized by the signal processor 642 as being within or without a predetermined or preprogrammed range of suitable operation for the drilling fluid 622.If the output signals 644a-e, 654 or an analysis thereof exceed the predetermined or preprogrammed range of operation, the resulting output signal 646 may trigger an alarm forming part of the peripheral device 648 and the alarm may be configured to alert the operator so appropriate corrective action may be taken on the drilling fluid 622.In some embodiments, the signal processor 642 may be configured to autonomously undertake the appropriate corrective action such that the resulting output signal 646 returns to a value within the predetermined or preprogrammed range of suitable operation.","For example, the signal processor 642 may be communicably coupled to an automated control system (not shown) that may be configured to undertake the required corrective action.","As illustrated, optical computing device 640b and gas analysis device 650 may be configured and operate similar to that of optical computing device 418 and gas analysis device 415 of FIG.","4 to provide a single-point calibration that may be applied to other optical computing devices arranged in the system 600.Further, optical computing devices 640b,640d and gas analysis device 650 may be configured and operate similar to that of optical computing devices 518,520 and gas analysis device 514 of FIG.","5 to provide a dual-point calibration that may be applied to other optical computing devices arranged in the system 600.In some embodiments, gas concentration measured from the optical computing device 640e arranged along the flow line 630 after the degasser 632 may be compared to the gas concentration from the optical computing device 640b arranged before the degasser to provide a degassing efficiency.","In some embodiments, a first optical computing device 640a may be arranged to monitor the drilling fluid 622 as it is being introduced into the borehole 616 and a second optical computing device 640b may be arranged to monitor the drilling fluid 622 after it has returned to the surface and is otherwise de-pressurized via the choke valve 628.More particularly, the first optical computing device 640a may be arranged in the feed pipe 624 leading to the derrick 604 from the pump 620 (or otherwise at any fluidly communicable location following the pump 620 and before the borehole 616), and the second optical computing device 640b may be arranged on or otherwise coupled to the flow line 630 before the degassing unit 632 (e.g., adjacent an inlet to the degassing unit 632).","As will be appreciated, more than one optical computing device may be arranged at each of these monitoring locations, without departing from the scope of the disclosure.","The first output signal 644a may be indicative of the type/concentration of a gas in the drilling fluid 622 or another characteristic of the fluid 622 as the drilling fluid 622 enters the borehole 616.Likewise, the second output signal 644b may be indicative of the type/concentration of the gas or another characteristic of the fluid 622 as the drilling fluid 622 exits the borehole 616 de-pressurized.","The signal processor 642 may receive the output signals 644a,b in real-time and provide the resulting output signal 646 that may be considered by an operator via the one or more peripheral devices 648, as described above.","In some embodiments, the resulting output signal 646 may inform the operator of the type/concentration of gas in the drilling fluid 622 as the drilling fluid 622 enters the borehole 616, as per the first output signal 644a.","In other embodiments, the resulting output signal 646 may inform the operator of the type/concentration of the gas in the drilling fluid 622 as the drilling fluid 622 exits the borehole 616, as per the second output signal 644b.","As a result, the operator may be able to conduct mud logging gas analyses of the drilling fluid 622 without having to extract a gas sample from the returning drilling fluid 622.In yet other embodiments, the signal processor 642 may be configured to make a comparison between the first and second output signals 644a,b, and thereby provide the operator with a resulting output signal 646 via the peripheral devices 648 that details the differences between the two output signals 644a,b.","As such, the operator may be apprised as to the quantity and concentration of one or more gases that may have entered or otherwise become entrained in the drilling fluid 622 while circulating through the borehole 616.Such data may be useful in providing information as to the hydrocarbon content of the rock being drilled through and, as a result, the operator may decide to adjust one or more drilling or completion parameters in response thereto.","For example, in some embodiments, the resulting output signal 646 may inform the operator that a particular type or quantity of favorable gas is found in a particular strata or region of the subterranean formation 618 while drilling.","As a result, at least one drilling parameter may be adjusted in response thereto, such as altering the geosteering of the drill bit 614 so that the borehole 616 may be drilled or formed substantially in that strata or zone.","In some embodiments, the favorable gas may be one or more hydrocarbons that may be produced for processing.","In other embodiments, however, the favorable gas may be helium.","Those skilled in the art will readily recognize that an increased amount of helium returning to the surface as entrained in the drilling fluid 622 may be an indication of high porosity in the formation 618, and high porosity can signify a zone capable of increased production rates.","When such gases and hydrocarbons are detected, the operator may alter the geosteering well path such that the borehole remains substantially in that stratum, thereby maximizing potential hydrocarbon production and efficiencies.","As will be appreciated, this may prove especially advantageous in deviated or horizontal wells where altering the geosteering may have the effect of maintaining the well path substantially parallel and otherwise within a hydrocarbon-bearing stratum or region.","This may also prove advantageous, however, in vertical wells where the well operator may be able to log the area of the vertical borehole 616 where a high gas content is detected.","At a later time, the operator may choose to return to that location and complete the borehole 616 at that location such that the hydrocarbons residing in the formation 618 at that location may be effectively produced with greater efficiency.","Accordingly, the well completion design may be optimized in response to resulting output signal 646 and what is provided via the peripheral devices 648.Some well completion designs that may be altered include, but are not limited to, changing a cementing program, changing a casing program or design, or optimizing placement of downhole perforations, sliding sleeves, and slotted liners.","Optimizations resulting from such well completion alterations may include containment of unwanted fluids downhole, such as water or unwanted gas, and may also include optimizing isolation of zones from which production is not required.","Further, nearby wells having similar (correlated) output signals 644a-c or output signal 646 may implement similar optimizations.","In some embodiments, the resulting output signal 646 may also be configured to inform an operator via the peripheral devices 648 of hazardous, corrosive, or otherwise toxic gases that may be entrained in the drilling fluid 622.Hazardous, corrosive, and/or toxic gases, such as hydrogen sulfide (H2S) and the like, may pose a danger to rig operators and the surrounding environment.","In at least one embodiment, for example, the second output signal 644b of the second optical computing device 640b may provide the real-time concentration of hydrogen sulfide (H2S) entrained in the drilling fluid 622 as it returns to the surface.","If the registered level of H2S surpasses a predetermined “safe” limit, the signal processor 642 may be configured to trigger an alarm by sending the resulting output signal 646 to the peripheral devices 648 indicating the same.","In response to the alarm, the operator may act by shutting down the well or adding H2S scavengers or other additives to the drilling fluid 622 via the hopper 638 to remedy the situation.","In some embodiments, the hazardous, corrosive, or otherwise toxic gas may be methane as entrained in the drilling fluid 622.Since methane is highly explosive, increased amounts of the gas in the returning drilling fluid 622 may pose a substantial risk to rig operators and the surrounding environment.","Accordingly, if there is an excessive amount of methane being detected by, for example, the second optical computing device 640b, such that it surpasses a predetermined “safe” limit, the signal processor 642 may be configured to trigger an alarm via the resulting output signal 646 and the peripheral devices 648.In response to the alarm, the operator may act to remedy the situation.","For example, the operator may “shut in” the well using blow-out preventers or the like and then extract the methane in a controlled manner using choke and kill lines associated with the blow-out preventers.","In some embodiments, the drilling fluid 622 returned to the surface may be monitored using the third optical computing device 640c prior to full de-pressurization.","As illustrated, the third optical computing device 640c may be arranged in fluid communication with the interconnecting flow line 630 following the wellhead 627 and otherwise arranged prior to the choke valve 628.Similar to the second optical computing device 640b, the third optical computing device 640c may be configured to monitor the drilling fluid 622 after its return to the surface for gases (both hydrocarbon and non-hydrocarbon gas species) that may have become entrained therein after having circulated through the borehole 616.When the drilling fluid 622 exits the choke valve 628, any gases entrained therein will immediately break out or otherwise precipitate out of the drilling fluid 622.Accordingly, the third optical computing device 640c may be advantageous in providing a real or near real-time concentration of one or more gases in the drilling fluid 622 as it circulates at or near actual downhole drilling environment conditions.","The output signal 644c from the third optical computing device 640c, therefore, may be useful in mud logging gas analysis of the drilling fluid 622 at downhole operating conditions.","Similar to the second optical computing device 640b, the third optical computing device 640c may be configured to detect and report increased amounts of a favorable gas in the borehole 616.The resulting output signal 646 may then inform the operator where a particular type or quantity of favorable gas is found in the borehole 616 and, as a result, at least one drilling parameter may be adjusted in response thereto.","For example, the operator may alter the geosteering of the drill bit 614 so that the borehole 616 may be drilled or formed substantially in that stratum or zone.","In vertical boreholes 616, the well operator may be able to log the area of the borehole 616 where a high gas content is detected and, at a later time, return to that location and complete the borehole 616 at that location such that the hydrocarbons residing in the formation 618 at that location may be effectively produced with greater efficiency.","The third optical computing device 640c may also be configured to detect hazardous, corrosive, or otherwise toxic gases (i.e., H2S, methane, etc.)","that may be entrained in the drilling fluid 622.The resulting output signal 646 in such cases may inform an operator via the peripheral devices 648 of the presence of such gases, and the operator may then act to remedy the situation.","In other embodiments, the signal processor 642 may autonomously act to remedy the situation, such as by shutting down the well or adding H2S scavengers or other additives to the drilling fluid 622 via the hopper 638 to remedy the situation.","For example, as briefly mentioned above, the signal processor 642 may be communicably coupled to an automated control system (not shown) that may be configured to undertake the required corrective action.","It is recognized that the various embodiments herein directed to computer control and artificial neural networks, including various blocks, modules, elements, components, methods, and algorithms, can be implemented using computer hardware, software, combinations thereof, and the like.","To illustrate this interchangeability of hardware and software, various illustrative blocks, modules, elements, components, methods and algorithms have been described generally in terms of their functionality.","Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware or software will depend upon the particular application and any imposed design constraints.","For at least this reason, it is to be recognized that one of ordinary skill in the art can implement the described functionality in a variety of ways for a particular application.","Further, various components and blocks can be arranged in a different order or partitioned differently, for example, without departing from the scope of the embodiments expressly described.","Computer hardware used to implement the various illustrative blocks, modules, elements, components, methods, and algorithms described herein can include a processor configured to execute one or more sequences of instructions, programming stances, or code stored on a non-transitory, computer-readable medium.","The processor can be, for example, a general purpose microprocessor, a microcontroller, a digital signal processor, an application specific integrated circuit, a field programmable gate array, a programmable logic device, a controller, a state machine, a gated logic, discrete hardware components, an artificial neural network, or any like suitable entity that can perform calculations or other manipulations of data.","In some embodiments, computer hardware can further include elements such as, for example, a memory (e.g., random access memory (RAM), flash memory, read only memory (ROM), programmable read only memory (PROM), erasable read only memory (EPROM)), registers, hard disks, removable disks, CD-ROMS, DVDs, or any other like suitable storage device or medium.","Executable sequences described herein can be implemented with one or more sequences of code contained in a memory.","In some embodiments, such code can be read into the memory from another machine-readable medium.","Execution of the sequences of instructions contained in the memory can cause a processor to perform the process steps described herein.","One or more processors in a multi-processing arrangement can also be employed to execute instruction sequences in the memory.","In addition, hard-wired circuitry can be used in place of or in combination with software instructions to implement various embodiments described herein.","Thus, the present embodiments are not limited to any specific combination of hardware and/or software.","As used herein, a machine-readable medium will refer to any medium that directly or indirectly provides instructions to a processor for execution.","A machine-readable medium can take on many forms including, for example, non-volatile media, volatile media, and transmission media.","Non-volatile media can include, for example, optical and magnetic disks.","Volatile media can include, for example, dynamic memory.","Transmission media can include, for example, coaxial cables, wire, fiber optics, and wires that form a bus.","Common forms of machine-readable media can include, for example, floppy disks, flexible disks, hard disks, magnetic tapes, other like magnetic media, CD-ROMs, DVDs, other like optical media, punch cards, paper tapes and like physical media with patterned holes, RAM, ROM, PROM, EPROM and flash EPROM.","It should also be noted that the various drawings provided herein are not necessarily drawn to scale nor are they, strictly speaking, depicted as optically correct as understood by those skilled in optics.","Instead, the drawings are merely illustrative in nature and used generally herein in order to supplement understanding of the systems and methods provided herein.","Indeed, while the drawings may not be optically accurate, the conceptual interpretations depicted therein accurately reflect the exemplary nature of the various embodiments disclosed.","Embodiments disclosed herein include Embodiment A, Embodiment B, and Embodiment C. Embodiment A A system that includes: a flow path circulating a drilling fluid into and out of a borehole penetrating a subterranean formation during a drilling operation, wherein the flow path includes a degasser that includes a drilling fluid inlet, a drilling fluid outlet, and a gas outlet, and wherein the gas outlet is fluidly coupled to a gas analysis device configured to produce a first output signal, a second output signal, and a third output signal corresponding to a concentration of a first gas, a second gas, and a third gas, respectively; a first integrated computational element and a second integrated computational element arranged along the flow path prior to the drilling fluid inlet of the degasser and configured to optically interact with the drilling fluid and generate a fourth output signal and a fifth output signal, respectively, corresponding to a concentration of the first gas present in the drilling fluid and a concentration of the second gas present in the drilling fluid, respectively; a signal processor communicably coupled to the first integrated computational element, the second integrated computational element, and the gas analysis device, wherein the signal processor is configured to (1) receive the first output signal, the second output signal, the third output signal, the fourth output signal, and the fifth output signal, (2) calculate a calibration factor based on an analysis of the first output signal relative to the fourth output signal and the second output signal relative to the fifth output signal, and (3) apply the calibration factor to the third output signal to produce a calibrated output signal corresponding to a calibrated concentration of the third gas.","Embodiment A may have one or more of the following additional elements in any combination: Element A1: the system further including a third integrated computational element and a fourth integrated computational element arranged between the gas outlet of the degasser and the gas analysis device and configured to (1) optically interact with a gas composition extracted from the drilling fluid by the degasser and (2) generate a sixth output signal and a seventh output signal, respectively, corresponding to a concentration of the first gas present in the gas composition and a concentration of the second gas present in the gas composition, respectively; and wherein the signal processor is configured to (1) receive the sixth output signal and the seventh output signal and (2) further calculate the calibration factor based on an analysis of the first output signal relative to the fourth and sixth output signals and the second output signal relative to the fifth and seventh output signals; Element A2: the system further including one or more peripheral devices communicably coupled to the signal processor and configured to receive the calibrated output signal from the signal processor and report the calibrated concentration of the third gas to a well operator; Element A3: Element A2 wherein the one or more peripheral devices are further configured to adjust one or more parameters of the drilling operation in response to the calibrated concentration of the third gas; Element A4: wherein at least one of the first gas and the second gas is not from the subterranean formation; Element A5: wherein the first gas and the second gas are from the subterranean formation; Element A6: wherein the first gas or the second gas is methane; and Element A7: wherein the first gas or the second gas is carbon dioxide.","By way of non-limiting example, exemplary combinations applicable to Embodiment A include: Element A5 in combination with Element A6 and optionally Element A7, Element A5 in combination with Element A7, Element A4 in combination with Element A7, at least one of Elements A1-A3 in combination with any of the foregoing, and Element A1 in combination with Element A2 and optionally Element A3.Embodiment B A method that includes: circulating a drilling fluid within a flow path that extends into and out of a borehole penetrating a subterranean formation during drilling operations and includes a degasser having a drilling fluid inlet, a drilling fluid outlet, and a gas outlet; generating a first output signal, a second output signal, and a third output signal corresponding to a concentration of a first gas, a second gas, and a third gas with a gas analysis device fluidly coupled to the gas outlet of the degasser; generating a fourth output signal with a first integrated computational element and a fifth output signal with a second integrated computational element arranged along the flow path prior to the drilling fluid inlet of the degasser corresponding to a concentration of the first gas present in the drilling fluid and a concentration of the second gas present in the drilling fluid, respectively; receiving the first output signal, the second output signal, the third output signal, the fourth output signal, and the fifth output signal with a signal processor communicably coupled to the gas analysis device, the first optical computing device, and the second optical computing device; calculating a calibration factor based on an analysis of the first output signal relative to the fourth output signal and the second output signal relative to the fifth output signal; and applying the calibration factor to the third output signal to produce a calibrated output signal corresponding to a calibrated concentration of the third gas.","Embodiment B may have one or more of the following additional elements in any combination: Element B1: the method further including generating a sixth output signal with a third integrated computational element and a seventh output signal with a fourth integrated computational element arranged between the gas outlet of the degasser and the gas analysis device corresponding to a concentration of the first gas present in a gas composition extracted from the drilling fluid by the degasser and a concentration of the second gas present in the gas composition, respectively; receiving the sixth output signal and the seventh output signal with the signal processor communicably coupled to the third optical computing device and the fourth optical computing device; and further calculating the calibration factor based on an analysis of the first output signal relative to the fourth and sixth output signals and the second output signal relative to the fifth and seventh output signals; Element B2: the method including Element B1 and further including conveying the calibrated output signal to one or more peripheral devices; and adjusting one or more drilling or completion parameters in response to the calibrated concentration of the third gas; Element B3: wherein at least one of the first gas and the second gas is not from the subterranean formation; Element B4: wherein the first gas and the second gas are from the subterranean formation; Element B5: wherein the first gas or the second gas is methane; Element B6: wherein the first gas or the second gas is carbon dioxide; Element B7: the method further including conveying the calibrated output signal to one or more peripheral devices; and adjusting one or more drilling or completion parameters in response to the calibrated concentration of the third gas; Element B8: Element B7 wherein adjusting the one or more drilling or completion parameters comprises altering the geosteering of a drill bit; and Element B9: Element B7 wherein adjusting the one or more drilling or completion parameters comprises at least one of changing a cementing program, changing a casing program, changing a casing design, optimizing placement of downhole perforations, sliding sleeves, and slotted liners, and optimizing isolation of zones from which production is not required.","By way of non-limiting example, exemplary combinations applicable to Embodiment B include: Element B4 in combination with Element B5 and optionally Element B6, Element B4 in combination with Element B6, Element B3 in combination with Element B6, at least one of Elements B3-B6 in combination with at least one of Elements B7-B9, at least one of Elements B3-B6 in combination with at least one of Elements B1-B2, Element B1 in combination with Element B2; and Element B1 in combination with Element B7 and optionally at least one of Elements B8-B9.Embodiment C A method that includes: circulating a drilling fluid within a flow path that extends into and out of a borehole penetrating a subterranean formation during a drilling operation and includes a degasser having a drilling fluid inlet, a drilling fluid outlet, and a gas outlet; generating a first output signal, a second output signal, and a third output signal corresponding to a concentration of a first gas, a second gas, and a third gas with a gas analysis device fluidly coupled to the gas outlet of the degasser; generating a fourth output signal with a first integrated computational element and a fifth output signal with a second integrated computational element arranged along the flow path prior to the drilling fluid inlet of the degasser corresponding to a concentration of the first gas present in the drilling fluid and a concentration of a fourth gas present in the drilling fluid, respectively; receiving the first output signal, the second output signal, the third output signal, the fourth output signal, and the fifth output signal with a signal processor communicably coupled to the gas analysis device, the first optical computing device, and the second optical computing device; calculating a calibration factor based on an analysis of the first output signal relative to the fourth output signal and the second output signal relative to the fifth output signal; and applying the calibration factor to the third output signal to produce a calibrated output signal corresponding to a calibrated concentration of the third gas.","Embodiment C may have one or more of the following additional elements in any combination: Element C1: wherein at least one of the first gas and the second gas is not from the subterranean formation; Element C2: wherein the first gas and the second gas are from the subterranean formation; Element C3: wherein the first gas or the second gas is methane; Element C4: wherein the first gas or the second gas is carbon dioxide; and Element C5: the method further including conveying the calibrated output signal to one or more peripheral devices.","By way of non-limiting example, exemplary combinations applicable to Embodiment C include: Element C2 in combination with Element C3 and optionally Element C4, Element C2 in combination with Element C4, Element C2 in combination with Element C4, and at least one of Elements C1-C4 in combination with Element C5.Therefore, the present disclosure is well adapted to attain the ends and advantages mentioned as well as those that are inherent therein.","The particular embodiments disclosed above are illustrative only, as the present disclosure may be modified and practiced in different but equivalent manners apparent to those skilled in the art having the benefit of the teachings herein.","Furthermore, no limitations are intended to the details of construction or design herein shown, other than as described in the claims below.","It is therefore evident that the particular illustrative embodiments disclosed above may be altered, combined, or modified and all such variations are considered within the scope and spirit of the present disclosure.","The disclosure illustratively described herein suitably may be practiced in the absence of any element that is not specifically disclosed herein and/or any optional element disclosed herein.","While compositions and methods are described in terms of “comprising,” “containing,” or “including” various components or steps, the compositions and methods can also “consist essentially of” or “consist of” the various components and steps.","All numbers and ranges disclosed above may vary by some amount.","Whenever a numerical range with a lower limit and an upper limit is disclosed, any number and any included range falling within the range is specifically disclosed.","In particular, every range of values (of the form, “from about a to about b,” or, equivalently, “from approximately a to b,” or, equivalently, “from approximately a-b”) disclosed herein is to be understood to set forth every number and range encompassed within the broader range of values.","Also, the terms in the claims have their plain, ordinary meaning unless otherwise explicitly and clearly defined by the patentee.","Moreover, the indefinite articles “a” or “an,” as used in the claims, are defined herein to mean one or more than one of the element that it introduces."]],"string":"[\n [\n \"SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR REAL-TIME MEASUREMENT OF GAS CONTENT IN DRILLING FLUIDS\",\n \"Measuring the amount of individual gases in drilling fluids in real-time may be performed with optical computing devices that are calibrated in real-time or periodically with gas analysis devices to provide more accurate gas content measurements.\",\n \"In some instances, one or more drilling or completion parameters may be altered in response thereto the concentration or change in concentration of individual gases in drilling fluids.\"\n ],\n [\n \"1.A system comprising: a flow path configured to circulate a drilling fluid, the flow path comprising a degasser that includes a gas outlet fluidly coupled to a first measurement device, the first measurement device configured to produce a first output signal, a second output signal, and a third output signal corresponding to a concentration of a first gas, a second gas, and a third gas, respectively; a second measurement device and a third measurement device arranged along the flow path and configured to generate a fourth output signal and a fifth output signal, respectively, corresponding to a concentration of the first gas present in the drilling fluid and a concentration of the second gas present in the drilling fluid, respectively; and a signal processor communicably coupled to the first, second, and third measurement devices, the signal processor configured to receive the first output signal, the second output signal, the third output signal, the fourth output signal, and the fifth output signal; calculate a calibration factor based on an analysis of the first output signal relative to the fourth output signal and the second output signal relative to the fifth output signal; and apply the calibration factor to the third output signal to produce a calibrated output signal corresponding to a calibrated concentration of the third gas.\",\n \"2.The system of claim 1, wherein the degasser further comprises at least one of a drilling fluid inlet or a drilling fluid outlet, the flow path is further configured to circulate the drilling fluid into and out of a borehole penetrating a subterranean formation during a drilling operation, and the second and third measurement devices are arranged along the flow path prior to the drilling fluid inlet of the degasser.\",\n \"3.The system of claim 2, further comprising: one or more peripheral devices communicably coupled to the signal processor and configured to receive the calibrated output signal from the signal processor and report the calibrated concentration of the third gas to a well operator.\",\n \"4.The system of claim 3, wherein the one or more peripheral devices are further configured to adjust one or more parameters of the drilling operation in response to the calibrated concentration of the third gas.\",\n \"5.The system of claim 1, wherein the first measurement device comprises a first type of measurement device and the second and third measurement devices comprise a second type of measurement device that differs from the first type of measurement device.\",\n \"6.The system of claim 5, wherein the first type of measurement device comprises a gas analysis device and the second type of measurement device comprises an optical measurement device.\",\n \"7.The system of claim 1, wherein the first gas or the second gas is methane.\",\n \"8.The system of claim 1, wherein the first gas or the second gas is carbon dioxide.\",\n \"9.A method, comprising: generating a first output signal, a second output signal, and a third output signal corresponding to a concentration of a first gas, a second gas, and a third gas, respectively, with a first measurement device fluidly coupled to a gas outlet of a degasser of a flow path comprising drilling fluid; generating a fourth output signal corresponding to a concentration of the first gas present in the drilling fluid with a second measurement device and a fifth output signal corresponding to a concentration of the second gas present in the drilling fluid with a third measurement device; calculating, with a signal processor, a calibration factor based on an analysis of at least one of the first output signal relative to the fourth output signal or the second output signal relative to the fifth output signal; and applying the calibration factor to the third output signal to produce a calibrated output signal corresponding to a calibrated concentration of the third gas.\",\n \"10.The method of claim 9 further comprising: conveying the calibrated output signal to one or more peripheral devices; and adjusting one or more drilling or completion parameters in response to the calibrated concentration of the third gas.\",\n \"11.The method of claim 10, wherein adjusting the one or more drilling or completion parameters comprises altering geosteering of a drill bit.\",\n \"12.The method of claim 10, wherein adjusting the one or more drilling or completion parameters comprises at least one of changing a cementing program, changing a casing program, changing a casing design, optimizing placement of downhole perforations, sliding sleeves, and slotted liners, and optimizing isolation of zones from which production is not required.\",\n \"13.The method of claim 9, wherein the signal processor is communicably coupled to at least one of the first measurement device, the second measurement device, or the third measurement device.\",\n \"14.The method of claim 9, wherein the first measurement device is a first type of measurement device and the second and third measurement devices are a second type of measurement device that differs from the first type of measurement device.\",\n \"15.The method of claim 9, wherein the flow path extends into and out of a borehole penetrating a subterranean formation, the flow path includes the degasser having a drilling fluid inlet, a drilling fluid outlet, and the gas outlet, and the method further comprises: circulating the drilling fluid within the flow path during drilling operations.\",\n \"16.The method of claim 15, wherein the first gas and the second gas are from the subterranean formation.\",\n \"17.The method of claim 9, wherein the first gas or the second gas is methane.\",\n \"18.The method of claim 9, wherein the first gas or the second gas is carbon dioxide.\",\n \"19.A device comprising: at least one processor configured to: receive, from a first measurement device fluidly coupled to a gas outlet of a degasser of a flow path comprising drilling fluid, a first output signal, a second output signal, and a third output signal corresponding to a concentration of a first gas, a second gas, and a third gas, respectively; receive, from a second measurement device, a fourth output signal corresponding to a concentration of the first gas present in the drilling fluid and; receive, from a third measurement device, a fifth output signal corresponding to a concentration of the second gas present in the drilling fluid; calculate a calibration factor based on an analysis of at least one of the first output signal relative to the fourth output signal or the second output signal relative to the fifth output signal; and facilitate applying the calibration factor to the third output signal to produce a calibrated output signal corresponding to a calibrated concentration of the third gas.\",\n \"20.The device of claim 19, wherein the second and third measurement devices are arranged along the flow path prior to a drilling fluid inlet of the degasser, the first measurement device is a first type of measurement device and the second and third measurement devices are a second type of measurement device that differs from the first type of measurement device.\"\n ],\n [\n \" BACKGROUND The present disclosure relates to systems and methods for measuring the gas content in drilling fluids.\",\n \"During the drilling of a hydrocarbon-producing well, a drilling fluid or “mud” is continuously circulated from the surface down to the bottom of the wellbore being drilled and back to the surface again.\",\n \"The drilling fluid serves several functions, one of them being to transport wellbore cuttings up to the surface where they are separated from the drilling fluid.\",\n \"Another function of the drilling fluid is to cool the drill bit and provide hydrostatic pressure on the walls of the drilled borehole to prevent wellbore collapse and the resulting influx of gas or liquid from the formations being drilled.\",\n \"Analyzing the drilling fluid as it returns to the surface is recognized in the oil and gas industry as an important first appraisal of a potential hydrocarbon-bearing reservoir zone, thereby providing important data to guide subsequent evaluation and testing.\",\n \"Such analysis and testing is commonly referred to as “mud logging” analysis.\",\n \"Through mud logging, reservoir zones can be evaluated while they are being initially penetrated by measuring the formation gases present in the drilling fluid as it returns to the surface.\",\n \"The presence and concentration of hydrocarbon and non-hydrocarbon gases in drilling fluids relative to the depth can be used in designing stimulation operations and production operations, as well as in the assessment.\",\n \"Mud logging analysis of drilling fluids is typically conducted off-line using laboratory analyses which require the extraction of a sample of the drilling fluid and a subsequent controlled testing procedure usually conducted at a separate location.\",\n \"Because the characteristics of the extracted sample of the drilling fluid often changes during the lag time between collection and analysis, off-line, retrospective analyses can be unsatisfactory for determining true characteristics of a drilling fluid.\",\n \"Additionally, some mud logging analyses take hours to days to complete.\",\n \"Therefore, the drilling operation is often finished prior to completion of the analysis.\",\n \"As a result, proactive control of drilling operations cannot take place, at least without significant process disruption occurring while awaiting the results of the mud logging analyses.\"\n ],\n [\n \" BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The following figures are included to illustrate certain aspects of the present disclosure, and should not be viewed as exclusive embodiments.\",\n \"The subject matter disclosed is capable of considerable modifications, alterations, combinations, and equivalents in form and function, as will occur to those skilled in the art and having the benefit of this disclosure.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"1 illustrates an exemplary integrated computation element, according to one or more embodiments.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"2 illustrates an exemplary optical computing device for monitoring a fluid, according to one or more embodiments.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"3 illustrates another exemplary optical computing device for monitoring a fluid, according to one or more embodiments.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"4 illustrates an exemplary wellbore drilling assembly that may employ one or more optical computing devices for monitoring a fluid, according to one or more embodiments.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"5 provides an illustrative representation of a portion of a system suitable for deriving a dual point correction factor for the gas composition of a fluid, according to one or more embodiments.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"6 illustrates an exemplary wellbore drilling assembly that with optical computing devices in order to monitor a drilling fluid or a completion fluid, according to one or more embodiments.\",\n \"detailed-description description=\\\"Detailed Description\\\" end=\\\"lead\\\"?\"\n ],\n [\n \"BACKGROUND The present disclosure relates to systems and methods for measuring the gas content in drilling fluids.\",\n \"During the drilling of a hydrocarbon-producing well, a drilling fluid or “mud” is continuously circulated from the surface down to the bottom of the wellbore being drilled and back to the surface again.\",\n \"The drilling fluid serves several functions, one of them being to transport wellbore cuttings up to the surface where they are separated from the drilling fluid.\",\n \"Another function of the drilling fluid is to cool the drill bit and provide hydrostatic pressure on the walls of the drilled borehole to prevent wellbore collapse and the resulting influx of gas or liquid from the formations being drilled.\",\n \"Analyzing the drilling fluid as it returns to the surface is recognized in the oil and gas industry as an important first appraisal of a potential hydrocarbon-bearing reservoir zone, thereby providing important data to guide subsequent evaluation and testing.\",\n \"Such analysis and testing is commonly referred to as “mud logging” analysis.\",\n \"Through mud logging, reservoir zones can be evaluated while they are being initially penetrated by measuring the formation gases present in the drilling fluid as it returns to the surface.\",\n \"The presence and concentration of hydrocarbon and non-hydrocarbon gases in drilling fluids relative to the depth can be used in designing stimulation operations and production operations, as well as in the assessment.\",\n \"Mud logging analysis of drilling fluids is typically conducted off-line using laboratory analyses which require the extraction of a sample of the drilling fluid and a subsequent controlled testing procedure usually conducted at a separate location.\",\n \"Because the characteristics of the extracted sample of the drilling fluid often changes during the lag time between collection and analysis, off-line, retrospective analyses can be unsatisfactory for determining true characteristics of a drilling fluid.\",\n \"Additionally, some mud logging analyses take hours to days to complete.\",\n \"Therefore, the drilling operation is often finished prior to completion of the analysis.\",\n \"As a result, proactive control of drilling operations cannot take place, at least without significant process disruption occurring while awaiting the results of the mud logging analyses.\",\n \"BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The following figures are included to illustrate certain aspects of the present disclosure, and should not be viewed as exclusive embodiments.\",\n \"The subject matter disclosed is capable of considerable modifications, alterations, combinations, and equivalents in form and function, as will occur to those skilled in the art and having the benefit of this disclosure.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"1 illustrates an exemplary integrated computation element, according to one or more embodiments.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"2 illustrates an exemplary optical computing device for monitoring a fluid, according to one or more embodiments.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"3 illustrates another exemplary optical computing device for monitoring a fluid, according to one or more embodiments.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"4 illustrates an exemplary wellbore drilling assembly that may employ one or more optical computing devices for monitoring a fluid, according to one or more embodiments.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"5 provides an illustrative representation of a portion of a system suitable for deriving a dual point correction factor for the gas composition of a fluid, according to one or more embodiments.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"6 illustrates an exemplary wellbore drilling assembly that with optical computing devices in order to monitor a drilling fluid or a completion fluid, according to one or more embodiments.\",\n \"DETAILED DESCRIPTION The present disclosure relates to systems and methods for measuring the gas content in drilling fluids in real-time using optical computing devices that can be calibrated in real-time, which may provide for more accurate gas content measurements.\",\n \"The gas content measurements may be used for adjusting one or more drilling parameters in response thereto.\",\n \"The exemplary systems and methods described herein employ various configurations and arrangements of optical computing devices, also commonly referred to as “opticoanalytical devices,” for the real-time or near real-time analysis of a material of interest.\",\n \"In operation, the exemplary systems and methods may be useful and otherwise advantageous in determining one or more properties or characteristics of the fluid, such as the type and concentration of one or more gases present within the fluid.\",\n \"This may allow for qualitative and/or quantitative analyses of the fluid to occur without having to extract a sample and undertake time-consuming analyses of the sample at an off-site laboratory, which may be particularly advantageous in real-time mud logging.\",\n \"The systems and methods disclosed herein may be suitable for use in the oil and gas industry since the described optical computing devices provide a cost-effective, rugged, and accurate means for monitoring oil/gas-related fluids, such as drilling fluids.\",\n \"In particular, the systems and methods may prove advantageous for use in mud logging gas analysis, thereby providing a stream of continuous data on the hydrocarbon and non-hydrocarbon gas species that may be encountered while drilling into subterranean formations.\",\n \"When the drilling fluid returns to the surface, for example, it may contain hydrocarbons (and other compounds) contained within the rock that has been drilled as well as additional hydrocarbons that have leaked into the wellbore from the surrounding rock formation.\",\n \"The real-time measurement of the abundance of these gas compounds will yield information on the hydrocarbon content of the rock.\",\n \"However, in some instances, it may be difficult to measure some gas species present in the drilling fluid, for example, because of a low concentration of the gas of interest, because of a high concentration of another gas (e.g., methane) that interferes with detection (e.g., having an overlapping spectrum), or a combination thereof.\",\n \"Accordingly, in some instances, optical computing devices optionally in combination with other analytical devices may be used for analyzing of reference gases in the drilling fluid and each gas of interest in the gas extracted from the drilling fluid.\",\n \"Then, the concentration of the reference gases in the drilling fluid and in the extracted gas can be compared and related with a correction factor or correction function.\",\n \"Then, the correction factor/function may be used to extrapolate the concentration of each gas of interest in the drilling fluid from the concentration of each gas of interest in the extracted gas.\",\n \"Such methods or similar methods may provide more accurate mud logging in real-time at the well site.\",\n \"In some embodiments, analysis of the gas extracted from the drilling fluid may be performed on the surface, outside of the stringent downhole environmental conditions (high pressure, high temperature, and strong vibrations).\",\n \"Accordingly, specialized and sophisticated measurement techniques may be available to analyze the extracted gas, such as optical measurement techniques, gas chromatography, and the like.\",\n \"Moreover, a plurality of measurement techniques may be used at the surface on the extracted gas sample when the signals from two different compounds interfere with one another using a single measurement technique.\",\n \"For example, when the optical signature of two compounds interferes with one another, a gas chromatographer may be able to distinctly separate each of the two compounds and provide a precise measurement value for the two.\",\n \"In this regard, systems and methods consistent with the present disclosure enable obtaining a measurement of a gas concentration in the drilling fluid at the downhole location, based on the measurement of the gas concentration in the extracted gas at the surface.\",\n \"Information regarding the hydrocarbon content of the rock may be provided to a well operator for interpretation and consideration and, if required, the well operator may alter various drilling or completion parameters in response thereto.\",\n \"For instance, depending on what types and concentrations of gases are detected within the rock being drilled, a well operator may adjust production valves and/or choke settings in order to regulate the progress of the drilling operation and also minimize wellbore kick through early kick detection.\",\n \"In other cases, the well operator may alter mud properties in an effort to optimize drilling efficiency or formation evaluation efficiency.\",\n \"Other drilling and completion parameters that may be altered by a well operator upon consideration of the data include changing a planned cementing and/or casing program and optimizing a well completion design.\",\n \"In some cases, the data may reveal excessive amounts of hazardous or otherwise toxic gases being returned to the surface.\",\n \"Such gases may pose a potential health hazard to rig workers and the surrounding environment.\",\n \"In such cases, the well operator may proactively reduce the amount of hazardous/toxic gases by introducing one or more remedial additives or components to the drilling fluid.\",\n \"In other cases, the data may indicate an increased amount of viable hydrocarbons in the drilled borehole, such as in a particular lateral trajectory of the wellbore.\",\n \"In such cases, the well operator may manipulate the well plan and/or geosteering so that the resulting wellbore is formed substantially in and through the observed hydrocarbon-rich strata or region.\",\n \"In other words, the planned trajectory of the well path may be manipulated or otherwise altered by geosteering the drilling equipment such that the borehole penetrates a larger portion of the hydrocarbon-rich strata than would have otherwise been penetrated.\",\n \"As used herein, the term “fluid” refers to any substance that is capable of flowing, including particulate solids, liquids, gases, slurries, emulsions, powders, muds, mixtures, combinations thereof, and the like.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the fluid is a drilling fluid or drilling “mud,” including water-based drilling fluids, oil-based drilling fluids, synthetic drilling fluids, and the like.\",\n \"In other embodiments, the fluid may be a completion fluid or a clean-up fluid such as, but not limited to, fresh water, saltwater (e.g., water containing one or more salts dissolved therein), brine (e.g., saturated salt water, chloride salts, bromide salts, combinations thereof, etc.\",\n \"), seawater, a spacer fluid, base fluids, or other treatment fluids known in the art.\",\n \"As used herein, the term “characteristic” refers to a chemical, mechanical, or physical property of the fluid.\",\n \"A characteristic of the fluid may include a quantitative value or concentration of one or more chemical constituents or compounds present within the fluid.\",\n \"Such chemical constituents may be referred to herein as “analytes.” Illustrative characteristics of a substance that can be monitored with the optical computing devices disclosed herein can include, for example, chemical composition (e.g., identity and concentration in total or of individual components or compounds), phase presence (e.g., gas, oil, water, etc.\",\n \"), impurity content, pH, alkalinity, viscosity, density, ionic strength, total dissolved solids, salt content (e.g., salinity), porosity, opacity, bacterial content, total hardness, combinations thereof, state of matter (solid, liquid, gas, emulsion, mixtures, etc.\",\n \"), and the like.\",\n \"Moreover, the phrase “characteristic of interest of/in a fluid” may be used herein to refer to the concentration or characteristic of a gas contained in or otherwise entrained within the fluid.\",\n \"Exemplary gases that may be monitored or otherwise measured with the optical computing devices as contained within a drilling fluid, for example, include, but are not limited to, methane, ethane, propane, n-butane, n-pentane, iso-butane, iso-pentane, neo-pentane, benzene, toluene, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, hydrogen sulfide, acetic acid, argon, helium, oxygen, nitrogen, water, hydrogen, carbonyl sulfide, carbon disulfide, and any combination thereof.\",\n \"As used herein, the term “flow path” refers to a route through which a fluid is capable of being transported between at least two points.\",\n \"In some cases, the flow path need not be continuous or otherwise contiguous between the two points.\",\n \"Exemplary flow paths include, but are not limited to, a flow line, a pipeline, production tubing, drill string, work string, casing, a wellbore, an annulus defined between a wellbore and any tubular arranged within the wellbore, a mud pit, a subterranean formation, etc., combinations thereof, or the like.\",\n \"It should be noted that the term “flow path” does not necessarily imply that a fluid is flowing therein, rather that a fluid is capable of being transported or otherwise flowable therethrough.\",\n \"As used herein, the term “electromagnetic radiation” refers to radio waves, microwave radiation, infrared and near-infrared radiation, visible light, ultraviolet light, X-ray radiation and gamma ray radiation.\",\n \"As used herein, the term “optical computing device” refers to an optical device that is configured to receive an input of electromagnetic radiation associated with a fluid and produce an output of electromagnetic radiation from a processing element arranged within the optical computing device.\",\n \"The processing element may be, for example, an integrated computational element (ICE), also known as a multivariate optical element (MOE), used in the optical computing device.\",\n \"The electromagnetic radiation that optically interacts with the processing element is changed so as to be readable by a detector, such that an output of the detector can be correlated to a characteristic of the fluid, such as the type and concentration of a gas in the fluid.\",\n \"The output of electromagnetic radiation from the processing element can be reflected electromagnetic radiation, transmitted electromagnetic radiation, and/or dispersed electromagnetic radiation.\",\n \"Whether the detector analyzes reflected, transmitted, or dispersed electromagnetic radiation may be dictated by the structural parameters of the optical computing device as well as other considerations known to those skilled in the art.\",\n \"In addition, emission and/or scattering of the fluid, for example via fluorescence, luminescence, Raman, Mie, and/or Raleigh scattering, can also be monitored by the optical computing devices.\",\n \"As used herein, the term “optically interact” or variations thereof refers to the reflection, transmission, scattering, diffraction, or absorption of electromagnetic radiation either on, through, or from one or more processing elements (i.e., integrated computational elements or multivariate optical elements), a fluid, or a gas present within the fluid.\",\n \"Accordingly, optically interacted light refers to electromagnetic radiation that has been reflected, transmitted, scattered, diffracted, or absorbed by, emitted, or re-radiated, for example, using a processing element, but may also apply to interaction with a fluid or a gas entrained within the fluid.\",\n \"The exemplary systems and methods described herein will include at least one optical computing device arranged along or in a flow path in order to monitor a fluid contained therein.\",\n \"Each optical computing device may include an electromagnetic radiation source, at least one processing element (e.g., an integrated computational element), and at least one detector arranged to receive optically interacted light from the at least one processing element or the fluid.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the exemplary optical computing devices may be specifically configured for detecting, analyzing, and quantitatively measuring a particular characteristic of the fluid, such as the type and concentration of a gas present within the fluid.\",\n \"In other embodiments, the optical computing devices may be general purpose optical devices, with post-acquisition processing (e.g., through computer means) being used to specifically detect the characteristic of the fluid.\",\n \"The presently described optical computing devices can perform calculations (analyses) in real-time or near real-time without the need for time-consuming sample processing.\",\n \"Moreover, the optical computing devices can be specifically configured to detect and analyze particular characteristics of a fluid or a gas present within the fluid.\",\n \"As a result, interfering signals are discriminated from those of interest in the fluid by appropriate configuration of the optical computing devices, such that the optical computing devices provide a rapid response regarding the characteristics of the fluid as based on the detected output.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the detected output can be converted into a voltage that is distinctive of the magnitude of the characteristic of the fluid.\",\n \"The optical computing devices can be configured to detect not only the composition and concentrations of a gas within a fluid, but they also can be configured to determine physical properties and other characteristics of the fluid and/or the gas based on an analysis of the electromagnetic radiation received from the fluid and/or the gas.\",\n \"For example, the optical computing devices can be configured to determine the concentration of an analyte and correlate the determined concentration to a characteristic of the fluid.\",\n \"As will be appreciated, the optical computing devices may be configured to detect as many characteristics (e.g., gas compounds and their respective concentrations) of the fluid as desired.\",\n \"All that is required to accomplish the monitoring of multiple characteristics is the incorporation of suitable processing and detection means within the optical computing device for each characteristic.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the properties of the fluid can be a combination of the properties of the analytes therein (e.g., a linear, non-linear, logarithmic, and/or exponential combination).\",\n \"Accordingly, the more characteristics and analytes that are detected and analyzed using the optical computing devices, the more accurately the properties of the given fluid and/or gas will be determined.\",\n \"The optical computing devices described herein utilize electromagnetic radiation to perform calculations, as opposed to the hardwired circuits of conventional electronic processors.\",\n \"When electromagnetic radiation interacts with a fluid, unique physical and chemical information about the fluid is encoded in the electromagnetic radiation that is reflected from, transmitted through, or radiated from the fluid.\",\n \"This information is often referred to as the spectral “fingerprint” of the fluid.\",\n \"The optical computing devices described herein are capable of extracting the information of the spectral fingerprint of multiple characteristics or analytes within a fluid, and converting that information into a detectable output relating to one or more characteristics of the fluid or a gas present within the fluid.\",\n \"That is, through suitable configurations of the optical computing devices, electromagnetic radiation associated with a characteristic or analyte of interest of a fluid can be separated from electromagnetic radiation associated with all other components of the fluid in order to estimate the properties of the fluid in real-time or near real-time.\",\n \"The processing elements used in the exemplary optical computing devices described herein may be characterized as integrated computational elements (ICE).\",\n \"Each ICE is capable of distinguishing electromagnetic radiation related to the characteristic of interest from electromagnetic radiation related to other components of a fluid.\",\n \"Referring to FIG.\",\n \"1, illustrated is an exemplary ICE 100 suitable for use in the optical computing devices used in the systems and methods described herein.\",\n \"As illustrated, the ICE 100 may include a plurality of alternating layers 102 and 104, such as silicon (Si) and SiO2 (quartz), respectively.\",\n \"In general, these layers 102, 104 consist of materials whose index of refraction is high and low, respectively.\",\n \"Other examples might include niobia and niobium, germanium and germania, MgF, SiO, and other high and low index materials known in the art.\",\n \"The layers 102, 104 may be strategically deposited on an optical substrate 106.In some embodiments, the optical substrate 106 is BK-7 optical glass.\",\n \"In other embodiments, the optical substrate 106 may be another type of optical substrate, such as quartz, sapphire, silicon, germanium, zinc selenide, zinc sulfide, or various plastics such as polycarbonate, polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA), polyvinylchloride (PVC), diamond, ceramics, combinations thereof, and the like.\",\n \"At the opposite end (e.g., opposite the optical substrate 106 in FIG.\",\n \"1), the ICE 100 may include a layer 108 that is generally exposed to the environment of the device or installation.\",\n \"The number of layers 102, 104 and the thickness of each layer 102, 104 are determined from the spectral attributes acquired from a spectroscopic analysis of a characteristic of the fluid using a conventional spectroscopic instrument.\",\n \"The spectrum of interest of a given characteristic typically includes any number of different wavelengths.\",\n \"It should be understood that the exemplary ICE 100 in FIG.\",\n \"1 does not in fact represent any particular characteristic of a given fluid, but is provided for purposes of illustration only.\",\n \"Consequently, the number of layers 102, 104 and their relative thicknesses, as shown in FIG.\",\n \"1, bear no correlation to any particular characteristic.\",\n \"Nor are the layers 102, 104 and their relative thicknesses necessarily drawn to scale, and therefore should not be considered limiting of the present disclosure.\",\n \"Moreover, those skilled in the art will readily recognize that the materials that make up each layer 102, 104 (i.e., Si and SiO2) may vary, depending on the application, cost of materials, and/or applicability of the material to the given fluid.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the material of each layer 102, 104 can be doped or two or more materials can be combined in a manner to achieve the desired optical characteristic.\",\n \"In addition to solids, the exemplary ICE 100 may also contain liquids and/or gases, optionally in combination with solids, in order to produce a desired optical characteristic.\",\n \"In the case of gases and liquids, the ICE 100 can contain a corresponding vessel (not shown), which houses the gases or liquids.\",\n \"Exemplary variations of the ICE 100 may also include holographic optical elements, gratings, piezoelectric, light pipe, digital light pipe (DLP), and/or acousto-optic elements, for example that can create transmission, reflection, and/or absorptive properties of interest.\",\n \"The multiple layers 102, 104 exhibit different refractive indices.\",\n \"By properly selecting the materials of the layers 102, 104 and their relative thickness and spacing, the ICE 100 may be configured to selectively pass/reflect/refract predetermined fractions of electromagnetic radiation at different wavelengths.\",\n \"Each wavelength is given a predetermined weighting or loading factor.\",\n \"The thickness and spacing of the layers 102, 104 may be determined using a variety of approximation methods from the spectrograph of the characteristic or analyte of interest.\",\n \"These methods may include inverse Fourier transform (IFT) of the optical transmission spectrum and structuring the ICE 100 as the physical representation of the IFT.\",\n \"The approximations convert the IFT into a structure based on known materials with constant refractive indices.\",\n \"The weightings that the layers 102, 104 of the ICE 100 apply at each wavelength are set to the regression weightings described with respect to a known equation, or data, or spectral signature.\",\n \"Briefly, the ICE 100 may be configured to perform the dot product of the input light beam into the ICE 100 and a desired loaded regression vector represented by each layer 102, 104 for each wavelength.\",\n \"As a result, the output light intensity of the ICE 100 is related to the characteristic or analyte of interest.\",\n \"Referring now to FIG.\",\n \"2, illustrated is an exemplary optical computing device 200 for monitoring a fluid 202, according to one or more embodiments.\",\n \"In the illustrated embodiment, the fluid 202 may be contained or otherwise flowing within an exemplary flow path 204.The flow path 204 may be a flow line, a pipeline, a wellbore, an annulus defined within a wellbore, or any flow lines or pipelines extending to/from a wellbore.\",\n \"The fluid 202 present within the flow path 204 may be flowing in the general direction indicated by the arrows A (i.e., from upstream to downstream).\",\n \"Portions of the flow path 204 may be arranged substantially vertical, substantially horizontal, or any directional configuration therebetween, without departing from the scope of the disclosure.\",\n \"The optical computing device 200 may be configured to determine a characteristic of interest in the fluid 202, such as the type and/or concentration of a gas present within the fluid 202.In some embodiments, the device 200 may include an electromagnetic radiation source 208 configured to emit or otherwise generate electromagnetic radiation 210.The electromagnetic radiation source 208 may be any device capable of emitting or generating electromagnetic radiation, as defined herein.\",\n \"For example, the electromagnetic radiation source 208 may be a light bulb, a light emitting diode (LED), a laser, a blackbody, a photonic crystal, an X-Ray source, combinations thereof, or the like.\",\n \"In some embodiments, a lens 212 may be configured to collect or otherwise receive the electromagnetic radiation 210 and direct a beam 214 of electromagnetic radiation 210 toward the fluid 202.The lens 212 may be any type of optical device configured to transmit or otherwise convey the electromagnetic radiation 210 as desired, such as a normal lens, a Fresnel lens, a diffractive optical element, a holographic graphical element, a mirror (e.g., a focusing mirror), or a type of collimator.\",\n \"In other embodiments, the lens 212 may be omitted from the device 200 and the electromagnetic radiation 210 may instead be directed toward the fluid 202 directly from the electromagnetic radiation source 208.In one or more embodiments, the device 200 may also include a sampling window 216 arranged adjacent to or otherwise in contact with the fluid 202 for detection purposes.\",\n \"The sampling window 216 may be made from a variety of transparent, rigid or semi-rigid materials that are configured to allow transmission of the electromagnetic radiation 210 therethrough.\",\n \"For example, the sampling window 216 may be made of, but is not limited to, glasses, plastics, semi-conductors, crystalline materials, polycrystalline materials, hot or cold-pressed powders, combinations thereof, or the like.\",\n \"After passing through the sampling window 216, the electromagnetic radiation 210 impinges upon and optically interacts with the fluid 202.As a result, optically interacted radiation 218 is generated by and reflected from the fluid 202.Those skilled in the art, however, will readily recognize that alternative variations of the device 200 may allow the optically interacted radiation 218 to be generated by being transmitted, scattered, diffracted, absorbed, emitted, or re-radiated by and/or from the fluid 202, without departing from the scope of the disclosure.\",\n \"The optically interacted radiation 218 generated by the interaction with the fluid 202 may be directed to or otherwise be received by an ICE 220 arranged within the device 200.The ICE 220 may be a spectral component substantially similar to the ICE 100 described above with reference to FIG.\",\n \"1.Accordingly, in operation the ICE 220 may be configured to receive the optically interacted radiation 218 and produce modified electromagnetic radiation 222 corresponding to a particular characteristic of the fluid 202.In particular, the modified electromagnetic radiation 222 is electromagnetic radiation that has optically interacted with the ICE 220, whereby an approximation of the regression vector corresponding to the characteristic of the fluid 202 is obtained.\",\n \"While FIG.\",\n \"2 depicts the ICE 220 as receiving reflected electromagnetic radiation from the fluid 202, the ICE 220 may be arranged at any point along the optical train of the device 200, without departing from the scope of the disclosure.\",\n \"For example, in one or more embodiments, the ICE 220 (as shown in dashed lines) may be arranged within the optical train prior to the sampling window 216 and equally obtain substantially the same results.\",\n \"In other embodiments, the ICE 220 may generate the modified electromagnetic radiation 222 through reflection, instead of transmission therethrough.\",\n \"Moreover, while only one ICE 220 is shown in the device 200, embodiments are contemplated herein which include the use of at least two ICE components in the device 200 configured to cooperatively determine the characteristic of interest in the fluid 202.For example, two or more ICE may be arranged in series or parallel within the device 200 and configured to receive the optically interacted radiation 218 and thereby enhance sensitivities and detector limits of the device 200.In other embodiments, two or more ICE may be arranged on a movable assembly, such as a rotating disc or an oscillating linear array, which moves such that individual ICE components are able to be exposed to or otherwise optically interact with electromagnetic radiation for a distinct brief period of time.\",\n \"The two or more ICE components in any of these embodiments may be configured to be either associated or disassociated with the characteristic of interest in the fluid 202.In other embodiments, the two or more ICE may be configured to be positively or negatively correlated with the characteristic of interest in the fluid 202.In some embodiments, it may be desirable to monitor more than one characteristic of interest at a time using the device 200, such as detecting multiple types or compounds of gases within the fluid 202.In such embodiments, various configurations for multiple ICE components can be used, where each ICE component is configured to detect a particular and/or distinct characteristic of interest.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the characteristic can be analyzed sequentially using multiple ICE components that are provided a single beam of electromagnetic radiation being reflected from or transmitted through the fluid 202.In some embodiments, multiple ICE components can be arranged on a rotating disc, where the individual ICE components are only exposed to the beam of electromagnetic radiation for a short time.\",\n \"Advantages of this approach can include the ability to analyze multiple characteristics of the fluid 202 using a single optical computing device 200 and the opportunity to assay additional characteristics (e.g., types or compounds of gases within the fluid 202) simply by adding additional ICE components to the rotating disc.\",\n \"In other embodiments, multiple optical computing devices can be placed at a single location along the flow path 204, where each optical computing device contains a unique ICE that is configured to detect a particular characteristic of interest in the fluid 202.In such embodiments, a beam splitter can divert a portion of the electromagnetic radiation being reflected by, emitted from, or transmitted through the fluid 202 and into each optical computing device.\",\n \"Each optical computing device, in turn, can be coupled to a corresponding detector or detector array that is configured to detect and analyze an output of electromagnetic radiation from the respective optical computing device.\",\n \"Parallel configurations of optical computing devices can be particularly beneficial for applications that require low power inputs and/or no moving parts.\",\n \"Those skilled in the art will appreciate that any of the foregoing configurations can further be used in combination with a series configuration in any of the present embodiments.\",\n \"For example, two optical computing devices having a rotating disc with a plurality of ICE components arranged thereon can be placed in series for performing an analysis at a single location along the length of the flow path 204.Likewise, multiple detection stations, each containing optical computing devices in parallel, can be placed in series for performing a similar analysis.\",\n \"The modified electromagnetic radiation 222 generated by the ICE 220 may subsequently be conveyed to a detector 224 for quantification of the signal.\",\n \"The detector 224 may be any device capable of detecting electromagnetic radiation, and may be generally characterized as an optical transducer.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the detector 224 may be, but is not limited to, a thermal detector such as a thermopile or photoacoustic detector, a semiconductor detector, a piezo-electric detector, a charge coupled device (CCD) detector, a video or array detector, a split detector, a photon detector (such as a photomultiplier tube), photodiodes, combinations thereof, or the like, or other detectors known to those skilled in the art.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the detector 224 may be configured to produce an output signal 226 in real-time or near real-time in the form of a voltage (or current) that corresponds to the particular characteristic of interest in the fluid 202.The voltage returned by the detector 224 is essentially the dot product of the optical interaction of the optically interacted radiation 218 with the respective ICE 220 as a function of the concentration of the characteristic of interest of the fluid 202.As such, the output signal 226 produced by the detector 224 and the concentration of the characteristic may be related, for example, directly proportional.\",\n \"In other embodiments, however, the relationship may correspond to a polynomial function, an exponential function, a logarithmic function, and/or a combination thereof.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the device 200 may include a second detector 228, which may be similar to the first detector 224 in that it may be any device capable of detecting electromagnetic radiation.\",\n \"The second detector 228 may be used to detect radiating deviations stemming from the electromagnetic radiation source 208.Undesirable radiating deviations can occur in the intensity of the electromagnetic radiation 210 due to a wide variety of reasons and potentially causing various negative effects on the device 200.These negative effects can be particularly detrimental for measurements taken over a period of time.\",\n \"In some embodiments, radiating deviations can occur as a result of a build-up of film or material on the sampling window 216 which has the effect of reducing the amount and quality of light ultimately reaching the first detector 224.Without proper compensation, such radiating deviations could result in false readings and the output signal 226 would no longer be primarily or accurately related to the characteristic of interest.\",\n \"To compensate for these types of undesirable effects, the second detector 228 may be configured to generate a compensating signal 230 generally indicative of the radiating deviations of the electromagnetic radiation source 208, and thereby normalize the output signal 226 generated by the first detector 224.As illustrated, the second detector 228 may be configured to receive a portion of the optically interacted radiation 218 via a beamsplitter 232 in order to detect the radiating deviations.\",\n \"In other embodiments, however, the second detector 228 may be arranged to receive electromagnetic radiation from any portion of the optical train in the device 200 in order to detect the radiating deviations, without departing from the scope of the disclosure.\",\n \"In some applications, the output signal 226 and the compensating signal 230 may be conveyed to or otherwise received by a signal processor 234 communicably coupled to both the detectors 224, 228.The signal processor 234 may be a computer including a processor and a machine-readable storage medium having instructions stored thereon, which, when executed by the processor 234, cause the optical computing device 200 to perform a number of operations, such as determining a characteristic of interest of the fluid 202.For instance, the concentration of each characteristic detected with the optical computing device 200 can be fed into an algorithm operated by the signal processor 234.The algorithm can be part of an artificial neural network configured to use the concentration of each detected characteristic in order to evaluate the overall characteristic(s) or quality of the fluid 202.The signal processor 234 may also be configured to computationally combine the compensating signal 230 with the output signal 226 in order to normalize the output signal 226 in view of any radiating deviations detected by the second detector 228.Computationally combining the output and compensating signals 226, 230 may entail computing a ratio of the two signals 226, 230.For example, the concentration or magnitude of each characteristic determined using the optical computing device 200 can be fed into an algorithm run by the signal processor 234.The algorithm may be configured to make predictions on how the characteristics of the fluid 202 change if the concentrations of one or more components or additives are changed relative to one another.\",\n \"In real-time or near real-time, the signal processor 234 may be configured to provide a resulting output signal 236 corresponding to the characteristic of interest in the fluid 202, such as the concentration of a gas present in the fluid 202.The resulting output signal 236 may be readable by an operator who can consider the results and make proper adjustments or take appropriate action, if needed.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the resulting signal output 236 may be conveyed, either wired or wirelessly, to an operator for consideration.\",\n \"In other embodiments, the resulting output signal 236 may be recognized by the signal processor 234 as being within or without a predetermined or preprogrammed range of suitable operation and may alert the operator of an out of range reading so appropriate corrective action may be taken, or otherwise autonomously undertake the appropriate corrective action such that the resulting output signal 236 returns to a value within the predetermined or preprogrammed range of suitable operation.\",\n \"Referring now to FIG.\",\n \"3, illustrated is another exemplary optical computing device 300 for monitoring the fluid 202, according to one or more embodiments.\",\n \"The optical computing device 300 may be similar in some respects to the optical computing device 200 of FIG.\",\n \"2, and therefore may be best understood with reference thereto where like numerals indicate like elements that will not be described again.\",\n \"Again, the optical computing device 300 may be configured to determine the concentration of a characteristic of interest in the fluid 202, such as the concentration of a gas within the fluid 202, as contained within the flow path 204.Unlike the device 200 of FIG.\",\n \"2, however, the optical computing device 300 in FIG.\",\n \"3 may be configured to transmit the electromagnetic radiation 210 through the fluid 202 via a first sampling window 302a and a second sampling window 302b arranged radially-opposite the first sampling window 302a on the flow path 204.The first and second sampling windows 302a,b may be similar to the sampling window 216 described above in FIG.\",\n \"2 and therefore will not be described again.\",\n \"As the electromagnetic radiation 210 passes through the fluid 202 via the first and second sampling windows 302a,b, it optically interacts with the fluid 202 and optically interacted radiation 218 is subsequently directed to or otherwise received by the ICE 220 as arranged within the device 300.It is again noted that, while FIG.\",\n \"3 depicts the ICE 220 as receiving the optically interacted radiation 218 as transmitted through the sampling windows 302a,b, the ICE 220 may equally be arranged at any point along the optical train of the device 300, without departing from the scope of the disclosure.\",\n \"For example, in one or more embodiments, the ICE 220 may be arranged within the optical train prior to the first sampling window 302a and equally obtain substantially the same results.\",\n \"In yet other embodiments, the ICE 220 may generate the modified electromagnetic radiation 222 through reflection, instead of transmission therethrough.\",\n \"Moreover, as with the device 200 of FIG.\",\n \"2, embodiments are contemplated herein which include the use of at least two ICE components in the device 300 configured to cooperatively determine the characteristic of interest in the fluid 202.The modified electromagnetic radiation 222 generated by the ICE 220 is subsequently conveyed to the detector 224 for quantification of the signal and generation of the output signal 226 which corresponds to the particular characteristic of interest in the fluid 202.The device 300 may also include the second detector 228 for detecting radiating deviations stemming from the electromagnetic radiation source 208.As illustrated, the second detector 228 may be configured to receive a portion of the optically interacted radiation 218 via the beamsplitter 232 in order to detect the radiating deviations.\",\n \"The output signal 226 and the compensating signal 230 may then be conveyed to or otherwise received by the signal processor 234 which may computationally combine the two signals 230, 226 and provide in real-time or near real-time the resulting output signal 236 corresponding to the concentration of the characteristic of interest in the fluid 202.Those skilled in the art will readily appreciate the various and numerous applications that the optical computing devices 200, 300, and various alternative configurations thereof, may be suitably used with.\",\n \"The systems and methods described herein utilize at least one optical computing device in combination with at least one gas analysis device to more accurately measure the gas composition in the drilling fluid at various points in a drilling fluid circulation system.\",\n \"The gas analysis devices measure the concentrations of all the gases of interest in the gas extracted from the drilling fluid, and the optical computing devices measure the concentration of only some of the gases of interest.\",\n \"A correction factor can be derived from a comparison of the measurements of the two types of devices.\",\n \"Depending on the configuration of the system, the correction factor can be a single point correction factor, a dual point correction factor, or a point-to-point correction factor.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"4 provides an illustrative representation of a portion of a system 400 suitable for deriving a single point correction factor for the gas composition of a fluid.\",\n \"The fluid flows into a degasser 410 through feed line 412.The degasser 410 extracts at least a portion of the gas entrained in the fluid.\",\n \"At least a portion of the extracted gas may then be transferred to at least one gas analysis device 414 via feed line 416.The gas analysis devices 414 may analyze the composition of the extracted gas for the concentration of gases of interest and the amount of total gas.\",\n \"At least one optical computing device 418 may be arranged in the system 400 before the degasser 410 and be configured to measure the concentration of a reference compound and a gas from the formation (e.g., methane or ethane).\",\n \"The reference compound may be a volatile compound that is introduced into the fluid (e.g., fluorinated hydrocarbons), indigenous to the fluid (e.g., CO2), or a spectral overlapping gas (e.g., ethane that overlaps with methane or ethane that overlaps ethane).\",\n \"Each of the gas analysis devices 414 and optical computing devices 418 may produce output signals 420,422, respectively, corresponding to the measurements taken.\",\n \"The output signals 420,422 are received by a signal processor 424 communicably coupled to the gas analysis devices 414 and optical computing devices 418.The signal processor 424 may be similar to the signal processor 234 of FIGS.\",\n \"2 and 3 and may be configured to receive and process the output signals 420,422.In particular, the signal processor 424 may employ an algorithm configured to calculate or otherwise determine the concentration of the gases detected by the gas analysis devices 414, calculate a correction factor, apply the correction factor to the output signals 422 of the optical computing devices 418 to calculate the concentration of the gas detected by the optical computing devices 418, and extrapolate the concentration of all the gases of interest in the drilling fluid.\",\n \"For example, the optical computing devices 418 may be configured to measure the concentration of methane in the drilling fluid (“[CH4]DF”) and the concentration of the reference compound in the drilling fluid (“[ref]DF”).\",\n \"The gas analysis devices 414 may be configured to measure the concentration of methane in the extracted gas (“[CH4]EG”), the concentration of the reference compound in the extracted gas (“[ref]EG”), and the concentration of one or more other gases of interest in the extracted gas (“[gas]EG”).\",\n \"A single point correction factor can be determined by comparing [CH4]DF/[CH4]EG and [ref]DF/[ref]EG or variations in [CH4]DF/[CH4]EG and [ref]DF/[ref]EG.\",\n \"The comparison of the concentrations in the drilling fluid and extracted gas may include sums or other methods to account for interaction factors from other compounds.\",\n \"When the spectral response of the reference gas has peaks within a spectral response of an overlapping gas, peak fittings can be used to determine overlap at the point of measurement.\",\n \"The intensity of overlap then be removed before determining the correction factor.\",\n \"After the correction factor has been determined, curve fitting can be used to apply the correction factor to each of the [gas]EG and extrapolate the concentration of all the gases of interest in the drilling fluid.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"5 provides an illustrative representation of a portion of a system 500 suitable for deriving a dual point correction factor for the gas composition of a fluid.\",\n \"The fluid flows into a degasser 510 through feed line 512.The degasser 510 extracts at least a portion of the gas entrained in the fluid.\",\n \"At least a portion of the extracted gas may then be transferred to at least one gas analysis device 514 via feed line 516.The gas analysis devices 514 may analyze the composition of the extracted gas for the concentration of gases of interest and the amount of total gas.\",\n \"At least one optical computing device 518 may be arranged in the system 500 before the degasser 510 and be configured to measure the concentration of a reference compound and a gas from the formation.\",\n \"At least one optical computing device 520 may be arranged in the system 500 between the degasser 510 and the gas analysis devices 514 and be configured to measure the concentration of the reference compound and the gas from the formation.\",\n \"Each of the gas analysis devices 514 and optical computing devices 518,520 may produce output signals 522,524,526, respectively, corresponding to the measurements taken.\",\n \"The output signals 522,524,526 are received by a signal processor 528 communicably coupled to the gas analysis devices 514 and optical computing devices 518,520.A dual point calibration may advantageously be able to correct for a non-linear background in measurements, which may be contributed to by a compound with an overlapping spectrum.\",\n \"In some instances, the foregoing calibration methods may utilize more than one reference compound.\",\n \"In some instances, no reference gas may be used by developing a direct relationship between and calibration curve for the measurements of the optical computing devices and the gas analysis devices, which may be referred to herein as a point-to-point calibration.\",\n \"In any of the foregoing calibration arrangements and methods, the calibration may be performed continuously in some embodiments.\",\n \"Alternatively, in some instance, the calibration may be performed periodically (e.g., once every 15 minutes, once every hour, etc.).\",\n \"Additionally, the calibration may, in some instance, be performed on-demand (e.g., as triggered by an operator).\",\n \"This further contributes to the accuracy of the systems and methods described herein for measuring gas content and gas composition in a drilling fluid in real-time.\",\n \"In the illustrated examples of the calibrations, the optical computing devices are deployed proximal to the degasser.\",\n \"However, additional optical computing devices can be deployed at various points within a drilling fluid circulation system to monitor the drilling fluid and its associated gas content using the calibrations for each type of optical computing device being determined with one of the above or similar systems/methods.\",\n \"Depending on the location of the particular optical computing device, different types of information about the fluid can be obtained.\",\n \"In some cases, for example, the optical computing devices can be used to monitor the type and concentration of gases therein before and after the drilling fluid circulates into and out of a wellbore.\",\n \"In other cases, the optical computing devices may be used to analyze an extracted gas sample in real-time following its extraction from the drilling fluid via a traditional drilling fluid sampling process.\",\n \"In other cases, the optical computing devices may be used to monitor the drilling fluid at or near a wellbore choking device so as to register real-time gas concentrations of the drilling fluid while the drilling fluid circulates at wellbore conditions.\",\n \"For example, referring now to FIG.\",\n \"6, illustrated is an exemplary wellbore drilling assembly 600 that may employ one or more optical computing devices as described herein in order to monitor a drilling fluid or a completion fluid, according to one or more embodiments.\",\n \"The drilling assembly 600 may include a drilling platform 602 that supports a derrick 604 having a traveling block 606 for raising and lowering a drill string 608.A kelly 610 supports the drill string 608 as it is lowered through a rotary table 612.A drill bit 614 is attached to the distal end of the drill string 608 and is driven either by a downhole motor and/or via rotation of the drill string 608 from the well surface.\",\n \"As the bit 614 rotates, it creates a borehole 616 that penetrates various subterranean formations 618.A pump 620 (e.g., a mud pump) circulates drilling fluid 622 through a feed pipe 624 and to the kelly 610, which conveys the drilling fluid 622 downhole through an interior conduit defined in the drill string 608 and through one or more orifices in the drill bit 614.The drilling fluid 622 is then circulated back to the surface via an annulus 626 defined between the drill string 608 and the walls of the borehole 616.The drilling fluid 622 provides hydrostatic pressure to prevent formation fluids from entering into the borehole 616 and keeps the drill bit 614 cool and clean during drilling.\",\n \"The drilling fluid 622 also serves to carry drill cuttings and solids out of the borehole 616 and suspend the drill cuttings and solids while drilling is paused and/or when the drill bit 614 is brought in and out of the borehole 616.As the spent drilling fluid 622 returns to the surface, it may exit the annulus 626 at the wellhead 627 and subsequently pass through one or more chokes or choke valves 628 (one shown) via an interconnecting flow line 630.The choke valve 628 may be used to maintain or otherwise regulate the pressure on the annulus 626 at surface, for example in the range of about 100 psi to about 1500 psi.\",\n \"As a result, this will enable drilling to continue underbalanced and is useful in reducing formation damage, but also to facilitate increases in drilling speed.\",\n \"It will be appreciated, however, that the choke valve(s) 628 may be omitted in other embodiments and the spent drilling fluid 622 may instead return to the surface at atmospheric pressures, without departing from the scope of the disclosure.\",\n \"Following the choke valve 628, the spent drilling fluid 622 may be conveyed to one or more drilling fluid rehabilitation devices via the interconnecting flow line 630.Such drilling fluid rehabilitation devices may include, but are not limited to, one or more degassing units 632 and solids control equipment 634 (e.g., shakers).\",\n \"The degassing unit 632 may be any device or machine configured to separate from the drilling fluid 622 gases (i.e., hydrocarbon and non-hydrocarbon gas species) that may have been entrained in the drilling fluid 622 while circulating in and out of the borehole 616.The solids control equipment 634 may be configured to substantially remove the drill cuttings and solids from the drilling fluid 622 and deposit a “cleaned” drilling fluid 622 into a nearby retention pit 636 (i.e., a mud pit).\",\n \"Several additives or components may be added to the drilling fluid 622 in order to maintain the drilling fluid 622 in proper working order and otherwise enhance drilling capabilities.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the additives and components may be added to the drilling fluid 622 via a mixing hopper 638 fluidly coupled to the retention pit 636.Exemplary components that may be added to the drilling fluid 622 include, but are not limited to, emulsions, weighting materials, viscosifiers, thickeners, rheology modifiers, thinners, deflocculants, anionic polyelectrolytes (e.g., acrylates, polyphosphates, lignosulfonates, tannic acid derivates, etc.\",\n \"), high-heat polymers, clay stabilizers, clay inhibitors, tar treatments, water and other base fluids, combinations thereof, and the like.\",\n \"The rehabilitated drilling fluid 622 may then be recirculated and pumped back into the borehole 616 with the pump 620 via the feed pipe 624.According to the present disclosure, mud logging gas analysis of the drilling fluid 622 may be undertaken using optical computing devices 640 and gas analysis devices 650 with calibrations of the optical computing devices 640 according to the methods and configurations described relative to FIGS.\",\n \"4-5 or similar thereto.\",\n \"The gas analysis device 650 received gas from the degassing unit 632 through flow line 652.Depending on the analysis method, optical computing devices may be arranged in various locations throughout the circulation system of the drilling assembly 600.For example, as shown in FIG.\",\n \"6, optical computing devices 640a, 640b, 640c, 640d, and 640e may be arranged along flow pipe 624, along flow line 630 between the choke valve 628 and the degassing unit 632, along flow line 630 before choke valve 628, along the flow line 652 between the degassing unit 632 and the gas analysis devices 650, and along flow line 630 between the degassing unit 632 and the solids control equipment 634, respectively.\",\n \"The optical computing devices 640a-e may be substantially similar to at least one of the optical computing devices 200, 300 of FIGS.\",\n \"2 and 3, respectively, and therefore will not be described again in detail.\",\n \"In exemplary operation, the optical computing devices 640a-e may be configured to measure and report real-time characteristics of the drilling fluid 622, such as the type and/or concentration of one or more gases present therein at their respective monitoring locations.\",\n \"In one or more embodiments, the optical computing devices 640a-e may be communicably coupled to a signal processor 642 and configured to convey corresponding output signals 644a-e, respectively, to the signal processor 642.The signal processor 642 may be similar to the signal processor 234 of FIGS.\",\n \"2 and 3 and may be configured to receive and process the output signals 644a-e.\",\n \"In particular, the signal processor 642 may employ an algorithm configured to calculate or otherwise determine the concentration or type of a gas detected at each monitoring location.\",\n \"The signal processor 642 may further be configured to determine the differences between any two or more of the output signals 640a-e.\",\n \"In other words, the signal processor 642 may be configured to determine how the concentration of the gas and/or the magnitude of the characteristic of interest in the fluid 622 changed between each monitoring location.\",\n \"Further, the signal processor 642 may be configured receive output signals 654 from the gas analysis devices 650, so as to perform a comparative analysis between the gas concentrations measured by the gas analysis devices 650 and individual optical computing devices 640a-e (described further herein).\",\n \"In real-time or near real-time, the signal processor 642 may be configured to provide a resulting output signal 646 corresponding to the concentration of individual gases or the total gas, each of which may be measured or derived as described further herein.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the resulting output signal 646 may be conveyed, either wired or wirelessly, to one or more peripheral devices 648 communicably coupled to the signal processor 642.The peripheral devices 648 may include, but are not limited to, a mobile device, computer monitor, or a printer coupled to a computer.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the peripheral devices 648 may be configured to provide one or more graphical outputs such as a Pixler plot, a Haworth Plot, or a gas-ratio plot, depicting various properties, parameters, and characteristic(s) detected in the fluid 622 (e.g., the concentration of individual gases or the total gas in the drilling fluid).\",\n \"A well operator may then be able to consult and interpret the graphical output and thereby make intelligent decisions on how best to manage the well in response thereto.\",\n \"In other embodiments, the peripheral devices 648 may include an audible or visual alarm mechanism or device that may be triggered.\",\n \"For example, the one or more of the output signals 644a-e, 654 or an analysis thereof may be recognized by the signal processor 642 as being within or without a predetermined or preprogrammed range of suitable operation for the drilling fluid 622.If the output signals 644a-e, 654 or an analysis thereof exceed the predetermined or preprogrammed range of operation, the resulting output signal 646 may trigger an alarm forming part of the peripheral device 648 and the alarm may be configured to alert the operator so appropriate corrective action may be taken on the drilling fluid 622.In some embodiments, the signal processor 642 may be configured to autonomously undertake the appropriate corrective action such that the resulting output signal 646 returns to a value within the predetermined or preprogrammed range of suitable operation.\",\n \"For example, the signal processor 642 may be communicably coupled to an automated control system (not shown) that may be configured to undertake the required corrective action.\",\n \"As illustrated, optical computing device 640b and gas analysis device 650 may be configured and operate similar to that of optical computing device 418 and gas analysis device 415 of FIG.\",\n \"4 to provide a single-point calibration that may be applied to other optical computing devices arranged in the system 600.Further, optical computing devices 640b,640d and gas analysis device 650 may be configured and operate similar to that of optical computing devices 518,520 and gas analysis device 514 of FIG.\",\n \"5 to provide a dual-point calibration that may be applied to other optical computing devices arranged in the system 600.In some embodiments, gas concentration measured from the optical computing device 640e arranged along the flow line 630 after the degasser 632 may be compared to the gas concentration from the optical computing device 640b arranged before the degasser to provide a degassing efficiency.\",\n \"In some embodiments, a first optical computing device 640a may be arranged to monitor the drilling fluid 622 as it is being introduced into the borehole 616 and a second optical computing device 640b may be arranged to monitor the drilling fluid 622 after it has returned to the surface and is otherwise de-pressurized via the choke valve 628.More particularly, the first optical computing device 640a may be arranged in the feed pipe 624 leading to the derrick 604 from the pump 620 (or otherwise at any fluidly communicable location following the pump 620 and before the borehole 616), and the second optical computing device 640b may be arranged on or otherwise coupled to the flow line 630 before the degassing unit 632 (e.g., adjacent an inlet to the degassing unit 632).\",\n \"As will be appreciated, more than one optical computing device may be arranged at each of these monitoring locations, without departing from the scope of the disclosure.\",\n \"The first output signal 644a may be indicative of the type/concentration of a gas in the drilling fluid 622 or another characteristic of the fluid 622 as the drilling fluid 622 enters the borehole 616.Likewise, the second output signal 644b may be indicative of the type/concentration of the gas or another characteristic of the fluid 622 as the drilling fluid 622 exits the borehole 616 de-pressurized.\",\n \"The signal processor 642 may receive the output signals 644a,b in real-time and provide the resulting output signal 646 that may be considered by an operator via the one or more peripheral devices 648, as described above.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the resulting output signal 646 may inform the operator of the type/concentration of gas in the drilling fluid 622 as the drilling fluid 622 enters the borehole 616, as per the first output signal 644a.\",\n \"In other embodiments, the resulting output signal 646 may inform the operator of the type/concentration of the gas in the drilling fluid 622 as the drilling fluid 622 exits the borehole 616, as per the second output signal 644b.\",\n \"As a result, the operator may be able to conduct mud logging gas analyses of the drilling fluid 622 without having to extract a gas sample from the returning drilling fluid 622.In yet other embodiments, the signal processor 642 may be configured to make a comparison between the first and second output signals 644a,b, and thereby provide the operator with a resulting output signal 646 via the peripheral devices 648 that details the differences between the two output signals 644a,b.\",\n \"As such, the operator may be apprised as to the quantity and concentration of one or more gases that may have entered or otherwise become entrained in the drilling fluid 622 while circulating through the borehole 616.Such data may be useful in providing information as to the hydrocarbon content of the rock being drilled through and, as a result, the operator may decide to adjust one or more drilling or completion parameters in response thereto.\",\n \"For example, in some embodiments, the resulting output signal 646 may inform the operator that a particular type or quantity of favorable gas is found in a particular strata or region of the subterranean formation 618 while drilling.\",\n \"As a result, at least one drilling parameter may be adjusted in response thereto, such as altering the geosteering of the drill bit 614 so that the borehole 616 may be drilled or formed substantially in that strata or zone.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the favorable gas may be one or more hydrocarbons that may be produced for processing.\",\n \"In other embodiments, however, the favorable gas may be helium.\",\n \"Those skilled in the art will readily recognize that an increased amount of helium returning to the surface as entrained in the drilling fluid 622 may be an indication of high porosity in the formation 618, and high porosity can signify a zone capable of increased production rates.\",\n \"When such gases and hydrocarbons are detected, the operator may alter the geosteering well path such that the borehole remains substantially in that stratum, thereby maximizing potential hydrocarbon production and efficiencies.\",\n \"As will be appreciated, this may prove especially advantageous in deviated or horizontal wells where altering the geosteering may have the effect of maintaining the well path substantially parallel and otherwise within a hydrocarbon-bearing stratum or region.\",\n \"This may also prove advantageous, however, in vertical wells where the well operator may be able to log the area of the vertical borehole 616 where a high gas content is detected.\",\n \"At a later time, the operator may choose to return to that location and complete the borehole 616 at that location such that the hydrocarbons residing in the formation 618 at that location may be effectively produced with greater efficiency.\",\n \"Accordingly, the well completion design may be optimized in response to resulting output signal 646 and what is provided via the peripheral devices 648.Some well completion designs that may be altered include, but are not limited to, changing a cementing program, changing a casing program or design, or optimizing placement of downhole perforations, sliding sleeves, and slotted liners.\",\n \"Optimizations resulting from such well completion alterations may include containment of unwanted fluids downhole, such as water or unwanted gas, and may also include optimizing isolation of zones from which production is not required.\",\n \"Further, nearby wells having similar (correlated) output signals 644a-c or output signal 646 may implement similar optimizations.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the resulting output signal 646 may also be configured to inform an operator via the peripheral devices 648 of hazardous, corrosive, or otherwise toxic gases that may be entrained in the drilling fluid 622.Hazardous, corrosive, and/or toxic gases, such as hydrogen sulfide (H2S) and the like, may pose a danger to rig operators and the surrounding environment.\",\n \"In at least one embodiment, for example, the second output signal 644b of the second optical computing device 640b may provide the real-time concentration of hydrogen sulfide (H2S) entrained in the drilling fluid 622 as it returns to the surface.\",\n \"If the registered level of H2S surpasses a predetermined “safe” limit, the signal processor 642 may be configured to trigger an alarm by sending the resulting output signal 646 to the peripheral devices 648 indicating the same.\",\n \"In response to the alarm, the operator may act by shutting down the well or adding H2S scavengers or other additives to the drilling fluid 622 via the hopper 638 to remedy the situation.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the hazardous, corrosive, or otherwise toxic gas may be methane as entrained in the drilling fluid 622.Since methane is highly explosive, increased amounts of the gas in the returning drilling fluid 622 may pose a substantial risk to rig operators and the surrounding environment.\",\n \"Accordingly, if there is an excessive amount of methane being detected by, for example, the second optical computing device 640b, such that it surpasses a predetermined “safe” limit, the signal processor 642 may be configured to trigger an alarm via the resulting output signal 646 and the peripheral devices 648.In response to the alarm, the operator may act to remedy the situation.\",\n \"For example, the operator may “shut in” the well using blow-out preventers or the like and then extract the methane in a controlled manner using choke and kill lines associated with the blow-out preventers.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the drilling fluid 622 returned to the surface may be monitored using the third optical computing device 640c prior to full de-pressurization.\",\n \"As illustrated, the third optical computing device 640c may be arranged in fluid communication with the interconnecting flow line 630 following the wellhead 627 and otherwise arranged prior to the choke valve 628.Similar to the second optical computing device 640b, the third optical computing device 640c may be configured to monitor the drilling fluid 622 after its return to the surface for gases (both hydrocarbon and non-hydrocarbon gas species) that may have become entrained therein after having circulated through the borehole 616.When the drilling fluid 622 exits the choke valve 628, any gases entrained therein will immediately break out or otherwise precipitate out of the drilling fluid 622.Accordingly, the third optical computing device 640c may be advantageous in providing a real or near real-time concentration of one or more gases in the drilling fluid 622 as it circulates at or near actual downhole drilling environment conditions.\",\n \"The output signal 644c from the third optical computing device 640c, therefore, may be useful in mud logging gas analysis of the drilling fluid 622 at downhole operating conditions.\",\n \"Similar to the second optical computing device 640b, the third optical computing device 640c may be configured to detect and report increased amounts of a favorable gas in the borehole 616.The resulting output signal 646 may then inform the operator where a particular type or quantity of favorable gas is found in the borehole 616 and, as a result, at least one drilling parameter may be adjusted in response thereto.\",\n \"For example, the operator may alter the geosteering of the drill bit 614 so that the borehole 616 may be drilled or formed substantially in that stratum or zone.\",\n \"In vertical boreholes 616, the well operator may be able to log the area of the borehole 616 where a high gas content is detected and, at a later time, return to that location and complete the borehole 616 at that location such that the hydrocarbons residing in the formation 618 at that location may be effectively produced with greater efficiency.\",\n \"The third optical computing device 640c may also be configured to detect hazardous, corrosive, or otherwise toxic gases (i.e., H2S, methane, etc.)\",\n \"that may be entrained in the drilling fluid 622.The resulting output signal 646 in such cases may inform an operator via the peripheral devices 648 of the presence of such gases, and the operator may then act to remedy the situation.\",\n \"In other embodiments, the signal processor 642 may autonomously act to remedy the situation, such as by shutting down the well or adding H2S scavengers or other additives to the drilling fluid 622 via the hopper 638 to remedy the situation.\",\n \"For example, as briefly mentioned above, the signal processor 642 may be communicably coupled to an automated control system (not shown) that may be configured to undertake the required corrective action.\",\n \"It is recognized that the various embodiments herein directed to computer control and artificial neural networks, including various blocks, modules, elements, components, methods, and algorithms, can be implemented using computer hardware, software, combinations thereof, and the like.\",\n \"To illustrate this interchangeability of hardware and software, various illustrative blocks, modules, elements, components, methods and algorithms have been described generally in terms of their functionality.\",\n \"Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware or software will depend upon the particular application and any imposed design constraints.\",\n \"For at least this reason, it is to be recognized that one of ordinary skill in the art can implement the described functionality in a variety of ways for a particular application.\",\n \"Further, various components and blocks can be arranged in a different order or partitioned differently, for example, without departing from the scope of the embodiments expressly described.\",\n \"Computer hardware used to implement the various illustrative blocks, modules, elements, components, methods, and algorithms described herein can include a processor configured to execute one or more sequences of instructions, programming stances, or code stored on a non-transitory, computer-readable medium.\",\n \"The processor can be, for example, a general purpose microprocessor, a microcontroller, a digital signal processor, an application specific integrated circuit, a field programmable gate array, a programmable logic device, a controller, a state machine, a gated logic, discrete hardware components, an artificial neural network, or any like suitable entity that can perform calculations or other manipulations of data.\",\n \"In some embodiments, computer hardware can further include elements such as, for example, a memory (e.g., random access memory (RAM), flash memory, read only memory (ROM), programmable read only memory (PROM), erasable read only memory (EPROM)), registers, hard disks, removable disks, CD-ROMS, DVDs, or any other like suitable storage device or medium.\",\n \"Executable sequences described herein can be implemented with one or more sequences of code contained in a memory.\",\n \"In some embodiments, such code can be read into the memory from another machine-readable medium.\",\n \"Execution of the sequences of instructions contained in the memory can cause a processor to perform the process steps described herein.\",\n \"One or more processors in a multi-processing arrangement can also be employed to execute instruction sequences in the memory.\",\n \"In addition, hard-wired circuitry can be used in place of or in combination with software instructions to implement various embodiments described herein.\",\n \"Thus, the present embodiments are not limited to any specific combination of hardware and/or software.\",\n \"As used herein, a machine-readable medium will refer to any medium that directly or indirectly provides instructions to a processor for execution.\",\n \"A machine-readable medium can take on many forms including, for example, non-volatile media, volatile media, and transmission media.\",\n \"Non-volatile media can include, for example, optical and magnetic disks.\",\n \"Volatile media can include, for example, dynamic memory.\",\n \"Transmission media can include, for example, coaxial cables, wire, fiber optics, and wires that form a bus.\",\n \"Common forms of machine-readable media can include, for example, floppy disks, flexible disks, hard disks, magnetic tapes, other like magnetic media, CD-ROMs, DVDs, other like optical media, punch cards, paper tapes and like physical media with patterned holes, RAM, ROM, PROM, EPROM and flash EPROM.\",\n \"It should also be noted that the various drawings provided herein are not necessarily drawn to scale nor are they, strictly speaking, depicted as optically correct as understood by those skilled in optics.\",\n \"Instead, the drawings are merely illustrative in nature and used generally herein in order to supplement understanding of the systems and methods provided herein.\",\n \"Indeed, while the drawings may not be optically accurate, the conceptual interpretations depicted therein accurately reflect the exemplary nature of the various embodiments disclosed.\",\n \"Embodiments disclosed herein include Embodiment A, Embodiment B, and Embodiment C. Embodiment A A system that includes: a flow path circulating a drilling fluid into and out of a borehole penetrating a subterranean formation during a drilling operation, wherein the flow path includes a degasser that includes a drilling fluid inlet, a drilling fluid outlet, and a gas outlet, and wherein the gas outlet is fluidly coupled to a gas analysis device configured to produce a first output signal, a second output signal, and a third output signal corresponding to a concentration of a first gas, a second gas, and a third gas, respectively; a first integrated computational element and a second integrated computational element arranged along the flow path prior to the drilling fluid inlet of the degasser and configured to optically interact with the drilling fluid and generate a fourth output signal and a fifth output signal, respectively, corresponding to a concentration of the first gas present in the drilling fluid and a concentration of the second gas present in the drilling fluid, respectively; a signal processor communicably coupled to the first integrated computational element, the second integrated computational element, and the gas analysis device, wherein the signal processor is configured to (1) receive the first output signal, the second output signal, the third output signal, the fourth output signal, and the fifth output signal, (2) calculate a calibration factor based on an analysis of the first output signal relative to the fourth output signal and the second output signal relative to the fifth output signal, and (3) apply the calibration factor to the third output signal to produce a calibrated output signal corresponding to a calibrated concentration of the third gas.\",\n \"Embodiment A may have one or more of the following additional elements in any combination: Element A1: the system further including a third integrated computational element and a fourth integrated computational element arranged between the gas outlet of the degasser and the gas analysis device and configured to (1) optically interact with a gas composition extracted from the drilling fluid by the degasser and (2) generate a sixth output signal and a seventh output signal, respectively, corresponding to a concentration of the first gas present in the gas composition and a concentration of the second gas present in the gas composition, respectively; and wherein the signal processor is configured to (1) receive the sixth output signal and the seventh output signal and (2) further calculate the calibration factor based on an analysis of the first output signal relative to the fourth and sixth output signals and the second output signal relative to the fifth and seventh output signals; Element A2: the system further including one or more peripheral devices communicably coupled to the signal processor and configured to receive the calibrated output signal from the signal processor and report the calibrated concentration of the third gas to a well operator; Element A3: Element A2 wherein the one or more peripheral devices are further configured to adjust one or more parameters of the drilling operation in response to the calibrated concentration of the third gas; Element A4: wherein at least one of the first gas and the second gas is not from the subterranean formation; Element A5: wherein the first gas and the second gas are from the subterranean formation; Element A6: wherein the first gas or the second gas is methane; and Element A7: wherein the first gas or the second gas is carbon dioxide.\",\n \"By way of non-limiting example, exemplary combinations applicable to Embodiment A include: Element A5 in combination with Element A6 and optionally Element A7, Element A5 in combination with Element A7, Element A4 in combination with Element A7, at least one of Elements A1-A3 in combination with any of the foregoing, and Element A1 in combination with Element A2 and optionally Element A3.Embodiment B A method that includes: circulating a drilling fluid within a flow path that extends into and out of a borehole penetrating a subterranean formation during drilling operations and includes a degasser having a drilling fluid inlet, a drilling fluid outlet, and a gas outlet; generating a first output signal, a second output signal, and a third output signal corresponding to a concentration of a first gas, a second gas, and a third gas with a gas analysis device fluidly coupled to the gas outlet of the degasser; generating a fourth output signal with a first integrated computational element and a fifth output signal with a second integrated computational element arranged along the flow path prior to the drilling fluid inlet of the degasser corresponding to a concentration of the first gas present in the drilling fluid and a concentration of the second gas present in the drilling fluid, respectively; receiving the first output signal, the second output signal, the third output signal, the fourth output signal, and the fifth output signal with a signal processor communicably coupled to the gas analysis device, the first optical computing device, and the second optical computing device; calculating a calibration factor based on an analysis of the first output signal relative to the fourth output signal and the second output signal relative to the fifth output signal; and applying the calibration factor to the third output signal to produce a calibrated output signal corresponding to a calibrated concentration of the third gas.\",\n \"Embodiment B may have one or more of the following additional elements in any combination: Element B1: the method further including generating a sixth output signal with a third integrated computational element and a seventh output signal with a fourth integrated computational element arranged between the gas outlet of the degasser and the gas analysis device corresponding to a concentration of the first gas present in a gas composition extracted from the drilling fluid by the degasser and a concentration of the second gas present in the gas composition, respectively; receiving the sixth output signal and the seventh output signal with the signal processor communicably coupled to the third optical computing device and the fourth optical computing device; and further calculating the calibration factor based on an analysis of the first output signal relative to the fourth and sixth output signals and the second output signal relative to the fifth and seventh output signals; Element B2: the method including Element B1 and further including conveying the calibrated output signal to one or more peripheral devices; and adjusting one or more drilling or completion parameters in response to the calibrated concentration of the third gas; Element B3: wherein at least one of the first gas and the second gas is not from the subterranean formation; Element B4: wherein the first gas and the second gas are from the subterranean formation; Element B5: wherein the first gas or the second gas is methane; Element B6: wherein the first gas or the second gas is carbon dioxide; Element B7: the method further including conveying the calibrated output signal to one or more peripheral devices; and adjusting one or more drilling or completion parameters in response to the calibrated concentration of the third gas; Element B8: Element B7 wherein adjusting the one or more drilling or completion parameters comprises altering the geosteering of a drill bit; and Element B9: Element B7 wherein adjusting the one or more drilling or completion parameters comprises at least one of changing a cementing program, changing a casing program, changing a casing design, optimizing placement of downhole perforations, sliding sleeves, and slotted liners, and optimizing isolation of zones from which production is not required.\",\n \"By way of non-limiting example, exemplary combinations applicable to Embodiment B include: Element B4 in combination with Element B5 and optionally Element B6, Element B4 in combination with Element B6, Element B3 in combination with Element B6, at least one of Elements B3-B6 in combination with at least one of Elements B7-B9, at least one of Elements B3-B6 in combination with at least one of Elements B1-B2, Element B1 in combination with Element B2; and Element B1 in combination with Element B7 and optionally at least one of Elements B8-B9.Embodiment C A method that includes: circulating a drilling fluid within a flow path that extends into and out of a borehole penetrating a subterranean formation during a drilling operation and includes a degasser having a drilling fluid inlet, a drilling fluid outlet, and a gas outlet; generating a first output signal, a second output signal, and a third output signal corresponding to a concentration of a first gas, a second gas, and a third gas with a gas analysis device fluidly coupled to the gas outlet of the degasser; generating a fourth output signal with a first integrated computational element and a fifth output signal with a second integrated computational element arranged along the flow path prior to the drilling fluid inlet of the degasser corresponding to a concentration of the first gas present in the drilling fluid and a concentration of a fourth gas present in the drilling fluid, respectively; receiving the first output signal, the second output signal, the third output signal, the fourth output signal, and the fifth output signal with a signal processor communicably coupled to the gas analysis device, the first optical computing device, and the second optical computing device; calculating a calibration factor based on an analysis of the first output signal relative to the fourth output signal and the second output signal relative to the fifth output signal; and applying the calibration factor to the third output signal to produce a calibrated output signal corresponding to a calibrated concentration of the third gas.\",\n \"Embodiment C may have one or more of the following additional elements in any combination: Element C1: wherein at least one of the first gas and the second gas is not from the subterranean formation; Element C2: wherein the first gas and the second gas are from the subterranean formation; Element C3: wherein the first gas or the second gas is methane; Element C4: wherein the first gas or the second gas is carbon dioxide; and Element C5: the method further including conveying the calibrated output signal to one or more peripheral devices.\",\n \"By way of non-limiting example, exemplary combinations applicable to Embodiment C include: Element C2 in combination with Element C3 and optionally Element C4, Element C2 in combination with Element C4, Element C2 in combination with Element C4, and at least one of Elements C1-C4 in combination with Element C5.Therefore, the present disclosure is well adapted to attain the ends and advantages mentioned as well as those that are inherent therein.\",\n \"The particular embodiments disclosed above are illustrative only, as the present disclosure may be modified and practiced in different but equivalent manners apparent to those skilled in the art having the benefit of the teachings herein.\",\n \"Furthermore, no limitations are intended to the details of construction or design herein shown, other than as described in the claims below.\",\n \"It is therefore evident that the particular illustrative embodiments disclosed above may be altered, combined, or modified and all such variations are considered within the scope and spirit of the present disclosure.\",\n \"The disclosure illustratively described herein suitably may be practiced in the absence of any element that is not specifically disclosed herein and/or any optional element disclosed herein.\",\n \"While compositions and methods are described in terms of “comprising,” “containing,” or “including” various components or steps, the compositions and methods can also “consist essentially of” or “consist of” the various components and steps.\",\n \"All numbers and ranges disclosed above may vary by some amount.\",\n \"Whenever a numerical range with a lower limit and an upper limit is disclosed, any number and any included range falling within the range is specifically disclosed.\",\n \"In particular, every range of values (of the form, “from about a to about b,” or, equivalently, “from approximately a to b,” or, equivalently, “from approximately a-b”) disclosed herein is to be understood to set forth every number and range encompassed within the broader range of values.\",\n \"Also, the terms in the claims have their plain, ordinary meaning unless otherwise explicitly and clearly defined by the patentee.\",\n \"Moreover, the indefinite articles “a” or “an,” as used in the claims, are defined herein to mean one or more than one of the element that it introduces.\"\n ]\n]"},"source":{"kind":"string","value":"Patent_15876022"}}},{"rowIdx":4495056,"cells":{"text":{"kind":"list like","value":[["SELECTIVE ADHERENCE OF STENT-GRAFT COVERINGS","An endoluminal prosthesis including a radially expandable support member having interior and exterior surfaces and a wall with openings, a first covering member including a biocompatible polymer material at least partially positioned against the interior surface, and a second covering member including a biocompatible polymer material at least partially positioned against the exterior surface.","The first covering member attaches to the second covering member at predetermined bonding locations within less than all of the openings thereby leaving unbonded regions."],["1.A prosthesis comprising: an expandable support comprising plural openings; a first covering inside of the support; and a second covering outside of the support, wherein the first and second coverings have multiple connections that extend through openings in the support and the connections form a pattern of loose space around the support.","2.The prosthesis of claim 1 wherein the pattern of loose space includes a pocket around the support.","3.The prosthesis of claim 2 wherein the prosthesis further comprises a therapeutic agent.","4.The prosthesis of claim 3 wherein the pocket holds the therapeutic agent.","5.The prosthesis of claim 4 wherein the connections additionally form a predominantly circumferential pattern.","6.The prosthesis of claim 5 wherein the first covering is biocompatible.","7.The prosthesis of claim 6 wherein the second covering is biocompatible.","8.The prosthesis of claim 7 wherein the support and the first covering are unconnected.","9.The prosthesis of claim 4 wherein the connections additionally form a predominantly longitudinal pattern.","10.The prosthesis of claim 9 wherein the prosthesis length is greater than the first covering length and the second covering length.","11.The prosthesis of claim 10 wherein the first covering and the second covering are fully bonded at their ends.","12.The prosthesis of claim 11 wherein the second covering is biocompatible.","13.The prosthesis of claim 12 wherein the first covering is biocompatible.","14.The prosthesis of claim 13 wherein the support and the second covering are unconnected.","15.The prosthesis of claim 14 wherein the support is radially expandable.","16.The prosthesis of claim 15 wherein the support is cylindrical.","17.The prosthesis of claim 16 wherein the support is a stent.","18.A prosthesis comprising: a radially expandable stent comprising a plurality of openings; a first biocompatible covering inside of the stent; and a second biocompatible outside of the stent, wherein the first and second coverings are fully bonded at their ends, are unconnected to the stent, and have multiple connections that extend through openings in the stent, and the connections form a pattern of loose space defining a pocket around the stent, the pocket contains a therapeutic agent, and the stent length is greater than the first covering length and the second covering length."],[" BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The use of implantable vascular grafts comprised of PTFE is well known in the art.","These grafts are typically used to replace or repair damaged or occluded blood vessels within the body.","However, if such grafts are radially expanded within a blood vessel, they will exhibit some subsequent retraction.","Further, such grafts usually require additional means for anchoring the graft within the blood vessel, such as sutures, clamps, or similarly functioning elements.","To minimize the retraction and eliminate the requirement for additional attachment means, those skilled in the art have used stents, such as those presented by Palmaz in U.S. Pat.","No.","4,733,665 and Gianturco in U.S. Pat.","No.","4,580,568, which are incorporated by reference into this application as if fully set forth herein, either alone or in combination with PTFE grafts.","For example, the stent described by Palmaz in U.S. Pat.","No.","4,733,665 can be used to repair an occluded blood vessel.","The stent is introduced into the blood vessel via a balloon catheter, which is then positioned at the occluded site of the blood vessel.","The balloon is then expanded, thereby expanding the overlying stent to a diameter comparable to the diameter of an unoccluded blood vessel.","The balloon catheter is then deflated and removed with the stent remaining seated within the blood vessel because the stent shows little or no radial retraction.","Use of radially expandable stents in combination with a PTFE graft is disclosed in U.S. Pat.","No.","5,078,726 to Kreamer, which teaches placing a pair of expandable stents within the interior ends of a prosthetic graft, having a length that is sufficient to span the damaged section of a blood vessel.","The stents are then expanded to secure the graft to the blood vessel wall via a friction fit.","Although stents and stent/graft combinations have been used to provide endovascular prostheses that are capable of maintaining their fit against blood vessel walls, other desirable features are lacking.","For instance, features such as increased strength and durability of the prosthesis, as well as an inert, smooth, biocompatible blood flow surface on the luminal surface of the prosthesis and an inert, smooth biocompatible surface on the abluminal surface of the prosthesis, are advantageous characteristics of an implantable vascular graft.","Some skilled in the art have recently addressed these desirable characteristics by producing strengthened and reinforced prostheses composed entirely of biocompatible grafts and graft layers.","For example, U.S. Pat.","No.","5,048,065, issued to Weldon, et al.","discloses a reinforced graft assembly comprising a biologic or biosynthetic graft component having a porous surface and a biologic or biosynthetic reinforcing sleeve which is concentrically fitted over the graft component.","The reinforcing sleeve includes an internal layer, an intermediate layer, and an external layer, all of which comprise biocompatible fibers.","The sleeve component functions to provide compliant reinforcement to the graft component.","Further, U.S. Pat.","No.","5,163,951, issued to Pinchuk, et al.","describes a composite vascular graft having an inner component, an intermediate component, and an outer component.","The inner and outer components are preferably formed of expanded PTFE while the intermediate component is formed of strands of biocompatible synthetic material having a melting point lower than the material which comprises the inner and outer components.","Another reinforced vascular prosthesis having enhanced compatibility and compliance is disclosed in U.S. Pat.","No.","5,354,329, issued to Whalen.","This patent discloses a non-pyrogenic vascular prosthesis comprising a multilaminar tubular member having an interior stratum, a unitary medial stratum, and an exterior stratum.","The medial stratum forms an exclusionary boundary between the interior and exterior strata.","One embodiment of this prosthesis is formed entirely of silicone rubber that comprises different characteristics for the different strata contained within the graft.","The prior art also includes grafts having increased strength and durability, which have been reinforced with stent-like members.","For example, U.S. Pat.","No.","4,731,073, issued to Robinson, discloses an arterial graft prosthesis comprising a multi-layer graft having a helical reinforcement embedded within the wall of the graft.","U.S. Pat.","No.","4,969,896, issued to Shors describes an inner elastomeric biocompatible tube having a plurality of rib members spaced about the exterior surface of the inner tube, and a perforate flexible biocompatible wrap circumferentially disposed about, and attached to, the rib members.","Another example of a graft having reinforcing stent-like members is disclosed in U.S. Pat.","No.","5,123,917, issued to Lee, which describes an expandable intraluminal vascular graft having an inner flexible cylindrical tube, an outer flexible cylindrical tube concentrically enclosing the inner tube, and a plurality of separate scaffold members positioned between the inner and outer tubes.","Further, U.S. Pat.","No.","5,282,860, issued to Matsuno et al.","discloses a multi-layer stent comprising an outer resin tube having at least one flap to provide an anchoring means, an inner fluorine-based resin tube and a mechanical reinforcing layer positioned between the inner and outer tubes.","Still another stent-containing graft is described in U.S. Pat.","No.","5,389,106 issued to Tower, which discloses an impermeable expandable intravascular stent including a dispensable frame and an impermeable deformable membrane interconnecting portions of the frame to form an impermeable exterior wall.","The membrane comprises a synthetic non-latex, non-vinyl polymer while the frame is comprised of a fine platinum wire.","The membrane is attached to the frame by placing the frame on a mandrel, dipping the frame and the mandrel into a polymer and organic solvent solution, withdrawing the frame and mandrel from the solution, drying the frame and mandrel, and removing the mandrel from the polymer-coated frame.","Microporous expanded polytetrafluoroethylene (“ePTFE”) tubes may be made by any of a number of well-known methods.","Expanded PTFE is frequently produced by admixing particulate dry polytetrafluoroethylene resin with a liquid lubricant to form a viscous slurry.","The mixture is poured into a mold, typically a cylindrical mold, and compressed to form a cylindrical billet.","The billet is then rammed extruded through an extrusion die into either tubular or sheet structures, termed extrudates in the art.","The extrudates consist of extruded PTFE-lubricant mixture called “wet PTFE.” Wet PTFE has a microstructure of coalesced, coherent PTFE resin particles in a highly crystalline state.","Following extrusion, the wet PTFE is heated to a temperature below the flash point of the lubricant to volatilize a major fraction of the lubricant from the PTFE extrudate.","The resulting PTFE extrudate without a major fraction of lubricant is known in the art as dried PTFE.","The dried PTFE is then either uniaxially, biaxially or radially expanded using appropriate mechanical apparatus known in the art.","Expansion is typically carried out at an elevated temperature, e.g., above room temperature but below 327° C., the crystalline melt point of PTFE.","Uniaxial, biaxial or radial expansion of the dried PTFE causes the coalesced, coherent PTFE resin to form fibrils emanating from nodes (regions of coalesced PTFE), with the fibrils oriented parallel to the axis of expansion.","Once expanded, the dried PTFE is referred to as expanded PTFE (“ePTFE”) or microporous PTFE.","The ePTFE is then transferred to an oven where it is sintered by being heated to a temperature above 327° C., the crystalline melt point of PTFE.","During the sintering process the ePTFE is restrained against uniaxial, biaxial or radial contraction.","Sintering causes at least a portion of the crystalline PTFE to change from a crystalline state to an amorphous state.","The conversion from a highly crystalline structure to one having an increased amorphous content locks the node and fibril microstructure, as well as its orientation relative to the axis of expansion, and provides a dimensionally stable tubular or sheet material upon cooling.","Prior to the sintering step, the lubricant must be removed because the sintering temperature of PTFE is greater than the flash point of commercially available lubricants.","Sintered ePTFE articles exhibit significant resistance to further uniaxial, or radial expansion.","This property has led many in the art to devise techniques which entail endoluminal delivery and placement of an ePTFE graft having a desired fixed diameter, followed by endoluminal delivery and placement of an endoluminal prosthesis, such as a stent or other fixation device, to frictionally engage the endoluminal prosthesis within the lumen of the anatomical passageway.","The Kreamer patent, U.S. Pat.","No.","5,078,726, discussed above, exemplifies such use of an ePTFE prosthetic graft.","Similarly, International Publication Nos.","WO95/05132 and WO95/05555, filed by W.L.","Gore Associates, Inc., disclose balloon expandable prosthetic stents which have been covered on inner and outer surfaces by wrapping ePTFE sheet material about the balloon expandable prosthetic stent in its enlarged diameter, sintering the wrapped ePTFE sheet material to secure it about the stent, and crimping the assembly to a reduced diameter for endoluminal delivery.","Once positioned endoluminally, the stent-graft combination is dilated to re-expand the stent to its enlarged diameter returning the ePTFE wrapping to its original diameter.","Thus, it is well known in the prior art to provide an ePTFE covering which is fabricated at the final desired endovascular diameter and is endoluminally delivered in a folded or crimped condition to reduce its delivery profile, then unfolded in vivo using either the spring tension of a self-expanding, thermally induced expanding structural support member or a balloon catheter.","However, the known ePTFE covered endoluminal stents are often covered on only one surface of the stent, i.e., either the luminal or abluminal wall surface of the stent.","Where the stent is fully covered on both the luminal and abluminal wall surfaces of the stent, the covering completely surrounds the stent elements and fills the stent interstices, thereby encapsulating the stent.","Examples of patents teaching encapsulated stents and encapsulation techniques include commonly assigned patents: U.S. Pat.","No.","5,749,880, U.S. Pat.","No.","6,039,755, U.S. Pat.","No.","6,124,523, and U.S. Pat.","No.","6,451,047, each of which is incorporated into this application as if fully set forth herein.","When the encapsulated stent is comprised of shape memory alloy, characteristics of the stent make it necessary to encapsulate in the “large” state and then compress the encapsulated stent for delivery.","In this case, encapsulation either increases the device's resistance to compression, or increases the delivery profile of the device as compression causes the polymeric material to fold or buckle around the stent.","Perhaps the most serious problem is that the folding during compression actually encompasses folding of the stent itself, which unduly stresses the stent material and may result in structural failure.","In contrast to the prior art, the present invention provides a method to encapsulate a stent in ePTFE whereby the structure contains pockets or regions where the ePTFE layers are not adhered to one another allowing the stent to contract or expand without being encumbered by ePTFE and without folding or stressing the stent itself.","As used herein, the following terms have the following meanings: “Fibril” refers to a strand of PTFE material that originates from one or more nodes and terminates at one or more nodes.","“Node” refers to the solid region within an ePTFE material at which fibrils originate and converge.","“Internodal Distance” or “IND” refers to a distance between two adjacent nodes measured along the longitudinal axis of fibrils between the facing surfaces of the adjacent nodes.","IND is usually expressed in micrometers (μm).","“Node Length” as used herein refers to a distance measured along a straight line between the furthermost end points of a single node which line is perpendicular to the fibrils emanating from the node.","“Nodal Elongation” as used herein refers to expansion of PTFE nodes in the ePTFE microstructure along the Node Length.","“Longitudinal Surface” of a node as used herein refers to a nodal surface from which fibrils emanate.","“Node Width” as used herein refers to a distance measured along a straight line, drawn parallel to the fibrils, between opposing longitudinal surfaces of a node.","“Plastic Deformation” as used herein refers to the deformation of the ePTFE microstructure under the influence of an expansive force which deforms and increases the Node Length and results in elastic recoil of the ePTFE material less than about 25%.","“Radially Expandable” as used herein to describe the present invention refers to a property of the ePTFE tubular member to undergo radially oriented Plastic Deformation mediated by Nodal Elongation.","“Structural Integrity” as used herein to describe the present invention in terms of the ePTFE refers to a condition of the ePTFE microstructure both pre- and post-radial deformation in which the fibrils are substantially free of fractures or breaks and the ePTFE material is free of gross failures; when used to describe the entire device “Structural Integrity” may also include delamination of the ePTFE layers.","Endoluminal stent devices are typically categorized into two primary types: balloon expandable and self-expanding.","Of the self-expanding types of endoluminal stent devices, there are two principle sub-categories: elastically self-expanding and thermally self-expanding.","The balloon expandable stents are typically made of a ductile material, such as stainless steel tube, which has been machined to form a pattern of openings separated by stent elements.","Radial expansion is achieved by applying a radially outwardly directed force to the lumen of a balloon expandable stent and deforming the stent beyond its elastic limit from a smaller initial diameter to an enlarged final diameter.","In this process the slots deform into “diamond shapes.” Balloon expandable stents are typically radially and longitudinally rigid and have limited recoil after expansion.","These stents have superior hoop strength against compressive forces but should this strength be overcome, the devices will deform and not recover.","Self-expanding stents, on the other hand, are fabricated from either spring metal or shape memory alloy wire which has been woven, wound or formed into a stent having interstices separated with wire stent elements.","When compared to balloon-expandable stents, these devices have less hoop strength but their inherent resiliency allows them to recover once a compressive force that results in deformation is removed.","Covered endoluminal stents are known in the art.","Heretofore, however, the stent covering has been made of a polymeric material which has completely subtended the stent interstices, that is, the stent was completely embedded in the polymeric material.","This has posed difficulty particularly with the self-expanding stents.","To preserve their self-expanding property, all covered self-expanding stents have been covered with a polymeric covering while the stent is in its unstrained dimensional condition (i.e., its native enlarged diameter).","Yet in order to deliver a covered stent, it must be constricted to a smaller delivery diameter.","Radial compression of a stent necessarily causes the individual stent elements to traverse the stent interstices and pass into proximity to a laterally adjacent individual stent element, thereby occupying the previously open interstitial space.","Any polymeric material which subtends or resides within the previously open interstitial space will necessarily be displaced, either through shearing, fracturing or otherwise responding to the narrowing of the interstitial space as the stent is compressed from its enlarged unstrained diameter to its strained reduced diameter.","Because the struts of the stent are completely encapsulated, resistance of the polymer may cause folding or stressing of the struts during compression.","It was recognized, therefore, that a need has developed to provide an encapsulating covering for a stent which is permanently retained on the stent, substantially isolates the stent material from the body tissue forming the anatomical passageway or from matter within the anatomical passageway, and which permits the stent to deform without substantial interference from the covering material.","It is, therefore, a primary objective of the present invention to provide a method for encapsulating an endoluminal stent such that the encapsulating covering forms non-adhered regions which act as slip planes or pockets to permit the individual stent elements to traverse a substantial surface area of interstitial space between adjacent stent elements without resistance or interference from the encapsulating covering, thereby avoiding damage or stress to the stent elements.","It is a further object of the present invention to use the pockets between the bonded regions to contain and deliver therapeutic substances.","It is another objective of the present invention to provide an apparatus for applying to and selectively adhering sections of the encapsulating covering about the stent, and to provide a selectively adhered encapsulated covered stent-graft device."],[" BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, the present invention relates generally to endoluminal stent-graft devices suitable for percutaneous delivery into a body through anatomical passageways to treat injured or diseased areas of the body.","More particularly, the present invention relates to a method of bonding microporous polytetrafluoroethylene (“PTFE”) coverings over a stent scaffold in a manner which maintains unbonded regions to act as slip planes or pockets to accommodate planar movement of stent elements.","In one embodiment of the present invention bonded and unbonded regions are formed by means of a mandrel which has a pattern of either raised projections or recesses in its surface which are either synchronous or asynchronous, respectively, with stent elements.","In one embodiment, an encapsulated stent-graft device is provided in which an endoluminal stent having a plurality of individual stent elements separated by interstitial spaces is circumferentially covered along at least a portion of its longitudinal axis by at least one luminal and at least one abluminal covering of a polymeric material, the luminal and abluminal coverings being selectively adhered to one another at discrete portions thereof in a manner which forms a plurality of open pockets surrounding a plurality of stent elements.","In another embodiment, a radially expandable reinforced vascular graft includes a first layer of biocompatible flexible material, a second layer of biocompatible flexible material, and a support layer sandwiched between the first and second layers of biocompatible flexible material.","In one embodiment, a selective bonding system can be advantageously used to produce inflatable pockets by bonding the first layer to the second layer in defined patterns.","The resulting structure can then be inflated and stiffened by injection of a fluid resulting in a supporting structure without inclusion of a stent.","A crude analogy might be the construction of an air mattress that is composed of flexible polymeric layers bonded to each other in a predetermined pattern.","The at least one luminal and at least one abluminal covering of a polymeric material are preferably comprised of expanded PTFE, unexpanded porous PTFE, woven polyester or expanded PTFE yarns, polyimides, silicones, polyurethane, fluoroethylpolypropylene (PEP), polypropylfluorinated amines (PFA), or other related fluorinated polymers.","The stent may be made of any strong material which can undergo radial expansion but which is also resistant to non-elastic collapse such as silver, titanium, nickel-titanium alloys, stainless steel, gold, or any suitable plastic material capable of maintaining its shape and material properties at sintering temperatures and having the necessary strength and elasticity to enable radial expansion without collapse due to the presence of the polymer coverings.","A preferred embodiment of the radially expandable reinforced vascular device includes a tubular stent, having a plurality of stent elements and stent interstices, concentrically covered along at least a portion of its longitudinal length by a luminal polymeric covering and an abluminal polymeric covering.","The luminal and abluminal polymeric coverings are discontinuously joined to one another through some of the stent interstices.","The luminal and abluminal polymeric coverings may be shorter in length than the stent member to permit opposing stent ends to flare outwardly upon radial expansion of the stent member.","Alternatively, the ends of the stent member may be completely encased by the luminal and abluminal polymeric coverings.","The stent member is preferably a self-expanding stent, which may be either an elastic spring material stent, such as a stainless steel stent as disclosed in U.S. Pat.","No.","5,266,073 to Wall, a non-woven stainless steel self-expanding stent as disclosed in U.S. Pat.","No.","5,282,824 to Gianturco, or a thermoelastic stent made of a shape memory alloy, e.g., a nickel-titanium alloy commonly known as NITINOL, such as that disclosed in U.S. Pat.","No.","5,147,370 to McNamara et al., each of which is incorporated by reference into this application as if fully set forth herein.","As used herein, a tubular shaped support member preferably comprises a stent made of silver, titanium, stainless steel, gold, or any suitable plastic material capable of maintaining its shape and material properties at sintering temperatures and having the strength and elasticity to permit radial expansion and resist radial collapse.","In accordance with the present invention, selective bonding of expanded PTFE luminal and abluminal layers encapsulates the endoluminal stent and isolates the stent from both the tissue forming the anatomical passageway as well as any fluid, such as blood, bile, urine, etc.","which may pass through the anatomical passageway.","The presence of slip planes or pockets formed by the selectively adhered regions of ePTFE: i) permits freedom of movement of stent elements within the encapsulating covering during both expansion and contraction of the stent along either its radial or longitudinal axes; ii) permits uniform folding of the ePTFE stent covering material which is complementary to the structure of the stent element lattice; iii) permits movement of the stent relative to the ePTFE encapsulating layers; iv) reduces forces required to compress or dilate the stent in the case of elastically or thermally self-expanding stents; v) reduces radial expansion pressures required to balloon expand an ePTFE encapsulated stent; and vi) provides void regions which may be used in conjunction with the microporous microstructure of the ePTFE covering material to retain and release bioactive substances, such as anticoagulant drugs, anti-inflammatory drugs, or the like.","Alternative arrangements of the stent member or other suitable structural support sufficient to maintain the luminal patency of the luminal and abluminal polymer coverings may be employed.","For example, a radially expandable, articulated reinforced vascular graft may be formed by concentrically interdisposing a structural support assembly comprising multiple stent members spaced apart from one another between two tubular polymer covering members, then partially joining the two tubular polymer covering members by circumferentially compressing selected regions of the two tubular polymer covering members and thermally bonding the selectively compressed regions to one another.","The present invention also encompasses selective bonding of multiple polymeric layers to create an inflatable structure.","Such a structure can be inflated by fluids delivered through lumens within the delivery catheter.","The selective bonding method allows creation of devices with multiple adjacent channels or pockets.","Some of these pockets can be pre-filled with a therapeutic drug to prevent restenosis or local thrombosis.","Alternate pockets can be arranged for fluid inflation after the device is inserted.","One method of making the foregoing encapsulated stent-graft is to join concentrically a luminal polymeric tube, an endoluminal stent, and an abluminal polymeric tube and to place the assembly onto a mandrel having a plurality of raised projections separated by land areas, or by a plurality of land areas separated by a plurality of recesses.","Either the raised projections or the land areas are patterned to match a pattern of either the stent elements of the stent interstices, both the stent elements and stent interstices or portions of each.","In this way the projections or the landed areas exert pressure, respectively on select regions of the PTFE resulting in limited regions of adherence or fusion when the device is heated to sintering temperatures.","Using a mandrel, luminal pressure is selectively applied to produce selectively placed bonds.","As will become clear, bonding pressure can be applied from the luminal or the abluminal or both surfaces of the device.","The present invention is also directed to a process for making a radially expandable reinforced stent-graft device by: a) positioning a radially expandable stent member including a plurality of interconnected stent elements and a plurality of interstices between adjacent interconnected stent elements, concentrically over a first polymeric cover member; b) positioning a second polymer cover member concentrically over the radially expandable stent member and the first polymeric cover member; c) selectively joining portions of the first polymeric cover member and the second polymeric cover member through a plurality of the interstices of the stent member, while leaving portions of the first and second polymeric cover members unjoined and forming slip planes or pockets to accommodate movement of at least a portion of the interconnected stent elements therethrough; and d) fully joining opposing end regions of the first and second polymer cover members through the interstices of the stent member proximate to opposing ends of the stent member.","Fixing the support layer to the biocompatible graft layers includes selectively applying pressure to the portions of the luminal and abluminal polymer covers after they are loaded onto a mandrel and then heating the resulting assembly at sintering temperatures to form a mechanical bond at the selected areas of applied pressure.","Alternatively, a pattern of at least one of an adhesive, an aqueous dispersion of polytetrafluoroethylene, a polytetrafluoroethylene tape, fluoroethylpolypropylene (PEP), or tetrafluoroethylene (collectively the “adhesive”) may be introduced between the luminal and abluminal polymer covers at selected positions, followed by heating the assembly to the melt temperature of the adhesive to bond the luminal and abluminal polymer covers while leaving unbonded slip plane regions to accommodate movement of the stent elements.","If ultraviolet curable adhesives are used, a UV laser or a photolithography system can be used to create the bond pattern.","Many thermoplastic polymers such as polyethylene, polypropylene, polyurethane and polyethylene terephthalate can also be used.","If pieces of one of these or similar polymers are placed or attached to one of the polymer covers in the region to be bonded, heat and pressure will melt the thermoplastic causing it to flow into the pores of the ePTFE, thereby bonding the ePTFE layers together.","These and other embodiments, features and advantages will become more apparent to those skilled in the art when taken with reference to the following more detailed description of the invention in conjunction with the accompanying drawings that are first briefly described."],["PRIORITY This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser.","No.","15/348,180, filed Nov. 10, 2016, which is a division of U.S. application Ser.","No.","14/310,527, filed Jun.","20, 2014, now U.S. Pat.","No.","9,492,269, which is a continuation of U.S. application Ser.","No.","13/225,028, filed Sep. 2, 2011, now U.S. Pat.","No.","8,790,241, which is a continuation of U.S. application Ser.","No.","11/363,689, filed Feb. 27, 2006, now U.S. Pat.","No.","8,012,194, which is a continuation of U.S. application Ser.","No.","10/410,589, filed Apr.","9, 2003, now U.S. Pat.","No.","7,004,966, which is a continuation of U.S. application Ser.","No.","09/1764,811, filed Jan. 16, 2001, now U.S. Pat.","No.","6,547,814, which is a division of U.S. application Ser.","No.","09/409,209, filed Sep. 30, 1999, now U.S. Pat.","No.","6,245,099, which claims the benefit under 35 U.S.C.","§ 119(e) to U.S.","Provisional Application No.","60/1102,518, filed Sep. 30, 1998, each of which is incorporated by reference into this application as if fully set forth herein.","BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The use of implantable vascular grafts comprised of PTFE is well known in the art.","These grafts are typically used to replace or repair damaged or occluded blood vessels within the body.","However, if such grafts are radially expanded within a blood vessel, they will exhibit some subsequent retraction.","Further, such grafts usually require additional means for anchoring the graft within the blood vessel, such as sutures, clamps, or similarly functioning elements.","To minimize the retraction and eliminate the requirement for additional attachment means, those skilled in the art have used stents, such as those presented by Palmaz in U.S. Pat.","No.","4,733,665 and Gianturco in U.S. Pat.","No.","4,580,568, which are incorporated by reference into this application as if fully set forth herein, either alone or in combination with PTFE grafts.","For example, the stent described by Palmaz in U.S. Pat.","No.","4,733,665 can be used to repair an occluded blood vessel.","The stent is introduced into the blood vessel via a balloon catheter, which is then positioned at the occluded site of the blood vessel.","The balloon is then expanded, thereby expanding the overlying stent to a diameter comparable to the diameter of an unoccluded blood vessel.","The balloon catheter is then deflated and removed with the stent remaining seated within the blood vessel because the stent shows little or no radial retraction.","Use of radially expandable stents in combination with a PTFE graft is disclosed in U.S. Pat.","No.","5,078,726 to Kreamer, which teaches placing a pair of expandable stents within the interior ends of a prosthetic graft, having a length that is sufficient to span the damaged section of a blood vessel.","The stents are then expanded to secure the graft to the blood vessel wall via a friction fit.","Although stents and stent/graft combinations have been used to provide endovascular prostheses that are capable of maintaining their fit against blood vessel walls, other desirable features are lacking.","For instance, features such as increased strength and durability of the prosthesis, as well as an inert, smooth, biocompatible blood flow surface on the luminal surface of the prosthesis and an inert, smooth biocompatible surface on the abluminal surface of the prosthesis, are advantageous characteristics of an implantable vascular graft.","Some skilled in the art have recently addressed these desirable characteristics by producing strengthened and reinforced prostheses composed entirely of biocompatible grafts and graft layers.","For example, U.S. Pat.","No.","5,048,065, issued to Weldon, et al.","discloses a reinforced graft assembly comprising a biologic or biosynthetic graft component having a porous surface and a biologic or biosynthetic reinforcing sleeve which is concentrically fitted over the graft component.","The reinforcing sleeve includes an internal layer, an intermediate layer, and an external layer, all of which comprise biocompatible fibers.","The sleeve component functions to provide compliant reinforcement to the graft component.","Further, U.S. Pat.","No.","5,163,951, issued to Pinchuk, et al.","describes a composite vascular graft having an inner component, an intermediate component, and an outer component.","The inner and outer components are preferably formed of expanded PTFE while the intermediate component is formed of strands of biocompatible synthetic material having a melting point lower than the material which comprises the inner and outer components.","Another reinforced vascular prosthesis having enhanced compatibility and compliance is disclosed in U.S. Pat.","No.","5,354,329, issued to Whalen.","This patent discloses a non-pyrogenic vascular prosthesis comprising a multilaminar tubular member having an interior stratum, a unitary medial stratum, and an exterior stratum.","The medial stratum forms an exclusionary boundary between the interior and exterior strata.","One embodiment of this prosthesis is formed entirely of silicone rubber that comprises different characteristics for the different strata contained within the graft.","The prior art also includes grafts having increased strength and durability, which have been reinforced with stent-like members.","For example, U.S. Pat.","No.","4,731,073, issued to Robinson, discloses an arterial graft prosthesis comprising a multi-layer graft having a helical reinforcement embedded within the wall of the graft.","U.S. Pat.","No.","4,969,896, issued to Shors describes an inner elastomeric biocompatible tube having a plurality of rib members spaced about the exterior surface of the inner tube, and a perforate flexible biocompatible wrap circumferentially disposed about, and attached to, the rib members.","Another example of a graft having reinforcing stent-like members is disclosed in U.S. Pat.","No.","5,123,917, issued to Lee, which describes an expandable intraluminal vascular graft having an inner flexible cylindrical tube, an outer flexible cylindrical tube concentrically enclosing the inner tube, and a plurality of separate scaffold members positioned between the inner and outer tubes.","Further, U.S. Pat.","No.","5,282,860, issued to Matsuno et al.","discloses a multi-layer stent comprising an outer resin tube having at least one flap to provide an anchoring means, an inner fluorine-based resin tube and a mechanical reinforcing layer positioned between the inner and outer tubes.","Still another stent-containing graft is described in U.S. Pat.","No.","5,389,106 issued to Tower, which discloses an impermeable expandable intravascular stent including a dispensable frame and an impermeable deformable membrane interconnecting portions of the frame to form an impermeable exterior wall.","The membrane comprises a synthetic non-latex, non-vinyl polymer while the frame is comprised of a fine platinum wire.","The membrane is attached to the frame by placing the frame on a mandrel, dipping the frame and the mandrel into a polymer and organic solvent solution, withdrawing the frame and mandrel from the solution, drying the frame and mandrel, and removing the mandrel from the polymer-coated frame.","Microporous expanded polytetrafluoroethylene (“ePTFE”) tubes may be made by any of a number of well-known methods.","Expanded PTFE is frequently produced by admixing particulate dry polytetrafluoroethylene resin with a liquid lubricant to form a viscous slurry.","The mixture is poured into a mold, typically a cylindrical mold, and compressed to form a cylindrical billet.","The billet is then rammed extruded through an extrusion die into either tubular or sheet structures, termed extrudates in the art.","The extrudates consist of extruded PTFE-lubricant mixture called “wet PTFE.” Wet PTFE has a microstructure of coalesced, coherent PTFE resin particles in a highly crystalline state.","Following extrusion, the wet PTFE is heated to a temperature below the flash point of the lubricant to volatilize a major fraction of the lubricant from the PTFE extrudate.","The resulting PTFE extrudate without a major fraction of lubricant is known in the art as dried PTFE.","The dried PTFE is then either uniaxially, biaxially or radially expanded using appropriate mechanical apparatus known in the art.","Expansion is typically carried out at an elevated temperature, e.g., above room temperature but below 327° C., the crystalline melt point of PTFE.","Uniaxial, biaxial or radial expansion of the dried PTFE causes the coalesced, coherent PTFE resin to form fibrils emanating from nodes (regions of coalesced PTFE), with the fibrils oriented parallel to the axis of expansion.","Once expanded, the dried PTFE is referred to as expanded PTFE (“ePTFE”) or microporous PTFE.","The ePTFE is then transferred to an oven where it is sintered by being heated to a temperature above 327° C., the crystalline melt point of PTFE.","During the sintering process the ePTFE is restrained against uniaxial, biaxial or radial contraction.","Sintering causes at least a portion of the crystalline PTFE to change from a crystalline state to an amorphous state.","The conversion from a highly crystalline structure to one having an increased amorphous content locks the node and fibril microstructure, as well as its orientation relative to the axis of expansion, and provides a dimensionally stable tubular or sheet material upon cooling.","Prior to the sintering step, the lubricant must be removed because the sintering temperature of PTFE is greater than the flash point of commercially available lubricants.","Sintered ePTFE articles exhibit significant resistance to further uniaxial, or radial expansion.","This property has led many in the art to devise techniques which entail endoluminal delivery and placement of an ePTFE graft having a desired fixed diameter, followed by endoluminal delivery and placement of an endoluminal prosthesis, such as a stent or other fixation device, to frictionally engage the endoluminal prosthesis within the lumen of the anatomical passageway.","The Kreamer patent, U.S. Pat.","No.","5,078,726, discussed above, exemplifies such use of an ePTFE prosthetic graft.","Similarly, International Publication Nos.","WO95/05132 and WO95/05555, filed by W.L.","Gore Associates, Inc., disclose balloon expandable prosthetic stents which have been covered on inner and outer surfaces by wrapping ePTFE sheet material about the balloon expandable prosthetic stent in its enlarged diameter, sintering the wrapped ePTFE sheet material to secure it about the stent, and crimping the assembly to a reduced diameter for endoluminal delivery.","Once positioned endoluminally, the stent-graft combination is dilated to re-expand the stent to its enlarged diameter returning the ePTFE wrapping to its original diameter.","Thus, it is well known in the prior art to provide an ePTFE covering which is fabricated at the final desired endovascular diameter and is endoluminally delivered in a folded or crimped condition to reduce its delivery profile, then unfolded in vivo using either the spring tension of a self-expanding, thermally induced expanding structural support member or a balloon catheter.","However, the known ePTFE covered endoluminal stents are often covered on only one surface of the stent, i.e., either the luminal or abluminal wall surface of the stent.","Where the stent is fully covered on both the luminal and abluminal wall surfaces of the stent, the covering completely surrounds the stent elements and fills the stent interstices, thereby encapsulating the stent.","Examples of patents teaching encapsulated stents and encapsulation techniques include commonly assigned patents: U.S. Pat.","No.","5,749,880, U.S. Pat.","No.","6,039,755, U.S. Pat.","No.","6,124,523, and U.S. Pat.","No.","6,451,047, each of which is incorporated into this application as if fully set forth herein.","When the encapsulated stent is comprised of shape memory alloy, characteristics of the stent make it necessary to encapsulate in the “large” state and then compress the encapsulated stent for delivery.","In this case, encapsulation either increases the device's resistance to compression, or increases the delivery profile of the device as compression causes the polymeric material to fold or buckle around the stent.","Perhaps the most serious problem is that the folding during compression actually encompasses folding of the stent itself, which unduly stresses the stent material and may result in structural failure.","In contrast to the prior art, the present invention provides a method to encapsulate a stent in ePTFE whereby the structure contains pockets or regions where the ePTFE layers are not adhered to one another allowing the stent to contract or expand without being encumbered by ePTFE and without folding or stressing the stent itself.","As used herein, the following terms have the following meanings: “Fibril” refers to a strand of PTFE material that originates from one or more nodes and terminates at one or more nodes.","“Node” refers to the solid region within an ePTFE material at which fibrils originate and converge.","“Internodal Distance” or “IND” refers to a distance between two adjacent nodes measured along the longitudinal axis of fibrils between the facing surfaces of the adjacent nodes.","IND is usually expressed in micrometers (μm).","“Node Length” as used herein refers to a distance measured along a straight line between the furthermost end points of a single node which line is perpendicular to the fibrils emanating from the node.","“Nodal Elongation” as used herein refers to expansion of PTFE nodes in the ePTFE microstructure along the Node Length.","“Longitudinal Surface” of a node as used herein refers to a nodal surface from which fibrils emanate.","“Node Width” as used herein refers to a distance measured along a straight line, drawn parallel to the fibrils, between opposing longitudinal surfaces of a node.","“Plastic Deformation” as used herein refers to the deformation of the ePTFE microstructure under the influence of an expansive force which deforms and increases the Node Length and results in elastic recoil of the ePTFE material less than about 25%.","“Radially Expandable” as used herein to describe the present invention refers to a property of the ePTFE tubular member to undergo radially oriented Plastic Deformation mediated by Nodal Elongation.","“Structural Integrity” as used herein to describe the present invention in terms of the ePTFE refers to a condition of the ePTFE microstructure both pre- and post-radial deformation in which the fibrils are substantially free of fractures or breaks and the ePTFE material is free of gross failures; when used to describe the entire device “Structural Integrity” may also include delamination of the ePTFE layers.","Endoluminal stent devices are typically categorized into two primary types: balloon expandable and self-expanding.","Of the self-expanding types of endoluminal stent devices, there are two principle sub-categories: elastically self-expanding and thermally self-expanding.","The balloon expandable stents are typically made of a ductile material, such as stainless steel tube, which has been machined to form a pattern of openings separated by stent elements.","Radial expansion is achieved by applying a radially outwardly directed force to the lumen of a balloon expandable stent and deforming the stent beyond its elastic limit from a smaller initial diameter to an enlarged final diameter.","In this process the slots deform into “diamond shapes.” Balloon expandable stents are typically radially and longitudinally rigid and have limited recoil after expansion.","These stents have superior hoop strength against compressive forces but should this strength be overcome, the devices will deform and not recover.","Self-expanding stents, on the other hand, are fabricated from either spring metal or shape memory alloy wire which has been woven, wound or formed into a stent having interstices separated with wire stent elements.","When compared to balloon-expandable stents, these devices have less hoop strength but their inherent resiliency allows them to recover once a compressive force that results in deformation is removed.","Covered endoluminal stents are known in the art.","Heretofore, however, the stent covering has been made of a polymeric material which has completely subtended the stent interstices, that is, the stent was completely embedded in the polymeric material.","This has posed difficulty particularly with the self-expanding stents.","To preserve their self-expanding property, all covered self-expanding stents have been covered with a polymeric covering while the stent is in its unstrained dimensional condition (i.e., its native enlarged diameter).","Yet in order to deliver a covered stent, it must be constricted to a smaller delivery diameter.","Radial compression of a stent necessarily causes the individual stent elements to traverse the stent interstices and pass into proximity to a laterally adjacent individual stent element, thereby occupying the previously open interstitial space.","Any polymeric material which subtends or resides within the previously open interstitial space will necessarily be displaced, either through shearing, fracturing or otherwise responding to the narrowing of the interstitial space as the stent is compressed from its enlarged unstrained diameter to its strained reduced diameter.","Because the struts of the stent are completely encapsulated, resistance of the polymer may cause folding or stressing of the struts during compression.","It was recognized, therefore, that a need has developed to provide an encapsulating covering for a stent which is permanently retained on the stent, substantially isolates the stent material from the body tissue forming the anatomical passageway or from matter within the anatomical passageway, and which permits the stent to deform without substantial interference from the covering material.","It is, therefore, a primary objective of the present invention to provide a method for encapsulating an endoluminal stent such that the encapsulating covering forms non-adhered regions which act as slip planes or pockets to permit the individual stent elements to traverse a substantial surface area of interstitial space between adjacent stent elements without resistance or interference from the encapsulating covering, thereby avoiding damage or stress to the stent elements.","It is a further object of the present invention to use the pockets between the bonded regions to contain and deliver therapeutic substances.","It is another objective of the present invention to provide an apparatus for applying to and selectively adhering sections of the encapsulating covering about the stent, and to provide a selectively adhered encapsulated covered stent-graft device.","BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, the present invention relates generally to endoluminal stent-graft devices suitable for percutaneous delivery into a body through anatomical passageways to treat injured or diseased areas of the body.","More particularly, the present invention relates to a method of bonding microporous polytetrafluoroethylene (“PTFE”) coverings over a stent scaffold in a manner which maintains unbonded regions to act as slip planes or pockets to accommodate planar movement of stent elements.","In one embodiment of the present invention bonded and unbonded regions are formed by means of a mandrel which has a pattern of either raised projections or recesses in its surface which are either synchronous or asynchronous, respectively, with stent elements.","In one embodiment, an encapsulated stent-graft device is provided in which an endoluminal stent having a plurality of individual stent elements separated by interstitial spaces is circumferentially covered along at least a portion of its longitudinal axis by at least one luminal and at least one abluminal covering of a polymeric material, the luminal and abluminal coverings being selectively adhered to one another at discrete portions thereof in a manner which forms a plurality of open pockets surrounding a plurality of stent elements.","In another embodiment, a radially expandable reinforced vascular graft includes a first layer of biocompatible flexible material, a second layer of biocompatible flexible material, and a support layer sandwiched between the first and second layers of biocompatible flexible material.","In one embodiment, a selective bonding system can be advantageously used to produce inflatable pockets by bonding the first layer to the second layer in defined patterns.","The resulting structure can then be inflated and stiffened by injection of a fluid resulting in a supporting structure without inclusion of a stent.","A crude analogy might be the construction of an air mattress that is composed of flexible polymeric layers bonded to each other in a predetermined pattern.","The at least one luminal and at least one abluminal covering of a polymeric material are preferably comprised of expanded PTFE, unexpanded porous PTFE, woven polyester or expanded PTFE yarns, polyimides, silicones, polyurethane, fluoroethylpolypropylene (PEP), polypropylfluorinated amines (PFA), or other related fluorinated polymers.","The stent may be made of any strong material which can undergo radial expansion but which is also resistant to non-elastic collapse such as silver, titanium, nickel-titanium alloys, stainless steel, gold, or any suitable plastic material capable of maintaining its shape and material properties at sintering temperatures and having the necessary strength and elasticity to enable radial expansion without collapse due to the presence of the polymer coverings.","A preferred embodiment of the radially expandable reinforced vascular device includes a tubular stent, having a plurality of stent elements and stent interstices, concentrically covered along at least a portion of its longitudinal length by a luminal polymeric covering and an abluminal polymeric covering.","The luminal and abluminal polymeric coverings are discontinuously joined to one another through some of the stent interstices.","The luminal and abluminal polymeric coverings may be shorter in length than the stent member to permit opposing stent ends to flare outwardly upon radial expansion of the stent member.","Alternatively, the ends of the stent member may be completely encased by the luminal and abluminal polymeric coverings.","The stent member is preferably a self-expanding stent, which may be either an elastic spring material stent, such as a stainless steel stent as disclosed in U.S. Pat.","No.","5,266,073 to Wall, a non-woven stainless steel self-expanding stent as disclosed in U.S. Pat.","No.","5,282,824 to Gianturco, or a thermoelastic stent made of a shape memory alloy, e.g., a nickel-titanium alloy commonly known as NITINOL, such as that disclosed in U.S. Pat.","No.","5,147,370 to McNamara et al., each of which is incorporated by reference into this application as if fully set forth herein.","As used herein, a tubular shaped support member preferably comprises a stent made of silver, titanium, stainless steel, gold, or any suitable plastic material capable of maintaining its shape and material properties at sintering temperatures and having the strength and elasticity to permit radial expansion and resist radial collapse.","In accordance with the present invention, selective bonding of expanded PTFE luminal and abluminal layers encapsulates the endoluminal stent and isolates the stent from both the tissue forming the anatomical passageway as well as any fluid, such as blood, bile, urine, etc.","which may pass through the anatomical passageway.","The presence of slip planes or pockets formed by the selectively adhered regions of ePTFE: i) permits freedom of movement of stent elements within the encapsulating covering during both expansion and contraction of the stent along either its radial or longitudinal axes; ii) permits uniform folding of the ePTFE stent covering material which is complementary to the structure of the stent element lattice; iii) permits movement of the stent relative to the ePTFE encapsulating layers; iv) reduces forces required to compress or dilate the stent in the case of elastically or thermally self-expanding stents; v) reduces radial expansion pressures required to balloon expand an ePTFE encapsulated stent; and vi) provides void regions which may be used in conjunction with the microporous microstructure of the ePTFE covering material to retain and release bioactive substances, such as anticoagulant drugs, anti-inflammatory drugs, or the like.","Alternative arrangements of the stent member or other suitable structural support sufficient to maintain the luminal patency of the luminal and abluminal polymer coverings may be employed.","For example, a radially expandable, articulated reinforced vascular graft may be formed by concentrically interdisposing a structural support assembly comprising multiple stent members spaced apart from one another between two tubular polymer covering members, then partially joining the two tubular polymer covering members by circumferentially compressing selected regions of the two tubular polymer covering members and thermally bonding the selectively compressed regions to one another.","The present invention also encompasses selective bonding of multiple polymeric layers to create an inflatable structure.","Such a structure can be inflated by fluids delivered through lumens within the delivery catheter.","The selective bonding method allows creation of devices with multiple adjacent channels or pockets.","Some of these pockets can be pre-filled with a therapeutic drug to prevent restenosis or local thrombosis.","Alternate pockets can be arranged for fluid inflation after the device is inserted.","One method of making the foregoing encapsulated stent-graft is to join concentrically a luminal polymeric tube, an endoluminal stent, and an abluminal polymeric tube and to place the assembly onto a mandrel having a plurality of raised projections separated by land areas, or by a plurality of land areas separated by a plurality of recesses.","Either the raised projections or the land areas are patterned to match a pattern of either the stent elements of the stent interstices, both the stent elements and stent interstices or portions of each.","In this way the projections or the landed areas exert pressure, respectively on select regions of the PTFE resulting in limited regions of adherence or fusion when the device is heated to sintering temperatures.","Using a mandrel, luminal pressure is selectively applied to produce selectively placed bonds.","As will become clear, bonding pressure can be applied from the luminal or the abluminal or both surfaces of the device.","The present invention is also directed to a process for making a radially expandable reinforced stent-graft device by: a) positioning a radially expandable stent member including a plurality of interconnected stent elements and a plurality of interstices between adjacent interconnected stent elements, concentrically over a first polymeric cover member; b) positioning a second polymer cover member concentrically over the radially expandable stent member and the first polymeric cover member; c) selectively joining portions of the first polymeric cover member and the second polymeric cover member through a plurality of the interstices of the stent member, while leaving portions of the first and second polymeric cover members unjoined and forming slip planes or pockets to accommodate movement of at least a portion of the interconnected stent elements therethrough; and d) fully joining opposing end regions of the first and second polymer cover members through the interstices of the stent member proximate to opposing ends of the stent member.","Fixing the support layer to the biocompatible graft layers includes selectively applying pressure to the portions of the luminal and abluminal polymer covers after they are loaded onto a mandrel and then heating the resulting assembly at sintering temperatures to form a mechanical bond at the selected areas of applied pressure.","Alternatively, a pattern of at least one of an adhesive, an aqueous dispersion of polytetrafluoroethylene, a polytetrafluoroethylene tape, fluoroethylpolypropylene (PEP), or tetrafluoroethylene (collectively the “adhesive”) may be introduced between the luminal and abluminal polymer covers at selected positions, followed by heating the assembly to the melt temperature of the adhesive to bond the luminal and abluminal polymer covers while leaving unbonded slip plane regions to accommodate movement of the stent elements.","If ultraviolet curable adhesives are used, a UV laser or a photolithography system can be used to create the bond pattern.","Many thermoplastic polymers such as polyethylene, polypropylene, polyurethane and polyethylene terephthalate can also be used.","If pieces of one of these or similar polymers are placed or attached to one of the polymer covers in the region to be bonded, heat and pressure will melt the thermoplastic causing it to flow into the pores of the ePTFE, thereby bonding the ePTFE layers together.","These and other embodiments, features and advantages will become more apparent to those skilled in the art when taken with reference to the following more detailed description of the invention in conjunction with the accompanying drawings that are first briefly described.","BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG.","1 is a process flow diagram illustrating a preferred method of making a stent-graft device FIG.","2 is a perspective view of a mandrel having longitudinal ridges or splines.","FIG.","3 is a cross-section view of the mandrel shown in FIG.","2.FIG.","4 is a perspective view of a stent-graft device illustrating selected regions of bonding between the luminal and abluminal stent covers and a plurality of slip plane pockets intermediate the luminal and abluminal stent covers.","FIG.","5 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 5-5 of FIG.","4.FIG.","6 is a scanning electron micrograph illustrating a selectively bonded region and a slip plane pocket with a stent element residing therein.","FIG.","7 is a perspective view of a mandrel having circumferential ridges (as opposed to longitudinal splines).","FIG.","8 is a flow diagram showing a method of using adhesives to create selective adherence.","FIG.","9 is a flow diagram of an alternative method of using adhesives to create selective bonds.","DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The following detailed description should be read with reference to the drawings, in which like elements in different drawings are identically numbered.","The drawings, which are not necessarily to scale, depict selected embodiments and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention.","The detailed description illustrates by way of example, not by way of limitation, the principles of the invention.","This description will clearly enable one skilled in the art to make and use the invention, and describes several embodiments, adaptations, variations, alternatives and uses of the invention, including what is presently believed to be the best mode of carrying out the invention.","The selective adherence encapsulation of the present invention is an improvement to the total adherence method taught in U.S. Pat.","No.","5,749,880 that is incorporated by reference into this application as if fully set forth herein.","The '880 patent discloses a method for encapsulating a support stent by placing the stent over a first tubular member of unsintered ePTFE and then placing a second tubular member of unsintered ePTFE coaxially over the stent so that the stent is sandwiched between two layers of ePTFE.","Radial force is applied either internally or externally to force the first tubular member into contact with the stent and into contact with the second tubular members through openings in the stent or, respectively, to force the second tubular into contact with the stent and into contact with the first tubular member through openings in the stent.","Finally, the compound structure is exposed to an elevated temperature to bond the first tubular member to the second tubular member wherever they are pressed into contact.","In one embodiment an adhesive spread between the tubular members achieves the bonding.","In a preferred embodiment the elevated temperature is a sintering temperature (above the crystalline melting point of PTFE) and direct PTFE to PTFE bonds form.","As mentioned above, a potential drawback of this approach is that when the radial dimensions of the stent change, movement of components of the stent (necessary for radial dimensional changes) may be impeded by surrounding ePTFE.","If the stent is encapsulated in an expanded form and then reduced in diameter prior to insertion into a patient, the encapsulating ePTFE may significantly increase the force needed to compress the stent and may fold in a manner so as to increase the profile of the collapsed device.","If the bonding of the first member to the second member is selective, i.e., does not occur through all available openings in the stent, slip planes or pockets will be left in the structure so that stent components can reorient within these pockets without encountering resistance from the ePTFE.","Without the slip planes formed by the selective bonds of the present invention, crimping a shape memory stent may cause the stent members to fold or otherwise become stressed.","This can result in permanent damage to the stent.","There is a considerable possible range of extent for the selective adherence of the instant invention.","At one extreme is a fully encapsulated stent as provided by the '880 patent in which there is full bonding between all areas of the two tubular members in which the stent struts do not block contact.","At the other extreme would be a “spot welded” device where only tiny areas, probably in the middle of the open areas of the stent structure, are bonded.","At that extreme, there might be a tendency for the PTFE members to separate from the stent should the spot weld bond strength be exceeded; however, the spot weld structure would provide virtually no impedance to radial deformation of the stent.","The optimum extent of selective adherence, as well as the geometric position of the bonds in relation to the stent, depends on the structure of the stent as well as the desired properties of the completed device.","Complete control of the bond positions can be achieved by a numerically controlled (NC) machine in which the two-ePTFE members with the interposed stent are mounted on a mandrel that is attached to the spindle drive of a modified NC lathe.","In this device a heated tool whose tip is equal to the desired spot weld area is automatically pressed onto the mandrel-mounted ePTFE-stent sandwich in proper registration to create a bond in an open region between components or struts of the stent.","The tool moves away slightly as the mandrel turns to expose another open region and the tool then moves in to create a second bond and so on.","Depending on the distance that the mandrel turns, the spot welds may be in adjacent open spaces or may skip one or more open spaces.","As the mandrel is turned, the tool advances along the longitudinal axis of the mandrel so that virtually any patterns of spot welds can be created on the ePTFE-stent device.","The precise pattern is under computer control and an entire stent can be treated quite quickly.","If the design calls for spot welds of different surface areas, the stent can be treated with different tools (e.g., different areas) in several passes.","An ultrasonic welding tip can readily be substituted for the heated tool.","It is also possible to use radiant energy, as with a laser, to effect similar results.","However, the inventors presently believe that pressure as well as heat are needed for the best bonds.","Currently, laser-induced bonds do not appear to be as strong as bonds that are made with heat and pressure unless a curable adhesive system (as with a UV laser) is employed.","Splined or textured mandrels can also be used to apply selective heat and pressure to create selective adherence between the ePTFE members.","By “spline or splined” is meant a cylindrical structure with longitudinally oriented ridges equally spaced about the structure's circumference.","Wherever the first and second ePTFE tubular members come into contact a bond can be formed if heat and pressure are applied.","If the ePTFE tubular members and support stent are placed over a mandrel whose surface is patterned with elevated and depressed regions (hills and valleys), the elevated regions or ridges will apply pressure to the overlying stent-ePTFE regions allowing selective bonding of those regions.","Regions of ePTFE overlying valleys will not be pressed together and no bond will form there.","That is, the pattern of the mandrel will be translated into an identical pattern of bonded regions in the stent-graft device.","To make this translation, the process diagram of FIG.","1 is followed, as described below.","In a first step 32, a first ePTFE tubular member is placed on a mandrel.","Preferably, the first tubular member is composed of unsintered ePTFE.","In a second step 34, a stent device is placed over the first tubular member.","In a third step 36, a second ePTFE tubular member is slid coaxially over the stent.","The second tubular member may be unsintered or partially sintered.","Use of a partially sintered second tubular member reduces the chance of tearing the member while pulling it over the stent.","It will be apparent to one of skill in the art that there is an advantage to using a second tubular member with a slightly larger diameter than the first tubular member.","However, if the second tubular member is too large, folds or creases may develop during the bonding process.","This entire process may use one of the textured mandrels that will be described below.","However, it is also possible to assemble one or both tubular members and the stent on a smooth mandrel and then slip the assembly off the smooth mandrel and onto the textured mandrel.","If the fit is fairly tight, it may be easier to place the stent over the first tubular member when that member is supported by a smooth mandrel.","Also, there may be a limited number of textured mandrels available for production so that making a number of ePTFE-stent assemblies on less expensive smooth mandrels may result in a significant savings of time.","If a smooth mandrel is used, the stent assembly is transferred to a textured mandrel before the next step (wrapping) occurs.","In a fourth step 38, the ePTFE-stent assembly is helically wrapped with PTFE “tape.” This tape is actually a long, thin strip of PTFE of the type generally known as “plumber's tape.” The tape is evenly wound over the stent device so that the device is covered from end to end.","The tape is wound so that the long axis of the tape is approximately normal (offset by 10-) 15° to the long axis of the stent device.","Ideally, there should be some overlap of the tape covering the device so that coverage is even and complete.","In fact an overlap ratio wherein five revolutions is needed to progress one tape width has proven effective.","The tape should be applied with a controlled and even tension so that it is sufficiently tight to apply pressure at right angles to the surface of the stent device.","One way of achieving this is to use a force clutch on the tape spool to ensure a reproducible tension in the tape as it is wound over the stent device.","While this process can be performed by hand, it is fairly easy to automate the winding process by having the mandrel mounted in a modified lathe.","As the lathe spindle turns, the spool of tape automatically advances along the turning mandrel ensuring an even and reproducible wrapping.","In a fifth step 42, the wrapped assembly is then placed into an oven at a temperature above or nearly equal to the crystalline melting temperature of ePTFE.","The wrapping applies pressure to regions of ePTFE that are underlaid by raised portions of the textured mandrel.","The oven provides the necessary heat to cause a strong ePTFE-ePTFE bond to form in these regions.","The sintering time can vary from a few minutes to a few tens of minutes.","The overall time depends to some extent on the mass of the mandrel.","If the mandrel is solid, it may take a considerable time for the surface of the mandrel to reach sintering temperatures.","The process can be speeded up by using a hollow mandrel or even a mandrel containing a heating element so that the ePTFE is rapidly brought to a sintering temperature.","A thermistor or similar temperature sensor is advantageous embedded into the surface of the mandrel so that it is possible to determine when the ePTFE reaches sintering temperature.","In this way the process can be accurately timed.","In the final step 44, the tape is removed from the mandrel (after cooling) and the finished device is removed.","Results in this step indicate the success of the sintering step 42.If sintering time or temperature is excessive, there may be some bonding of the PTFE tape to the stent device.","The solution is to reduce the sintering time and/or temperature in future sintering.","This is one reason that time, temperature and wrapping force should be carefully controlled.","This problem can also be avoided by using means other than PTFE wrapping to apply pressure to the device during the sintering process.","At first glance it would appear that the radial pressure can be applied by a “clam shell” heating device that clamps around the stent device and mandrel.","However, such a device is not capable of applying even radial pressure.","One possible solution is to divide the clam shell device into a number of segments, preferably at least six, each of which is equipped with pressure means to force the segment radially towards the center of textured mandrel.","Similarly, the mandrel can be divided into segments or otherwise be capable of an increase in diameter (e.g., by formation from a material having a large coefficient of expansion upon temperature increase) to create radial pressure between the surface of the mandrel and the surrounding clam shell device.","An additional method of achieving bond pressure without wrapping is to use a clamshell device having an inner surface relief mirroring the textured mandrel.","That is, there would be ridges and valleys that would exactly register with the ridges and valleys on the mandrel when the shell is closed.","Similarly, a flat surface could be provided with ridges and valleys matching the mandrel surface if that surface were unrolled onto a flat plane.","With such a surface it is possible to roll the mandrel in contact and registration with the flat pattern so that defined pressure is applied to the raised mandrel regions.","The downward force applied to the mandrel controls the bond pressure while the rate of rolling controls the time a given bond is under pressure.","This process can be carried out in an oven or the mandrel and surface can contain heating elements.","One method of ensuring registration between the mandrel pattern and the flat surface pattern is to have gears attached to one or both ends of the mandrel mesh with a toothed rack that runs along one or both edges of the patterned surface.","Contact pressure is controlled by weight of the mandrel or by a mechanical linkage that applies a controlled downward force to the mandrel.","To this point no mandrel patterns or textures have been described.","It will be clear to one skilled in the art that this invention permits a complex pattern wherein the entire stent structure is mirrored by the valleys and ridges of the mandrel with the structural members of the stent fitting into the valleys and the apices of the ridges or raised portions falling at discrete points within the open areas of the stent.","What may be somewhat less obvious is that far simpler patterns can also produce excellent results in the present invention.","One simple mandrel design is a “splined” mandrel wherein the mandrel has a number of longitudinal ridges (splines) so that a cross-section of the mandrel looks something like a toothed gear.","FIG.","2 shows a perspective view of such a mandrel 20 with longitudinal splines 22.FIG.","3 shows a cross section of the mandrel 20 wherein it is apparent that the splines 22 have rounded edges to avoid damaging or cutting the surface of the ePTFE.","FIG.","4 shows a perspective view of an encapsulated stent 30 made on the splined mandrel 20.The stent 46 is composed of struts 48 arranged in a diamond pattern.","Regions 52 at the ends of the device (marked by cross-hatching) have complete bonding between the two ePTFE tubular members.","This region is produced by smooth, non-splined regions of the mandrel.","Dotted lines 54 mark the position of the splines and the resulting regions of selective bonding.","That is, the device has spaced apart bonded regions running the length of the open diamond regions 56.Because of this orientation, successive tiers of diamond regions 56 along the longitudinal axis of the device are alternately bonded and unbonded.","FIG.","6 shows a scanning electron micrograph of an oblique section through a longitudinally selectively bonded stent 44.A cross-section of the strut 48 is shown as well as a bonded region 54 and an unbonded slip pocket 62.The unbonded pockets 62 allow free movement of the stent struts 48.However, even those diamond regions 56 containing bonds 54 allow relatively unimpeded movement of the struts 48 because the bond 54 is only down the central part of the diamond region 56—relatively distant from the struts 48.Tests show that the selectively bonded stent 30 can be radially compressed with considerably less force than a stent that is encapsulated by uniformly bonding all regions where the ePTFE tubular members contact each other.","The longitudinal bonds somewhat restrict longitudinal compression of the device as the bonded regions buckle less readily than unbonded ePTFE.","The longitudinal bonds 54 do restrict the side to side flexibility or bendability of the device to some extent.","In some applications this stiffening of the device is desirable while in other applications one needs a stent device that is able to bend more freely.","Increased lateral flexibility can be achieved by using a mandrel with radial ridges rather than longitudinal ridges as shown in FIG.","7.Again the ridges 58 are spaced apart in relation to the strut 48 spacing in the stent to be encapsulated.","If the stent 46 shown in FIG.","4 is used, the radial ridges 58 can be spaced apart to place circumferential bonds through alternate tiers of diamond regions 56.The resulting device is more bendable laterally than the version with longitudinal bonds.","In addition, the circumferential bonds result in a device that is more easily compressed longitudinally.","It is clear that the area and orientation of the bond regions influence the properties of the final device.","For example, a helical pattern of ridges produces a device with intermediate properties: it is more laterally bendable that the longitudinally bonded device of FIG.","4, but it has more resistance to longitudinal compression than does a device with circumferential bonds.","The pitch of the helical pattern controls the overall effect with shallow pitches acting more like circumferential ridges and steep pitches acting more like longitudinal ridges.","Multiple helices can be used with opposing (e.g., clockwise and counter clockwise) ridges, producing a device that is more resistant to lateral bending.","Virtually any combination of the described patterns can be used to produce devices having a preferred direction of bendability or devices that resist longitudinal compression in one region while permitting such compression in another.","The stent device illustrated in the figures is one in which the stent struts form courses or diamond-shaped spaces and the struts continue from course to course to create an extended tubular device.","Stents are also available which consist of only a single course (or segment) of diamond-shapes.","The current method can advantageously be used to combine a number of these segments together to make an extended tubular device.","Frequently, these single segment stents consist of an alternation of larger and smaller diamond shapes.","For example, the segments can be arranged with large diamonds touching large diamonds.","Other arrangements included a “twisted” design wherein each successive segment is rotationally offset and an “alternating” design wherein alternate segment are rotated so that a given large diamond is bounded on either side by a small diamond.","The precise properties of the resulting encapsulated device depend on these factors.","However, the significant thing about the prior art encapsulation is that it produced a device that is relatively stiff and unbending.","Various adhesives (as opposed to directly adhering PTFE to PTFE) can also be used to create the pattern of bonded regions.","FIG.","8 shows a diagram of one method for using adhesives to create selective bonds.","In a first step 32, a tubular graft member is placed on a support such as a mandrel.","In a second step 34, a stent (or stents) is placed over the first graft member.","In a third step 64, a coating of adhesive is placed over the stent graft combination.","This adhesive is one that is “activatable” meaning that the material is not inherently sticky as it is applied.","However, it can be activated by applying heat, light or some other energy so that it hardens or otherwise changes to form a permanent bond.","In the next step 64, a second tubular member is placed over the adhesive-coated stent.","In the final step 66, a pattern of desired bonds is inscribed on the device with, for example, a laser or a heated probe or a photolithographic mask image.","The inscribing process provides energy to local regions of the structure to activate the adhesive and create selectively bonded regions.","A number of different activatable adhesive materials can be used in the present invention.","One such material might be a layer or coating of a thermoplastic such as polyethylene.","This material can be activated by heat that melts it so that it flows into the pores of the ePTFE.","After cooling, the plastic hardens so that the PTFE of one tubular member is bonded to the other tubular member."]],"string":"[\n [\n \"SELECTIVE ADHERENCE OF STENT-GRAFT COVERINGS\",\n \"An endoluminal prosthesis including a radially expandable support member having interior and exterior surfaces and a wall with openings, a first covering member including a biocompatible polymer material at least partially positioned against the interior surface, and a second covering member including a biocompatible polymer material at least partially positioned against the exterior surface.\",\n \"The first covering member attaches to the second covering member at predetermined bonding locations within less than all of the openings thereby leaving unbonded regions.\"\n ],\n [\n \"1.A prosthesis comprising: an expandable support comprising plural openings; a first covering inside of the support; and a second covering outside of the support, wherein the first and second coverings have multiple connections that extend through openings in the support and the connections form a pattern of loose space around the support.\",\n \"2.The prosthesis of claim 1 wherein the pattern of loose space includes a pocket around the support.\",\n \"3.The prosthesis of claim 2 wherein the prosthesis further comprises a therapeutic agent.\",\n \"4.The prosthesis of claim 3 wherein the pocket holds the therapeutic agent.\",\n \"5.The prosthesis of claim 4 wherein the connections additionally form a predominantly circumferential pattern.\",\n \"6.The prosthesis of claim 5 wherein the first covering is biocompatible.\",\n \"7.The prosthesis of claim 6 wherein the second covering is biocompatible.\",\n \"8.The prosthesis of claim 7 wherein the support and the first covering are unconnected.\",\n \"9.The prosthesis of claim 4 wherein the connections additionally form a predominantly longitudinal pattern.\",\n \"10.The prosthesis of claim 9 wherein the prosthesis length is greater than the first covering length and the second covering length.\",\n \"11.The prosthesis of claim 10 wherein the first covering and the second covering are fully bonded at their ends.\",\n \"12.The prosthesis of claim 11 wherein the second covering is biocompatible.\",\n \"13.The prosthesis of claim 12 wherein the first covering is biocompatible.\",\n \"14.The prosthesis of claim 13 wherein the support and the second covering are unconnected.\",\n \"15.The prosthesis of claim 14 wherein the support is radially expandable.\",\n \"16.The prosthesis of claim 15 wherein the support is cylindrical.\",\n \"17.The prosthesis of claim 16 wherein the support is a stent.\",\n \"18.A prosthesis comprising: a radially expandable stent comprising a plurality of openings; a first biocompatible covering inside of the stent; and a second biocompatible outside of the stent, wherein the first and second coverings are fully bonded at their ends, are unconnected to the stent, and have multiple connections that extend through openings in the stent, and the connections form a pattern of loose space defining a pocket around the stent, the pocket contains a therapeutic agent, and the stent length is greater than the first covering length and the second covering length.\"\n ],\n [\n \" BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The use of implantable vascular grafts comprised of PTFE is well known in the art.\",\n \"These grafts are typically used to replace or repair damaged or occluded blood vessels within the body.\",\n \"However, if such grafts are radially expanded within a blood vessel, they will exhibit some subsequent retraction.\",\n \"Further, such grafts usually require additional means for anchoring the graft within the blood vessel, such as sutures, clamps, or similarly functioning elements.\",\n \"To minimize the retraction and eliminate the requirement for additional attachment means, those skilled in the art have used stents, such as those presented by Palmaz in U.S. Pat.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"4,733,665 and Gianturco in U.S. Pat.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"4,580,568, which are incorporated by reference into this application as if fully set forth herein, either alone or in combination with PTFE grafts.\",\n \"For example, the stent described by Palmaz in U.S. Pat.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"4,733,665 can be used to repair an occluded blood vessel.\",\n \"The stent is introduced into the blood vessel via a balloon catheter, which is then positioned at the occluded site of the blood vessel.\",\n \"The balloon is then expanded, thereby expanding the overlying stent to a diameter comparable to the diameter of an unoccluded blood vessel.\",\n \"The balloon catheter is then deflated and removed with the stent remaining seated within the blood vessel because the stent shows little or no radial retraction.\",\n \"Use of radially expandable stents in combination with a PTFE graft is disclosed in U.S. Pat.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"5,078,726 to Kreamer, which teaches placing a pair of expandable stents within the interior ends of a prosthetic graft, having a length that is sufficient to span the damaged section of a blood vessel.\",\n \"The stents are then expanded to secure the graft to the blood vessel wall via a friction fit.\",\n \"Although stents and stent/graft combinations have been used to provide endovascular prostheses that are capable of maintaining their fit against blood vessel walls, other desirable features are lacking.\",\n \"For instance, features such as increased strength and durability of the prosthesis, as well as an inert, smooth, biocompatible blood flow surface on the luminal surface of the prosthesis and an inert, smooth biocompatible surface on the abluminal surface of the prosthesis, are advantageous characteristics of an implantable vascular graft.\",\n \"Some skilled in the art have recently addressed these desirable characteristics by producing strengthened and reinforced prostheses composed entirely of biocompatible grafts and graft layers.\",\n \"For example, U.S. Pat.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"5,048,065, issued to Weldon, et al.\",\n \"discloses a reinforced graft assembly comprising a biologic or biosynthetic graft component having a porous surface and a biologic or biosynthetic reinforcing sleeve which is concentrically fitted over the graft component.\",\n \"The reinforcing sleeve includes an internal layer, an intermediate layer, and an external layer, all of which comprise biocompatible fibers.\",\n \"The sleeve component functions to provide compliant reinforcement to the graft component.\",\n \"Further, U.S. Pat.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"5,163,951, issued to Pinchuk, et al.\",\n \"describes a composite vascular graft having an inner component, an intermediate component, and an outer component.\",\n \"The inner and outer components are preferably formed of expanded PTFE while the intermediate component is formed of strands of biocompatible synthetic material having a melting point lower than the material which comprises the inner and outer components.\",\n \"Another reinforced vascular prosthesis having enhanced compatibility and compliance is disclosed in U.S. Pat.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"5,354,329, issued to Whalen.\",\n \"This patent discloses a non-pyrogenic vascular prosthesis comprising a multilaminar tubular member having an interior stratum, a unitary medial stratum, and an exterior stratum.\",\n \"The medial stratum forms an exclusionary boundary between the interior and exterior strata.\",\n \"One embodiment of this prosthesis is formed entirely of silicone rubber that comprises different characteristics for the different strata contained within the graft.\",\n \"The prior art also includes grafts having increased strength and durability, which have been reinforced with stent-like members.\",\n \"For example, U.S. Pat.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"4,731,073, issued to Robinson, discloses an arterial graft prosthesis comprising a multi-layer graft having a helical reinforcement embedded within the wall of the graft.\",\n \"U.S. Pat.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"4,969,896, issued to Shors describes an inner elastomeric biocompatible tube having a plurality of rib members spaced about the exterior surface of the inner tube, and a perforate flexible biocompatible wrap circumferentially disposed about, and attached to, the rib members.\",\n \"Another example of a graft having reinforcing stent-like members is disclosed in U.S. Pat.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"5,123,917, issued to Lee, which describes an expandable intraluminal vascular graft having an inner flexible cylindrical tube, an outer flexible cylindrical tube concentrically enclosing the inner tube, and a plurality of separate scaffold members positioned between the inner and outer tubes.\",\n \"Further, U.S. Pat.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"5,282,860, issued to Matsuno et al.\",\n \"discloses a multi-layer stent comprising an outer resin tube having at least one flap to provide an anchoring means, an inner fluorine-based resin tube and a mechanical reinforcing layer positioned between the inner and outer tubes.\",\n \"Still another stent-containing graft is described in U.S. Pat.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"5,389,106 issued to Tower, which discloses an impermeable expandable intravascular stent including a dispensable frame and an impermeable deformable membrane interconnecting portions of the frame to form an impermeable exterior wall.\",\n \"The membrane comprises a synthetic non-latex, non-vinyl polymer while the frame is comprised of a fine platinum wire.\",\n \"The membrane is attached to the frame by placing the frame on a mandrel, dipping the frame and the mandrel into a polymer and organic solvent solution, withdrawing the frame and mandrel from the solution, drying the frame and mandrel, and removing the mandrel from the polymer-coated frame.\",\n \"Microporous expanded polytetrafluoroethylene (“ePTFE”) tubes may be made by any of a number of well-known methods.\",\n \"Expanded PTFE is frequently produced by admixing particulate dry polytetrafluoroethylene resin with a liquid lubricant to form a viscous slurry.\",\n \"The mixture is poured into a mold, typically a cylindrical mold, and compressed to form a cylindrical billet.\",\n \"The billet is then rammed extruded through an extrusion die into either tubular or sheet structures, termed extrudates in the art.\",\n \"The extrudates consist of extruded PTFE-lubricant mixture called “wet PTFE.” Wet PTFE has a microstructure of coalesced, coherent PTFE resin particles in a highly crystalline state.\",\n \"Following extrusion, the wet PTFE is heated to a temperature below the flash point of the lubricant to volatilize a major fraction of the lubricant from the PTFE extrudate.\",\n \"The resulting PTFE extrudate without a major fraction of lubricant is known in the art as dried PTFE.\",\n \"The dried PTFE is then either uniaxially, biaxially or radially expanded using appropriate mechanical apparatus known in the art.\",\n \"Expansion is typically carried out at an elevated temperature, e.g., above room temperature but below 327° C., the crystalline melt point of PTFE.\",\n \"Uniaxial, biaxial or radial expansion of the dried PTFE causes the coalesced, coherent PTFE resin to form fibrils emanating from nodes (regions of coalesced PTFE), with the fibrils oriented parallel to the axis of expansion.\",\n \"Once expanded, the dried PTFE is referred to as expanded PTFE (“ePTFE”) or microporous PTFE.\",\n \"The ePTFE is then transferred to an oven where it is sintered by being heated to a temperature above 327° C., the crystalline melt point of PTFE.\",\n \"During the sintering process the ePTFE is restrained against uniaxial, biaxial or radial contraction.\",\n \"Sintering causes at least a portion of the crystalline PTFE to change from a crystalline state to an amorphous state.\",\n \"The conversion from a highly crystalline structure to one having an increased amorphous content locks the node and fibril microstructure, as well as its orientation relative to the axis of expansion, and provides a dimensionally stable tubular or sheet material upon cooling.\",\n \"Prior to the sintering step, the lubricant must be removed because the sintering temperature of PTFE is greater than the flash point of commercially available lubricants.\",\n \"Sintered ePTFE articles exhibit significant resistance to further uniaxial, or radial expansion.\",\n \"This property has led many in the art to devise techniques which entail endoluminal delivery and placement of an ePTFE graft having a desired fixed diameter, followed by endoluminal delivery and placement of an endoluminal prosthesis, such as a stent or other fixation device, to frictionally engage the endoluminal prosthesis within the lumen of the anatomical passageway.\",\n \"The Kreamer patent, U.S. Pat.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"5,078,726, discussed above, exemplifies such use of an ePTFE prosthetic graft.\",\n \"Similarly, International Publication Nos.\",\n \"WO95/05132 and WO95/05555, filed by W.L.\",\n \"Gore Associates, Inc., disclose balloon expandable prosthetic stents which have been covered on inner and outer surfaces by wrapping ePTFE sheet material about the balloon expandable prosthetic stent in its enlarged diameter, sintering the wrapped ePTFE sheet material to secure it about the stent, and crimping the assembly to a reduced diameter for endoluminal delivery.\",\n \"Once positioned endoluminally, the stent-graft combination is dilated to re-expand the stent to its enlarged diameter returning the ePTFE wrapping to its original diameter.\",\n \"Thus, it is well known in the prior art to provide an ePTFE covering which is fabricated at the final desired endovascular diameter and is endoluminally delivered in a folded or crimped condition to reduce its delivery profile, then unfolded in vivo using either the spring tension of a self-expanding, thermally induced expanding structural support member or a balloon catheter.\",\n \"However, the known ePTFE covered endoluminal stents are often covered on only one surface of the stent, i.e., either the luminal or abluminal wall surface of the stent.\",\n \"Where the stent is fully covered on both the luminal and abluminal wall surfaces of the stent, the covering completely surrounds the stent elements and fills the stent interstices, thereby encapsulating the stent.\",\n \"Examples of patents teaching encapsulated stents and encapsulation techniques include commonly assigned patents: U.S. Pat.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"5,749,880, U.S. Pat.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"6,039,755, U.S. Pat.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"6,124,523, and U.S. Pat.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"6,451,047, each of which is incorporated into this application as if fully set forth herein.\",\n \"When the encapsulated stent is comprised of shape memory alloy, characteristics of the stent make it necessary to encapsulate in the “large” state and then compress the encapsulated stent for delivery.\",\n \"In this case, encapsulation either increases the device's resistance to compression, or increases the delivery profile of the device as compression causes the polymeric material to fold or buckle around the stent.\",\n \"Perhaps the most serious problem is that the folding during compression actually encompasses folding of the stent itself, which unduly stresses the stent material and may result in structural failure.\",\n \"In contrast to the prior art, the present invention provides a method to encapsulate a stent in ePTFE whereby the structure contains pockets or regions where the ePTFE layers are not adhered to one another allowing the stent to contract or expand without being encumbered by ePTFE and without folding or stressing the stent itself.\",\n \"As used herein, the following terms have the following meanings: “Fibril” refers to a strand of PTFE material that originates from one or more nodes and terminates at one or more nodes.\",\n \"“Node” refers to the solid region within an ePTFE material at which fibrils originate and converge.\",\n \"“Internodal Distance” or “IND” refers to a distance between two adjacent nodes measured along the longitudinal axis of fibrils between the facing surfaces of the adjacent nodes.\",\n \"IND is usually expressed in micrometers (μm).\",\n \"“Node Length” as used herein refers to a distance measured along a straight line between the furthermost end points of a single node which line is perpendicular to the fibrils emanating from the node.\",\n \"“Nodal Elongation” as used herein refers to expansion of PTFE nodes in the ePTFE microstructure along the Node Length.\",\n \"“Longitudinal Surface” of a node as used herein refers to a nodal surface from which fibrils emanate.\",\n \"“Node Width” as used herein refers to a distance measured along a straight line, drawn parallel to the fibrils, between opposing longitudinal surfaces of a node.\",\n \"“Plastic Deformation” as used herein refers to the deformation of the ePTFE microstructure under the influence of an expansive force which deforms and increases the Node Length and results in elastic recoil of the ePTFE material less than about 25%.\",\n \"“Radially Expandable” as used herein to describe the present invention refers to a property of the ePTFE tubular member to undergo radially oriented Plastic Deformation mediated by Nodal Elongation.\",\n \"“Structural Integrity” as used herein to describe the present invention in terms of the ePTFE refers to a condition of the ePTFE microstructure both pre- and post-radial deformation in which the fibrils are substantially free of fractures or breaks and the ePTFE material is free of gross failures; when used to describe the entire device “Structural Integrity” may also include delamination of the ePTFE layers.\",\n \"Endoluminal stent devices are typically categorized into two primary types: balloon expandable and self-expanding.\",\n \"Of the self-expanding types of endoluminal stent devices, there are two principle sub-categories: elastically self-expanding and thermally self-expanding.\",\n \"The balloon expandable stents are typically made of a ductile material, such as stainless steel tube, which has been machined to form a pattern of openings separated by stent elements.\",\n \"Radial expansion is achieved by applying a radially outwardly directed force to the lumen of a balloon expandable stent and deforming the stent beyond its elastic limit from a smaller initial diameter to an enlarged final diameter.\",\n \"In this process the slots deform into “diamond shapes.” Balloon expandable stents are typically radially and longitudinally rigid and have limited recoil after expansion.\",\n \"These stents have superior hoop strength against compressive forces but should this strength be overcome, the devices will deform and not recover.\",\n \"Self-expanding stents, on the other hand, are fabricated from either spring metal or shape memory alloy wire which has been woven, wound or formed into a stent having interstices separated with wire stent elements.\",\n \"When compared to balloon-expandable stents, these devices have less hoop strength but their inherent resiliency allows them to recover once a compressive force that results in deformation is removed.\",\n \"Covered endoluminal stents are known in the art.\",\n \"Heretofore, however, the stent covering has been made of a polymeric material which has completely subtended the stent interstices, that is, the stent was completely embedded in the polymeric material.\",\n \"This has posed difficulty particularly with the self-expanding stents.\",\n \"To preserve their self-expanding property, all covered self-expanding stents have been covered with a polymeric covering while the stent is in its unstrained dimensional condition (i.e., its native enlarged diameter).\",\n \"Yet in order to deliver a covered stent, it must be constricted to a smaller delivery diameter.\",\n \"Radial compression of a stent necessarily causes the individual stent elements to traverse the stent interstices and pass into proximity to a laterally adjacent individual stent element, thereby occupying the previously open interstitial space.\",\n \"Any polymeric material which subtends or resides within the previously open interstitial space will necessarily be displaced, either through shearing, fracturing or otherwise responding to the narrowing of the interstitial space as the stent is compressed from its enlarged unstrained diameter to its strained reduced diameter.\",\n \"Because the struts of the stent are completely encapsulated, resistance of the polymer may cause folding or stressing of the struts during compression.\",\n \"It was recognized, therefore, that a need has developed to provide an encapsulating covering for a stent which is permanently retained on the stent, substantially isolates the stent material from the body tissue forming the anatomical passageway or from matter within the anatomical passageway, and which permits the stent to deform without substantial interference from the covering material.\",\n \"It is, therefore, a primary objective of the present invention to provide a method for encapsulating an endoluminal stent such that the encapsulating covering forms non-adhered regions which act as slip planes or pockets to permit the individual stent elements to traverse a substantial surface area of interstitial space between adjacent stent elements without resistance or interference from the encapsulating covering, thereby avoiding damage or stress to the stent elements.\",\n \"It is a further object of the present invention to use the pockets between the bonded regions to contain and deliver therapeutic substances.\",\n \"It is another objective of the present invention to provide an apparatus for applying to and selectively adhering sections of the encapsulating covering about the stent, and to provide a selectively adhered encapsulated covered stent-graft device.\"\n ],\n [\n \" BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, the present invention relates generally to endoluminal stent-graft devices suitable for percutaneous delivery into a body through anatomical passageways to treat injured or diseased areas of the body.\",\n \"More particularly, the present invention relates to a method of bonding microporous polytetrafluoroethylene (“PTFE”) coverings over a stent scaffold in a manner which maintains unbonded regions to act as slip planes or pockets to accommodate planar movement of stent elements.\",\n \"In one embodiment of the present invention bonded and unbonded regions are formed by means of a mandrel which has a pattern of either raised projections or recesses in its surface which are either synchronous or asynchronous, respectively, with stent elements.\",\n \"In one embodiment, an encapsulated stent-graft device is provided in which an endoluminal stent having a plurality of individual stent elements separated by interstitial spaces is circumferentially covered along at least a portion of its longitudinal axis by at least one luminal and at least one abluminal covering of a polymeric material, the luminal and abluminal coverings being selectively adhered to one another at discrete portions thereof in a manner which forms a plurality of open pockets surrounding a plurality of stent elements.\",\n \"In another embodiment, a radially expandable reinforced vascular graft includes a first layer of biocompatible flexible material, a second layer of biocompatible flexible material, and a support layer sandwiched between the first and second layers of biocompatible flexible material.\",\n \"In one embodiment, a selective bonding system can be advantageously used to produce inflatable pockets by bonding the first layer to the second layer in defined patterns.\",\n \"The resulting structure can then be inflated and stiffened by injection of a fluid resulting in a supporting structure without inclusion of a stent.\",\n \"A crude analogy might be the construction of an air mattress that is composed of flexible polymeric layers bonded to each other in a predetermined pattern.\",\n \"The at least one luminal and at least one abluminal covering of a polymeric material are preferably comprised of expanded PTFE, unexpanded porous PTFE, woven polyester or expanded PTFE yarns, polyimides, silicones, polyurethane, fluoroethylpolypropylene (PEP), polypropylfluorinated amines (PFA), or other related fluorinated polymers.\",\n \"The stent may be made of any strong material which can undergo radial expansion but which is also resistant to non-elastic collapse such as silver, titanium, nickel-titanium alloys, stainless steel, gold, or any suitable plastic material capable of maintaining its shape and material properties at sintering temperatures and having the necessary strength and elasticity to enable radial expansion without collapse due to the presence of the polymer coverings.\",\n \"A preferred embodiment of the radially expandable reinforced vascular device includes a tubular stent, having a plurality of stent elements and stent interstices, concentrically covered along at least a portion of its longitudinal length by a luminal polymeric covering and an abluminal polymeric covering.\",\n \"The luminal and abluminal polymeric coverings are discontinuously joined to one another through some of the stent interstices.\",\n \"The luminal and abluminal polymeric coverings may be shorter in length than the stent member to permit opposing stent ends to flare outwardly upon radial expansion of the stent member.\",\n \"Alternatively, the ends of the stent member may be completely encased by the luminal and abluminal polymeric coverings.\",\n \"The stent member is preferably a self-expanding stent, which may be either an elastic spring material stent, such as a stainless steel stent as disclosed in U.S. Pat.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"5,266,073 to Wall, a non-woven stainless steel self-expanding stent as disclosed in U.S. Pat.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"5,282,824 to Gianturco, or a thermoelastic stent made of a shape memory alloy, e.g., a nickel-titanium alloy commonly known as NITINOL, such as that disclosed in U.S. Pat.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"5,147,370 to McNamara et al., each of which is incorporated by reference into this application as if fully set forth herein.\",\n \"As used herein, a tubular shaped support member preferably comprises a stent made of silver, titanium, stainless steel, gold, or any suitable plastic material capable of maintaining its shape and material properties at sintering temperatures and having the strength and elasticity to permit radial expansion and resist radial collapse.\",\n \"In accordance with the present invention, selective bonding of expanded PTFE luminal and abluminal layers encapsulates the endoluminal stent and isolates the stent from both the tissue forming the anatomical passageway as well as any fluid, such as blood, bile, urine, etc.\",\n \"which may pass through the anatomical passageway.\",\n \"The presence of slip planes or pockets formed by the selectively adhered regions of ePTFE: i) permits freedom of movement of stent elements within the encapsulating covering during both expansion and contraction of the stent along either its radial or longitudinal axes; ii) permits uniform folding of the ePTFE stent covering material which is complementary to the structure of the stent element lattice; iii) permits movement of the stent relative to the ePTFE encapsulating layers; iv) reduces forces required to compress or dilate the stent in the case of elastically or thermally self-expanding stents; v) reduces radial expansion pressures required to balloon expand an ePTFE encapsulated stent; and vi) provides void regions which may be used in conjunction with the microporous microstructure of the ePTFE covering material to retain and release bioactive substances, such as anticoagulant drugs, anti-inflammatory drugs, or the like.\",\n \"Alternative arrangements of the stent member or other suitable structural support sufficient to maintain the luminal patency of the luminal and abluminal polymer coverings may be employed.\",\n \"For example, a radially expandable, articulated reinforced vascular graft may be formed by concentrically interdisposing a structural support assembly comprising multiple stent members spaced apart from one another between two tubular polymer covering members, then partially joining the two tubular polymer covering members by circumferentially compressing selected regions of the two tubular polymer covering members and thermally bonding the selectively compressed regions to one another.\",\n \"The present invention also encompasses selective bonding of multiple polymeric layers to create an inflatable structure.\",\n \"Such a structure can be inflated by fluids delivered through lumens within the delivery catheter.\",\n \"The selective bonding method allows creation of devices with multiple adjacent channels or pockets.\",\n \"Some of these pockets can be pre-filled with a therapeutic drug to prevent restenosis or local thrombosis.\",\n \"Alternate pockets can be arranged for fluid inflation after the device is inserted.\",\n \"One method of making the foregoing encapsulated stent-graft is to join concentrically a luminal polymeric tube, an endoluminal stent, and an abluminal polymeric tube and to place the assembly onto a mandrel having a plurality of raised projections separated by land areas, or by a plurality of land areas separated by a plurality of recesses.\",\n \"Either the raised projections or the land areas are patterned to match a pattern of either the stent elements of the stent interstices, both the stent elements and stent interstices or portions of each.\",\n \"In this way the projections or the landed areas exert pressure, respectively on select regions of the PTFE resulting in limited regions of adherence or fusion when the device is heated to sintering temperatures.\",\n \"Using a mandrel, luminal pressure is selectively applied to produce selectively placed bonds.\",\n \"As will become clear, bonding pressure can be applied from the luminal or the abluminal or both surfaces of the device.\",\n \"The present invention is also directed to a process for making a radially expandable reinforced stent-graft device by: a) positioning a radially expandable stent member including a plurality of interconnected stent elements and a plurality of interstices between adjacent interconnected stent elements, concentrically over a first polymeric cover member; b) positioning a second polymer cover member concentrically over the radially expandable stent member and the first polymeric cover member; c) selectively joining portions of the first polymeric cover member and the second polymeric cover member through a plurality of the interstices of the stent member, while leaving portions of the first and second polymeric cover members unjoined and forming slip planes or pockets to accommodate movement of at least a portion of the interconnected stent elements therethrough; and d) fully joining opposing end regions of the first and second polymer cover members through the interstices of the stent member proximate to opposing ends of the stent member.\",\n \"Fixing the support layer to the biocompatible graft layers includes selectively applying pressure to the portions of the luminal and abluminal polymer covers after they are loaded onto a mandrel and then heating the resulting assembly at sintering temperatures to form a mechanical bond at the selected areas of applied pressure.\",\n \"Alternatively, a pattern of at least one of an adhesive, an aqueous dispersion of polytetrafluoroethylene, a polytetrafluoroethylene tape, fluoroethylpolypropylene (PEP), or tetrafluoroethylene (collectively the “adhesive”) may be introduced between the luminal and abluminal polymer covers at selected positions, followed by heating the assembly to the melt temperature of the adhesive to bond the luminal and abluminal polymer covers while leaving unbonded slip plane regions to accommodate movement of the stent elements.\",\n \"If ultraviolet curable adhesives are used, a UV laser or a photolithography system can be used to create the bond pattern.\",\n \"Many thermoplastic polymers such as polyethylene, polypropylene, polyurethane and polyethylene terephthalate can also be used.\",\n \"If pieces of one of these or similar polymers are placed or attached to one of the polymer covers in the region to be bonded, heat and pressure will melt the thermoplastic causing it to flow into the pores of the ePTFE, thereby bonding the ePTFE layers together.\",\n \"These and other embodiments, features and advantages will become more apparent to those skilled in the art when taken with reference to the following more detailed description of the invention in conjunction with the accompanying drawings that are first briefly described.\"\n ],\n [\n \"PRIORITY This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"15/348,180, filed Nov. 10, 2016, which is a division of U.S. application Ser.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"14/310,527, filed Jun.\",\n \"20, 2014, now U.S. Pat.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"9,492,269, which is a continuation of U.S. application Ser.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"13/225,028, filed Sep. 2, 2011, now U.S. Pat.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"8,790,241, which is a continuation of U.S. application Ser.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"11/363,689, filed Feb. 27, 2006, now U.S. Pat.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"8,012,194, which is a continuation of U.S. application Ser.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"10/410,589, filed Apr.\",\n \"9, 2003, now U.S. Pat.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"7,004,966, which is a continuation of U.S. application Ser.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"09/1764,811, filed Jan. 16, 2001, now U.S. Pat.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"6,547,814, which is a division of U.S. application Ser.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"09/409,209, filed Sep. 30, 1999, now U.S. Pat.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"6,245,099, which claims the benefit under 35 U.S.C.\",\n \"§ 119(e) to U.S.\",\n \"Provisional Application No.\",\n \"60/1102,518, filed Sep. 30, 1998, each of which is incorporated by reference into this application as if fully set forth herein.\",\n \"BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The use of implantable vascular grafts comprised of PTFE is well known in the art.\",\n \"These grafts are typically used to replace or repair damaged or occluded blood vessels within the body.\",\n \"However, if such grafts are radially expanded within a blood vessel, they will exhibit some subsequent retraction.\",\n \"Further, such grafts usually require additional means for anchoring the graft within the blood vessel, such as sutures, clamps, or similarly functioning elements.\",\n \"To minimize the retraction and eliminate the requirement for additional attachment means, those skilled in the art have used stents, such as those presented by Palmaz in U.S. Pat.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"4,733,665 and Gianturco in U.S. Pat.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"4,580,568, which are incorporated by reference into this application as if fully set forth herein, either alone or in combination with PTFE grafts.\",\n \"For example, the stent described by Palmaz in U.S. Pat.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"4,733,665 can be used to repair an occluded blood vessel.\",\n \"The stent is introduced into the blood vessel via a balloon catheter, which is then positioned at the occluded site of the blood vessel.\",\n \"The balloon is then expanded, thereby expanding the overlying stent to a diameter comparable to the diameter of an unoccluded blood vessel.\",\n \"The balloon catheter is then deflated and removed with the stent remaining seated within the blood vessel because the stent shows little or no radial retraction.\",\n \"Use of radially expandable stents in combination with a PTFE graft is disclosed in U.S. Pat.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"5,078,726 to Kreamer, which teaches placing a pair of expandable stents within the interior ends of a prosthetic graft, having a length that is sufficient to span the damaged section of a blood vessel.\",\n \"The stents are then expanded to secure the graft to the blood vessel wall via a friction fit.\",\n \"Although stents and stent/graft combinations have been used to provide endovascular prostheses that are capable of maintaining their fit against blood vessel walls, other desirable features are lacking.\",\n \"For instance, features such as increased strength and durability of the prosthesis, as well as an inert, smooth, biocompatible blood flow surface on the luminal surface of the prosthesis and an inert, smooth biocompatible surface on the abluminal surface of the prosthesis, are advantageous characteristics of an implantable vascular graft.\",\n \"Some skilled in the art have recently addressed these desirable characteristics by producing strengthened and reinforced prostheses composed entirely of biocompatible grafts and graft layers.\",\n \"For example, U.S. Pat.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"5,048,065, issued to Weldon, et al.\",\n \"discloses a reinforced graft assembly comprising a biologic or biosynthetic graft component having a porous surface and a biologic or biosynthetic reinforcing sleeve which is concentrically fitted over the graft component.\",\n \"The reinforcing sleeve includes an internal layer, an intermediate layer, and an external layer, all of which comprise biocompatible fibers.\",\n \"The sleeve component functions to provide compliant reinforcement to the graft component.\",\n \"Further, U.S. Pat.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"5,163,951, issued to Pinchuk, et al.\",\n \"describes a composite vascular graft having an inner component, an intermediate component, and an outer component.\",\n \"The inner and outer components are preferably formed of expanded PTFE while the intermediate component is formed of strands of biocompatible synthetic material having a melting point lower than the material which comprises the inner and outer components.\",\n \"Another reinforced vascular prosthesis having enhanced compatibility and compliance is disclosed in U.S. Pat.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"5,354,329, issued to Whalen.\",\n \"This patent discloses a non-pyrogenic vascular prosthesis comprising a multilaminar tubular member having an interior stratum, a unitary medial stratum, and an exterior stratum.\",\n \"The medial stratum forms an exclusionary boundary between the interior and exterior strata.\",\n \"One embodiment of this prosthesis is formed entirely of silicone rubber that comprises different characteristics for the different strata contained within the graft.\",\n \"The prior art also includes grafts having increased strength and durability, which have been reinforced with stent-like members.\",\n \"For example, U.S. Pat.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"4,731,073, issued to Robinson, discloses an arterial graft prosthesis comprising a multi-layer graft having a helical reinforcement embedded within the wall of the graft.\",\n \"U.S. Pat.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"4,969,896, issued to Shors describes an inner elastomeric biocompatible tube having a plurality of rib members spaced about the exterior surface of the inner tube, and a perforate flexible biocompatible wrap circumferentially disposed about, and attached to, the rib members.\",\n \"Another example of a graft having reinforcing stent-like members is disclosed in U.S. Pat.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"5,123,917, issued to Lee, which describes an expandable intraluminal vascular graft having an inner flexible cylindrical tube, an outer flexible cylindrical tube concentrically enclosing the inner tube, and a plurality of separate scaffold members positioned between the inner and outer tubes.\",\n \"Further, U.S. Pat.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"5,282,860, issued to Matsuno et al.\",\n \"discloses a multi-layer stent comprising an outer resin tube having at least one flap to provide an anchoring means, an inner fluorine-based resin tube and a mechanical reinforcing layer positioned between the inner and outer tubes.\",\n \"Still another stent-containing graft is described in U.S. Pat.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"5,389,106 issued to Tower, which discloses an impermeable expandable intravascular stent including a dispensable frame and an impermeable deformable membrane interconnecting portions of the frame to form an impermeable exterior wall.\",\n \"The membrane comprises a synthetic non-latex, non-vinyl polymer while the frame is comprised of a fine platinum wire.\",\n \"The membrane is attached to the frame by placing the frame on a mandrel, dipping the frame and the mandrel into a polymer and organic solvent solution, withdrawing the frame and mandrel from the solution, drying the frame and mandrel, and removing the mandrel from the polymer-coated frame.\",\n \"Microporous expanded polytetrafluoroethylene (“ePTFE”) tubes may be made by any of a number of well-known methods.\",\n \"Expanded PTFE is frequently produced by admixing particulate dry polytetrafluoroethylene resin with a liquid lubricant to form a viscous slurry.\",\n \"The mixture is poured into a mold, typically a cylindrical mold, and compressed to form a cylindrical billet.\",\n \"The billet is then rammed extruded through an extrusion die into either tubular or sheet structures, termed extrudates in the art.\",\n \"The extrudates consist of extruded PTFE-lubricant mixture called “wet PTFE.” Wet PTFE has a microstructure of coalesced, coherent PTFE resin particles in a highly crystalline state.\",\n \"Following extrusion, the wet PTFE is heated to a temperature below the flash point of the lubricant to volatilize a major fraction of the lubricant from the PTFE extrudate.\",\n \"The resulting PTFE extrudate without a major fraction of lubricant is known in the art as dried PTFE.\",\n \"The dried PTFE is then either uniaxially, biaxially or radially expanded using appropriate mechanical apparatus known in the art.\",\n \"Expansion is typically carried out at an elevated temperature, e.g., above room temperature but below 327° C., the crystalline melt point of PTFE.\",\n \"Uniaxial, biaxial or radial expansion of the dried PTFE causes the coalesced, coherent PTFE resin to form fibrils emanating from nodes (regions of coalesced PTFE), with the fibrils oriented parallel to the axis of expansion.\",\n \"Once expanded, the dried PTFE is referred to as expanded PTFE (“ePTFE”) or microporous PTFE.\",\n \"The ePTFE is then transferred to an oven where it is sintered by being heated to a temperature above 327° C., the crystalline melt point of PTFE.\",\n \"During the sintering process the ePTFE is restrained against uniaxial, biaxial or radial contraction.\",\n \"Sintering causes at least a portion of the crystalline PTFE to change from a crystalline state to an amorphous state.\",\n \"The conversion from a highly crystalline structure to one having an increased amorphous content locks the node and fibril microstructure, as well as its orientation relative to the axis of expansion, and provides a dimensionally stable tubular or sheet material upon cooling.\",\n \"Prior to the sintering step, the lubricant must be removed because the sintering temperature of PTFE is greater than the flash point of commercially available lubricants.\",\n \"Sintered ePTFE articles exhibit significant resistance to further uniaxial, or radial expansion.\",\n \"This property has led many in the art to devise techniques which entail endoluminal delivery and placement of an ePTFE graft having a desired fixed diameter, followed by endoluminal delivery and placement of an endoluminal prosthesis, such as a stent or other fixation device, to frictionally engage the endoluminal prosthesis within the lumen of the anatomical passageway.\",\n \"The Kreamer patent, U.S. Pat.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"5,078,726, discussed above, exemplifies such use of an ePTFE prosthetic graft.\",\n \"Similarly, International Publication Nos.\",\n \"WO95/05132 and WO95/05555, filed by W.L.\",\n \"Gore Associates, Inc., disclose balloon expandable prosthetic stents which have been covered on inner and outer surfaces by wrapping ePTFE sheet material about the balloon expandable prosthetic stent in its enlarged diameter, sintering the wrapped ePTFE sheet material to secure it about the stent, and crimping the assembly to a reduced diameter for endoluminal delivery.\",\n \"Once positioned endoluminally, the stent-graft combination is dilated to re-expand the stent to its enlarged diameter returning the ePTFE wrapping to its original diameter.\",\n \"Thus, it is well known in the prior art to provide an ePTFE covering which is fabricated at the final desired endovascular diameter and is endoluminally delivered in a folded or crimped condition to reduce its delivery profile, then unfolded in vivo using either the spring tension of a self-expanding, thermally induced expanding structural support member or a balloon catheter.\",\n \"However, the known ePTFE covered endoluminal stents are often covered on only one surface of the stent, i.e., either the luminal or abluminal wall surface of the stent.\",\n \"Where the stent is fully covered on both the luminal and abluminal wall surfaces of the stent, the covering completely surrounds the stent elements and fills the stent interstices, thereby encapsulating the stent.\",\n \"Examples of patents teaching encapsulated stents and encapsulation techniques include commonly assigned patents: U.S. Pat.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"5,749,880, U.S. Pat.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"6,039,755, U.S. Pat.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"6,124,523, and U.S. Pat.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"6,451,047, each of which is incorporated into this application as if fully set forth herein.\",\n \"When the encapsulated stent is comprised of shape memory alloy, characteristics of the stent make it necessary to encapsulate in the “large” state and then compress the encapsulated stent for delivery.\",\n \"In this case, encapsulation either increases the device's resistance to compression, or increases the delivery profile of the device as compression causes the polymeric material to fold or buckle around the stent.\",\n \"Perhaps the most serious problem is that the folding during compression actually encompasses folding of the stent itself, which unduly stresses the stent material and may result in structural failure.\",\n \"In contrast to the prior art, the present invention provides a method to encapsulate a stent in ePTFE whereby the structure contains pockets or regions where the ePTFE layers are not adhered to one another allowing the stent to contract or expand without being encumbered by ePTFE and without folding or stressing the stent itself.\",\n \"As used herein, the following terms have the following meanings: “Fibril” refers to a strand of PTFE material that originates from one or more nodes and terminates at one or more nodes.\",\n \"“Node” refers to the solid region within an ePTFE material at which fibrils originate and converge.\",\n \"“Internodal Distance” or “IND” refers to a distance between two adjacent nodes measured along the longitudinal axis of fibrils between the facing surfaces of the adjacent nodes.\",\n \"IND is usually expressed in micrometers (μm).\",\n \"“Node Length” as used herein refers to a distance measured along a straight line between the furthermost end points of a single node which line is perpendicular to the fibrils emanating from the node.\",\n \"“Nodal Elongation” as used herein refers to expansion of PTFE nodes in the ePTFE microstructure along the Node Length.\",\n \"“Longitudinal Surface” of a node as used herein refers to a nodal surface from which fibrils emanate.\",\n \"“Node Width” as used herein refers to a distance measured along a straight line, drawn parallel to the fibrils, between opposing longitudinal surfaces of a node.\",\n \"“Plastic Deformation” as used herein refers to the deformation of the ePTFE microstructure under the influence of an expansive force which deforms and increases the Node Length and results in elastic recoil of the ePTFE material less than about 25%.\",\n \"“Radially Expandable” as used herein to describe the present invention refers to a property of the ePTFE tubular member to undergo radially oriented Plastic Deformation mediated by Nodal Elongation.\",\n \"“Structural Integrity” as used herein to describe the present invention in terms of the ePTFE refers to a condition of the ePTFE microstructure both pre- and post-radial deformation in which the fibrils are substantially free of fractures or breaks and the ePTFE material is free of gross failures; when used to describe the entire device “Structural Integrity” may also include delamination of the ePTFE layers.\",\n \"Endoluminal stent devices are typically categorized into two primary types: balloon expandable and self-expanding.\",\n \"Of the self-expanding types of endoluminal stent devices, there are two principle sub-categories: elastically self-expanding and thermally self-expanding.\",\n \"The balloon expandable stents are typically made of a ductile material, such as stainless steel tube, which has been machined to form a pattern of openings separated by stent elements.\",\n \"Radial expansion is achieved by applying a radially outwardly directed force to the lumen of a balloon expandable stent and deforming the stent beyond its elastic limit from a smaller initial diameter to an enlarged final diameter.\",\n \"In this process the slots deform into “diamond shapes.” Balloon expandable stents are typically radially and longitudinally rigid and have limited recoil after expansion.\",\n \"These stents have superior hoop strength against compressive forces but should this strength be overcome, the devices will deform and not recover.\",\n \"Self-expanding stents, on the other hand, are fabricated from either spring metal or shape memory alloy wire which has been woven, wound or formed into a stent having interstices separated with wire stent elements.\",\n \"When compared to balloon-expandable stents, these devices have less hoop strength but their inherent resiliency allows them to recover once a compressive force that results in deformation is removed.\",\n \"Covered endoluminal stents are known in the art.\",\n \"Heretofore, however, the stent covering has been made of a polymeric material which has completely subtended the stent interstices, that is, the stent was completely embedded in the polymeric material.\",\n \"This has posed difficulty particularly with the self-expanding stents.\",\n \"To preserve their self-expanding property, all covered self-expanding stents have been covered with a polymeric covering while the stent is in its unstrained dimensional condition (i.e., its native enlarged diameter).\",\n \"Yet in order to deliver a covered stent, it must be constricted to a smaller delivery diameter.\",\n \"Radial compression of a stent necessarily causes the individual stent elements to traverse the stent interstices and pass into proximity to a laterally adjacent individual stent element, thereby occupying the previously open interstitial space.\",\n \"Any polymeric material which subtends or resides within the previously open interstitial space will necessarily be displaced, either through shearing, fracturing or otherwise responding to the narrowing of the interstitial space as the stent is compressed from its enlarged unstrained diameter to its strained reduced diameter.\",\n \"Because the struts of the stent are completely encapsulated, resistance of the polymer may cause folding or stressing of the struts during compression.\",\n \"It was recognized, therefore, that a need has developed to provide an encapsulating covering for a stent which is permanently retained on the stent, substantially isolates the stent material from the body tissue forming the anatomical passageway or from matter within the anatomical passageway, and which permits the stent to deform without substantial interference from the covering material.\",\n \"It is, therefore, a primary objective of the present invention to provide a method for encapsulating an endoluminal stent such that the encapsulating covering forms non-adhered regions which act as slip planes or pockets to permit the individual stent elements to traverse a substantial surface area of interstitial space between adjacent stent elements without resistance or interference from the encapsulating covering, thereby avoiding damage or stress to the stent elements.\",\n \"It is a further object of the present invention to use the pockets between the bonded regions to contain and deliver therapeutic substances.\",\n \"It is another objective of the present invention to provide an apparatus for applying to and selectively adhering sections of the encapsulating covering about the stent, and to provide a selectively adhered encapsulated covered stent-graft device.\",\n \"BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, the present invention relates generally to endoluminal stent-graft devices suitable for percutaneous delivery into a body through anatomical passageways to treat injured or diseased areas of the body.\",\n \"More particularly, the present invention relates to a method of bonding microporous polytetrafluoroethylene (“PTFE”) coverings over a stent scaffold in a manner which maintains unbonded regions to act as slip planes or pockets to accommodate planar movement of stent elements.\",\n \"In one embodiment of the present invention bonded and unbonded regions are formed by means of a mandrel which has a pattern of either raised projections or recesses in its surface which are either synchronous or asynchronous, respectively, with stent elements.\",\n \"In one embodiment, an encapsulated stent-graft device is provided in which an endoluminal stent having a plurality of individual stent elements separated by interstitial spaces is circumferentially covered along at least a portion of its longitudinal axis by at least one luminal and at least one abluminal covering of a polymeric material, the luminal and abluminal coverings being selectively adhered to one another at discrete portions thereof in a manner which forms a plurality of open pockets surrounding a plurality of stent elements.\",\n \"In another embodiment, a radially expandable reinforced vascular graft includes a first layer of biocompatible flexible material, a second layer of biocompatible flexible material, and a support layer sandwiched between the first and second layers of biocompatible flexible material.\",\n \"In one embodiment, a selective bonding system can be advantageously used to produce inflatable pockets by bonding the first layer to the second layer in defined patterns.\",\n \"The resulting structure can then be inflated and stiffened by injection of a fluid resulting in a supporting structure without inclusion of a stent.\",\n \"A crude analogy might be the construction of an air mattress that is composed of flexible polymeric layers bonded to each other in a predetermined pattern.\",\n \"The at least one luminal and at least one abluminal covering of a polymeric material are preferably comprised of expanded PTFE, unexpanded porous PTFE, woven polyester or expanded PTFE yarns, polyimides, silicones, polyurethane, fluoroethylpolypropylene (PEP), polypropylfluorinated amines (PFA), or other related fluorinated polymers.\",\n \"The stent may be made of any strong material which can undergo radial expansion but which is also resistant to non-elastic collapse such as silver, titanium, nickel-titanium alloys, stainless steel, gold, or any suitable plastic material capable of maintaining its shape and material properties at sintering temperatures and having the necessary strength and elasticity to enable radial expansion without collapse due to the presence of the polymer coverings.\",\n \"A preferred embodiment of the radially expandable reinforced vascular device includes a tubular stent, having a plurality of stent elements and stent interstices, concentrically covered along at least a portion of its longitudinal length by a luminal polymeric covering and an abluminal polymeric covering.\",\n \"The luminal and abluminal polymeric coverings are discontinuously joined to one another through some of the stent interstices.\",\n \"The luminal and abluminal polymeric coverings may be shorter in length than the stent member to permit opposing stent ends to flare outwardly upon radial expansion of the stent member.\",\n \"Alternatively, the ends of the stent member may be completely encased by the luminal and abluminal polymeric coverings.\",\n \"The stent member is preferably a self-expanding stent, which may be either an elastic spring material stent, such as a stainless steel stent as disclosed in U.S. Pat.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"5,266,073 to Wall, a non-woven stainless steel self-expanding stent as disclosed in U.S. Pat.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"5,282,824 to Gianturco, or a thermoelastic stent made of a shape memory alloy, e.g., a nickel-titanium alloy commonly known as NITINOL, such as that disclosed in U.S. Pat.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"5,147,370 to McNamara et al., each of which is incorporated by reference into this application as if fully set forth herein.\",\n \"As used herein, a tubular shaped support member preferably comprises a stent made of silver, titanium, stainless steel, gold, or any suitable plastic material capable of maintaining its shape and material properties at sintering temperatures and having the strength and elasticity to permit radial expansion and resist radial collapse.\",\n \"In accordance with the present invention, selective bonding of expanded PTFE luminal and abluminal layers encapsulates the endoluminal stent and isolates the stent from both the tissue forming the anatomical passageway as well as any fluid, such as blood, bile, urine, etc.\",\n \"which may pass through the anatomical passageway.\",\n \"The presence of slip planes or pockets formed by the selectively adhered regions of ePTFE: i) permits freedom of movement of stent elements within the encapsulating covering during both expansion and contraction of the stent along either its radial or longitudinal axes; ii) permits uniform folding of the ePTFE stent covering material which is complementary to the structure of the stent element lattice; iii) permits movement of the stent relative to the ePTFE encapsulating layers; iv) reduces forces required to compress or dilate the stent in the case of elastically or thermally self-expanding stents; v) reduces radial expansion pressures required to balloon expand an ePTFE encapsulated stent; and vi) provides void regions which may be used in conjunction with the microporous microstructure of the ePTFE covering material to retain and release bioactive substances, such as anticoagulant drugs, anti-inflammatory drugs, or the like.\",\n \"Alternative arrangements of the stent member or other suitable structural support sufficient to maintain the luminal patency of the luminal and abluminal polymer coverings may be employed.\",\n \"For example, a radially expandable, articulated reinforced vascular graft may be formed by concentrically interdisposing a structural support assembly comprising multiple stent members spaced apart from one another between two tubular polymer covering members, then partially joining the two tubular polymer covering members by circumferentially compressing selected regions of the two tubular polymer covering members and thermally bonding the selectively compressed regions to one another.\",\n \"The present invention also encompasses selective bonding of multiple polymeric layers to create an inflatable structure.\",\n \"Such a structure can be inflated by fluids delivered through lumens within the delivery catheter.\",\n \"The selective bonding method allows creation of devices with multiple adjacent channels or pockets.\",\n \"Some of these pockets can be pre-filled with a therapeutic drug to prevent restenosis or local thrombosis.\",\n \"Alternate pockets can be arranged for fluid inflation after the device is inserted.\",\n \"One method of making the foregoing encapsulated stent-graft is to join concentrically a luminal polymeric tube, an endoluminal stent, and an abluminal polymeric tube and to place the assembly onto a mandrel having a plurality of raised projections separated by land areas, or by a plurality of land areas separated by a plurality of recesses.\",\n \"Either the raised projections or the land areas are patterned to match a pattern of either the stent elements of the stent interstices, both the stent elements and stent interstices or portions of each.\",\n \"In this way the projections or the landed areas exert pressure, respectively on select regions of the PTFE resulting in limited regions of adherence or fusion when the device is heated to sintering temperatures.\",\n \"Using a mandrel, luminal pressure is selectively applied to produce selectively placed bonds.\",\n \"As will become clear, bonding pressure can be applied from the luminal or the abluminal or both surfaces of the device.\",\n \"The present invention is also directed to a process for making a radially expandable reinforced stent-graft device by: a) positioning a radially expandable stent member including a plurality of interconnected stent elements and a plurality of interstices between adjacent interconnected stent elements, concentrically over a first polymeric cover member; b) positioning a second polymer cover member concentrically over the radially expandable stent member and the first polymeric cover member; c) selectively joining portions of the first polymeric cover member and the second polymeric cover member through a plurality of the interstices of the stent member, while leaving portions of the first and second polymeric cover members unjoined and forming slip planes or pockets to accommodate movement of at least a portion of the interconnected stent elements therethrough; and d) fully joining opposing end regions of the first and second polymer cover members through the interstices of the stent member proximate to opposing ends of the stent member.\",\n \"Fixing the support layer to the biocompatible graft layers includes selectively applying pressure to the portions of the luminal and abluminal polymer covers after they are loaded onto a mandrel and then heating the resulting assembly at sintering temperatures to form a mechanical bond at the selected areas of applied pressure.\",\n \"Alternatively, a pattern of at least one of an adhesive, an aqueous dispersion of polytetrafluoroethylene, a polytetrafluoroethylene tape, fluoroethylpolypropylene (PEP), or tetrafluoroethylene (collectively the “adhesive”) may be introduced between the luminal and abluminal polymer covers at selected positions, followed by heating the assembly to the melt temperature of the adhesive to bond the luminal and abluminal polymer covers while leaving unbonded slip plane regions to accommodate movement of the stent elements.\",\n \"If ultraviolet curable adhesives are used, a UV laser or a photolithography system can be used to create the bond pattern.\",\n \"Many thermoplastic polymers such as polyethylene, polypropylene, polyurethane and polyethylene terephthalate can also be used.\",\n \"If pieces of one of these or similar polymers are placed or attached to one of the polymer covers in the region to be bonded, heat and pressure will melt the thermoplastic causing it to flow into the pores of the ePTFE, thereby bonding the ePTFE layers together.\",\n \"These and other embodiments, features and advantages will become more apparent to those skilled in the art when taken with reference to the following more detailed description of the invention in conjunction with the accompanying drawings that are first briefly described.\",\n \"BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG.\",\n \"1 is a process flow diagram illustrating a preferred method of making a stent-graft device FIG.\",\n \"2 is a perspective view of a mandrel having longitudinal ridges or splines.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"3 is a cross-section view of the mandrel shown in FIG.\",\n \"2.FIG.\",\n \"4 is a perspective view of a stent-graft device illustrating selected regions of bonding between the luminal and abluminal stent covers and a plurality of slip plane pockets intermediate the luminal and abluminal stent covers.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"5 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 5-5 of FIG.\",\n \"4.FIG.\",\n \"6 is a scanning electron micrograph illustrating a selectively bonded region and a slip plane pocket with a stent element residing therein.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"7 is a perspective view of a mandrel having circumferential ridges (as opposed to longitudinal splines).\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"8 is a flow diagram showing a method of using adhesives to create selective adherence.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"9 is a flow diagram of an alternative method of using adhesives to create selective bonds.\",\n \"DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The following detailed description should be read with reference to the drawings, in which like elements in different drawings are identically numbered.\",\n \"The drawings, which are not necessarily to scale, depict selected embodiments and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention.\",\n \"The detailed description illustrates by way of example, not by way of limitation, the principles of the invention.\",\n \"This description will clearly enable one skilled in the art to make and use the invention, and describes several embodiments, adaptations, variations, alternatives and uses of the invention, including what is presently believed to be the best mode of carrying out the invention.\",\n \"The selective adherence encapsulation of the present invention is an improvement to the total adherence method taught in U.S. Pat.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"5,749,880 that is incorporated by reference into this application as if fully set forth herein.\",\n \"The '880 patent discloses a method for encapsulating a support stent by placing the stent over a first tubular member of unsintered ePTFE and then placing a second tubular member of unsintered ePTFE coaxially over the stent so that the stent is sandwiched between two layers of ePTFE.\",\n \"Radial force is applied either internally or externally to force the first tubular member into contact with the stent and into contact with the second tubular members through openings in the stent or, respectively, to force the second tubular into contact with the stent and into contact with the first tubular member through openings in the stent.\",\n \"Finally, the compound structure is exposed to an elevated temperature to bond the first tubular member to the second tubular member wherever they are pressed into contact.\",\n \"In one embodiment an adhesive spread between the tubular members achieves the bonding.\",\n \"In a preferred embodiment the elevated temperature is a sintering temperature (above the crystalline melting point of PTFE) and direct PTFE to PTFE bonds form.\",\n \"As mentioned above, a potential drawback of this approach is that when the radial dimensions of the stent change, movement of components of the stent (necessary for radial dimensional changes) may be impeded by surrounding ePTFE.\",\n \"If the stent is encapsulated in an expanded form and then reduced in diameter prior to insertion into a patient, the encapsulating ePTFE may significantly increase the force needed to compress the stent and may fold in a manner so as to increase the profile of the collapsed device.\",\n \"If the bonding of the first member to the second member is selective, i.e., does not occur through all available openings in the stent, slip planes or pockets will be left in the structure so that stent components can reorient within these pockets without encountering resistance from the ePTFE.\",\n \"Without the slip planes formed by the selective bonds of the present invention, crimping a shape memory stent may cause the stent members to fold or otherwise become stressed.\",\n \"This can result in permanent damage to the stent.\",\n \"There is a considerable possible range of extent for the selective adherence of the instant invention.\",\n \"At one extreme is a fully encapsulated stent as provided by the '880 patent in which there is full bonding between all areas of the two tubular members in which the stent struts do not block contact.\",\n \"At the other extreme would be a “spot welded” device where only tiny areas, probably in the middle of the open areas of the stent structure, are bonded.\",\n \"At that extreme, there might be a tendency for the PTFE members to separate from the stent should the spot weld bond strength be exceeded; however, the spot weld structure would provide virtually no impedance to radial deformation of the stent.\",\n \"The optimum extent of selective adherence, as well as the geometric position of the bonds in relation to the stent, depends on the structure of the stent as well as the desired properties of the completed device.\",\n \"Complete control of the bond positions can be achieved by a numerically controlled (NC) machine in which the two-ePTFE members with the interposed stent are mounted on a mandrel that is attached to the spindle drive of a modified NC lathe.\",\n \"In this device a heated tool whose tip is equal to the desired spot weld area is automatically pressed onto the mandrel-mounted ePTFE-stent sandwich in proper registration to create a bond in an open region between components or struts of the stent.\",\n \"The tool moves away slightly as the mandrel turns to expose another open region and the tool then moves in to create a second bond and so on.\",\n \"Depending on the distance that the mandrel turns, the spot welds may be in adjacent open spaces or may skip one or more open spaces.\",\n \"As the mandrel is turned, the tool advances along the longitudinal axis of the mandrel so that virtually any patterns of spot welds can be created on the ePTFE-stent device.\",\n \"The precise pattern is under computer control and an entire stent can be treated quite quickly.\",\n \"If the design calls for spot welds of different surface areas, the stent can be treated with different tools (e.g., different areas) in several passes.\",\n \"An ultrasonic welding tip can readily be substituted for the heated tool.\",\n \"It is also possible to use radiant energy, as with a laser, to effect similar results.\",\n \"However, the inventors presently believe that pressure as well as heat are needed for the best bonds.\",\n \"Currently, laser-induced bonds do not appear to be as strong as bonds that are made with heat and pressure unless a curable adhesive system (as with a UV laser) is employed.\",\n \"Splined or textured mandrels can also be used to apply selective heat and pressure to create selective adherence between the ePTFE members.\",\n \"By “spline or splined” is meant a cylindrical structure with longitudinally oriented ridges equally spaced about the structure's circumference.\",\n \"Wherever the first and second ePTFE tubular members come into contact a bond can be formed if heat and pressure are applied.\",\n \"If the ePTFE tubular members and support stent are placed over a mandrel whose surface is patterned with elevated and depressed regions (hills and valleys), the elevated regions or ridges will apply pressure to the overlying stent-ePTFE regions allowing selective bonding of those regions.\",\n \"Regions of ePTFE overlying valleys will not be pressed together and no bond will form there.\",\n \"That is, the pattern of the mandrel will be translated into an identical pattern of bonded regions in the stent-graft device.\",\n \"To make this translation, the process diagram of FIG.\",\n \"1 is followed, as described below.\",\n \"In a first step 32, a first ePTFE tubular member is placed on a mandrel.\",\n \"Preferably, the first tubular member is composed of unsintered ePTFE.\",\n \"In a second step 34, a stent device is placed over the first tubular member.\",\n \"In a third step 36, a second ePTFE tubular member is slid coaxially over the stent.\",\n \"The second tubular member may be unsintered or partially sintered.\",\n \"Use of a partially sintered second tubular member reduces the chance of tearing the member while pulling it over the stent.\",\n \"It will be apparent to one of skill in the art that there is an advantage to using a second tubular member with a slightly larger diameter than the first tubular member.\",\n \"However, if the second tubular member is too large, folds or creases may develop during the bonding process.\",\n \"This entire process may use one of the textured mandrels that will be described below.\",\n \"However, it is also possible to assemble one or both tubular members and the stent on a smooth mandrel and then slip the assembly off the smooth mandrel and onto the textured mandrel.\",\n \"If the fit is fairly tight, it may be easier to place the stent over the first tubular member when that member is supported by a smooth mandrel.\",\n \"Also, there may be a limited number of textured mandrels available for production so that making a number of ePTFE-stent assemblies on less expensive smooth mandrels may result in a significant savings of time.\",\n \"If a smooth mandrel is used, the stent assembly is transferred to a textured mandrel before the next step (wrapping) occurs.\",\n \"In a fourth step 38, the ePTFE-stent assembly is helically wrapped with PTFE “tape.” This tape is actually a long, thin strip of PTFE of the type generally known as “plumber's tape.” The tape is evenly wound over the stent device so that the device is covered from end to end.\",\n \"The tape is wound so that the long axis of the tape is approximately normal (offset by 10-) 15° to the long axis of the stent device.\",\n \"Ideally, there should be some overlap of the tape covering the device so that coverage is even and complete.\",\n \"In fact an overlap ratio wherein five revolutions is needed to progress one tape width has proven effective.\",\n \"The tape should be applied with a controlled and even tension so that it is sufficiently tight to apply pressure at right angles to the surface of the stent device.\",\n \"One way of achieving this is to use a force clutch on the tape spool to ensure a reproducible tension in the tape as it is wound over the stent device.\",\n \"While this process can be performed by hand, it is fairly easy to automate the winding process by having the mandrel mounted in a modified lathe.\",\n \"As the lathe spindle turns, the spool of tape automatically advances along the turning mandrel ensuring an even and reproducible wrapping.\",\n \"In a fifth step 42, the wrapped assembly is then placed into an oven at a temperature above or nearly equal to the crystalline melting temperature of ePTFE.\",\n \"The wrapping applies pressure to regions of ePTFE that are underlaid by raised portions of the textured mandrel.\",\n \"The oven provides the necessary heat to cause a strong ePTFE-ePTFE bond to form in these regions.\",\n \"The sintering time can vary from a few minutes to a few tens of minutes.\",\n \"The overall time depends to some extent on the mass of the mandrel.\",\n \"If the mandrel is solid, it may take a considerable time for the surface of the mandrel to reach sintering temperatures.\",\n \"The process can be speeded up by using a hollow mandrel or even a mandrel containing a heating element so that the ePTFE is rapidly brought to a sintering temperature.\",\n \"A thermistor or similar temperature sensor is advantageous embedded into the surface of the mandrel so that it is possible to determine when the ePTFE reaches sintering temperature.\",\n \"In this way the process can be accurately timed.\",\n \"In the final step 44, the tape is removed from the mandrel (after cooling) and the finished device is removed.\",\n \"Results in this step indicate the success of the sintering step 42.If sintering time or temperature is excessive, there may be some bonding of the PTFE tape to the stent device.\",\n \"The solution is to reduce the sintering time and/or temperature in future sintering.\",\n \"This is one reason that time, temperature and wrapping force should be carefully controlled.\",\n \"This problem can also be avoided by using means other than PTFE wrapping to apply pressure to the device during the sintering process.\",\n \"At first glance it would appear that the radial pressure can be applied by a “clam shell” heating device that clamps around the stent device and mandrel.\",\n \"However, such a device is not capable of applying even radial pressure.\",\n \"One possible solution is to divide the clam shell device into a number of segments, preferably at least six, each of which is equipped with pressure means to force the segment radially towards the center of textured mandrel.\",\n \"Similarly, the mandrel can be divided into segments or otherwise be capable of an increase in diameter (e.g., by formation from a material having a large coefficient of expansion upon temperature increase) to create radial pressure between the surface of the mandrel and the surrounding clam shell device.\",\n \"An additional method of achieving bond pressure without wrapping is to use a clamshell device having an inner surface relief mirroring the textured mandrel.\",\n \"That is, there would be ridges and valleys that would exactly register with the ridges and valleys on the mandrel when the shell is closed.\",\n \"Similarly, a flat surface could be provided with ridges and valleys matching the mandrel surface if that surface were unrolled onto a flat plane.\",\n \"With such a surface it is possible to roll the mandrel in contact and registration with the flat pattern so that defined pressure is applied to the raised mandrel regions.\",\n \"The downward force applied to the mandrel controls the bond pressure while the rate of rolling controls the time a given bond is under pressure.\",\n \"This process can be carried out in an oven or the mandrel and surface can contain heating elements.\",\n \"One method of ensuring registration between the mandrel pattern and the flat surface pattern is to have gears attached to one or both ends of the mandrel mesh with a toothed rack that runs along one or both edges of the patterned surface.\",\n \"Contact pressure is controlled by weight of the mandrel or by a mechanical linkage that applies a controlled downward force to the mandrel.\",\n \"To this point no mandrel patterns or textures have been described.\",\n \"It will be clear to one skilled in the art that this invention permits a complex pattern wherein the entire stent structure is mirrored by the valleys and ridges of the mandrel with the structural members of the stent fitting into the valleys and the apices of the ridges or raised portions falling at discrete points within the open areas of the stent.\",\n \"What may be somewhat less obvious is that far simpler patterns can also produce excellent results in the present invention.\",\n \"One simple mandrel design is a “splined” mandrel wherein the mandrel has a number of longitudinal ridges (splines) so that a cross-section of the mandrel looks something like a toothed gear.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"2 shows a perspective view of such a mandrel 20 with longitudinal splines 22.FIG.\",\n \"3 shows a cross section of the mandrel 20 wherein it is apparent that the splines 22 have rounded edges to avoid damaging or cutting the surface of the ePTFE.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"4 shows a perspective view of an encapsulated stent 30 made on the splined mandrel 20.The stent 46 is composed of struts 48 arranged in a diamond pattern.\",\n \"Regions 52 at the ends of the device (marked by cross-hatching) have complete bonding between the two ePTFE tubular members.\",\n \"This region is produced by smooth, non-splined regions of the mandrel.\",\n \"Dotted lines 54 mark the position of the splines and the resulting regions of selective bonding.\",\n \"That is, the device has spaced apart bonded regions running the length of the open diamond regions 56.Because of this orientation, successive tiers of diamond regions 56 along the longitudinal axis of the device are alternately bonded and unbonded.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"6 shows a scanning electron micrograph of an oblique section through a longitudinally selectively bonded stent 44.A cross-section of the strut 48 is shown as well as a bonded region 54 and an unbonded slip pocket 62.The unbonded pockets 62 allow free movement of the stent struts 48.However, even those diamond regions 56 containing bonds 54 allow relatively unimpeded movement of the struts 48 because the bond 54 is only down the central part of the diamond region 56—relatively distant from the struts 48.Tests show that the selectively bonded stent 30 can be radially compressed with considerably less force than a stent that is encapsulated by uniformly bonding all regions where the ePTFE tubular members contact each other.\",\n \"The longitudinal bonds somewhat restrict longitudinal compression of the device as the bonded regions buckle less readily than unbonded ePTFE.\",\n \"The longitudinal bonds 54 do restrict the side to side flexibility or bendability of the device to some extent.\",\n \"In some applications this stiffening of the device is desirable while in other applications one needs a stent device that is able to bend more freely.\",\n \"Increased lateral flexibility can be achieved by using a mandrel with radial ridges rather than longitudinal ridges as shown in FIG.\",\n \"7.Again the ridges 58 are spaced apart in relation to the strut 48 spacing in the stent to be encapsulated.\",\n \"If the stent 46 shown in FIG.\",\n \"4 is used, the radial ridges 58 can be spaced apart to place circumferential bonds through alternate tiers of diamond regions 56.The resulting device is more bendable laterally than the version with longitudinal bonds.\",\n \"In addition, the circumferential bonds result in a device that is more easily compressed longitudinally.\",\n \"It is clear that the area and orientation of the bond regions influence the properties of the final device.\",\n \"For example, a helical pattern of ridges produces a device with intermediate properties: it is more laterally bendable that the longitudinally bonded device of FIG.\",\n \"4, but it has more resistance to longitudinal compression than does a device with circumferential bonds.\",\n \"The pitch of the helical pattern controls the overall effect with shallow pitches acting more like circumferential ridges and steep pitches acting more like longitudinal ridges.\",\n \"Multiple helices can be used with opposing (e.g., clockwise and counter clockwise) ridges, producing a device that is more resistant to lateral bending.\",\n \"Virtually any combination of the described patterns can be used to produce devices having a preferred direction of bendability or devices that resist longitudinal compression in one region while permitting such compression in another.\",\n \"The stent device illustrated in the figures is one in which the stent struts form courses or diamond-shaped spaces and the struts continue from course to course to create an extended tubular device.\",\n \"Stents are also available which consist of only a single course (or segment) of diamond-shapes.\",\n \"The current method can advantageously be used to combine a number of these segments together to make an extended tubular device.\",\n \"Frequently, these single segment stents consist of an alternation of larger and smaller diamond shapes.\",\n \"For example, the segments can be arranged with large diamonds touching large diamonds.\",\n \"Other arrangements included a “twisted” design wherein each successive segment is rotationally offset and an “alternating” design wherein alternate segment are rotated so that a given large diamond is bounded on either side by a small diamond.\",\n \"The precise properties of the resulting encapsulated device depend on these factors.\",\n \"However, the significant thing about the prior art encapsulation is that it produced a device that is relatively stiff and unbending.\",\n \"Various adhesives (as opposed to directly adhering PTFE to PTFE) can also be used to create the pattern of bonded regions.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"8 shows a diagram of one method for using adhesives to create selective bonds.\",\n \"In a first step 32, a tubular graft member is placed on a support such as a mandrel.\",\n \"In a second step 34, a stent (or stents) is placed over the first graft member.\",\n \"In a third step 64, a coating of adhesive is placed over the stent graft combination.\",\n \"This adhesive is one that is “activatable” meaning that the material is not inherently sticky as it is applied.\",\n \"However, it can be activated by applying heat, light or some other energy so that it hardens or otherwise changes to form a permanent bond.\",\n \"In the next step 64, a second tubular member is placed over the adhesive-coated stent.\",\n \"In the final step 66, a pattern of desired bonds is inscribed on the device with, for example, a laser or a heated probe or a photolithographic mask image.\",\n \"The inscribing process provides energy to local regions of the structure to activate the adhesive and create selectively bonded regions.\",\n \"A number of different activatable adhesive materials can be used in the present invention.\",\n \"One such material might be a layer or coating of a thermoplastic such as polyethylene.\",\n \"This material can be activated by heat that melts it so that it flows into the pores of the ePTFE.\",\n \"After cooling, the plastic hardens so that the PTFE of one tubular member is bonded to the other tubular member.\"\n ]\n]"},"source":{"kind":"string","value":"Patent_15876029"}}},{"rowIdx":4495057,"cells":{"text":{"kind":"list like","value":[["VEHICLE DISPLAY DEVICE","A vehicle display device is configured for installation to a vehicle and includes a mirror element configured to reflect external light entering from a front surface toward the front surface, and a light emitting device.","The light emitting device includes a light source configured to emit light, and a light guide element configured to guide incident light from the light source.","The light guide element includes an emission surface configured to output incident light, and an optical-path changing portion configured to change the optical path of incident light toward the emission surface.","The mirror element and the light guide element are stacked at an outer surface of the mirror element to allow the optical-path changing portion to change the optical path."],["1.A vehicle display device configured for installation to a vehicle, the vehicle display device comprising: a mirror element configured to reflect external light entering from a front surface toward the front surface; and a light emitting device; wherein the light emitting device comprises: a light source configured to emit light, and a light guide element configured to guide incident light from the light source, wherein the light guide element comprises: an emission surface configured to output incident light, and an optical-path changing portion configured to change the optical path of incident light toward the emission surface, and wherein the mirror element and the light guide element are stacked at an outer surface of the mirror element to allow the optical-path changing portion to change the optical path.","2.The vehicle display device according to claim 1, wherein the light guide element is panel-like, and wherein the light guide element is stacked on the mirror element at an outer surface of the mirror element.","3.The vehicle display device according to claim 1, wherein the mirror element comprises: a thin-film transmissive portion configured with one surface as a front surface, and a reflective layer formed on the other surface of the transmissive portion and configured to reflect external light entering from the front surface and passing through the transmissive portion toward the front surface, and wherein the light guide element is arranged at the other surface of the mirror element.","4.A vehicle display device configured for installation to a vehicle, the vehicle display device comprising: a light emitting device, wherein the light emitting device comprises: a light source configured to emit light, and a panel-like light guide element configured to guide incident light from the light source, and wherein the light guide element comprises: an emission surface configured to output incident light from the light source; and an optical-path changing portion configured to change the path of incident light from the light source toward the emission surface, and wherein a reflective layer is formed on the surface facing the emission surface of the light guide element, that is configured to reflect external light entering from the emission surface and passing through the light guide element toward the emission surface.","5.A vehicle display device configured for installation to a vehicle, the vehicle display device comprising: a light emitting device, wherein the light emitting device comprises: a light source configured to emit light, and a panel-like light guide element configured to guide incident light from the light source, and wherein the light guide element comprises: an emission surface configured to output incident light from the light source, an optical-path changing portion configured to change the path of incident light, a transmissive layer formed on the surface facing the emission surface of the light guide element and configured to allow external light entering from the emission surface and passing through the light guide element to pass therethrough, and a reflective layer configured to reflect external light passing through the transmissive layer toward the emission surface.","6.The vehicle display device according claim 1, wherein the optical-path changing portion changes the optical path toward the outside of the host vehicle to which the vehicle display device is installed.","7.The vehicle display device according to claim 1, further comprising: an attachment configured for mounting on a vehicle, wherein the light guide element is arranged so the light source emits light from near the attachment.","8.The vehicle display device according to claim 1, wherein the vehicle display device configured for installation to a vehicle to serve as a door mirror.","9.","(canceled) 10.","(canceled) 11.The vehicle display device according claim 2, wherein the optical-path changing portion changes the optical path toward the outside of the host vehicle to which the vehicle display device is installed.","12.The vehicle display device according claim 3, wherein the optical-path changing portion changes the optical path toward the outside of the host vehicle to which the vehicle display device is installed.","13.The vehicle display device according claim 4, wherein the optical-path changing portion changes the optical path toward the outside of the host vehicle to which the vehicle display device is installed.","14.The vehicle display device according claim 5, wherein the optical-path changing portion changes the optical path toward the outside of the host vehicle to which the vehicle display device is installed.","15.The vehicle display device according to claim 2, further comprising: an attachment configured for mounting on a vehicle, wherein the light guide element is arranged so the light source emits light from near the attachment.","16.The vehicle display device according to claim 3, further comprising: an attachment configured for mounting on a vehicle, wherein the light guide element is arranged so the light source emits light from near the attachment.","17.The vehicle display device according to claim 4, further comprising: an attachment configured for mounting on a vehicle, wherein the light guide element is arranged so the light source emits light from near the attachment.","18.The vehicle display device according to claim 5, further comprising: an attachment configured for mounting on a vehicle, wherein the light guide element is arranged so the light source emits light from near the attachment.","19.The vehicle display device according to claim 6, further comprising: an attachment configured for mounting on a vehicle, wherein the light guide element is arranged so the light source emits light from near the attachment.","20.The vehicle display device according to claim 2, wherein the vehicle display device configured for installation to a vehicle to serve as a door mirror.","21.The vehicle display device according to claim 3, wherein the vehicle display device configured for installation to a vehicle to serve as a door mirror.","22.The vehicle display device according to claim 4, wherein the vehicle display device configured for installation to a vehicle to serve as a door mirror."],[" BACKGROUND "],[" SUMMARY One or more embodiments of the present invention provides a vehicle display device that is easily visible from other vehicles by using a door mirror or window pane so that the mirror surface or window surface emits the light.","A vehicle display device according to one or more embodiments of the present invention is configured for installation to a vehicle and includes: a mirror element configured to reflect external light entering from a front surface toward the front surface; and a light emitting device; the light emitting device including: a light source configured to emit light; and a light guide element configured to guide incident light from the light source; the light guide element including: an emission surface configured to output incident light; and an optical-path changing portion configured to change the optical path of incident light toward the emission surface; and the mirror element and the light guide element are stacked at an outer surface of the mirror element to allow the optical-path changing portion to change the optical path.","In the vehicle display device described herein: the light guide element is panel-like, and is stacked on the mirror element at an outer surface of the mirror element.","In the vehicle display device described herein the mirror element includes: a thin-film transmissive portion configured with one surface as a front surface; and a reflective layer formed on the other surface of the transmissive portion and configured to reflect external light entering from the front surface and passing through the transmissive portion toward the front surface; and the light guide element is arranged at the other surface of the mirror element.","A vehicle display device described herein is configured for installation to a vehicle, and includes: a light emitting device; the light emitting device including: a light source configured to emit light; and a panel-like light guide element configured to guide incident light from the light source; and the light guide element including: an emission surface configured to output incident light from the light source; and an optical-path changing portion configured to change the path of incident light from the light source toward the emission surface; and a reflective layer formed on the surface facing the emission surface of the light guide element and configured to reflect external light entering from the emission surface and passing through the light guide element toward the emission surface.","A vehicle display device described herein is configured for installation to a vehicle and includes: a light emitting device; the light emitting device including: a light source configured to emit light; and a panel-like light guide element configured to guide incident light from the light source; and the light guide element including: an emission surface configured to output incident light from the light source; and an optical-path changing portion configured to change the path of incident light; a transmissive layer formed on the surface facing the emission surface of the light guide element and configured to allow external light entering from the emission surface and passing through the light guide element to pass therethrough; and a reflective layer configured to reflect external light passing through the transmissive layer toward the emission surface.","In the vehicle display device described herein the optical-path changing portion changes the optical path toward the outside of the host vehicle to which the vehicle display device is installed.","The vehicle display device described herein further includes: an attachment configured for mounting on a vehicle; and the light guide element is arranged so the light source emits light from near the attachment.","The vehicle display device described herein the vehicle display device is configured for installation to a vehicle to serve as a door mirror.","A vehicle display device described herein is configured for installation to a vehicle, and includes: a window material; and a light emitting device; the light emitting device including: a light source configured to emit light; and a light guide element configured to guide incident light from the light source; the light guide element including: an emission surface configured to output incident light; and an optical-path changing portion configured to change the optical path of incident light toward the emission surface; and the window material and the light guide element are stacked.","A vehicle display device described herein is configured for installation to a vehicle, and includes: a light emitting device; the light emitting device including: a light source configured to emit light; and a panel-like light guide element configured to guide incident light from the light source, and to serve as window material; the light guide element including: an emission surface configured to output incident light from the light source; and an optical-path changing portion configured to change the path of incident light from the light source toward the emission surface.","The vehicle display device described herein is provided with a light emitting device that includes a light source and a light guide element that may be attached to a door mirror or a window pane, and the vehicle display device is configured to emit light."],["BACKGROUND Field The present invention relates to a vehicle display device that may be installed on a vehicle.","Related Art It is increasingly common for a door mirror to incorporate a turn signal, allowing the door mirror with the built-in turn signal to function as a vehicle display device.","Japanese Patent Publication No.","2008-94215 discloses a turn signal provided with a light source and an oblong light guide material; the turn signal is attached to the door mirror and emits light lengthwise.","However, only a portion of the door mirror body emits light among the vehicle display devices of the related art.","Therefore, a vehicle display device that emits light easily visible to other vehicles is desired.","The door mirror disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No.","2008-94215 is similar.","Since the oblong light guide material is simply attached to the mirror body, the door mirror has a small light emission area.","Thus, a more easily visible light emitting surface area is desired.","SUMMARY One or more embodiments of the present invention provides a vehicle display device that is easily visible from other vehicles by using a door mirror or window pane so that the mirror surface or window surface emits the light.","A vehicle display device according to one or more embodiments of the present invention is configured for installation to a vehicle and includes: a mirror element configured to reflect external light entering from a front surface toward the front surface; and a light emitting device; the light emitting device including: a light source configured to emit light; and a light guide element configured to guide incident light from the light source; the light guide element including: an emission surface configured to output incident light; and an optical-path changing portion configured to change the optical path of incident light toward the emission surface; and the mirror element and the light guide element are stacked at an outer surface of the mirror element to allow the optical-path changing portion to change the optical path.","In the vehicle display device described herein: the light guide element is panel-like, and is stacked on the mirror element at an outer surface of the mirror element.","In the vehicle display device described herein the mirror element includes: a thin-film transmissive portion configured with one surface as a front surface; and a reflective layer formed on the other surface of the transmissive portion and configured to reflect external light entering from the front surface and passing through the transmissive portion toward the front surface; and the light guide element is arranged at the other surface of the mirror element.","A vehicle display device described herein is configured for installation to a vehicle, and includes: a light emitting device; the light emitting device including: a light source configured to emit light; and a panel-like light guide element configured to guide incident light from the light source; and the light guide element including: an emission surface configured to output incident light from the light source; and an optical-path changing portion configured to change the path of incident light from the light source toward the emission surface; and a reflective layer formed on the surface facing the emission surface of the light guide element and configured to reflect external light entering from the emission surface and passing through the light guide element toward the emission surface.","A vehicle display device described herein is configured for installation to a vehicle and includes: a light emitting device; the light emitting device including: a light source configured to emit light; and a panel-like light guide element configured to guide incident light from the light source; and the light guide element including: an emission surface configured to output incident light from the light source; and an optical-path changing portion configured to change the path of incident light; a transmissive layer formed on the surface facing the emission surface of the light guide element and configured to allow external light entering from the emission surface and passing through the light guide element to pass therethrough; and a reflective layer configured to reflect external light passing through the transmissive layer toward the emission surface.","In the vehicle display device described herein the optical-path changing portion changes the optical path toward the outside of the host vehicle to which the vehicle display device is installed.","The vehicle display device described herein further includes: an attachment configured for mounting on a vehicle; and the light guide element is arranged so the light source emits light from near the attachment.","The vehicle display device described herein the vehicle display device is configured for installation to a vehicle to serve as a door mirror.","A vehicle display device described herein is configured for installation to a vehicle, and includes: a window material; and a light emitting device; the light emitting device including: a light source configured to emit light; and a light guide element configured to guide incident light from the light source; the light guide element including: an emission surface configured to output incident light; and an optical-path changing portion configured to change the optical path of incident light toward the emission surface; and the window material and the light guide element are stacked.","A vehicle display device described herein is configured for installation to a vehicle, and includes: a light emitting device; the light emitting device including: a light source configured to emit light; and a panel-like light guide element configured to guide incident light from the light source, and to serve as window material; the light guide element including: an emission surface configured to output incident light from the light source; and an optical-path changing portion configured to change the path of incident light from the light source toward the emission surface.","The vehicle display device described herein is provided with a light emitting device that includes a light source and a light guide element that may be attached to a door mirror or a window pane, and the vehicle display device is configured to emit light.","EFFECTS A vehicle display device according to embodiments of the present invention may be applied to a door mirror or window pane configured for installation to a vehicle.","The vehicle display device is provided with a light emitting device which includes a light source and a light guide element, where the light emitting device changes the path light travels so the that the mirror surface or window surface radiates light and the light is emitted.","Thus, embodiments of the present invention exhibit superior benefits, such as improving the visibility to other vehicles.","BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG.","1 is a schematic plan view illustrating an example of the external features of a vehicle with a door mirror mounted thereon; and the door mirror using a vehicle display device according to a first embodiment of the present invention; FIG.","2A and FIG.","2B are schematic perspective views illustrating an example of the external features of a door mirror that uses a vehicle display device according to the first embodiment of the present invention; FIG.","3 is a schematic diagram for describing a light emitting device in the vehicle display device according to the first embodiment of the present invention; FIG.","4 is a conceptual diagram depicting an optical path through a cross section of a light emitting device in the vehicle display device according to the first embodiment of the present invention; FIG.","5 is a schematic perspective view illustrating one example of a part of the internal structure for a door mirror using a vehicle display device according to the first embodiment of the present invention; FIG.","6 is a schematic front view illustrating a part of the internal structure for a door mirror using a vehicle display device according to the first embodiment of the present invention; FIG.","7 is a schematic cross-sectional view illustrating a part of the internal structure for a door mirror using a vehicle display device according to the first embodiment of the present invention; FIG.","8 is a schematic cross-sectional view illustrating a part of the internal structure for a door mirror using a vehicle display device according to the first embodiment of the present invention; FIG.","9 is a schematic view illustrating the optical path through a light emitting device provided with a vehicle display device according to the first embodiment of the present invention; FIG.","10 is a schematic cross-sectional view illustrating an example of the internal structure for a door mirror using a vehicle display device according to a second embodiment of the present invention; FIG.","11 is a schematic view illustrating the optical path through a light emitting device in a vehicle display device according to the second embodiment of the present invention; FIG.","12 is a schematic view illustrating the optical path through a light emitting device in a vehicle display device according to a third embodiment of the present invention; FIG.","13 is a schematic view illustrating the optical path through a light emitting device in a vehicle display device according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention; FIG.","14A, FIG.","14B, and FIG.","14C are schematic diagrams for describing an example where a vehicle display device according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention is applied to a vehicle window pane; FIG.","15 is a schematic diagram for describing an example where a vehicle display device according to the fifth embodiment of the present invention is applied to a vehicle window pane; FIG.","16 is a schematic view illustrating the optical path through a light emitting device in a vehicle display device according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention; FIG.","17 is a schematic view illustrating the optical path through a light emitting device in a vehicle display device according to a sixth embodiment of the present invention; and FIG.","18 is a schematic view illustrating the optical path through a light emitting device in a vehicle display device according to a seventh embodiment of the present invention.","DETAILED DESCRIPTION Embodiments of the present invention are described in detail with reference to the drawings.","Note that the following working example is merely an embodiment of the present invention and in no way limits the technical character of the present invention.","First Embodiment FIG.","1 is a schematic plan view illustrating an example of the external features of a vehicle with a door mirror mounted thereon, the door mirror using a vehicle display device according to a first embodiment of the present invention; The reference number 1 represents a vehicle; a vehicle display device according to an embodiment of the invention is adopted in a door mirror 2 which is installed on the vehicle 1.The door mirror 2 includes a built-in light emitting device 3 (later described; refer to FIG.","3); the light emitting device 3 emits highly directional light.","FIG.","1 is a plan view of the vehicle 1 and depicts the range of visibility for light emitted from the light emitting device 3 installed in the left-side door mirror 2 as oblique lines.","The light emitting device 3 emits directional light that is oriented outward from the host vehicle 1.Thus light emitted from the light emitting device 3 can be seen outside the vehicle 1 as illustrated in FIG.","1, for instance in a vehicle behind the vehicle 1.However, passengers in the vehicle 1, and especially the driver seated in the driver seat cannot see the light emitted from the light emitting device 3; passengers see an ordinary mirror.","Note that the right side door mirror 2 (not shown) functions identically.","FIG.","2A and FIG.","2B are schematic perspective views illustrating an example of the appearance of a door mirror that uses a vehicle display device according to the first embodiment of the present invention; FIG.","2A illustrates the door mirror 2 in a normal state; FIG.","2B illustrates when the built-in light emitting device 3 emits light.","The entire mirror surface of the door mirror 2 radiates light when the light emitting device 3 emits light.","Therefore, a larger surface area radiates light compared to when the edge portion of the door mirror 2 lighting up lengthwise, for instance, the light emitted can be easily seen outside the vehicle 1, e.g., from a vehicle following the vehicle 1.Light Emitting Device Next, the principles governing a light emitting device 3 in a vehicle display device (door mirror 2) according to embodiments of the invention is described.","FIG.","3 is a schematic diagram for describing a light emitting device provided to the vehicle display device according to the first embodiment of the present invention; and FIG.","4 is a conceptual diagram depicting an optical path through a cross section of a light emitting device in a vehicle display device according to the first embodiment of the present invention.","Note that the drawings are provided as outlines or schematic views to facilitate a simple and easy-to-understand description.","There are also cases where the drawings referenced in the description contain elements that are not drawn to scale in terms of the horizontal and vertical proportions or the spaces between components.","The light emitting device 3 is provided with a light source 30 that emits light and a light guide plate 31 (light guide element) that guides the incident light from the light source 30.The light source 30 may be configured using a light emitting element such as an LED with the light emitted from the light source 10 entering the light guide plate 31.The light guide plate 31 may be formed from a flexible thin-film material or curable sheet into a rectangular panel-like shape using a transparent resin having a high refractive index such as a polycarbonate (PC) resin or poly methyl methacrylate (PMMA) resin, or using an inorganic material such as glass.","Here “panel like” indicates an object that is shorter in the thickness direction (thickness) than in the planar direction spreading out in two dimensions orthogonal to the thickness direction.","That is, while the light guide plate 31 is a rectangular parallelepiped, the length thereof in the thickness direction is less than the length in a plane spreading out in two dimensions and formed by the longitudinal direction and the transverse direction.","The light source 30 is installed at one end surface in the longitudinal direction of the light guide plate 31.That is, one of the surfaces making up the short side of the rectangle in the thickness direction is the incidence end surface 32 where light emitted from the light source 30 enters.","The light guide plate 31 causes light entering therein from the incidence end surface 32 to spread out in planar form in the light guide plate 31.The panel-like light guide plate 31 includes an emission surface 33 configured to emit incident light from the light source 30 and a rear surface 34 relative to and across from the emission surface 33.A plurality of optical-path changing portions 35 are formed on the rear surface 34 of the light guide plate 31.The optical-path changing portions 35 change the path of incident light that enters from the incidence end surface 32; in other words, the optical-path changing portions 35 modifies light by a prescribed angle toward the emission surface 33.Here, the optical-path changing portions 35 are illustrated as optical surfaces formed inside the light guide plate 31, and in this particular case, as reflection surfaces 35a that reflect incident light entering from the incidence end surface 32.Oblique notches may be cut into the rear surface 34 with the inclined surfaces serving as the reflection surfaces 35a.","The light entering the light guide plate 31 is directed to each of the optical-path changing portions 35, and each of the optical-path changing portions 35 modifies the optical path of light incident at positions thereon by a prescribed angle with the light exiting from the emission surface 33 toward a prescribed direction.","As illustrated in FIG.","3, the light source 30 is installed at the incidence end surface 32 of the light guide plate 31, and the incidence end surface 32 and the emission surface 33 are substantially orthogonal.","Additionally, the rear surface 34 faces the emission surface 33, and the rear surface 34 is also substantially orthogonal to the incidence end surface 32.The rear surface 34 is a flat surface substantially parallel to the emission surface 33 and is provided with inclined surfaces that form the optical-path changing portions 35.The flat rear surface 34 along with the emission surface 33 directs the incident light entering the light guide plate 31 from the incidence end surface 32 via total internal reflection therebetween and function to spread the light in the light guide plate 31 in planar form.","The inclined surfaces forming the optical-path changing portions 35 serve as the reflection surfaces 35a and reflect incident light entering the light guide plate 31 to modify the optical path thereof toward the emission surface 33.That is, the light emitted from the light source 30 and incident on the light guide plate 31 from the incidence end surface 32 is repeatedly totally reflected between the emission surface 33 and the rear surface 34 within the light guide plate 31 and propagates therethrough in planar form.","On arriving at a reflection surface 35a formed in the optical-path changing portions 35, the light propagating through the light guide plate 31 is reflected by the reflection surface 35a and exits to the outside from the emission surface 33.The reflection surfaces 35a here serve as the optical-path changing portions 35.However, the optical-path changing portions 35 can have various forms so long as the optical-path changing portions 35 can change the path of incident light traveling through the light guide plate 31.For instance, the optical-path changing portions 35 may be formed as a cylindrical Fresnel lens, whereby the refraction effect of the refraction surface of the Fresnel lens (i.e.","the prism surface) changes the path of the incident light.","Additionally, in this case the Fresnel lens may be constituted by a plurality of parts with gaps therebetween.","The optical-path changing portions 35 may also be formed as a diffraction grating whereby the diffraction effect may change the optical path of the incident light.","Moreover, the reflection effect and the refraction effect of the prism may change the optical path of the incident light.","A vehicle display device provided with such kind of light emitting device 3 makes it possible to implement various kinds of door mirrors 2.Embodiments of the various internal structures possible for implementing the door mirror 2 using the vehicle display device are described.","First Embodiment FIG.","5 is a schematic perspective view illustrating one example of a part of the internal structure for a door mirror using a vehicle display device according to the first embodiment of the present invention.","FIG.","6 is a schematic front view illustrating a part of the internal structure for a door mirror using a vehicle display device according to the first embodiment of the present invention.","FIG.","7 and FIG.","8 are schematic cross-sectional views illustrating a part of the internal structure for a door mirror using a vehicle display device according to the first embodiment of the present invention.","FIG.","5 and FIG.","6 depict parts that can be seen when some components of the light emitting device 3 are removed from the door mirror 2.FIG.","7 schematically illustrates an arrangement of the light emitting device 3 and the mirror element 20 inside the door mirror 2 as seen from above.","FIG.","8 is an exploded view of the components in the light emitting device 3 and the mirror element 20 inside the door mirror 2 as seen from above.","The door mirror 2 is provided with a housing 21 that accommodates the various components in the light emitting device 3 and the mirror element 20.The front plane of the housing 21 is open and the rim includes a gap which allows the mirror element 20 to block the opening when the mirror element 20 is fitted to the housing 21.The housing 21 is provided with a drive mechanism 22 capable of changing the angle of the mirror element 20; the mirror element is secured to the drive mechanism 22.The housing 21 may also be installed on the vehicle 1 by way of an attachment 23; the attachment 23 contains various kinds of communication wiring for connecting the various electrical components in the mirror unit 20 such as the light source 30 of the light emitting device 3 in the door mirror 2 and the drive mechanism 22 to units in the vehicle 1 such as a control device.","The driver may manipulate various operational input buttons arranged near the driver seat which operates the drive mechanism 22 and adjusts the angle of the mirror element 20.Initiating operations such as a lane change may also cause the light source 30 to emit light.","A fastener frame 24 acts as a border inside the housing 21 and secures the light guide plate 31 and the mirror element 20 to the drive mechanism 22; the light guide plate 31 and the mirror element 20 are housed within the fastener frame 24 and thereby blocks the opening in the front surface of the housing 21.The fastener frame 24 includes a fastening panel at the rear so that securing the fastening panel to the drive mechanism 22 fastens the light guide plate 31 and mirror element 20 housed within the fastener frame 24 to the drive mechanism 22.The light guide plate 31 appears as a rectangle when viewed from the front, with the light guide plate 31 arranged so that the long side direction and the short side direction thereof are substantially parallel to the horizontal direction on the vertical direction respectively.","The light source 30 is arranged at the light guide plate 31 near the attachment 23 emits light from near the attachment 23.Arranging the light source so that incident light enters the light guide plate from near the attachment 23 facilitates adjusting the optical path towards outside the vehicle 1.Note that the light guide plate 31 may be configured from a flexible transparent panel, and the end portion of the light guide plate 31 near the light source 30 may be bent so that the light source is arranged behind the drive mechanism 22.Even in this case, the components may be arranged so that light emitted from the light source 30 enters the light guide plate 31 from near the attachment 23.The light guide plate 31 may be arranged behind the mirror element 20 within the fastener frame 24.The mirror element 20 and the light guide plate 31 may be securely adhered to the fastener panel as necessary with an adhesive agent.","The mirror element 20 is provided a transmissive portion 20b, a front surface 20a in front of the transmissive portion 20b, and a reflective layer 20c behind the transmissive portion 20b.","Light enters the mirror element 20 through the front surface 20a, passes through the transmissive portion 20b and reflects from the reflective layer 20c.","The transmissive portion 20b may be produced using a resin material such as transparent polycarbonate resin or poly methyl methacrylate resin, or an inorganic material such as glass.","The reflective layer 20c may be a metal-plated or vapor-deposited layer produced by plating or depositing a metal such as aluminum or silver.","The reflective layer 20c reflects light entering from the front surface 20a of the mirror element 20 whereby the mirror element 20 functions as a mirror.","The door mirror 2 with a vehicle display device according to the first embodiment of the present invention applied thereto is configured with the light guide plate 31 stacked behind the mirror element 20.More specifically, the mirror element 20 and the light guide plates 31 behind the mirror element 20 are stacked so that the respective panel-like surfaces are parallel.","In other words, the mirror element 20 is a thin panel-like component provided with a transmissive portion 20b, a front surface 20a as one surface on the front part of the transmissive portion 20b, and a reflective layer 20c as the other surface on the back surface of the transmissive portion 20b.","Light enters the mirror element 20 through the front surface 20a, passes through the transmissive portion 20b and reflects from the reflective layer 20c toward the front surface 20a.","The light guide plate 31 is arranged at the other surface of the mirror element 20.The optical functions of the first embodiment of the present invention thusly configured are described.","FIG.","9 is a conceptual diagram illustrating the optical path through the light emitting device 3 in a vehicle display device according to the first embodiment of the present invention.","FIG.","9 superimposes a solid arrow and a double-line arrow over a schematic cross-sectional view of the light emitting device 3 according to the first embodiment; here, the solid arrow represents the optical path of light emitted from the light source 30, while double-line arrow represent the path of external light entering from outside.","Light emitted from the light source 30 enters the light guide plate 31 from near the attachment 23.The light guide plate 31 guides the incident light from the light source 30 so that the light is repeatedly totally reflected between the emission surface 33 and the rear surface 34; the light is reflected from the optical-path changing portions 35 (omitted from FIG.","9), and exits from the emission surface 33.Light exiting the light guide plate 31 from the emission surface 33 passes through the mirror element 20 and exits from the door mirror 2.The mirror element 20 functions as a mirror by causing external light to enter through the front surface 20a, pass through the transmissive portion 20b, and reflect from reflective layer 20c to pass through the front surface 20a to the outside.","Given that the light guide plate 31 does not affect the light entering from outside, an image will not be distorted on reflection from the mirror element 20.The first embodiment, thusly configured may be adopted in a vehicle display device with a light emitting device 3 therein to serve as a door mirror 2.The light emitting device 3 in the vehicle display device (door mirror 2) includes a light source 30 and a light guide plate 31.The vehicle display device functions identically to an ordinary mirror in a door mirror 2 when a driver in the driver seat views the door mirror 2.Outside the vehicle 1, for instance when viewed from a vehicle behind the vehicle 1, the entire mirror surface of the vehicle display device functions as a light emitting device 3 capable of emitting light, and the emission of light may provide various alerts on the operation of the vehicle, e.g., indicating the direction of the vehicle and the like.","More specifically, the vehicle display device operates as a turn indicator (i.e., turn signal) when one of the left or right door mirrors 2 provided to the vehicle emits light.","When both vehicle display devices emit light, the vehicle display device functions as a brake indicator (i.e., brake signal).","Moreover, when both vehicle display devices emit lights, and especially when blinking at predetermined intervals, the vehicle display device functions as an emergency display signal (hazard signal).","Thus, the vehicle display device emits light whereby various kinds of information may be provided outside the vehicle, for instance, to the driver in a following vehicle.","The mirror element 20 housed in the door mirror 2 is arranged in front of the light guide plate 31; therefore, the image reflected by the mirror element 20 does not give rise to certain phenomena such as distortion due to effects from the light guide plate 31.Second Embodiment The second embodiment changes the locations of the light guide plate 31 and the mirror element 20 in the vehicle display device of the first embodiment.","Given that only the location of the light guide plate 31 and the mirror element 20 changes in the second embodiment and all other configurations are identical to the first embodiment, it is sufficient to reference the first embodiment for these configurations as further descriptions thereof are omitted.","The identical parts in the first and second embodiments are given the same reference numerals.","FIG.","10 is a schematic cross-sectional view illustrating an example of the internal structure for a door mirror 2 using a vehicle display device according to a second embodiment of the present invention.","FIG.","10 depicts that door mirror 2 provided with a vehicle display device according to a second embodiment of the present invention, and schematically illustrates an arrangement of the light emitting device 3 and the mirror element 20 inside the door mirror 2 when viewed from above.","The light guide plate 31 is arranged in front of the mirror element 20 in the vehicle display device according to the second embodiment of the present invention.","More specifically, the mirror element 20 and the light guide plate 31 in front of the mirror element 20 are stacked so that the respective panel-like surfaces are parallel.","In other words, the mirror element 20 is a thin panel-like component provided a transmissive portion 20b, a front surface 20a in front of the transmissive portion 20b, and a reflective layer 20c behind the transmissive portion 20b.","Light enters the mirror element 20 through the front surface 20a, passes through the transmissive portion 20b and reflects from the reflective layer 20c toward the front surface 20a.","The light guide plate 31 is stacked at the front surface 20a of the mirror element 20.The optical functions of a second embodiment of the present invention thusly configured are described.","FIG.","11 is a schematic view illustrating the optical path through the light emitting device 3 in a vehicle display device according to the second embodiment of the present invention.","FIG.","11 superimposes a solid arrow and a double-line arrow over a schematic cross-sectional view of the light emitting device 3 according to the second embodiment; here, the solid arrow represents the optical path of light emitted from the light source 30, while the double-line arrow represent the path of external light entering from outside.","Light emitted from the light source 30 enters the light guide plate 31 from the incidence end surface 32.The light guide plate 31 guides the incident light entering from the light source 30 so that the light is repeatedly totally reflected between the emission surface 33 and the rear surface 34; the light is reflected from the optical-path changing portions 35 (omitted from FIG.","11), and exits from the emission surface 33.Light exiting the light guide plate 31 from the emission surface 33 exits from the door mirror 2.Note that light exiting the light guide plate 31 from the emission surface 33 does not need to pass through the reflective layer 20c of the mirror component 20; therefore, this allows the light emitting device 3 according to the second embodiment to emit bright light externally.","The mirror element 20 functions as a mirror by allowing the external light transmitted through the light guide plate 31 to enter through the front surface 20a, pass through the transmissive portion 20b and reflect from the reflective layer 20c to pass through the light guide plate 31 and exit to the outside.","The external lights reflected by the mirror element 20 is transmitted through the light guide plate 31.However, the surface area of the reflection surfaces 35a of the optical-path changing portions 35 (i.e., the number of reflection surfaces 35a) may be smaller than the surface area of the front surface 20a.","This configuration allows the mirror element 20 to function as a mirror and additionally keep the distortion of an image reflected there from at a level unrecognizable to an observer.","The second embodiment, thusly configured may be adopted in a vehicle display device with a light emitting device 3 therein to serve as a door mirror 2.The light emitting device 3 in the vehicle display device (door mirror 2) includes a light source 30 and a light guide plate 31.The vehicle display device functions identically to an ordinary mirror in a door mirror 2 when a driver in the driver seat views the door mirror 2.Outside the vehicle 1, for instance when viewed from a vehicle behind the vehicle 1, the entire mirror surface of the vehicle display device functions as a light emitting device 3 capable of emitting light, and the emission of light may provide various alerts on the operation of the vehicle, e.g., indicating the direction of the vehicle and the like.","The light guide plate 31 housed in the door mirror 2 is arranged in front of the mirror element 20 and thus also allows a brighter light to be emitted therefrom.","Third Embodiment The third embodiment uses the light guide plate 31 of the light emitting device 3 as a mirror element 20 in the vehicle display device of the first embodiment.","Given that only the light guide plate 31 and the mirror element 20 changes in the third embodiment and all other configurations are identical to the first embodiment, it is sufficient to reference the first embodiment for these configurations as further descriptions thereof are omitted.","The identical parts in the first and third embodiments are given the same reference numerals.","FIG.","12 is a schematic view illustrating the optical path through a light emitting device 3 in a vehicle display device according to a third embodiment of the present invention.","FIG.","12 superimposes a solid arrow and a double-line arrow over a schematic cross-sectional view of the light emitting device 3 according to the third embodiment; here, the solid arrow represents the optical path of light emitted from the light source 30, while the double-line arrow represent the path of external light entering from outside.","In the third embodiment the light guide plate 31 with attached light source 30 is inserted into the fastener frame 24 which is secured to the front surface of the drive mechanism 22 that is in the housing 21.The light guide plate 31 also acts as a mirror element; and no specific mirror element 20 is provided.","A metal-plated or vapor-deposited reflective layer 36 may be formed as a metal-plated or vapor-deposited layer produced on the rear surface of the light guide plate 31 in the vehicle display device according to the third embodiment of the present invention by plating or depositing a metal such as aluminum or silver.","Therefore, the external light which enters from the emission surface 33 reflects from the reflective layer 36 whereby the light guide plate 31 acts as a mirror element.","Light emitted from the light source 30 enters the light guide plate 31 from the incidence end surface 32.The light guide plate 31 guides the incident light entering from the light source 30 so that the light is repeatedly totally reflected between the emission surface 33 and the rear surface 34; the light is reflected from the optical-path changing portions 35 and exits from the emission surface 33.Light exiting the light guide plate 31 from the emission surface 33 exits from the door mirror 2.In other words, the light guide plate 31 in the light emitting device 3 possesses an emission surface 33 and optical-path changing portions 35; the emission surface 33 outputs incident light that entered from the light source 30, and the optical-path changing portions 35 change the path of incident light from the light source 30 toward the emission surface 33.The light guide plate 31 further includes a reflective layer 36 formed on the rear surface 34 thereof which faces the emission surface 33; external light entering the light guide plate 31 from the emission surface 33 reflects from the reflective layer 36 toward the emission surface 33.Thus, the light guide plate 31 functions to emit light to outside of the vehicle 1 and as a mirror.","Note that the light exiting the light guide plate 31 from the emission surface 33 does not need to pass through the mirror element 20 as with the second embodiment; therefore, this allows the light emitting device 3 according to the third embodiment to emit bright light externally.","The third embodiment, thusly configured may be adopted in a vehicle display device with a light emitting device 3 therein to serve as a door mirror 2.The light emitting device 3 in the vehicle display device (door mirror 2) includes a light source 30 and a light guide plate 31.The vehicle display device functions identically to an ordinary mirror in a door mirror 2 when a driver in the driver seat views the door mirror 2.Outside the vehicle 1, for instance when viewed from a vehicle behind the vehicle 1, the entire mirror surface of the vehicle display device functions as a light emitting device 3 capable of emitting light, and the emission of light may provide various alerts on the operation of the vehicle, e.g., indicating the direction of the vehicle and the like.","Additionally, having the light guide plate 31 include a reflective layer 36 that acts as the mirror element 20 therefore allows the light guide plate 31 emit bright light.","Fourth Embodiment The fourth embodiment provides a layer for protecting an outer surface of the light guide plate 31 of the third embodiment.","Given that only a layer is added in the fourth embodiment and all other configurations are identical to the third embodiment, it is sufficient to reference the third embodiment for these configurations as further descriptions thereof are omitted.","The identical parts in the third and fourth embodiments are given the same reference numerals.","FIG.","13 is a schematic view illustrating the optical path through a light emitting device in a vehicle display device according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention.","FIG.","13 superimposes a solid arrow over a schematic cross-sectional view of the light emitting device 3 according to the fourth embodiment; here, the solid arrow represents the optical path of light emitted from the light source 30.In the fourth embodiment the light guide plate 31 with attached light source 30, is inserted into the fastener frame 24 that is secured to the front surface of the drive mechanism 22 in the housing 21.The light guide plate 31 also acts as a mirror element; and no specific mirror element 20 is provided.","A layer is formed on a surface behind the attached light guide plate 31 to protect the surface at the back of the light guide plate.","The layer is produced from stacking metal-plated or vapor deposited reflective layer 36 formed by metal plating or vapor-depositing a metal such as aluminum or silver on top of a transmissive layer 37 produced from a resin material such as a transparent polycarbonate resin or a poly methyl methacrylate resin.","The transmissive layer 37 is integrally molded via heat treatment or the like to the flat portions of the light guide plate 31 with no light focusing portions 35.In a light guide plate 31 thusly configured, the protective layer which includes the transmissive layer 37 and the reflective layer 36, functions as a mirror element since the external light that enters from the emission surface 33 passes through the light guide plate 31, further passes through the transmissive layer 37 and reflects from the reflective layer 36.Light emitted from the light source 30 enters the light guide plate 31 from the incidence end surface 32.The light guide plate 31 guides the incident light entering from the light source 30 so that the light is repeatedly totally reflected between the emission surface 33 and the rear surface 34; the light is reflected from the optical-path changing portions 35 and exits from the emission surface 33.Light exiting the light guide plate 31 from the emission surface 33 exits from the door mirror 2.In other words, the light guide plate 31 in the light emitting device 3 possesses an emission surface 33 and optical-path changing portions 35; the emission surface 33 outputs incident light that entered from the light source 30, and the optical-path changing portions 35 change the path of incident light from the light source 30 toward the emission surface 33.Thus, the light guide plate 31 functions to emit light to outside of the vehicle 1 when the light source 30 emits light, and as a mirror.","Note that the light exiting the light guide plate 31 from the emission surface 33 does not need to pass through the mirror element 20; therefore, this allows the light emitting device 3 according to the fourth embodiment to emit bright light externally.","Moreover, the light guide plate 31 is not affected by the reflective layer 36 since no reflective layer 36 is formed at the notched portions in the rear surface 34 of the light guide plate 31 that create the optical-path changing portions 35; consequently, a light emitting device 3 according to the embodiment can present an even brighter image than the display device 1 of the third embodiment.","The fourth embodiment, thusly configured may be adopted in a vehicle display device with a light emitting device 3 therein to serve as a door mirror 2.The light emitting device 3 in the vehicle display device (door mirror 2) includes a light source 30 and a light guide plate 31.The light guide plate 31 includes a transmissive layer 37 on the rear surface 14 at the rear part facing the emission surface 33, and a reflective layer 36.The transmissive layer 37 allows external light entering from the emission surface 33 of the light guide plate 31 to pass therethrough, and the reflective layer 36 reflects the external light that passed through the transmissive layer 37 toward the emission surface 33.The external light that reflects from the reflective layer 36 passes through the transmissive layer, and exits through the emission surface 33 of the front light guide plate 31.The transmissive layer thus acts as a mirror.","Fifth Embodiment In the fifth embodiment a vehicle display device according to the present invention is applied to a vehicle window pane.","The identical parts in the first and fifth embodiments are given the same reference numerals.","FIG.","14A, FIG.","14B, and FIG.","14C are schematic diagrams for describing an example where a vehicle display device according to the fifth embodiment of the present invention is applied to a vehicle window pane.","FIG.","14A illustrates when the light emitting device 3 in the vehicle display device is not emitting light; and FIG.","14B and FIG.","14C illustrate when the light emitting device 3 in the vehicle display device emits light.","The vehicle display device illustrated in FIG.","14A, FIG.","14B, and FIG.","14C is a vehicle window pane, and more specifically is a rear side window 4 in the vehicle 1.The vehicle display device functions as an ordinary window pane (FIG.","14A) when the light emitting device 3 therein does not emit light.","The light emitting device 3 emits light whereby, the vehicle display device operates to provide alerts for the various operations of the vehicle such as a direction indicator (FIG.","14B).","Additionally, for instance, the vehicle display device may show at least one of an arrow or textual information indicating a lane change (FIG.","14C) as a means of providing alerts to outside the vehicle for the various operations of the vehicle such as a direction indicator.","Note that the display of symbol information such as an arrow, or information of a desired fomi such as text may be achieved by appropriately designing the locations at which the optical-path changing portions 35 are formed in the light guide plate 31 as well as the direction toward which incident light is reflected from the light guide plate 31.FIG.","15 is a schematic diagram for describing an example where a vehicle display device according to the fifth embodiment of the present invention is applied to a vehicle window pane.","FIG.","15 illustrates an example of modifying the configuration depicted in FIGS.","14A, 14B, and 14C; here, the vehicle display device is applied to the rear window 5 of the vehicle 1 to show a symbol modeled after the triangular display panel used for indicating an emergency stop.","In this manner, the vehicle display device according to the fifth embodiment may be developed for use in various forms.","FIG.","16 is a schematic view illustrating the optical path through a light emitting device 3 in a vehicle display device according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention.","FIG.","16 superimposes a solid arrow and double-line arrows over a schematic cross-sectional view of the light emitting device 3 according to the fifth embodiment; here, the solid arrow represents the optical path of light emitted from the light source 30, while the double-line arrows from top to bottom and from bottom to top represent the path of light from inside to outside the vehicle, and light from outside to inside the vehicle respectively.","The light guide plate 31 in the light emitting device 3 is stacked on the cabin facing side (top, FIG.","16) of the window material 40 used as the window panes for the rear side window 4, the rear window 5, and the like.","The light guide plate 31 guides the incident light entering from the light source 30 so that the light is repeatedly totally reflected between the emission surface 33 and the rear surface 34; the light is reflected from the optical-path changing portions 35 and exits from the emission surface 33.Light exiting the light guide plate 31 from the emission surface 33 passes through the window material 40 and is emitted outside the vehicle.","The window material 40 allows light to pass from outside to inside and from inside to outside the vehicle.","The fifth embodiment, thusly configured may be adopted in a vehicle display device with a light emitting device 3 therein to serve as a window pane such as a rear side window 4, a rear window 5, or the like.","The light emitting device 3 in the vehicle display device (rear side window 4 and rear window 5) includes a light source 30 and a light guide plate 31.The window material 40 is stacked on the light guide plate 31 toward the outside of the vehicle.","The rear side window 4 and the rear window 5 function as ordinary windowpanes when the light source 30 does not emit light, and when the light source 30 emits light operates to provide alerts for the various operations of the vehicle such as a direction indicator.","Sixth Embodiment The sixth embodiment changes the locations of the light guide plate 31 and the window material 40 in the vehicle display device of the fifth embodiment.","Given that only the location of the light guide plate 31 and the window material 40 changes in the sixth embodiment and all other configurations are identical to the fifth embodiment, it is sufficient to reference the fifth embodiment for these configurations as further descriptions thereof are omitted.","The identical parts in the first and sixth embodiments are given the same reference numerals.","FIG.","17 is a schematic view illustrating the optical path through a light emitting device 3 in a vehicle display device according to a sixth embodiment of the present invention.","FIG.","17 superimposes a solid arrow and double-line arrows over a schematic cross-sectional view of the light emitting device 3 according to the sixth embodiment; here, the solid arrow represents the optical path of light emitted from the light source 30, while the double-line arrows from top to bottom and from bottom to top represent the path of light from inside to outside the vehicle, and light from outside to inside the vehicle respectively.","The light guide plate 31 in the light emitting device 3 is stacked on the window material 40 used as the window panes for the rear side window 4, the rear window 5, and the like toward the outside of the vehicle.","The light guide plate 31 guides the incident light entering from the light source 30 so that the light is repeatedly totally reflected between the emission surface 33 and the rear surface 34; the light is reflected from the optical-path changing portions 35 and exits from the emission surface 33.The window material 40 allows light to pass from outside to inside and from inside to outside the vehicle.","The sixth embodiment, thusly configured may be adopted in a vehicle display device with a light emitting device 3 therein to serve as a window pane such as a rear side window 4, a rear window 5, or the like.","The light emitting device 3 in the vehicle display device (rear side window 4 and rear window 5) includes a light source 30 and a light guide plate 31.The window material 40 is stacked on the light guide plate 31 toward the inside of the vehicle.","The rear side window 4 and the rear window 5 function as ordinary windowpanes when the light source 30 does not emit light, and when the light source 30 emits light operates to provide alerts for the various operations of the vehicle such as a direction indicator.","Seventh Embodiment The seventh embodiment uses the light guide plate 31 of the light emitting device 3 as the window material 40 in the vehicle display device of the fifth embodiment.","Given that only the light guide plate 31 and the window material 40 changes in the seventh embodiment and all other configurations are identical to the fifth embodiment, it is sufficient to reference the fifth embodiment for these configurations as further descriptions thereof are omitted.","The identical parts in the fifth and seventh embodiments are given the same reference numerals.","FIG.","18 is a schematic view illustrating the optical path through a light emitting device 3 in a vehicle display device according to a seventh embodiment of the present invention.","FIG.","18 superimposes a solid arrow and double-line arrows over a schematic cross-sectional view of the light emitting device 3 according to the fifth embodiment; here, the solid arrow represents the optical path of light emitted from the light source 30, while the double-line arrows from top to bottom and from bottom to top represent the path of light from inside to outside the vehicle, and light from outside to inside the vehicle respectively.","Here, the light guide plate 31 in the light emitting device 3 is serves as the window pane for the rear side window 4, the rear window 5, and the like in the seventh embodiment.","The light guide plate 31 functions as the window material and as a light guide plate, and no specific window material 40 is provided.","Consequently, while a flexible thin-film material may be sued as the light guide plate 31 in the fifth and sixth embodiments, the light guide plate 31 of the seventh embodiment is produced from a hardened panel like material that is durable enough to serve as a window pane.","The light guide plate 31 guides the incident light entering from the light source 30 so that the light is repeatedly totally reflected between the emission surface 33 and the rear surface 34; the light is reflected from the optical-path changing portions 35 and exits from the emission surface 33.The light guide plate 31 also allows light to pass from outside to inside and from inside to outside the vehicle.","The seventh embodiment, thusly configured may be adopted in a vehicle display device with a light emitting device 3 therein to serve as a window pane such as a rear side window 4, a rear window 5, or the like.","The light emitting device 3 in the vehicle display device (rear side window 4 and rear window 5) includes a light source 30 and a light guide plate 31.The rear side window 4 and the rear window 5 function as ordinary windowpanes when the light source 30 does not emit light, and when the light source 30 emits light operates to provide alerts for the various operations of the vehicle such as a direction indicator.","The present invention is not limited to the above described embodiments and may be implemented in various other ways.","Therefore, in all respects the above embodiments are merely examples and should not be interpreted as limitations.","The scope of the present invention is delineated by the claims and not limited by the specification.","Moreover, all modifications and variations with a scope equivalent to the claims are within the scope of the present invention.","For instance, each of the aforementioned embodiments use a single light guide plate 31; the present invention is not limited thereto, and may be developed in various fauns which, for example, use a plurality of light guide plates 31.Moreover, when using a plurality of light guide plates 31, all the light guide plates 31 do not need to be configured to emit light toward outside the vehicle 1.More specifically, the light guide plates 31 that emit light toward outside the vehicle may be stacked, with a light guide plate 31 arranged for emitting light in a direction where the driver is considered the observer.","The light guide plate 31 designated for the driver as an observer may further include a plurality of light focusing portions configured to change the path of incident light toward the emission surface 33 causing the light output to converge toward a convergence point or convergence line outside the light guide plate or to radiate from a convergence point P or convergence line outside the light guide plate, and thereby form an image externally.","The vehicle display device thusly configured may be adopted as a door mirror 2.In this case the light guide plate 31 can produce an image from light visible to the driver where the image appears to emerge from a position different from the mirror surface of the door mirror 2.In addition, the basic principles of the door mirror 2 presented in the first through fourth embodiments may be applied to other mirrors such as a rearview mirror.","Furthermore, the basic principles of the rear side window 4 and the rear window 5 presented in the fifth through seventh embodiments may be applied to other window panes such are the windshield.","The vehicle display device thusly configured as herein disclosed may be applied to mirrors such as a door mirror 2, and window pane surfaces such as a rear side window 4, a rear window 5, and the like, to provide alerts for the various operations of a vehicle such as a direction indicator, brake signal, emergency signal, and the like to persons outside the vehicle.","Note that the information that may be provided as an alert is not limited to the vehicles operational state.","For instance, textual information may be displayed which indicates the state of the roadway being traveled, e.g., “Traffic accident ahead”.","Hereby, the vehicle display device may be configured to emit light for the purpose of reporting various kinds of information.","REFERENCE NUMERALS 1 Vehicle 2 Door mirror (vehicle display device) 20 Mirror element 20a Front surface 20b Transmissive portion 20c Reflective layer 3 Light emitting device 30 Light source 31 Light guide plate (light guide element) 32 Incidence end surface 33 Emission surface 34 Rear surface 35 Optical-path changing portion 35a Reflection surface 36 Reflective layer 37 Transmissive layer 4 Rear side window (vehicle display device) 5 Rear windshield (vehicle display device) 40 Window material"]],"string":"[\n [\n \"VEHICLE DISPLAY DEVICE\",\n \"A vehicle display device is configured for installation to a vehicle and includes a mirror element configured to reflect external light entering from a front surface toward the front surface, and a light emitting device.\",\n \"The light emitting device includes a light source configured to emit light, and a light guide element configured to guide incident light from the light source.\",\n \"The light guide element includes an emission surface configured to output incident light, and an optical-path changing portion configured to change the optical path of incident light toward the emission surface.\",\n \"The mirror element and the light guide element are stacked at an outer surface of the mirror element to allow the optical-path changing portion to change the optical path.\"\n ],\n [\n \"1.A vehicle display device configured for installation to a vehicle, the vehicle display device comprising: a mirror element configured to reflect external light entering from a front surface toward the front surface; and a light emitting device; wherein the light emitting device comprises: a light source configured to emit light, and a light guide element configured to guide incident light from the light source, wherein the light guide element comprises: an emission surface configured to output incident light, and an optical-path changing portion configured to change the optical path of incident light toward the emission surface, and wherein the mirror element and the light guide element are stacked at an outer surface of the mirror element to allow the optical-path changing portion to change the optical path.\",\n \"2.The vehicle display device according to claim 1, wherein the light guide element is panel-like, and wherein the light guide element is stacked on the mirror element at an outer surface of the mirror element.\",\n \"3.The vehicle display device according to claim 1, wherein the mirror element comprises: a thin-film transmissive portion configured with one surface as a front surface, and a reflective layer formed on the other surface of the transmissive portion and configured to reflect external light entering from the front surface and passing through the transmissive portion toward the front surface, and wherein the light guide element is arranged at the other surface of the mirror element.\",\n \"4.A vehicle display device configured for installation to a vehicle, the vehicle display device comprising: a light emitting device, wherein the light emitting device comprises: a light source configured to emit light, and a panel-like light guide element configured to guide incident light from the light source, and wherein the light guide element comprises: an emission surface configured to output incident light from the light source; and an optical-path changing portion configured to change the path of incident light from the light source toward the emission surface, and wherein a reflective layer is formed on the surface facing the emission surface of the light guide element, that is configured to reflect external light entering from the emission surface and passing through the light guide element toward the emission surface.\",\n \"5.A vehicle display device configured for installation to a vehicle, the vehicle display device comprising: a light emitting device, wherein the light emitting device comprises: a light source configured to emit light, and a panel-like light guide element configured to guide incident light from the light source, and wherein the light guide element comprises: an emission surface configured to output incident light from the light source, an optical-path changing portion configured to change the path of incident light, a transmissive layer formed on the surface facing the emission surface of the light guide element and configured to allow external light entering from the emission surface and passing through the light guide element to pass therethrough, and a reflective layer configured to reflect external light passing through the transmissive layer toward the emission surface.\",\n \"6.The vehicle display device according claim 1, wherein the optical-path changing portion changes the optical path toward the outside of the host vehicle to which the vehicle display device is installed.\",\n \"7.The vehicle display device according to claim 1, further comprising: an attachment configured for mounting on a vehicle, wherein the light guide element is arranged so the light source emits light from near the attachment.\",\n \"8.The vehicle display device according to claim 1, wherein the vehicle display device configured for installation to a vehicle to serve as a door mirror.\",\n \"9.\",\n \"(canceled) 10.\",\n \"(canceled) 11.The vehicle display device according claim 2, wherein the optical-path changing portion changes the optical path toward the outside of the host vehicle to which the vehicle display device is installed.\",\n \"12.The vehicle display device according claim 3, wherein the optical-path changing portion changes the optical path toward the outside of the host vehicle to which the vehicle display device is installed.\",\n \"13.The vehicle display device according claim 4, wherein the optical-path changing portion changes the optical path toward the outside of the host vehicle to which the vehicle display device is installed.\",\n \"14.The vehicle display device according claim 5, wherein the optical-path changing portion changes the optical path toward the outside of the host vehicle to which the vehicle display device is installed.\",\n \"15.The vehicle display device according to claim 2, further comprising: an attachment configured for mounting on a vehicle, wherein the light guide element is arranged so the light source emits light from near the attachment.\",\n \"16.The vehicle display device according to claim 3, further comprising: an attachment configured for mounting on a vehicle, wherein the light guide element is arranged so the light source emits light from near the attachment.\",\n \"17.The vehicle display device according to claim 4, further comprising: an attachment configured for mounting on a vehicle, wherein the light guide element is arranged so the light source emits light from near the attachment.\",\n \"18.The vehicle display device according to claim 5, further comprising: an attachment configured for mounting on a vehicle, wherein the light guide element is arranged so the light source emits light from near the attachment.\",\n \"19.The vehicle display device according to claim 6, further comprising: an attachment configured for mounting on a vehicle, wherein the light guide element is arranged so the light source emits light from near the attachment.\",\n \"20.The vehicle display device according to claim 2, wherein the vehicle display device configured for installation to a vehicle to serve as a door mirror.\",\n \"21.The vehicle display device according to claim 3, wherein the vehicle display device configured for installation to a vehicle to serve as a door mirror.\",\n \"22.The vehicle display device according to claim 4, wherein the vehicle display device configured for installation to a vehicle to serve as a door mirror.\"\n ],\n [\n \" BACKGROUND \"\n ],\n [\n \" SUMMARY One or more embodiments of the present invention provides a vehicle display device that is easily visible from other vehicles by using a door mirror or window pane so that the mirror surface or window surface emits the light.\",\n \"A vehicle display device according to one or more embodiments of the present invention is configured for installation to a vehicle and includes: a mirror element configured to reflect external light entering from a front surface toward the front surface; and a light emitting device; the light emitting device including: a light source configured to emit light; and a light guide element configured to guide incident light from the light source; the light guide element including: an emission surface configured to output incident light; and an optical-path changing portion configured to change the optical path of incident light toward the emission surface; and the mirror element and the light guide element are stacked at an outer surface of the mirror element to allow the optical-path changing portion to change the optical path.\",\n \"In the vehicle display device described herein: the light guide element is panel-like, and is stacked on the mirror element at an outer surface of the mirror element.\",\n \"In the vehicle display device described herein the mirror element includes: a thin-film transmissive portion configured with one surface as a front surface; and a reflective layer formed on the other surface of the transmissive portion and configured to reflect external light entering from the front surface and passing through the transmissive portion toward the front surface; and the light guide element is arranged at the other surface of the mirror element.\",\n \"A vehicle display device described herein is configured for installation to a vehicle, and includes: a light emitting device; the light emitting device including: a light source configured to emit light; and a panel-like light guide element configured to guide incident light from the light source; and the light guide element including: an emission surface configured to output incident light from the light source; and an optical-path changing portion configured to change the path of incident light from the light source toward the emission surface; and a reflective layer formed on the surface facing the emission surface of the light guide element and configured to reflect external light entering from the emission surface and passing through the light guide element toward the emission surface.\",\n \"A vehicle display device described herein is configured for installation to a vehicle and includes: a light emitting device; the light emitting device including: a light source configured to emit light; and a panel-like light guide element configured to guide incident light from the light source; and the light guide element including: an emission surface configured to output incident light from the light source; and an optical-path changing portion configured to change the path of incident light; a transmissive layer formed on the surface facing the emission surface of the light guide element and configured to allow external light entering from the emission surface and passing through the light guide element to pass therethrough; and a reflective layer configured to reflect external light passing through the transmissive layer toward the emission surface.\",\n \"In the vehicle display device described herein the optical-path changing portion changes the optical path toward the outside of the host vehicle to which the vehicle display device is installed.\",\n \"The vehicle display device described herein further includes: an attachment configured for mounting on a vehicle; and the light guide element is arranged so the light source emits light from near the attachment.\",\n \"The vehicle display device described herein the vehicle display device is configured for installation to a vehicle to serve as a door mirror.\",\n \"A vehicle display device described herein is configured for installation to a vehicle, and includes: a window material; and a light emitting device; the light emitting device including: a light source configured to emit light; and a light guide element configured to guide incident light from the light source; the light guide element including: an emission surface configured to output incident light; and an optical-path changing portion configured to change the optical path of incident light toward the emission surface; and the window material and the light guide element are stacked.\",\n \"A vehicle display device described herein is configured for installation to a vehicle, and includes: a light emitting device; the light emitting device including: a light source configured to emit light; and a panel-like light guide element configured to guide incident light from the light source, and to serve as window material; the light guide element including: an emission surface configured to output incident light from the light source; and an optical-path changing portion configured to change the path of incident light from the light source toward the emission surface.\",\n \"The vehicle display device described herein is provided with a light emitting device that includes a light source and a light guide element that may be attached to a door mirror or a window pane, and the vehicle display device is configured to emit light.\"\n ],\n [\n \"BACKGROUND Field The present invention relates to a vehicle display device that may be installed on a vehicle.\",\n \"Related Art It is increasingly common for a door mirror to incorporate a turn signal, allowing the door mirror with the built-in turn signal to function as a vehicle display device.\",\n \"Japanese Patent Publication No.\",\n \"2008-94215 discloses a turn signal provided with a light source and an oblong light guide material; the turn signal is attached to the door mirror and emits light lengthwise.\",\n \"However, only a portion of the door mirror body emits light among the vehicle display devices of the related art.\",\n \"Therefore, a vehicle display device that emits light easily visible to other vehicles is desired.\",\n \"The door mirror disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No.\",\n \"2008-94215 is similar.\",\n \"Since the oblong light guide material is simply attached to the mirror body, the door mirror has a small light emission area.\",\n \"Thus, a more easily visible light emitting surface area is desired.\",\n \"SUMMARY One or more embodiments of the present invention provides a vehicle display device that is easily visible from other vehicles by using a door mirror or window pane so that the mirror surface or window surface emits the light.\",\n \"A vehicle display device according to one or more embodiments of the present invention is configured for installation to a vehicle and includes: a mirror element configured to reflect external light entering from a front surface toward the front surface; and a light emitting device; the light emitting device including: a light source configured to emit light; and a light guide element configured to guide incident light from the light source; the light guide element including: an emission surface configured to output incident light; and an optical-path changing portion configured to change the optical path of incident light toward the emission surface; and the mirror element and the light guide element are stacked at an outer surface of the mirror element to allow the optical-path changing portion to change the optical path.\",\n \"In the vehicle display device described herein: the light guide element is panel-like, and is stacked on the mirror element at an outer surface of the mirror element.\",\n \"In the vehicle display device described herein the mirror element includes: a thin-film transmissive portion configured with one surface as a front surface; and a reflective layer formed on the other surface of the transmissive portion and configured to reflect external light entering from the front surface and passing through the transmissive portion toward the front surface; and the light guide element is arranged at the other surface of the mirror element.\",\n \"A vehicle display device described herein is configured for installation to a vehicle, and includes: a light emitting device; the light emitting device including: a light source configured to emit light; and a panel-like light guide element configured to guide incident light from the light source; and the light guide element including: an emission surface configured to output incident light from the light source; and an optical-path changing portion configured to change the path of incident light from the light source toward the emission surface; and a reflective layer formed on the surface facing the emission surface of the light guide element and configured to reflect external light entering from the emission surface and passing through the light guide element toward the emission surface.\",\n \"A vehicle display device described herein is configured for installation to a vehicle and includes: a light emitting device; the light emitting device including: a light source configured to emit light; and a panel-like light guide element configured to guide incident light from the light source; and the light guide element including: an emission surface configured to output incident light from the light source; and an optical-path changing portion configured to change the path of incident light; a transmissive layer formed on the surface facing the emission surface of the light guide element and configured to allow external light entering from the emission surface and passing through the light guide element to pass therethrough; and a reflective layer configured to reflect external light passing through the transmissive layer toward the emission surface.\",\n \"In the vehicle display device described herein the optical-path changing portion changes the optical path toward the outside of the host vehicle to which the vehicle display device is installed.\",\n \"The vehicle display device described herein further includes: an attachment configured for mounting on a vehicle; and the light guide element is arranged so the light source emits light from near the attachment.\",\n \"The vehicle display device described herein the vehicle display device is configured for installation to a vehicle to serve as a door mirror.\",\n \"A vehicle display device described herein is configured for installation to a vehicle, and includes: a window material; and a light emitting device; the light emitting device including: a light source configured to emit light; and a light guide element configured to guide incident light from the light source; the light guide element including: an emission surface configured to output incident light; and an optical-path changing portion configured to change the optical path of incident light toward the emission surface; and the window material and the light guide element are stacked.\",\n \"A vehicle display device described herein is configured for installation to a vehicle, and includes: a light emitting device; the light emitting device including: a light source configured to emit light; and a panel-like light guide element configured to guide incident light from the light source, and to serve as window material; the light guide element including: an emission surface configured to output incident light from the light source; and an optical-path changing portion configured to change the path of incident light from the light source toward the emission surface.\",\n \"The vehicle display device described herein is provided with a light emitting device that includes a light source and a light guide element that may be attached to a door mirror or a window pane, and the vehicle display device is configured to emit light.\",\n \"EFFECTS A vehicle display device according to embodiments of the present invention may be applied to a door mirror or window pane configured for installation to a vehicle.\",\n \"The vehicle display device is provided with a light emitting device which includes a light source and a light guide element, where the light emitting device changes the path light travels so the that the mirror surface or window surface radiates light and the light is emitted.\",\n \"Thus, embodiments of the present invention exhibit superior benefits, such as improving the visibility to other vehicles.\",\n \"BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG.\",\n \"1 is a schematic plan view illustrating an example of the external features of a vehicle with a door mirror mounted thereon; and the door mirror using a vehicle display device according to a first embodiment of the present invention; FIG.\",\n \"2A and FIG.\",\n \"2B are schematic perspective views illustrating an example of the external features of a door mirror that uses a vehicle display device according to the first embodiment of the present invention; FIG.\",\n \"3 is a schematic diagram for describing a light emitting device in the vehicle display device according to the first embodiment of the present invention; FIG.\",\n \"4 is a conceptual diagram depicting an optical path through a cross section of a light emitting device in the vehicle display device according to the first embodiment of the present invention; FIG.\",\n \"5 is a schematic perspective view illustrating one example of a part of the internal structure for a door mirror using a vehicle display device according to the first embodiment of the present invention; FIG.\",\n \"6 is a schematic front view illustrating a part of the internal structure for a door mirror using a vehicle display device according to the first embodiment of the present invention; FIG.\",\n \"7 is a schematic cross-sectional view illustrating a part of the internal structure for a door mirror using a vehicle display device according to the first embodiment of the present invention; FIG.\",\n \"8 is a schematic cross-sectional view illustrating a part of the internal structure for a door mirror using a vehicle display device according to the first embodiment of the present invention; FIG.\",\n \"9 is a schematic view illustrating the optical path through a light emitting device provided with a vehicle display device according to the first embodiment of the present invention; FIG.\",\n \"10 is a schematic cross-sectional view illustrating an example of the internal structure for a door mirror using a vehicle display device according to a second embodiment of the present invention; FIG.\",\n \"11 is a schematic view illustrating the optical path through a light emitting device in a vehicle display device according to the second embodiment of the present invention; FIG.\",\n \"12 is a schematic view illustrating the optical path through a light emitting device in a vehicle display device according to a third embodiment of the present invention; FIG.\",\n \"13 is a schematic view illustrating the optical path through a light emitting device in a vehicle display device according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention; FIG.\",\n \"14A, FIG.\",\n \"14B, and FIG.\",\n \"14C are schematic diagrams for describing an example where a vehicle display device according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention is applied to a vehicle window pane; FIG.\",\n \"15 is a schematic diagram for describing an example where a vehicle display device according to the fifth embodiment of the present invention is applied to a vehicle window pane; FIG.\",\n \"16 is a schematic view illustrating the optical path through a light emitting device in a vehicle display device according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention; FIG.\",\n \"17 is a schematic view illustrating the optical path through a light emitting device in a vehicle display device according to a sixth embodiment of the present invention; and FIG.\",\n \"18 is a schematic view illustrating the optical path through a light emitting device in a vehicle display device according to a seventh embodiment of the present invention.\",\n \"DETAILED DESCRIPTION Embodiments of the present invention are described in detail with reference to the drawings.\",\n \"Note that the following working example is merely an embodiment of the present invention and in no way limits the technical character of the present invention.\",\n \"First Embodiment FIG.\",\n \"1 is a schematic plan view illustrating an example of the external features of a vehicle with a door mirror mounted thereon, the door mirror using a vehicle display device according to a first embodiment of the present invention; The reference number 1 represents a vehicle; a vehicle display device according to an embodiment of the invention is adopted in a door mirror 2 which is installed on the vehicle 1.The door mirror 2 includes a built-in light emitting device 3 (later described; refer to FIG.\",\n \"3); the light emitting device 3 emits highly directional light.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"1 is a plan view of the vehicle 1 and depicts the range of visibility for light emitted from the light emitting device 3 installed in the left-side door mirror 2 as oblique lines.\",\n \"The light emitting device 3 emits directional light that is oriented outward from the host vehicle 1.Thus light emitted from the light emitting device 3 can be seen outside the vehicle 1 as illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"1, for instance in a vehicle behind the vehicle 1.However, passengers in the vehicle 1, and especially the driver seated in the driver seat cannot see the light emitted from the light emitting device 3; passengers see an ordinary mirror.\",\n \"Note that the right side door mirror 2 (not shown) functions identically.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"2A and FIG.\",\n \"2B are schematic perspective views illustrating an example of the appearance of a door mirror that uses a vehicle display device according to the first embodiment of the present invention; FIG.\",\n \"2A illustrates the door mirror 2 in a normal state; FIG.\",\n \"2B illustrates when the built-in light emitting device 3 emits light.\",\n \"The entire mirror surface of the door mirror 2 radiates light when the light emitting device 3 emits light.\",\n \"Therefore, a larger surface area radiates light compared to when the edge portion of the door mirror 2 lighting up lengthwise, for instance, the light emitted can be easily seen outside the vehicle 1, e.g., from a vehicle following the vehicle 1.Light Emitting Device Next, the principles governing a light emitting device 3 in a vehicle display device (door mirror 2) according to embodiments of the invention is described.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"3 is a schematic diagram for describing a light emitting device provided to the vehicle display device according to the first embodiment of the present invention; and FIG.\",\n \"4 is a conceptual diagram depicting an optical path through a cross section of a light emitting device in a vehicle display device according to the first embodiment of the present invention.\",\n \"Note that the drawings are provided as outlines or schematic views to facilitate a simple and easy-to-understand description.\",\n \"There are also cases where the drawings referenced in the description contain elements that are not drawn to scale in terms of the horizontal and vertical proportions or the spaces between components.\",\n \"The light emitting device 3 is provided with a light source 30 that emits light and a light guide plate 31 (light guide element) that guides the incident light from the light source 30.The light source 30 may be configured using a light emitting element such as an LED with the light emitted from the light source 10 entering the light guide plate 31.The light guide plate 31 may be formed from a flexible thin-film material or curable sheet into a rectangular panel-like shape using a transparent resin having a high refractive index such as a polycarbonate (PC) resin or poly methyl methacrylate (PMMA) resin, or using an inorganic material such as glass.\",\n \"Here “panel like” indicates an object that is shorter in the thickness direction (thickness) than in the planar direction spreading out in two dimensions orthogonal to the thickness direction.\",\n \"That is, while the light guide plate 31 is a rectangular parallelepiped, the length thereof in the thickness direction is less than the length in a plane spreading out in two dimensions and formed by the longitudinal direction and the transverse direction.\",\n \"The light source 30 is installed at one end surface in the longitudinal direction of the light guide plate 31.That is, one of the surfaces making up the short side of the rectangle in the thickness direction is the incidence end surface 32 where light emitted from the light source 30 enters.\",\n \"The light guide plate 31 causes light entering therein from the incidence end surface 32 to spread out in planar form in the light guide plate 31.The panel-like light guide plate 31 includes an emission surface 33 configured to emit incident light from the light source 30 and a rear surface 34 relative to and across from the emission surface 33.A plurality of optical-path changing portions 35 are formed on the rear surface 34 of the light guide plate 31.The optical-path changing portions 35 change the path of incident light that enters from the incidence end surface 32; in other words, the optical-path changing portions 35 modifies light by a prescribed angle toward the emission surface 33.Here, the optical-path changing portions 35 are illustrated as optical surfaces formed inside the light guide plate 31, and in this particular case, as reflection surfaces 35a that reflect incident light entering from the incidence end surface 32.Oblique notches may be cut into the rear surface 34 with the inclined surfaces serving as the reflection surfaces 35a.\",\n \"The light entering the light guide plate 31 is directed to each of the optical-path changing portions 35, and each of the optical-path changing portions 35 modifies the optical path of light incident at positions thereon by a prescribed angle with the light exiting from the emission surface 33 toward a prescribed direction.\",\n \"As illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"3, the light source 30 is installed at the incidence end surface 32 of the light guide plate 31, and the incidence end surface 32 and the emission surface 33 are substantially orthogonal.\",\n \"Additionally, the rear surface 34 faces the emission surface 33, and the rear surface 34 is also substantially orthogonal to the incidence end surface 32.The rear surface 34 is a flat surface substantially parallel to the emission surface 33 and is provided with inclined surfaces that form the optical-path changing portions 35.The flat rear surface 34 along with the emission surface 33 directs the incident light entering the light guide plate 31 from the incidence end surface 32 via total internal reflection therebetween and function to spread the light in the light guide plate 31 in planar form.\",\n \"The inclined surfaces forming the optical-path changing portions 35 serve as the reflection surfaces 35a and reflect incident light entering the light guide plate 31 to modify the optical path thereof toward the emission surface 33.That is, the light emitted from the light source 30 and incident on the light guide plate 31 from the incidence end surface 32 is repeatedly totally reflected between the emission surface 33 and the rear surface 34 within the light guide plate 31 and propagates therethrough in planar form.\",\n \"On arriving at a reflection surface 35a formed in the optical-path changing portions 35, the light propagating through the light guide plate 31 is reflected by the reflection surface 35a and exits to the outside from the emission surface 33.The reflection surfaces 35a here serve as the optical-path changing portions 35.However, the optical-path changing portions 35 can have various forms so long as the optical-path changing portions 35 can change the path of incident light traveling through the light guide plate 31.For instance, the optical-path changing portions 35 may be formed as a cylindrical Fresnel lens, whereby the refraction effect of the refraction surface of the Fresnel lens (i.e.\",\n \"the prism surface) changes the path of the incident light.\",\n \"Additionally, in this case the Fresnel lens may be constituted by a plurality of parts with gaps therebetween.\",\n \"The optical-path changing portions 35 may also be formed as a diffraction grating whereby the diffraction effect may change the optical path of the incident light.\",\n \"Moreover, the reflection effect and the refraction effect of the prism may change the optical path of the incident light.\",\n \"A vehicle display device provided with such kind of light emitting device 3 makes it possible to implement various kinds of door mirrors 2.Embodiments of the various internal structures possible for implementing the door mirror 2 using the vehicle display device are described.\",\n \"First Embodiment FIG.\",\n \"5 is a schematic perspective view illustrating one example of a part of the internal structure for a door mirror using a vehicle display device according to the first embodiment of the present invention.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"6 is a schematic front view illustrating a part of the internal structure for a door mirror using a vehicle display device according to the first embodiment of the present invention.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"7 and FIG.\",\n \"8 are schematic cross-sectional views illustrating a part of the internal structure for a door mirror using a vehicle display device according to the first embodiment of the present invention.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"5 and FIG.\",\n \"6 depict parts that can be seen when some components of the light emitting device 3 are removed from the door mirror 2.FIG.\",\n \"7 schematically illustrates an arrangement of the light emitting device 3 and the mirror element 20 inside the door mirror 2 as seen from above.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"8 is an exploded view of the components in the light emitting device 3 and the mirror element 20 inside the door mirror 2 as seen from above.\",\n \"The door mirror 2 is provided with a housing 21 that accommodates the various components in the light emitting device 3 and the mirror element 20.The front plane of the housing 21 is open and the rim includes a gap which allows the mirror element 20 to block the opening when the mirror element 20 is fitted to the housing 21.The housing 21 is provided with a drive mechanism 22 capable of changing the angle of the mirror element 20; the mirror element is secured to the drive mechanism 22.The housing 21 may also be installed on the vehicle 1 by way of an attachment 23; the attachment 23 contains various kinds of communication wiring for connecting the various electrical components in the mirror unit 20 such as the light source 30 of the light emitting device 3 in the door mirror 2 and the drive mechanism 22 to units in the vehicle 1 such as a control device.\",\n \"The driver may manipulate various operational input buttons arranged near the driver seat which operates the drive mechanism 22 and adjusts the angle of the mirror element 20.Initiating operations such as a lane change may also cause the light source 30 to emit light.\",\n \"A fastener frame 24 acts as a border inside the housing 21 and secures the light guide plate 31 and the mirror element 20 to the drive mechanism 22; the light guide plate 31 and the mirror element 20 are housed within the fastener frame 24 and thereby blocks the opening in the front surface of the housing 21.The fastener frame 24 includes a fastening panel at the rear so that securing the fastening panel to the drive mechanism 22 fastens the light guide plate 31 and mirror element 20 housed within the fastener frame 24 to the drive mechanism 22.The light guide plate 31 appears as a rectangle when viewed from the front, with the light guide plate 31 arranged so that the long side direction and the short side direction thereof are substantially parallel to the horizontal direction on the vertical direction respectively.\",\n \"The light source 30 is arranged at the light guide plate 31 near the attachment 23 emits light from near the attachment 23.Arranging the light source so that incident light enters the light guide plate from near the attachment 23 facilitates adjusting the optical path towards outside the vehicle 1.Note that the light guide plate 31 may be configured from a flexible transparent panel, and the end portion of the light guide plate 31 near the light source 30 may be bent so that the light source is arranged behind the drive mechanism 22.Even in this case, the components may be arranged so that light emitted from the light source 30 enters the light guide plate 31 from near the attachment 23.The light guide plate 31 may be arranged behind the mirror element 20 within the fastener frame 24.The mirror element 20 and the light guide plate 31 may be securely adhered to the fastener panel as necessary with an adhesive agent.\",\n \"The mirror element 20 is provided a transmissive portion 20b, a front surface 20a in front of the transmissive portion 20b, and a reflective layer 20c behind the transmissive portion 20b.\",\n \"Light enters the mirror element 20 through the front surface 20a, passes through the transmissive portion 20b and reflects from the reflective layer 20c.\",\n \"The transmissive portion 20b may be produced using a resin material such as transparent polycarbonate resin or poly methyl methacrylate resin, or an inorganic material such as glass.\",\n \"The reflective layer 20c may be a metal-plated or vapor-deposited layer produced by plating or depositing a metal such as aluminum or silver.\",\n \"The reflective layer 20c reflects light entering from the front surface 20a of the mirror element 20 whereby the mirror element 20 functions as a mirror.\",\n \"The door mirror 2 with a vehicle display device according to the first embodiment of the present invention applied thereto is configured with the light guide plate 31 stacked behind the mirror element 20.More specifically, the mirror element 20 and the light guide plates 31 behind the mirror element 20 are stacked so that the respective panel-like surfaces are parallel.\",\n \"In other words, the mirror element 20 is a thin panel-like component provided with a transmissive portion 20b, a front surface 20a as one surface on the front part of the transmissive portion 20b, and a reflective layer 20c as the other surface on the back surface of the transmissive portion 20b.\",\n \"Light enters the mirror element 20 through the front surface 20a, passes through the transmissive portion 20b and reflects from the reflective layer 20c toward the front surface 20a.\",\n \"The light guide plate 31 is arranged at the other surface of the mirror element 20.The optical functions of the first embodiment of the present invention thusly configured are described.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"9 is a conceptual diagram illustrating the optical path through the light emitting device 3 in a vehicle display device according to the first embodiment of the present invention.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"9 superimposes a solid arrow and a double-line arrow over a schematic cross-sectional view of the light emitting device 3 according to the first embodiment; here, the solid arrow represents the optical path of light emitted from the light source 30, while double-line arrow represent the path of external light entering from outside.\",\n \"Light emitted from the light source 30 enters the light guide plate 31 from near the attachment 23.The light guide plate 31 guides the incident light from the light source 30 so that the light is repeatedly totally reflected between the emission surface 33 and the rear surface 34; the light is reflected from the optical-path changing portions 35 (omitted from FIG.\",\n \"9), and exits from the emission surface 33.Light exiting the light guide plate 31 from the emission surface 33 passes through the mirror element 20 and exits from the door mirror 2.The mirror element 20 functions as a mirror by causing external light to enter through the front surface 20a, pass through the transmissive portion 20b, and reflect from reflective layer 20c to pass through the front surface 20a to the outside.\",\n \"Given that the light guide plate 31 does not affect the light entering from outside, an image will not be distorted on reflection from the mirror element 20.The first embodiment, thusly configured may be adopted in a vehicle display device with a light emitting device 3 therein to serve as a door mirror 2.The light emitting device 3 in the vehicle display device (door mirror 2) includes a light source 30 and a light guide plate 31.The vehicle display device functions identically to an ordinary mirror in a door mirror 2 when a driver in the driver seat views the door mirror 2.Outside the vehicle 1, for instance when viewed from a vehicle behind the vehicle 1, the entire mirror surface of the vehicle display device functions as a light emitting device 3 capable of emitting light, and the emission of light may provide various alerts on the operation of the vehicle, e.g., indicating the direction of the vehicle and the like.\",\n \"More specifically, the vehicle display device operates as a turn indicator (i.e., turn signal) when one of the left or right door mirrors 2 provided to the vehicle emits light.\",\n \"When both vehicle display devices emit light, the vehicle display device functions as a brake indicator (i.e., brake signal).\",\n \"Moreover, when both vehicle display devices emit lights, and especially when blinking at predetermined intervals, the vehicle display device functions as an emergency display signal (hazard signal).\",\n \"Thus, the vehicle display device emits light whereby various kinds of information may be provided outside the vehicle, for instance, to the driver in a following vehicle.\",\n \"The mirror element 20 housed in the door mirror 2 is arranged in front of the light guide plate 31; therefore, the image reflected by the mirror element 20 does not give rise to certain phenomena such as distortion due to effects from the light guide plate 31.Second Embodiment The second embodiment changes the locations of the light guide plate 31 and the mirror element 20 in the vehicle display device of the first embodiment.\",\n \"Given that only the location of the light guide plate 31 and the mirror element 20 changes in the second embodiment and all other configurations are identical to the first embodiment, it is sufficient to reference the first embodiment for these configurations as further descriptions thereof are omitted.\",\n \"The identical parts in the first and second embodiments are given the same reference numerals.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"10 is a schematic cross-sectional view illustrating an example of the internal structure for a door mirror 2 using a vehicle display device according to a second embodiment of the present invention.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"10 depicts that door mirror 2 provided with a vehicle display device according to a second embodiment of the present invention, and schematically illustrates an arrangement of the light emitting device 3 and the mirror element 20 inside the door mirror 2 when viewed from above.\",\n \"The light guide plate 31 is arranged in front of the mirror element 20 in the vehicle display device according to the second embodiment of the present invention.\",\n \"More specifically, the mirror element 20 and the light guide plate 31 in front of the mirror element 20 are stacked so that the respective panel-like surfaces are parallel.\",\n \"In other words, the mirror element 20 is a thin panel-like component provided a transmissive portion 20b, a front surface 20a in front of the transmissive portion 20b, and a reflective layer 20c behind the transmissive portion 20b.\",\n \"Light enters the mirror element 20 through the front surface 20a, passes through the transmissive portion 20b and reflects from the reflective layer 20c toward the front surface 20a.\",\n \"The light guide plate 31 is stacked at the front surface 20a of the mirror element 20.The optical functions of a second embodiment of the present invention thusly configured are described.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"11 is a schematic view illustrating the optical path through the light emitting device 3 in a vehicle display device according to the second embodiment of the present invention.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"11 superimposes a solid arrow and a double-line arrow over a schematic cross-sectional view of the light emitting device 3 according to the second embodiment; here, the solid arrow represents the optical path of light emitted from the light source 30, while the double-line arrow represent the path of external light entering from outside.\",\n \"Light emitted from the light source 30 enters the light guide plate 31 from the incidence end surface 32.The light guide plate 31 guides the incident light entering from the light source 30 so that the light is repeatedly totally reflected between the emission surface 33 and the rear surface 34; the light is reflected from the optical-path changing portions 35 (omitted from FIG.\",\n \"11), and exits from the emission surface 33.Light exiting the light guide plate 31 from the emission surface 33 exits from the door mirror 2.Note that light exiting the light guide plate 31 from the emission surface 33 does not need to pass through the reflective layer 20c of the mirror component 20; therefore, this allows the light emitting device 3 according to the second embodiment to emit bright light externally.\",\n \"The mirror element 20 functions as a mirror by allowing the external light transmitted through the light guide plate 31 to enter through the front surface 20a, pass through the transmissive portion 20b and reflect from the reflective layer 20c to pass through the light guide plate 31 and exit to the outside.\",\n \"The external lights reflected by the mirror element 20 is transmitted through the light guide plate 31.However, the surface area of the reflection surfaces 35a of the optical-path changing portions 35 (i.e., the number of reflection surfaces 35a) may be smaller than the surface area of the front surface 20a.\",\n \"This configuration allows the mirror element 20 to function as a mirror and additionally keep the distortion of an image reflected there from at a level unrecognizable to an observer.\",\n \"The second embodiment, thusly configured may be adopted in a vehicle display device with a light emitting device 3 therein to serve as a door mirror 2.The light emitting device 3 in the vehicle display device (door mirror 2) includes a light source 30 and a light guide plate 31.The vehicle display device functions identically to an ordinary mirror in a door mirror 2 when a driver in the driver seat views the door mirror 2.Outside the vehicle 1, for instance when viewed from a vehicle behind the vehicle 1, the entire mirror surface of the vehicle display device functions as a light emitting device 3 capable of emitting light, and the emission of light may provide various alerts on the operation of the vehicle, e.g., indicating the direction of the vehicle and the like.\",\n \"The light guide plate 31 housed in the door mirror 2 is arranged in front of the mirror element 20 and thus also allows a brighter light to be emitted therefrom.\",\n \"Third Embodiment The third embodiment uses the light guide plate 31 of the light emitting device 3 as a mirror element 20 in the vehicle display device of the first embodiment.\",\n \"Given that only the light guide plate 31 and the mirror element 20 changes in the third embodiment and all other configurations are identical to the first embodiment, it is sufficient to reference the first embodiment for these configurations as further descriptions thereof are omitted.\",\n \"The identical parts in the first and third embodiments are given the same reference numerals.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"12 is a schematic view illustrating the optical path through a light emitting device 3 in a vehicle display device according to a third embodiment of the present invention.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"12 superimposes a solid arrow and a double-line arrow over a schematic cross-sectional view of the light emitting device 3 according to the third embodiment; here, the solid arrow represents the optical path of light emitted from the light source 30, while the double-line arrow represent the path of external light entering from outside.\",\n \"In the third embodiment the light guide plate 31 with attached light source 30 is inserted into the fastener frame 24 which is secured to the front surface of the drive mechanism 22 that is in the housing 21.The light guide plate 31 also acts as a mirror element; and no specific mirror element 20 is provided.\",\n \"A metal-plated or vapor-deposited reflective layer 36 may be formed as a metal-plated or vapor-deposited layer produced on the rear surface of the light guide plate 31 in the vehicle display device according to the third embodiment of the present invention by plating or depositing a metal such as aluminum or silver.\",\n \"Therefore, the external light which enters from the emission surface 33 reflects from the reflective layer 36 whereby the light guide plate 31 acts as a mirror element.\",\n \"Light emitted from the light source 30 enters the light guide plate 31 from the incidence end surface 32.The light guide plate 31 guides the incident light entering from the light source 30 so that the light is repeatedly totally reflected between the emission surface 33 and the rear surface 34; the light is reflected from the optical-path changing portions 35 and exits from the emission surface 33.Light exiting the light guide plate 31 from the emission surface 33 exits from the door mirror 2.In other words, the light guide plate 31 in the light emitting device 3 possesses an emission surface 33 and optical-path changing portions 35; the emission surface 33 outputs incident light that entered from the light source 30, and the optical-path changing portions 35 change the path of incident light from the light source 30 toward the emission surface 33.The light guide plate 31 further includes a reflective layer 36 formed on the rear surface 34 thereof which faces the emission surface 33; external light entering the light guide plate 31 from the emission surface 33 reflects from the reflective layer 36 toward the emission surface 33.Thus, the light guide plate 31 functions to emit light to outside of the vehicle 1 and as a mirror.\",\n \"Note that the light exiting the light guide plate 31 from the emission surface 33 does not need to pass through the mirror element 20 as with the second embodiment; therefore, this allows the light emitting device 3 according to the third embodiment to emit bright light externally.\",\n \"The third embodiment, thusly configured may be adopted in a vehicle display device with a light emitting device 3 therein to serve as a door mirror 2.The light emitting device 3 in the vehicle display device (door mirror 2) includes a light source 30 and a light guide plate 31.The vehicle display device functions identically to an ordinary mirror in a door mirror 2 when a driver in the driver seat views the door mirror 2.Outside the vehicle 1, for instance when viewed from a vehicle behind the vehicle 1, the entire mirror surface of the vehicle display device functions as a light emitting device 3 capable of emitting light, and the emission of light may provide various alerts on the operation of the vehicle, e.g., indicating the direction of the vehicle and the like.\",\n \"Additionally, having the light guide plate 31 include a reflective layer 36 that acts as the mirror element 20 therefore allows the light guide plate 31 emit bright light.\",\n \"Fourth Embodiment The fourth embodiment provides a layer for protecting an outer surface of the light guide plate 31 of the third embodiment.\",\n \"Given that only a layer is added in the fourth embodiment and all other configurations are identical to the third embodiment, it is sufficient to reference the third embodiment for these configurations as further descriptions thereof are omitted.\",\n \"The identical parts in the third and fourth embodiments are given the same reference numerals.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"13 is a schematic view illustrating the optical path through a light emitting device in a vehicle display device according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"13 superimposes a solid arrow over a schematic cross-sectional view of the light emitting device 3 according to the fourth embodiment; here, the solid arrow represents the optical path of light emitted from the light source 30.In the fourth embodiment the light guide plate 31 with attached light source 30, is inserted into the fastener frame 24 that is secured to the front surface of the drive mechanism 22 in the housing 21.The light guide plate 31 also acts as a mirror element; and no specific mirror element 20 is provided.\",\n \"A layer is formed on a surface behind the attached light guide plate 31 to protect the surface at the back of the light guide plate.\",\n \"The layer is produced from stacking metal-plated or vapor deposited reflective layer 36 formed by metal plating or vapor-depositing a metal such as aluminum or silver on top of a transmissive layer 37 produced from a resin material such as a transparent polycarbonate resin or a poly methyl methacrylate resin.\",\n \"The transmissive layer 37 is integrally molded via heat treatment or the like to the flat portions of the light guide plate 31 with no light focusing portions 35.In a light guide plate 31 thusly configured, the protective layer which includes the transmissive layer 37 and the reflective layer 36, functions as a mirror element since the external light that enters from the emission surface 33 passes through the light guide plate 31, further passes through the transmissive layer 37 and reflects from the reflective layer 36.Light emitted from the light source 30 enters the light guide plate 31 from the incidence end surface 32.The light guide plate 31 guides the incident light entering from the light source 30 so that the light is repeatedly totally reflected between the emission surface 33 and the rear surface 34; the light is reflected from the optical-path changing portions 35 and exits from the emission surface 33.Light exiting the light guide plate 31 from the emission surface 33 exits from the door mirror 2.In other words, the light guide plate 31 in the light emitting device 3 possesses an emission surface 33 and optical-path changing portions 35; the emission surface 33 outputs incident light that entered from the light source 30, and the optical-path changing portions 35 change the path of incident light from the light source 30 toward the emission surface 33.Thus, the light guide plate 31 functions to emit light to outside of the vehicle 1 when the light source 30 emits light, and as a mirror.\",\n \"Note that the light exiting the light guide plate 31 from the emission surface 33 does not need to pass through the mirror element 20; therefore, this allows the light emitting device 3 according to the fourth embodiment to emit bright light externally.\",\n \"Moreover, the light guide plate 31 is not affected by the reflective layer 36 since no reflective layer 36 is formed at the notched portions in the rear surface 34 of the light guide plate 31 that create the optical-path changing portions 35; consequently, a light emitting device 3 according to the embodiment can present an even brighter image than the display device 1 of the third embodiment.\",\n \"The fourth embodiment, thusly configured may be adopted in a vehicle display device with a light emitting device 3 therein to serve as a door mirror 2.The light emitting device 3 in the vehicle display device (door mirror 2) includes a light source 30 and a light guide plate 31.The light guide plate 31 includes a transmissive layer 37 on the rear surface 14 at the rear part facing the emission surface 33, and a reflective layer 36.The transmissive layer 37 allows external light entering from the emission surface 33 of the light guide plate 31 to pass therethrough, and the reflective layer 36 reflects the external light that passed through the transmissive layer 37 toward the emission surface 33.The external light that reflects from the reflective layer 36 passes through the transmissive layer, and exits through the emission surface 33 of the front light guide plate 31.The transmissive layer thus acts as a mirror.\",\n \"Fifth Embodiment In the fifth embodiment a vehicle display device according to the present invention is applied to a vehicle window pane.\",\n \"The identical parts in the first and fifth embodiments are given the same reference numerals.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"14A, FIG.\",\n \"14B, and FIG.\",\n \"14C are schematic diagrams for describing an example where a vehicle display device according to the fifth embodiment of the present invention is applied to a vehicle window pane.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"14A illustrates when the light emitting device 3 in the vehicle display device is not emitting light; and FIG.\",\n \"14B and FIG.\",\n \"14C illustrate when the light emitting device 3 in the vehicle display device emits light.\",\n \"The vehicle display device illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"14A, FIG.\",\n \"14B, and FIG.\",\n \"14C is a vehicle window pane, and more specifically is a rear side window 4 in the vehicle 1.The vehicle display device functions as an ordinary window pane (FIG.\",\n \"14A) when the light emitting device 3 therein does not emit light.\",\n \"The light emitting device 3 emits light whereby, the vehicle display device operates to provide alerts for the various operations of the vehicle such as a direction indicator (FIG.\",\n \"14B).\",\n \"Additionally, for instance, the vehicle display device may show at least one of an arrow or textual information indicating a lane change (FIG.\",\n \"14C) as a means of providing alerts to outside the vehicle for the various operations of the vehicle such as a direction indicator.\",\n \"Note that the display of symbol information such as an arrow, or information of a desired fomi such as text may be achieved by appropriately designing the locations at which the optical-path changing portions 35 are formed in the light guide plate 31 as well as the direction toward which incident light is reflected from the light guide plate 31.FIG.\",\n \"15 is a schematic diagram for describing an example where a vehicle display device according to the fifth embodiment of the present invention is applied to a vehicle window pane.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"15 illustrates an example of modifying the configuration depicted in FIGS.\",\n \"14A, 14B, and 14C; here, the vehicle display device is applied to the rear window 5 of the vehicle 1 to show a symbol modeled after the triangular display panel used for indicating an emergency stop.\",\n \"In this manner, the vehicle display device according to the fifth embodiment may be developed for use in various forms.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"16 is a schematic view illustrating the optical path through a light emitting device 3 in a vehicle display device according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"16 superimposes a solid arrow and double-line arrows over a schematic cross-sectional view of the light emitting device 3 according to the fifth embodiment; here, the solid arrow represents the optical path of light emitted from the light source 30, while the double-line arrows from top to bottom and from bottom to top represent the path of light from inside to outside the vehicle, and light from outside to inside the vehicle respectively.\",\n \"The light guide plate 31 in the light emitting device 3 is stacked on the cabin facing side (top, FIG.\",\n \"16) of the window material 40 used as the window panes for the rear side window 4, the rear window 5, and the like.\",\n \"The light guide plate 31 guides the incident light entering from the light source 30 so that the light is repeatedly totally reflected between the emission surface 33 and the rear surface 34; the light is reflected from the optical-path changing portions 35 and exits from the emission surface 33.Light exiting the light guide plate 31 from the emission surface 33 passes through the window material 40 and is emitted outside the vehicle.\",\n \"The window material 40 allows light to pass from outside to inside and from inside to outside the vehicle.\",\n \"The fifth embodiment, thusly configured may be adopted in a vehicle display device with a light emitting device 3 therein to serve as a window pane such as a rear side window 4, a rear window 5, or the like.\",\n \"The light emitting device 3 in the vehicle display device (rear side window 4 and rear window 5) includes a light source 30 and a light guide plate 31.The window material 40 is stacked on the light guide plate 31 toward the outside of the vehicle.\",\n \"The rear side window 4 and the rear window 5 function as ordinary windowpanes when the light source 30 does not emit light, and when the light source 30 emits light operates to provide alerts for the various operations of the vehicle such as a direction indicator.\",\n \"Sixth Embodiment The sixth embodiment changes the locations of the light guide plate 31 and the window material 40 in the vehicle display device of the fifth embodiment.\",\n \"Given that only the location of the light guide plate 31 and the window material 40 changes in the sixth embodiment and all other configurations are identical to the fifth embodiment, it is sufficient to reference the fifth embodiment for these configurations as further descriptions thereof are omitted.\",\n \"The identical parts in the first and sixth embodiments are given the same reference numerals.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"17 is a schematic view illustrating the optical path through a light emitting device 3 in a vehicle display device according to a sixth embodiment of the present invention.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"17 superimposes a solid arrow and double-line arrows over a schematic cross-sectional view of the light emitting device 3 according to the sixth embodiment; here, the solid arrow represents the optical path of light emitted from the light source 30, while the double-line arrows from top to bottom and from bottom to top represent the path of light from inside to outside the vehicle, and light from outside to inside the vehicle respectively.\",\n \"The light guide plate 31 in the light emitting device 3 is stacked on the window material 40 used as the window panes for the rear side window 4, the rear window 5, and the like toward the outside of the vehicle.\",\n \"The light guide plate 31 guides the incident light entering from the light source 30 so that the light is repeatedly totally reflected between the emission surface 33 and the rear surface 34; the light is reflected from the optical-path changing portions 35 and exits from the emission surface 33.The window material 40 allows light to pass from outside to inside and from inside to outside the vehicle.\",\n \"The sixth embodiment, thusly configured may be adopted in a vehicle display device with a light emitting device 3 therein to serve as a window pane such as a rear side window 4, a rear window 5, or the like.\",\n \"The light emitting device 3 in the vehicle display device (rear side window 4 and rear window 5) includes a light source 30 and a light guide plate 31.The window material 40 is stacked on the light guide plate 31 toward the inside of the vehicle.\",\n \"The rear side window 4 and the rear window 5 function as ordinary windowpanes when the light source 30 does not emit light, and when the light source 30 emits light operates to provide alerts for the various operations of the vehicle such as a direction indicator.\",\n \"Seventh Embodiment The seventh embodiment uses the light guide plate 31 of the light emitting device 3 as the window material 40 in the vehicle display device of the fifth embodiment.\",\n \"Given that only the light guide plate 31 and the window material 40 changes in the seventh embodiment and all other configurations are identical to the fifth embodiment, it is sufficient to reference the fifth embodiment for these configurations as further descriptions thereof are omitted.\",\n \"The identical parts in the fifth and seventh embodiments are given the same reference numerals.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"18 is a schematic view illustrating the optical path through a light emitting device 3 in a vehicle display device according to a seventh embodiment of the present invention.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"18 superimposes a solid arrow and double-line arrows over a schematic cross-sectional view of the light emitting device 3 according to the fifth embodiment; here, the solid arrow represents the optical path of light emitted from the light source 30, while the double-line arrows from top to bottom and from bottom to top represent the path of light from inside to outside the vehicle, and light from outside to inside the vehicle respectively.\",\n \"Here, the light guide plate 31 in the light emitting device 3 is serves as the window pane for the rear side window 4, the rear window 5, and the like in the seventh embodiment.\",\n \"The light guide plate 31 functions as the window material and as a light guide plate, and no specific window material 40 is provided.\",\n \"Consequently, while a flexible thin-film material may be sued as the light guide plate 31 in the fifth and sixth embodiments, the light guide plate 31 of the seventh embodiment is produced from a hardened panel like material that is durable enough to serve as a window pane.\",\n \"The light guide plate 31 guides the incident light entering from the light source 30 so that the light is repeatedly totally reflected between the emission surface 33 and the rear surface 34; the light is reflected from the optical-path changing portions 35 and exits from the emission surface 33.The light guide plate 31 also allows light to pass from outside to inside and from inside to outside the vehicle.\",\n \"The seventh embodiment, thusly configured may be adopted in a vehicle display device with a light emitting device 3 therein to serve as a window pane such as a rear side window 4, a rear window 5, or the like.\",\n \"The light emitting device 3 in the vehicle display device (rear side window 4 and rear window 5) includes a light source 30 and a light guide plate 31.The rear side window 4 and the rear window 5 function as ordinary windowpanes when the light source 30 does not emit light, and when the light source 30 emits light operates to provide alerts for the various operations of the vehicle such as a direction indicator.\",\n \"The present invention is not limited to the above described embodiments and may be implemented in various other ways.\",\n \"Therefore, in all respects the above embodiments are merely examples and should not be interpreted as limitations.\",\n \"The scope of the present invention is delineated by the claims and not limited by the specification.\",\n \"Moreover, all modifications and variations with a scope equivalent to the claims are within the scope of the present invention.\",\n \"For instance, each of the aforementioned embodiments use a single light guide plate 31; the present invention is not limited thereto, and may be developed in various fauns which, for example, use a plurality of light guide plates 31.Moreover, when using a plurality of light guide plates 31, all the light guide plates 31 do not need to be configured to emit light toward outside the vehicle 1.More specifically, the light guide plates 31 that emit light toward outside the vehicle may be stacked, with a light guide plate 31 arranged for emitting light in a direction where the driver is considered the observer.\",\n \"The light guide plate 31 designated for the driver as an observer may further include a plurality of light focusing portions configured to change the path of incident light toward the emission surface 33 causing the light output to converge toward a convergence point or convergence line outside the light guide plate or to radiate from a convergence point P or convergence line outside the light guide plate, and thereby form an image externally.\",\n \"The vehicle display device thusly configured may be adopted as a door mirror 2.In this case the light guide plate 31 can produce an image from light visible to the driver where the image appears to emerge from a position different from the mirror surface of the door mirror 2.In addition, the basic principles of the door mirror 2 presented in the first through fourth embodiments may be applied to other mirrors such as a rearview mirror.\",\n \"Furthermore, the basic principles of the rear side window 4 and the rear window 5 presented in the fifth through seventh embodiments may be applied to other window panes such are the windshield.\",\n \"The vehicle display device thusly configured as herein disclosed may be applied to mirrors such as a door mirror 2, and window pane surfaces such as a rear side window 4, a rear window 5, and the like, to provide alerts for the various operations of a vehicle such as a direction indicator, brake signal, emergency signal, and the like to persons outside the vehicle.\",\n \"Note that the information that may be provided as an alert is not limited to the vehicles operational state.\",\n \"For instance, textual information may be displayed which indicates the state of the roadway being traveled, e.g., “Traffic accident ahead”.\",\n \"Hereby, the vehicle display device may be configured to emit light for the purpose of reporting various kinds of information.\",\n \"REFERENCE NUMERALS 1 Vehicle 2 Door mirror (vehicle display device) 20 Mirror element 20a Front surface 20b Transmissive portion 20c Reflective layer 3 Light emitting device 30 Light source 31 Light guide plate (light guide element) 32 Incidence end surface 33 Emission surface 34 Rear surface 35 Optical-path changing portion 35a Reflection surface 36 Reflective layer 37 Transmissive layer 4 Rear side window (vehicle display device) 5 Rear windshield (vehicle display device) 40 Window material\"\n ]\n]"},"source":{"kind":"string","value":"Patent_15876031"}}},{"rowIdx":4495058,"cells":{"text":{"kind":"list like","value":[["DART SCORING SYSTEM","A platform for facilitating a dart tournament allows gathering, at an electronic bracket program, a master tournament player list for the tournament, which includes the event or events in which each player is participating.","The platform allows generating, at a cloud server application, a tournament record based on the master tournament player list.","The platform allows sending of the master tournament player list and the tournament record to mobile computing devices executing an electronic dart scoring application.","The platform allows scoring a plurality of matches of the tournament on the mobile computing devices executing the electronic dart scoring application.","The platform allows automatically sending scores in substantially real-time from each of the plurality of matches upon their completion to the cloud server application and electronic bracket program via the one or more application program interfaces; and automatically advancing players at the electronic bracket program based on the sent scores."],["1.An integrated dart scoring platform comprising: an electronic bracket program, a cloud server application, an electronic dart scoring application, and one or more application program interfaces, wherein the platform is configured to facilitate a dart tournament scored on the plurality of mobile computing devices executing the electronic scoring dart application: gathering, at the electronic bracket program, a master tournament player list for the tournament, wherein the master tournament player list includes the event or events in which each player is participating: generating, at the cloud server application, a tournament record based on the master tournament player list; wherein the tournament record comprises at least: device settings, and match rules; sending the master tournament player list and the tournament record to each of the plurality of mobile computing devices executing the electronic scoring dart application; scoring a plurality of matches of the tournament on the plurality of mobile computing devices executing the electronic scoring dart application; automatically sending scores in substantially real-time from each of the plurality of matches upon their completion to the cloud server application and electronic bracket program via the one or more application program interfaces; and automatically advancing players at the electronic bracket program based on the sent scores."],[" BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The game of darts is traditionally an English pub game in which each player takes turns throwing 3 steel-tipped throwing devices (i.e., “darts”) at various targets on a bristle board containing 20 segments and bulls eye.","The two primary games played in the United States are titled '01 (“oh-one”) and Cricket.","Historically, scoring was done on chalkboards and more recently, dry erase boards.","Although electronic wall-mounted score machines have been developed, they can be expensive and many have a steep learning curve.","Furthermore, electronic soft tip machines use special darts and special scoreboards to automatically record scores when the darts hit the board.","These are akin to video games, often requiring money for each game and requiring players go to specific establishments having such scoreboards.","Additionally, dart software programs (i.e., applications) typically have a narrow focus and their interfaces tend to be technical and difficult to learn as they do not conform to the typical chalkboard/dry erase board scoring system.","Team/league and tournament play is especially challenging to accommodate in such software due to the nature of match format variations and group play.","Many additional factors have prevented easy-to-use modern scoring systems from being developed and/or widely accepted.","A first of these is math.","Scoring a dart game is prone to math errors, which at a minimum slows game play and often results in incorrect scores.","It is this particular pain point that is credited for giving rise to the soft-tip electronic vending game industry described above, impacting the popularity of the steel tipped game.","A second factor is the existing electronic scoreboards, which, as stated, can be intimidating or confusing, especially for the uninitiated.","Confirming and editing recent scores can be very difficult on these systems, due to a lack of instructions.","Furthermore, interfaces vary dramatically from traditional chalk board scoring.","A third preventing modern scoring systems from wide acceptance is that darts is a hard game to watch.","For example, teammates and spectators often struggle with seeing the current score of the match due to legibility, lighting, positioning, and space restrictions.","This often prevents spectators from keeping up with the status of a live game.","A fourth problem is finding opponents & creating opportunities to play.","As with scheduling any joint activity, the logistics of finding an agreeable time and a common meeting point, while managing the personal commitments in life, can make playing darts a challenge.","A fifth issue are game rule variations.","There are dozens of niche dart games and practice routines with rule variations.","The result is that there are hundreds of possibilities of game types, with even identical games going by different names depending on geography.","This difference creates decreased accuracy.","Player performance also limits acceptance.","Players are not familiar with ways to measure their performance as current player performance measurement tools require additional manual calculations after every game or match and is especially tedious for cricket-based games."],[" SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An aspect of the disclosure provides an integrated dart scoring platform comprising an electronic bracket program, a cloud server application, an electronic dart scoring application, and one or more application program interfaces.","The platform may be configured to facilitate a dart tournament scored on the plurality of mobile computing devices executing the electronic scoring dart application by gathering, at the electronic bracket program, a master tournament player list for the tournament, wherein the master tournament player list includes the event or events in which each player is participating.","Then, the platform may include, generating, at the cloud server application, a tournament record based on the master tournament player list wherein the tournament record comprises at least device settings and match rules.","The platform may further comprise, sending the master tournament player list and the tournament record to each of the plurality of mobile computing devices executing the electronic scoring dart application.","The platform may then comprise scoring a plurality of matches of the tournament on the plurality of mobile computing devices executing the electronic scoring dart application.","Then the platform may include automatically sending scores in substantially real-time from each of the plurality of matches upon their completion to the cloud server application and electronic bracket program via the one or more application program interfaces; and automatically advancing players at the electronic bracket program based on the sent scores.","Another aspect of the disclosure provides a method for facilitating a dart tournament.","The method may include gathering, at an electronic bracket program, a master tournament player list for the tournament, wherein the master tournament player list includes the event or events in which each player is participating.","Then, the method may include, generating, at a cloud server application, a tournament record based on the master tournament player list wherein the tournament record comprises at least device settings and match rules.","The method may further comprise, sending the master tournament player list and the tournament record to each of a plurality of mobile computing devices executing an electronic scoring dart application.","The method may then comprise scoring a plurality of matches of the tournament on the plurality of mobile computing devices executing the electronic scoring dart application.","Then the method may include automatically sending scores in substantially real-time from each of the plurality of matches upon their completion to the cloud server application and electronic bracket program via the one or more application program interfaces; and automatically advancing players at the electronic bracket program based on the sent scores.","Yet another aspect of the invention comprises a non-transitory, tangible, computer-readable storage medium, encoded with processor-readable instructions to perform a method of facilitating a dart tournament.","The method may include gathering, at an electronic bracket program, a master tournament player list for the tournament, wherein the master tournament player list includes the event or events in which each player is participating.","Then, the method may include, generating, at a cloud server application, a tournament record based on the master tournament player list wherein the tournament record comprises at least device settings and match rules.","The method may further comprise, sending the master tournament player list and the tournament record to each of a plurality of mobile computing devices executing an electronic scoring dart application.","The method may then comprise scoring a plurality of matches of the tournament on the plurality of mobile computing devices executing the electronic scoring dart application.","Then the method may include automatically sending scores in substantially real-time from each of the plurality of matches upon their completion to the cloud server application and electronic bracket program via the one or more application program interfaces; and automatically advancing players at the electronic bracket program based on the sent scores."],["PRIORITY This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser.","No.","14/832,366 filed Aug. 21, 2015 and entitled “Dart Scoring System”, which claims priority to U.S.","Provisional Application No.","62/040,299, filed Aug. 21, 2014 and entitled “Dart Scoring System”, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.","FIELD OF THE INVENTION This invention is related to the game of darts.","In particular, but not by way of limitation, the invention is related to providing a scoring system for various dart games.","BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The game of darts is traditionally an English pub game in which each player takes turns throwing 3 steel-tipped throwing devices (i.e., “darts”) at various targets on a bristle board containing 20 segments and bulls eye.","The two primary games played in the United States are titled '01 (“oh-one”) and Cricket.","Historically, scoring was done on chalkboards and more recently, dry erase boards.","Although electronic wall-mounted score machines have been developed, they can be expensive and many have a steep learning curve.","Furthermore, electronic soft tip machines use special darts and special scoreboards to automatically record scores when the darts hit the board.","These are akin to video games, often requiring money for each game and requiring players go to specific establishments having such scoreboards.","Additionally, dart software programs (i.e., applications) typically have a narrow focus and their interfaces tend to be technical and difficult to learn as they do not conform to the typical chalkboard/dry erase board scoring system.","Team/league and tournament play is especially challenging to accommodate in such software due to the nature of match format variations and group play.","Many additional factors have prevented easy-to-use modern scoring systems from being developed and/or widely accepted.","A first of these is math.","Scoring a dart game is prone to math errors, which at a minimum slows game play and often results in incorrect scores.","It is this particular pain point that is credited for giving rise to the soft-tip electronic vending game industry described above, impacting the popularity of the steel tipped game.","A second factor is the existing electronic scoreboards, which, as stated, can be intimidating or confusing, especially for the uninitiated.","Confirming and editing recent scores can be very difficult on these systems, due to a lack of instructions.","Furthermore, interfaces vary dramatically from traditional chalk board scoring.","A third preventing modern scoring systems from wide acceptance is that darts is a hard game to watch.","For example, teammates and spectators often struggle with seeing the current score of the match due to legibility, lighting, positioning, and space restrictions.","This often prevents spectators from keeping up with the status of a live game.","A fourth problem is finding opponents & creating opportunities to play.","As with scheduling any joint activity, the logistics of finding an agreeable time and a common meeting point, while managing the personal commitments in life, can make playing darts a challenge.","A fifth issue are game rule variations.","There are dozens of niche dart games and practice routines with rule variations.","The result is that there are hundreds of possibilities of game types, with even identical games going by different names depending on geography.","This difference creates decreased accuracy.","Player performance also limits acceptance.","Players are not familiar with ways to measure their performance as current player performance measurement tools require additional manual calculations after every game or match and is especially tedious for cricket-based games.","SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An aspect of the disclosure provides an integrated dart scoring platform comprising an electronic bracket program, a cloud server application, an electronic dart scoring application, and one or more application program interfaces.","The platform may be configured to facilitate a dart tournament scored on the plurality of mobile computing devices executing the electronic scoring dart application by gathering, at the electronic bracket program, a master tournament player list for the tournament, wherein the master tournament player list includes the event or events in which each player is participating.","Then, the platform may include, generating, at the cloud server application, a tournament record based on the master tournament player list wherein the tournament record comprises at least device settings and match rules.","The platform may further comprise, sending the master tournament player list and the tournament record to each of the plurality of mobile computing devices executing the electronic scoring dart application.","The platform may then comprise scoring a plurality of matches of the tournament on the plurality of mobile computing devices executing the electronic scoring dart application.","Then the platform may include automatically sending scores in substantially real-time from each of the plurality of matches upon their completion to the cloud server application and electronic bracket program via the one or more application program interfaces; and automatically advancing players at the electronic bracket program based on the sent scores.","Another aspect of the disclosure provides a method for facilitating a dart tournament.","The method may include gathering, at an electronic bracket program, a master tournament player list for the tournament, wherein the master tournament player list includes the event or events in which each player is participating.","Then, the method may include, generating, at a cloud server application, a tournament record based on the master tournament player list wherein the tournament record comprises at least device settings and match rules.","The method may further comprise, sending the master tournament player list and the tournament record to each of a plurality of mobile computing devices executing an electronic scoring dart application.","The method may then comprise scoring a plurality of matches of the tournament on the plurality of mobile computing devices executing the electronic scoring dart application.","Then the method may include automatically sending scores in substantially real-time from each of the plurality of matches upon their completion to the cloud server application and electronic bracket program via the one or more application program interfaces; and automatically advancing players at the electronic bracket program based on the sent scores.","Yet another aspect of the invention comprises a non-transitory, tangible, computer-readable storage medium, encoded with processor-readable instructions to perform a method of facilitating a dart tournament.","The method may include gathering, at an electronic bracket program, a master tournament player list for the tournament, wherein the master tournament player list includes the event or events in which each player is participating.","Then, the method may include, generating, at a cloud server application, a tournament record based on the master tournament player list wherein the tournament record comprises at least device settings and match rules.","The method may further comprise, sending the master tournament player list and the tournament record to each of a plurality of mobile computing devices executing an electronic scoring dart application.","The method may then comprise scoring a plurality of matches of the tournament on the plurality of mobile computing devices executing the electronic scoring dart application.","Then the method may include automatically sending scores in substantially real-time from each of the plurality of matches upon their completion to the cloud server application and electronic bracket program via the one or more application program interfaces; and automatically advancing players at the electronic bracket program based on the sent scores.","BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Various objects and advantages and a more complete understanding of the present invention are apparent and more readily appreciated by reference to the following Detailed Description and to the appended claims when taken in conjunction with the accompanying Drawings wherein: FIG.","1 depicts a dart game system according to one embodiment of the invention; FIG.","2A depicts a first screen of a dart gaming system broadcasting feature according to one embodiment of the invention; FIG.","2B depicts a code screen according to one embodiment of the invention; FIG.","2C depicts various dart game broadcasting options according to one embodiment of the invention; FIG.","3 depicts a launch screen according to one embodiment of the invention; FIG.","4 depicts an '01 scoring interface according to one embodiment of the invention; FIG.","5A depicts a training tool according to one embodiment of the invention; FIG.","5B depicts suggested out options in a notification according to one embodiment of the invention; FIG.","6 depicts an assist notification according to one embodiment of the invention; FIG.","7 depicts a cricket scoreboard according to one embodiment of the invention; FIG.","8 depicts a cricket scoreboard according to one embodiment of the invention; FIG.","9 depicts a cricket scoreboard according to one embodiment of the invention; FIG.","10 depicts a marksman cricket scoreboard according to one embodiment of the invention; FIG.","11A depicts a hint that may be provided during cricket play scoreboard according to one embodiment of the invention; FIG.","11B depicts a hint that may be provided during cricket play scoreboard according to one embodiment of the invention; FIG.","12 depicts a game and practice generation screen scoreboard according to one embodiment of the invention; FIG.","12A depicts a game and practice generation screen scoreboard according to one embodiment of the invention; FIG.","12B depicts a game and practice generation screen scoreboard according to one embodiment of the invention; FIG.","13 depicts a Group/Team screen according to one embodiment of the invention; FIG.","14 depicts a Group/Team screen according to one embodiment of the invention; FIG.","15 depicts a game start screen according to one embodiment of the invention; FIG.","16 depicts a menu screen according to one embodiment of the invention; FIG.","17 depicts handicapping and custom scoring screen according to one embodiment of the invention; FIG.","18 depicts a corking tool according to one embodiment of the invention; FIG.","19 depicts user settings according to one embodiment of the invention; FIG.","20 depicts various user interface screens for a dart gaming system according to one embodiment of the invention; FIG.","21 depicts a match setup screen according to one embodiment of the invention; FIG.","22 depicts a connection options screen according to one embodiment of the invention; FIG.","23 depicts a second connection options screen according to one embodiment of the invention; FIG.","24 depicts a report comprising statistics screen according to one embodiment of the invention; FIG.","25 depicts a report comprising statistics screen according to one embodiment of the invention; FIG.","26 depicts a communication according to one embodiment of the invention; FIG.","27 depicts various statistical leaders according to one embodiment of the invention; FIG.","28 depicts a diagrammatic representation of one embodiment of a computer system according to one embodiment of the invention; FIG.","29 depicts a method according to one embodiment of the invention.","FIG.","30 depicts a logical block diagram of an integrated dart scoring platform for managing tournaments; FIG.","31 depicts a settings screen and a match rules screen according to one embodiment of the invention; FIG.","32 depicts a board selection screen, a selectable match screen, and a match confirmation screen according to one embodiment of the invention; FIG.","33 depicts an aging board calls screen according to one embodiment of the invention; FIG.","34 depicts a tournament viewing screen according to one embodiment of the invention; FIG.","35 depicts a method for implementing a tournament via an integrated dart scoring platform according to one embodiment of the invention; DETAILED DESCRIPTION The dart game system 100 (also referred to herein as a dart scoring system or dart gaming system) seen in FIG.","1 has addressed the issues presented above.","For example, the dart gaming system's unique interface substantially decreases the need for math skills and does not interfere with even the most proficient player's game.","The dart gaming system 100 may also provide a calculation of your three dart average for all games, including a reference point that compares it to your most recent 3 month average.","The dart gaming system's interface makes it easy to score, confirm or edit what was entered on the prior turn.","With network access, the dart gaming system's interface can be broadcast to any computing device, allowing spectators who are at a distance or even offsite to follow the score of the game on a public or personal device.","Furthermore, with network or internet-enabled devices, the dart gaming system 100 allows two opponents in separate locations to play a game, each taking turns scoring their respective turns.","The dart gaming system 100 also provides a custom play option for enabling various game rules, where users have the ability to design games and practice routines to create the version of the game they are accustomed to playing or want to play.","One embodiment of the dart scoring system improves game play and the scoring experience.","For example, the dart gaming system 100 captures data and statistics during the scoring of the game, eliminating the need for manual documentation.","The dart gaming system 100 further utilizes the cloud to broadcast games for spectators to follow on any internet enabled device and enables game play between 2 opponents in separate locations.","League and tournament play is supported with instant results & stats available to administrators, captains and players, and an interactive community is created utilizing the data collected from game play.","It is contemplated that the system 100 may be utilized with or without a network connection.","For example, when there is a network connection, the system 100 will automatically update the player/league/tournament statistics on a per throw/game/match segment, as identified by the user.","However, if no network connection is available, the system stores the information locally and transfers the data to the server 180 up re-establishing a network connection, integrating the information with any previous information stored.","Turning first to FIG.","1, seen is on embodiment of a dart gaming system 100.Although each figure described below may refer to a particular aspect of the dart gaming system 100, it is contemplated that the figure, or a feature thereof, may be referred to as the system 100.As seen in FIG.","1, one dart gaming system 100 comprises on-site solutions 110 and off-site solutions 120.The on-site solutions 110 may comprise a scoreboard 112, mobile device 114 or home device 116, while the off-site solutions 120 may comprise one or more network-enabled or internet-enabled devices.","The off-site solutions 120 may also be referred to herein as remote devices or broadcast devices.","The use of the system 100 is adapted to provide a quick, easy, and effective dart game scoring mechanism, having the ability to score many niche dart games and/or dart games with one or more regional variation.","Each of the devices seen in FIG.","1 may comprise a mobile computing device, a desktop device, or any other computing device known in the art.","In one embodiment, the scoreboard 112 may be used to enter and display a dart game score on a user interface.","A server 180 may broadcast the user interface to the remote devices.","The home devices 116 may mirror the user interface by as a remote device 120.In addition to the scoreboard, 112, the mobile device 114 may also be used to enter scores onto the user interface.","For example, the scoreboard 112 device may be placed near a dart board.","In order to enter scores in a safe manner, a player may wish to use his or her handheld mobile device 114 to enter scores into the user interface instead of the scoreboard.","However, if a mobile device 114 is used to enter scores, the scoreboard 112 may still control various user settings.","Seen in FIG.","19 is one set of user settings 1919 that may be controlled by the scoreboard.","One of these user settings 1919 may comprise when the broadcast scores (i.e., the scores on the remote devices 120) are updated.","For example, the scores on the broadcast devices may be updated after each dart throw or may be updated after each player, or after each round.","Other update scenarios are contemplated.","As seen in FIG.","1, the remote devices may comprise advertisements—“ADS”, as shown in the figure.","Turning now to FIG.","20, seen is a system flow 2095 for enabling various system 100 features.","For example, the log-in screen 2094 may be initially displayed to a user upon initiating the system 100 on any of the devices seen in FIG.","1.Through this screen, a user of the dart gaming system 100 may create an active member user profile in the system 100 and access the system 100 features.","Each active member may have access to all matches & events (e.g., games, tournaments, etc.)","in which they have participated.","Data from the games that users have participated in may be populated within a membership account on the server 180, giving each user access to performance analysis.","Such analysis may be used to provide a user rating and/or a user ranking and/or any other rating/ranking information or metrics which can be used to compare to the user to other members.","It is also contemplated that the dart gaming system 100 may be used be a guest user 352, as seen in FIG.","3.A guest user may have the option of subscribing to the system 100 at any point and identifying the games they have previously participated in, populating their membership account with previous game data.","Additionally, approved “outsiders” (e.g., though leagues, tournaments, etc.)","can be given permission to have access to selected matches.","As member games are stored over time, opportunities for virtual game play (i.e., database play) against themselves or others is available.","After entering a username/password into the log-in screen 2094, the launch screen 2050 may be displayed.","The launch screen 350 is also seen in FIG.","3.Upon selecting the play 351 option in the launch screen 350, a menu 2026 screen, as also seen in FIG.","16 may be displayed.","Seen in FIG.","16 are various dart game options 1628.A player may then select one of the dart game options 1628.Upon selecting one of the dart game options 1628, the match set up screen 2045 may be displayed, as seen in FIG.","20.As seen in FIG.","21, the match set up screen 2145 may comprise a connect 2131 option, manage player library 2132 option, match format 2133 option, add player 2134 option, and additional options 2136.The match format 2133 option modifies the no of games/sets/matches to be played.","Players may be added through the add player 2134 and manage player library 2132 options.","Upon selecting the players in the game, selecting the match format, and any additional options, the connect 2131 option may be selected.","The connect 2131 option will display the first connection options screen 2060.As seen in FIG.","22, the connection options screen 2260 may provide a broadcast match option 2261 and an online option 2262.By selecting the broadcast match option 2261, a second connection options screen 2365 may be displayed, as seen in FIG.","23, which may provide a connection code 2366.The connection codes 2366, 266 described herein may also be referred to as a broadcast key, key, password, or any other similar term known in the art.","The host may then share this connection code 266, 2366 with other users so that the other users may view the match.","Turning now to FIGS.","2A-2C, seen are examples of a dart gaming system broadcasting feature 230.The screen seen in FIG.","2A may comprise a code option 231, which, when selected, may display the code screen 232 seen in FIG.","2B.","Entering the connection code 2366 into this screen will enable the spectator to receive the scoring interface from the scoreboard 112 or other on-site solution 110 device, via the server 180 in at least one embodiment.","Selecting one of the link options 233 may provide a link to public matches to view.","For example, the online option 2262 seen in FIG.","22 may create a publicly-accessible link on a publicly-available webpage.","This link may have the ability to “broadcast” their match play on the internet—viewable with any browser, when the link is accessed.","For public broadcasts, interested parties may also be directed to a listing on a web page that provides a link which gives the spectator instant access to the game/match/tournament.","The broadcasting application may comprise a feature which takes advantage of landscape display environments.","One dart gaming system 100 may comprise an HTMLS (or any other program known in the art) program capable of running on any computing device comprising an internet browser such as, but not limited to, Internet Explorer®, Mozilla®, or Google Chrome®.","As seen in FIG.","2C, a standard viewing option 233, league viewing option 234, and/or game coach viewing option 235 may be provided to a spectator after either entering the code, as seen in FIG.","2b, or accessing the link through the link options 233.The standard viewing option 233 may display a scoring interface and current averages for each player.","The league viewing option 234 may also provide a match score and full name listing of the players, while the game coach option 235 may also enable the viewers to receive game tips and strategies.","The players may also receive these tips and strategies or may choose not to receive them through the user settings 1919, as seen in FIG.","19.The system 100 may comprise an audio and/or video component (e.g., live two-way audio and video) to any dart game initiated on the dart gaming system.","Such audio/video may be provided through the dart gaming system using any 3rd-party VOIP or video-streaming service.","It is contemplated that the video component may be utilized to support the scoring in the system 100.For example, if a score is contested, a video replay may be used to determine whether the entered score was accurate.","Alternatively, the video feed may be automatically utilized by the system 100 to record scores in the system.","Two players, geographically separated, can play a match through the dart gaming system 100 by connecting through the server 180.The server 180 will also distribute the user interface on the scoreboard 112 device to the spectators, as well as record and save all player, team, league, and tournament score data for each throw in every game played on the system 100.To enable play between two geographically remote players, a match host may provide the broadcast key to an opponent that the opponent uses to join the host in the system 100.The game may proceed on two devices, giving each player an opportunity to score their own turn.","The server 180 ensures that each player's scoreboard 112 is updated with the same data in real-time, regardless of which player enters the data.","The host may also have the option of broadcasting this game to spectators at the same time through the broadcasting feature seen in FIG.","2 or described in relation to FIGS.","22 and 23.One embodiment of the system 100 may comprise using data generated by the system 100 to create an interactive community between users of the system.","In such a community, statistics for players may be created for comparison within and amongst the community.","Such statistics and reports may be seen in FIGS.","24 and 25.Furthermore, rankings may be created among friends and/or competitors, players may be allowed to share achievements amongst other users and the system may enable players to play another player's games from a system database.","For example, users have the ability to practice against “real games” that were previously played by users of the system 100 (themselves or others).","This feature is provided by the system 100 keeping a historical log of all games played by users of the system.","In one such feature, the system 100 may select a random recent game previously played by a user.","Such a game may have been won by the user.","The system 100 then reproduces each turn the player had, while the challenging player throws live darts and records his turns as he normally would in the system 100.The result is a similar to playing against a computer opponent, but instead the user is alternating turns with a historical game.","After a match ends, the dart gaming system 100 may generate a communication such as, but not limited to, an email with a link which accesses the reports seen in FIGS.","24 and 25, or any other report.","One such communication 2626 is seen in FIG.","26.An example of statistics 2727 created with the system is shown in FIG.","27.These reports and/or statistics may comprise information for all match participants and may comprise (a) an event description, (b) a match analysis, (c) a match recap, (d) the recognition of an exceptional player and any team accomplishments, and (e) any other news and/or offers for the user.","In one embodiment, a user may have the ability to combine match data from separate devices or separate matches into one event summary that the user can review afterwards.","For multi-device summaries, a user may request an “event key” and then distribute the key to other members of the match who may then flag their matches on their devices with this identifier.","For a multi-match summary, a user can create an on-going “open” event.","Anytime a user wants to include a specific match, they would simply reuse the assigned key.","The dart gaming system 100 is adapted to reduce new user anxiety.","For example, any required math skills for scoring are eliminated as the system 100 accommodates all level of users.","This increases the scoring accuracy, using redundant features to mitigate the typical mistakes associated with electronic interfaces, including user miss-keys, score keeper errors and unresponsive devices.","Furthermore, the system 100 uses traditional scoring methods to replicate the “chalk board” scoring experience, enabling easier, faster and more accurate match scoring, allowing the players and score keepers to focus on the game itself.","Turning now to FIG.","4, seen is one example of a scoring screen 490 for an '01 dart game.","This may be the scoring screen 490 displayed on the scoring device 112 and adapted to receive scoring information, and may be broadcast to the off-site devices 120.Various challenges of scoring a dart match are addressed in such a screen 490.For example, the current turn 492 in the match (i.e., which identifies the user that needs to input a score for each round) is highlighted in s color different from the previously-entered scores in an audit trail 196 to make it clear to all what is being scored.","Additionally, a score window 494 displays and stores for later review (upon accessing a score in the audit trail 496) what is actually being keyed by the user though an integrated calculator functionality within the keypad, which assists with math processing.","Through the audit trail 496 of recent turns, players, score keepers and spectators may quickly and easily review the accuracy of entered prior turn scores.","Also provided is an easy edit “UNDO” button 498 to erase the current entry.","The UNDO button transforms into a BACK button when there are no entries in the score window 494 and the “BACK” button highlights the prior turn in the audit trail 496 to show parties what was keyed by the user in the score window 494 along with the resulting score in the audit trail 496.Seen in FIG.","5A is one example of a training tool to assist in determining the optimum targets to win an '01 game.","As seen, as assist notification 591 may display what score the “Guest” player would need to obtain with each dart in a 3-dart throw in order to obtain a score of “170”.","These scores are shown as “T20,” “T20,” and “DB,” which means that the first dart throw lands in a triple-20 score portion of the dartboard, the second dart throw also lands on a triple-20 score portion of the dartboard, and the third dart throw lands in the double bull's-eye.","With each triple-20 score providing sixty points and the double bulls-eye providing 50 points, this point total would be 60+60+50, or 170 points.","Seen in FIG.","5B are alternative or additional outputs 593 that may be shown in the notification 591.For example, instead of the alpha-numeric display shown in FIG.","5A, only a numerical display may be used (though the display in FIG.","5B does not add up to 170, so this is for a different game/user).","The alternative output 593 may also provide a “hint” which provides a mathematical solution for reaching the optimum targets.","In one embodiment, suggested outs for an '01 match may be broadcast to one or more connected devices.","The devices adapted to receive the suggested outs may be set up through the options 1919, as seen in FIG.","19.The suggested outs may be based on the current game score.","For example, the system may utilize a network connection between the scoreboard 112, server 180, and remote devices to broadcast coaching tips to user device in real time or to assist a player with the current game.","Such messages may be only displayed at an identified user device (e.g.","the “host” device) and may not be displayed on a shared score board, which may also be referred to herein as a primary score board.","In addition to the required out strategy for '01 games, additional examples of this feature comprise providing an additional number of point bullseyes required to win a game of Cricket.","Alternatively, strategy tips may be provided to user for any game.","As stated, such information may only be broadcast to a particular user, who may request it, which preserves the presentation of the game state on the primary device.","Turning now to FIG.","6, seen is an assist notification 691 comprising a suggested out option provided to a user that has thrown a partial turn, but still has one or two darts to throw to complete his round.","In such an instance, the user may click, for example, the “+” sign in the image below.","This may display one or more suggested targets for each throw.","Turning now to FIG.","7, seen is a cricket scoreboard 705.As seen, the cricket scoreboard 705 uses a “/” or “slash,” an “x,” and an “O” identify a single hit in a single-point throw, a double-point hit in a single throw, and a triple-point hit in a single throw, respectively, on that number.","The cricket scoreboard 705 also displays the exact throws which lead to three hits “O” mark.","For example, the “1” bubble shows two slashes (an “x”) and a circle.","This is used for a user that hit the target over three separate turns.","The “2” bubble displays a single-slash and a circle, evidencing that a player hit that target once in a prior turn (single slash) then connected again twice in a subsequent turn, with the additional two connections shown by the circle (a double target score portion of the mark was hit, for example).","If the player hits a valid target three times in the same turn, then the closed target will be represented by a circle only, as seen in bubble “3.” Turning now to FIG.","8, seen is one example of a cricket scoreboard 805 showing the redundancy in recording scores to ensure accuracy.","For example, the current turn target “hits” 881 may be highlighted in a first color to differentiate current turn scores (marks) from pre-exiting scores 883 in a second color.","Additional redundancy may be provided by displaying the number 887 of times a user has tapped the target button 807 for that target (tapping the target button 807 may be how a user identifies that the target was hit by a dart, thereby recording a score for that target).","This number 887 is shown in FIG.","8 as the “1” & “4” next to the “18” and “16” targets, respectively.","Furthermore, any target hit that results in points for the turn, is reflected in the margin for that target (note the “16” points) in the margin for the “16” target.","Redundancy is further provided by listing all target entries for the turn in the score window 894 (note the “18, 16×4 times”).","If a target has been “closed” by both players in prior turns (i.e., no further points may be obtained for either player for that target/number), the target may become visibly inactive (e.g., the “20” target button may comprise a darker color).","Turning now to FIG.","9, seen is what may happen after a turn has been submitted by pressing the “enter” button, as seen in FIG.","8.In one embodiment, the cricket scoreboard 905 may display what targets were scored on the previous turn (note the “1” and “4” in the margin).","Exceptional or high-count turns may generate a pop-up fade-out message 907 calling out the nature of the accomplishment and to ensure the correct score was recorded.","Seen in FIG.","10 is a marksman cricket scoreboard 1015.The marksman cricket scoreboard 1015 comprises a 3-button (“D” button, target button, “T” button) approach to scoring cricket.","The “D” button is for registering a double point score of the proximal Target Number and the “T” button is for registering a triple point score for the proximal Target Number amount.","The Target Number registers a single target number score.","This scoreboard 1015 may improve accuracy as the user avoids having to count and tap the Target Number multiple times for each hit that is a double or a triple.","Furthermore, the score window 1094 displays exactly what was keyed.","Speed of scoring may be increased since the maximum key stokes per turn is 3, as opposed to up to 9 with the approach seen, for example, in FIG.","9.Unique statistics may also be provided with the marksman cricket scoreboard 1015.For example, since the user informs the scoreboard 1015 what segment (single/double/triple) of each target the each dart actually hits (as opposed to the “roll up” scoring method associated with the standard FIG.","9 methods), specific statistics could be generated for this information, including, but not limited to, total missed darts (not just missed turns), total number of triple segments, doubles segments, single segments acquired, and targets hit but not scored due to opponent's existing position in the game.","Such information may allow the user to know how many darts scored their full potential value or the average of potential value for each dart thrown.","Turning now to FIGS.","11A and 11B, seen are hints that may be provided during cricket play.","In FIG.","11A the hint is shown in the score window 1194, informing the Host player that the player is behind by 16 points.","In FIG.","11B, both players have closed out all their respective targets except the bulls-eye target (“B”).","Rather than forcing each user to calculate the math value of the number of target bulls that are required for that player to win the game, the system calculates how many bull targets each player needs to hit to win the game.","As seen in the score window 1194, the host player needs to acquire six Bull targets and the guest player requires only three bull targets to win.","Turning now to FIG.","12, seen is a game and practice generation screen 1215.The menu system seen in FIG.","12 enables a user to design a game or practice routine according to their personal preferences and rules.","Games and routines fall into 3 general categories: (i) point-style games, (ii) half-it style games, and (iii) target-style games.","Games & routines can be further customized with options including (a) Enable Negative scoring, (b) Assuming 3 Dart Finish, (c) Determining Target values, (d) Enabling inclusion of Special targets, and (e) Determining the Starting target.","Created games and routines can be saved for future use.","FIGS.","12A and 12B may also be used in creating the new games/practice routines.","Turning now to FIG.","13, seen is an example of a Group/Team screen 1325.The Group/Team screen 1325 provides the ability to easily run competing teams of 4-12 players (may have different number of player per team) in a multigame match while also tracking their personal performance and updating their performance statistics in real-time without interfering with match play.","The Group/Team screen 1325 sets up group play by eliminating traditional menus & software wizards.","As players are selected for each game through the Edit Teams button, the screen 1325 will automatically change from singles to doubles, triples, etc.","As seen in FIG.","13, one Group/Team screen 1325 may be adapted to select two teams for a match and display the team rosters.","After selecting the players for each team, a match may be initiated by selecting the connect 1331 button.","The connect button displayed in FIG.","13 comprises a similar functionality as the connect 2131 option in FIG.","21 and as seen and/or described elsewhere herein.","The system 100 may record each player's turn in the order it occurred and automatically start a new set whenever there is a change in the player line-up.","Through this feature, the system 100 is enabled to create a match summary populated with player names and their throwing order, while tracking individual performance—even when participating in group play (Doubles, Triples, Quadruples).","The system 100 may inform the players to “Check In” before the next game commences As seen in the Group/Team screen 1425 in FIG.","14, the players or a third-party score keeper may select the opponents from each team, with the system 100 automatically determining what type of group play is occurring (Doubles in the FIG.","14 case).","The system 100 may accommodate team number mismatches such as, but not limited to, Singles vs. Doubles, by automatically recording a “bye” (or miss) for the group that is short a player.","Alternatively, the system 100 may rotate through each team, ensuring a team member is assigned to each round.","The system 100 may also provide each opposing team how player data is displayed to the team members.","For example, a Team Report may display team-related statistical data related to the match, tournament, league, and/or team history.","A Group Report may provide data for an identified Doubles/Triples/Quads, etc.","team.","A Player Report may provide individual darts and accomplishments data, assigned to each player, regardless of whether they are involved in any team or group play.","Examples of these reports may be seen in FIGS.","24 & 25.Turning now to FIG.","15, seen is how to select a starting player.","After choosing the teams through the edit teams selection, selecting team members from each team to participate in the game from the team lists and connecting, the game start screen 1535 is shown.","In the game start screen 1535, the selected players are listed and the user selects the play order for each group.","This is done by touching or selecting each player in each team in the order which they will participate in the match.","Selecting the player order allows the system 100 to assign the entered dart throw data and corresponding stats and achievements to each individual player, as opposed to a generic “pairing” or group.","Dart throw data may be entered through one of the screens seen in FIGS.","4-11B, or any other screen, depending on the dart game being played.","During group play, the system 100 alternates between opposing teams, listing which player is currently throwing.","For example, the player name may be listed at the top 1536 of the screen in lieu of, or in addition to, listing the team name.","The system 100 may also create and provide custom menus for leagues and tournaments to reflect their exact format.","One benefit of this would be fewer game set-up decisions (game type and options) that need to be made by the score keeper and players.","When playing an accepted league format, upon launching the system 100 on a mobile computing device, players may be greeted with a simplified menu, such as, but not limited to, the menu 1626 seen in FIG.","16.Such a menu 1626 would substantially eliminate the need to format each game prior to game start.","One such menu 1626 may display the league name 1627, acronym and/or logo to reinforce the league brand and assure users they are playing the correct format.","Also listed are various game options 1628.Looking now at FIG.","17, seen is a handicapping and custom score chart 1717.Users have the ability with this chart 1717 to modify their starting score to create any custom game or to handicap one of the opponents.","In one embodiment, prior to starting any game, a user can adjust the starting points, by simply tapping the starting score 1718 in the header.","The system may allow you to input the starting total (point games) or pre-scored marks (cricket and target games) for either player.","Users may also have the option of allowing the system to automatically determine the appropriate handicap for a given match up, based on their historical performance.","One system 100 seen in FIG.","1 may also comprise a corking tool 1880, as seen in FIG.","18.Such a tool may be used to determine who throws first in a dart game.","Prior to game play, each player often throws a single dart at the bulls-eye of a dart board & the player with the closest dart throws first.","In order to determine who is the closest to the bulls-eye, the corking tool 1880 seen in FIG.","18 was created.","The arcs 1881 on the corking tool 1880 are shaped to align with the outer ring on the bulls-eye of a dart board.","Using the measurement markings 1882 along the edges of the corking tool 1880, a user may determine what distance the dart is located from the outer ring of the bulls-eye, and compare such distance with a distance of another player, potentially playing from a remote location.","As seen, the measurement markings 1882 are divided up into six lettered sections (A-D), with each lettered section being divided up into six separate numbered sections (1-6).","The player with the smallest distance to the bull eye would throw first.","Turning now to FIG.","29, seen is method 2929 of conducting a dart game.","The dart game referred to in method 2929 may comprise any of the dart games referred to in any of FIGS.","1-28 such as, but not limited to, '01 and cricket.","One method starts at 2909 and at 2919 comprises initiating a dart game in at least one location.","For example, the location of the scoreboard 112 may comprise such a location.","At 2939, the method comprises recording a dart player's scores across a plurality of rounds via a user interface on a mobile computing device.","For example, the user interface may be any of the scoring interfaces described above such as, but not limited to, the '01 interface seen in FIG.","4 or the cricket interface see in FIG.","7.At 2949, the method 2929 comprises sharing the user interface and the dart plyer's scores in a near real-time manner with at least one remote location.","Such a remote location may be the off-site devices 120 seen in FIG.","1.Although not explicitly listed in FIG.","29, it is contemplated that the user interface in the method 292 may comprise a first display screen, with the first display screen comprising a game creation option, a game join option, a game share option, and a game watch option.","For example, and as seen in FIG.","20 is the launch screen 2050, which may comprise the first display screen.","Through the launch screen 2050, as use may create a game through the “play” feature (i.e., a game creation option), may join a game through the “connect” 2131 feature (or as otherwise described herein) after selecting any of the league, play, or another other of the options on the screen 2050, and may comprise a game watch option.","Whatever dart game is chosen may comprise a first dart game.","One method 2929 may further comprise initiating a second dart game.","For example, the first and second dart games may be related to a league and/or event/tournament, as seen in FIG.","20.One or more statistics may be obtained for the first dart game and the second dart game (as well as any additionally-related dart games, as identified by the player in the user settings 1919 or otherwise), aggregating the one or more statistics from the first dart game and the second dart game into a plurality of statistics for the dart player/league/tournament/event, and ranking at least a portion of the plurality of statistics for the dart player against one or more additional dart players/leagues/tournaments/events.","The method 292 may further comprise providing match summary information to the dart player upon conclusion of the match—for example in a message with a link as shown in FIG.","26.Game detail information may be provided to the dart player upon conclusion of the match.","Player performance information may also be provided to at least one of the dart player and the at least one remote location one of during the match and upon conclusion of the match.","Such information may be seen in FIGS.","25, 26, as well as FIGS.","9, 5, and 6.Further methods 292 may comprise storing the dart player's scores related to each of the plurality of rounds in the server 180, choosing to play a game against game stored in the server, and/or utilizing a server device to share the user interface and the dart player's scores in a near real-time manner with at least one additional location.","Another aspect of the disclosure pertains to systems and methods for integrating the scoring application with systems for managing tournament brackets.","Some software programs exist for managing the match-ups within sports tournaments, including dart tournaments.","Such programs may be referred to herein as “electronic bracket programs,” or simply “bracket programs.” The present disclosure provides an electronic bracket program that interacts with the dart scoring application to create a comprehensive electronic tournament scoring and management system.","The disclosure also provides application program interfaces (APIs) to allow the dart scoring system to integrate with existing electronic bracket programs.","The APIs of the present dart scoring system provide several features and functions that facilitate the management of dart tournaments.","Historically, steel tip dart competition has been conducted with a multi-part paper ticket based system, using one part to operate the bracket, one part to accompany the players as they proceed to each match assignment, and the last as proof of event registration.","Such paper systems are inherently prone to errors and delays, since they are filled out by hand, manually numbered, and continuously change hands between staff and players.","Sometimes, slips go missing or become duplicated.","The APIs coordinate an electronic bracket program (including the one provided in the present disclosure and third-party programs) with the connected match scoring system described herein, which provides a level of service to players, spectators and staff that has not previously been available for events and tournaments.","The APIs enable an electronic bracket program and dart match scoring software to communicate critical information with each other, simplifying the operation of each, reducing event staffing and the need for operational expertise with both programs.","In addition, the overall system provides players and fans public access to all aspects of the tournaments, so they can locate individual matches, peruse bracket standings, or review results.","FIG.","30 shows a logical block diagram of an integrated dart scoring platform 3000 (which may also be referred to as an integrated dart scoring system) for conducting dart tournaments of the present disclosure.","The diagram should not be construed as a hardware diagram, and may be implemented in software, hardware, or a combination of software and hardware.","The system 3000 comprises a bracket program 3010.One function of the electronic bracket program 3010 is to provide an interface for collecting player (or team) information, which may be implemented by a Player Information Component 3011.For the purposes of a dart tournament, player information including a player name, player ID (e.g., an ID number assigned to members of sporting associations), and a player e-mail, may be entered upon registration in a particular tournament.","Bracket programs can generate complete player rosters for a particular event and create an event ID (or competition ID) through an Event ID component 3012.A main function of an electronic bracket program is to create matchups of players out of the roster, based on the competition structure of the tournament, which may be implemented by an Initial Bracket Assignment Component 3013.For example, players on the roster may be placed into a single- or double-elimination competition format, or may be placed into round-robin pool play before being placed in single- or double-elimination rounds.","Placing players in such brackets manually can be time-consuming and confusing, especially when there are large numbers of players.","It can be even more time-consuming and confusing to manually advance players into different stages after wins and losses, which is why existing electronic bracket programs create the initial placements and advance players automatically when they win or lose.","The automatic advancing of players may be implemented by the Bracket Advance Component 3014.The bracket program of the present disclosure provides these functions, but also provides unique features to facilitate the interaction with the dart scoring application.","Several features of the bracket program of the present disclosure also make it easier to manage tournaments.","One such feature includes dashboard indicators to create calls to action for a bracket operator.","Another is a list view of the bracket to provide a simple action list for the bracket operator.","Yet another is a system for creating a printable mailing label or other small paper document system that expedites the pairing of players and board assignments in the correct initial event board call process to expedite the running of the event.","This is especially helpful for “Blind Draw” events, which, in a paper based system, require a multi-step process: First, staff must match all the individual player entries with a partner randomly, creating a doubles team.","Then, staff must then randomly match each doubles team with an additional doubles team.","Then, the match assignments are organized into a board assignment call order.","With previous paper-based systems, written entry slips are spread out on a large table to create an initial match of paired teams.","Then, a secondary match is performed to create the competitions, and then they are organized according to preferred board call assignment.","The presently disclosed bracket program combines all three steps into one succinct process, that allows a bracket operator to print the board call slips, with the proper partners and opponents in the order they are to be call.","Printing can occur on cards, full sheets of paper, or mailing labels.","This feature reduces a 30-minute (or greater) process into an approximately five-minute process.","Mailing labels allow the staff to reuse the original submitted paper entry slips.","To utilize a bracket program (either the one of the present disclosure or a third-party bracket program) for a tournament, participants register once for the entire tournament, creating a player record that is aggregated into the Master Player Roster.","Each player is then eligible to enter into individual event competitions.","Individual event competition may include, for example, women's only, men's only, one game type only (e.g., either cricket or '01), multiple game types, singles, doubles, etc.","The Master Player Roster comprises the player information for any player who registers a to play in at least one event throughout the tournament.","An Event Player Roster (or simply “Event Roster”) is comprises just the player information for players competing in one particular event.","There may be multiple Event Rosters within a Master Tournament Roster.","Once a player enters an event through a registration process, the bracket program can either automatically import the eligible players for the event, or the tournament staff can manually enter and/or select participants.","The bracket program then organizes the competition and provides a dart board assignment for each of the initial match(es) between players.","In prior approaches, paper tickets would then be used to score the matches and the scores and winners would have to be manually entered in the bracket program, which would typically be run at one, or at most, a few computing devices operated by tournament administrators or staff.","The integration system of the present disclosure allows the scoring to be done electronically, through computing devices at each board at which a match is being played that execute the dart scoring application of the present disclosure, and transmitted in real time to the bracket program via the cloud server application 3030.The cloud server application 3030 may be the same cloud server application referred to previously throughout this disclosure.","The bracket program 3010 can then advance players automatically based on the transmitted scores from dart scoring application mobile devices 3050-3052, rather than wait for manual entry of scores and winners.","The transferring functions between each of the computing devices and applications depicted in FIG.","30 are performed by one or more APIs, depicted in FIG.","30 as API 3020.As will be described throughout this disclosure, the API(s) 3020 allows the transfer of information back and forth between the bracket program 3020, cloud server application 3030, and the mobile devices 3050-3052, the control desk(s) 3040, and the remote broadcasting device(s) 3060.As depicted, this information includes, but is not limited to, player registration info 3021, event ID 3022, bracket assignments 3023, board assignments 3024, match scores 3025, notifications 3026, and match progress and status 3027.The integration system 3000 also allows spectators to view scores and tournament standings at one or more remote broadcasting devices 3060 for matches in progress in real-time.","The present disclosure has previously described how individual matches may be viewed by spectators when broadcast publicly or with a private key; the integration system adds the ability for spectators to view multiple match scores within a tournament and the live tournament standings themselves.","Additionally, the integrated scoring system 3000 may include a control desk interface 3040, on which certain functions for tournament administrators and staff may be displayed.","It is contemplated that, in some embodiments, a separate device may not be required to implement the control desk interface 3040, and it may be displayed, instead, on a screen of a device that is running the dart scoring application.","Still referring to FIG.","30, to set up a tournament once players have been registered, a bracket program 3000 may first provide player registration information 3021 to the cloud server of the dart scoring application.","The bracket program sends an Event ID 3022 (also known as a “Competition ID”), and a complete Event Player Roster, which includes at least a Player Name, Player ID, and (optionally, though not required) the Player e-mail of each player on the Event Player Roster.","Then, the cloud server application, via a Tournament Record Component 3031, develops a Tournament Record, which adds, based on the Event ID, the following information: a Tournament ID (for login purposes) Event Data, Device Settings, Event Format (which provides designations indicating whether the event is Elimination, Round Robin, Set Play, Win by Two, etc.","), and Match Instructions (which provide actual instructions like Cork for Start, number of legs, alternate, etc.","), and optionally, a Player ID associated with the scoring application.","Turning to FIG.","31, the Device Settings may be visible on a settings screen 3100 of the dart scoring application that show which functions that may be accessible or inaccessible to scorers depending on the Match Rules, as shown on the match rules screen 3150.The device settings screen may highlight what features of the scoring application will be visible during game play and scoring.","It may be configurable by a scorer, or frozen, depending on the tournament rules.","Event Match Rules shown on the match rules screen 3150 may include, for example, the eligible games for the match, the starting rules, the number of legs to be played, etc.","As shown in the match rules screen 3150, the applicable match rules are highlighted and the others are grayed out.","Depending on the embodiments, scorers may or may not be able to alter these settings.","Referring back to FIG.","30, mobile devices 3050-3052 with the dart scoring application may associate with the tournament by logging in (e.g., entering the Event ID on a screen) to the dart scoring application.","Any device (including the control desk 3040, the mobile application scoring devices 3050-3052, and the remote broadcasting device 3060) associated with the tournament may then receive, from the cloud server application 3030, the Tournament Record 3031, which comprises the complete Event Player Roster 3032, the Event Data 3033, the Device Rules 3033, the Event Match Rules 3035, and any associated Player IDs 3036 (including any player association IDs and scoring-application-specific IDs).","In some embodiments, only selected information may be sent to each computing device depicted, based on permissions set at the permissions component 3038 at the cloud server application.","The scoring system is intended to maintain wireless connectivity throughout the competition, so that board assignments, scores, and other information may be transmitted back-and-forth between the scoring devices, the cloud server application, and the bracket program.","However, several features of the system provide backup and redundancy features to preserve information if network connectivity is lost.","One of those features is that each device, once logged into the tournament, receives the Tournament Record and Master Tournament Player List and keeps a copy of it locally.","This feature ensures that, once the device has logged into the tournament, it has at least all the assigned and scheduled matches at the proper boards.","If, for example, network connectivity is lost after a few matches have been played, and the board assignments are no longer being updated to the device in real-time, the dart scoring application will still be able to pull up a list of correct possible match-ups at particular boards, and may be used to manually select players from the master tournament list if absolutely necessary.","The Tournament Record 3031 is also transferred from the cloud server application to the bracket program itself through the API 3030.To continue setting up a tournament, the bracket program 3010 may then use this Tournament Record 3031 to create a board assignment for each match.","Creating a bracket in order to figure out how to advance players and create match-ups is a first component of setting up a tournament; assigning the boards on which those matches are to take place is another endeavor.","“Boards” may also be referred to as “dart alleys,” and may be identified by numbers.","For example, the first two players may be assigned to Board 1, the second two players to Board 2, etc.","In the past, tournament staff set up board assignments manually, which was a very cumbersome and confusing process.","Some bracket programs have recently developed board assignment tools.","The bracket program of the present disclosure provides an advanced “intelligent board assignment” system (depicted by component 3015) to further improve the process.","In general, the process of board assignment in any tournament is accomplished by first creating a list of eligible events.","Each event can import a player list or be manually populated from the master player list.","After the bracket program organizes the competition for a specific event, the bracket program creates a Match ID for each individual player vs. player competition, associating it with the Event ID and Tournament ID.","The final step is assigning a dart alley (board assignment) where the competition will take place.","The cloud server application electronically notifies participants (for example, via e-mail, text message, push notification, or any other suitable electronic communication) of their board assignment, as well as publishing an electronic master list on viewing screens of the display system (e.g., the dart game display system referred to in FIGS.","2A-2C).","One of the fundamental challenges of running a steel tip dart tournament is that there are a limited number of playing fields (dart alleys), with potentially hundreds of players, that are being used by multiple events at the same time.","Depending on the event format and match rules, the dartboards can turn over every 10-15 minutes.","No matter what kind of system is used to facilitate a dart tournament, it is the goal of tournament staff to continuously assign as many boards as quickly as possible, without assigning multiple live matches to the same dart alley for certain events.","In some event formats, though, multiple matches may purposefully be assigned to a single dart alley with the intention that they are to be played sequentially.","To enable the continual assignment of boards without assigning multiple matches at the same time at the same boards, the bracket program must have a board management system, which is at the tournament level, and not at the individual event level.","This allows the board management system to manage which boards are currently available (not being actively played on) and to enable tournament staff to develop individual board assignment guidelines for each event.","For instance, in a singles competition event, staff may want to assign every available board.","In a team event, staff may choose to assign every other board, or only even/odd boards to allow for additional physical spacing for the multi-player teams (since boards are often placed close together).","Staff can also designate a range of dart alleys that are eligible for an individual event.","For example, a particular event may have a board assignment guideline of “even numbered boards only, from 2 to 20,” out of a total of 50 available.","In prior approaches, assigning boards in this way has been done manually and has been cumbersome to implement.","These guidelines are typically set before the tournament begins, but may be updated as the tournament continues.","In embodiments of the disclosure, the event board assignment can either be “absolute” or a “guideline”.","When it is a guideline, each event bracket operator may view the total list of available dart alleys (those not being currently utilized by an active match from any event).","However, the preferred dart alleys for the particular event the bracket operator is running may have a primary color designation, while the remaining ones are monochromatic.","This allows the bracket operator to readily identify recommended boards, yet select any available board, should the need arise.","In contrast, if an event board assignment is absolute, the designated boards do not appear in the list of boards that other bracket operators can view for their respective events.","The intelligent board assignment system of the present disclosure (depicted in intelligent board assignment component 3015 of FIG.","30) enables the assigning of multiple available boards at once.","This system alleviates a large challenge for tournament management which is made apparent at the start of each event.","A large event can have more than 50 dart alleys, and it is the goal of tournament staff to facilitate the board assignments as quickly as possible once the initial event draw is done.","Assigning each board individually creates a time delay that prevents the event from getting underway.","With a single command, the intelligent board assignment system of the bracket program allows an operator to assign all “available” boards (i.e., ones not being currently utilized), while respecting the board assignment guidelines for that particular event, and any others that are underway.","The bracket operator has the option of “activating” the board assignments immediately, or setting them to a delay, to both enable additional editing (un-assigning or changing particular board assignments) and to manage when electronic board notifications are sent to the participants.","Another aspect of the intelligent board management system is that the event operator has the ability to designate which round of the tournament this function should be applied to when they run the command: Preliminary round, Round 1, Round 2, etc.","For example, a youth event may be set up with an absolute board assignment for boards 1-4 (i.e., all the boards 1-4) for the duration of the youth event, which, for this example, begins sometime after the very start of the tournament and ends sometime before the very end of the tournament.","These boards will not be listed in any operator's event board list, except for the list of the bracket operator running the youth event.","This same tournament may begin with a doubles event, for which the staff have set the board assignment guideline to “even numbered” dart alleys.","Since the doubles event is the first event, there are no boards being utilized yet, the system automatically assigns matches to all available even numbered boards 5-50 in the initial round of competition, because boards 1-4 are not made available for assignment, having been assigned absolutely to the youth event.","In this same tournament, towards the end of the doubles event, but still during the youth event, a singles competition event begins, and it has a broader board assignment guideline of “all boards,” which means that all boards that are available can be assigned.","With a single command, all available even and odd boards (including ones that are available despite having been used in the doubles competition earlier) are assigned for the Prelim Round, and then repeated for Round 1 of the singles event with the exception of boards 1-4, which are still assigned to the youth event.","For the remaining doubles matches, which are now fewer in number, only even numbered dart alleys continue to be recommended and available for the doubles bracket operator to schedule.","Eventually the youth event ends, and the absolute board guideline for that event is retired, freeing up boards 1-4, for both the doubles and singles events, still respecting their event board guidelines.","Additional guidelines may be implemented at the tournament level or event level to properly assign boards based on tournament or event rules.","For example, some tournaments have a rule that a player cannot play on the same board for two consecutive matches because it could potentially give that player an advantage over his or her opponent.","In order to implement this rule, the intelligent board assignment system may track previously played boards and take those into account in addition to the other event board assignment guidelines.","In some embodiments, the intelligent board assignment system may have an option of placing a tournament in a full automation mode, rather than having bracket operators assign boards based on guidelines.","Guidelines could instead be used to automatically assign everything from the initial board assignments to the final event match.","The results from the scoring application would be used to automatically advance each winner through the bracket and create the board assignments based on bracket assignments.","The overall integrated scoring system (or platform) may implement several permissions of restriction levels at the various interfaces of the system.","In general, the scoring application is available to members (i.e., paid subscribers to the scoring application, whether participating in the current tournament or not) and tournament participants.","The bracket operations, which may be implemented at the control desk 3040, are general only available to tournament staff.","The dart game display system (e.g., on the remote broadcasting device 3060), is generally available to anyone who wants to watch, including tournament participants, staff, and spectators.","The display system includes public access to tournament check-in, event registration confirmation (which allows viewing of registrations, but not the function of actually registering), fan alerts, board calls, and live match scores and statuses.","The live scores and statuses are shown in FIG.","34, As part of the integration between the bracket program and the scoring application, scorers on devices associated with the tournament may enter a board assignment in a board entry field 3201, as shown in board selection screen 3200 of FIG.","32.Scorers may be players who self-score in some tournaments, or referees who score in other tournaments.","Once a board assignment is entered, the scoring application presents only player match-ups that are assigned to that particular board.","For example, in the match selection screen 3210, only one selectable match 3211 is presented for the scorer to select.","In some embodiments, this selectable match is also presented based on the time and on previous matches that have been played.","A “more options” button 3212 is also available, which may allow a scorer to view matches assigned to that particular board for future matches and alternate events.","In some tournaments, multiple matches may be assigned to the same board at the same time, and the selectable match screen 3211 may present the matches in the recommended order of play to maximize efficiency.","This selectable match screen 3211 is the result of filtering data at the cloud server application and/or the local scoring application.","Without such filtering, scorers would have to manually check a master tournament list, and possibly a board assignment list and event list to confirm that the correct players are at the correct board.","In large tournaments, the process of checking such lists can be time-consuming and error-prone, because they may have dozens or hundreds of entries.","The selectable match screen 3210 presents only the correct possible matches for the selected board, reducing time and mistakes.","Once a match is selected, a match confirmation screen 3220 may be shown.","Each of the pieces of data created by the cloud server application enables the tailoring of distinct match instructions for each event to be delivered to each device.","This, in turn, allows the dart scoring application and cloud server to run multiple overlapping events simultaneously at each individual scoring device.","That is, event staff and players do not need to intervene manually to change scoring application instructions every time the same device is used for a different event.","For example, a single tournament may have both cricket and '01 events, and singles and doubles events.","Some players may be participating in both simultaneously.","Also, some dart alleys may be used for both events.","The rules may differ greatly or slightly between events; no matter the degree of change, it can be difficult to keep track of such changes manually or even mentally.","When a board assignment is entered into the board selection screen 3200, one of the matches on the match selection screen 3210 is selected, and the match is confirmed on a match confirmation screen 3220, the scoring application screens that will be presented to the scorer will automatically have the correct competition records and match rules for the match.","This ensures that, when players show up to play at an assigned board at a particular time, neither the staff nor players have to worry about interpreting and implementing the match rules for each event, and do not have to go through a tedious process of selecting participants from the master tournament list.","Another aspect of the dart scoring system and integration with the bracket program is that match results may be reported in substantially real-time to the bracket program via the cloud server application and used to advance the winner.","When the match is complete, the scoring application utilizes the API to return the competition record, appended with the match score, to the bracket program.","The bracket program can then be set up in one of two ways.","A first option is that an electronic notification appears in the bracket program, that the operator manually approves, releasing the board assignment, advancing the winning player and recording the match score.","The second option is that the notification automatically performs these steps.","The match result reporting feature allows tournaments to be run more efficiently and with fewer delays, because it eliminates the need to call in or physically walk scores over to a central control area where the bracket program is run.","It also eliminates the need for waiting for advances and new board assignments from the bracket program to be communicated to a central viewing area or individual dart alleys.","In any kind of tournament, bracket advances (whether done manually or electronically) are often displayed on some kind of whiteboard or paper on an easel.","Since the bracket program itself is electronic, it may be displayed on a central screen, but finding an individual match or player on an entire displayed bracket can still be time-consuming in a big tournament.","Sometimes, board assignments may be verbally broadcast over a PA system, but such announcements are easy to miss.","In the present integrated dart scoring system, bracket advances and new board assignments are communicated in real-time back to the scoring applications on individual devices.","They are also communicated electronically to each player via e-mail, text message, and/or push notification.","It is contemplated that many tournament participants may have the dart scoring application running on their own smartphones, whether they are self-scoring the tournament matches or not, because if they have the application on their smartphones and are logged into the tournament, they can receive a push notification immediately with a new board assignment.","Players may want to have the application running on their smartphones for other purposes, including watching other match scores and bracket standings in the tournament.","Other spectator features enabled by the integrated dart scoring system will be described later in this disclosure.","Other features of the integrated dart scoring system are related to the automated match status reporting feature, and provide additional tournament efficiency benefits.","A challenge for all tournament events is running on-time.","In a traditional paper-based environment, the two most common obstacles are players not responding to their verbal board assignments, which delays the start times of scheduled matched, or failing to report the winning result, which delays the next match assignment.","Some players who delay reporting winning results do so because they are playing in a high volume of matches, and they may purposefully delay reporting in order to pace themselves and have the matches be a bit more spread out.","In the present system, the cloud server application automatically time stamps all board assignments, and groups them according their delayed status in 5-minute increments.","As shown in FIG.","33, these delayed match starts may be displayed on an “aging board calls” screen 3300.This screen may be visible at a control desk interface of the integrated dart scoring system, and may only be accessible to tournament staff or officials.","In other embodiments, it may be available to any user of the dart scoring application who is logged into the tournament.","The aging board calls screen 3300 shows a list in which each line includes a board assignment 3310, a Match ID 3320, and a time-stamp of the board call 3330.Any board calls that have been time-stamped more than five minutes in the past and have not started a match are shown under a 5+ minutes line 3240 and any that have been time-stamped more than 10 minutes in the past are shown under a 10+ minutes line 3250.Other visual cues may be used to alert viewers that matches are running late.","For example, matches that are more than 15 minutes late may be highlighted in or changed to red.","This display is enabled by time-stamping bracket advances once they have occurred in the bracket program, sending out board calls to players contemporaneously, and transmitting this information to a computing device that displays the control desk interface.","This display screen allows staff to police procrastinators and provide the documentation required to disqualify players who are delaying the tournament.","Tournaments may have rules that disqualify players who are more than 10 minutes late to a board call, for example.","Some other problems can delay tournaments as well.","For example, matches may become abandoned or not formally completed due to technical glitches such as devices freezing or running out of batteries, or any number of other unique circumstances.","FIG.","34 shows a tournament viewing screen 3400 that may be available on a control desk screen or to any viewer watching the tournament through a viewing mode of the scoring application.","If matches are abandoned, if they are not formally completed, or should the individual tablet become disconnected to the network, the cloud server application will replace a “live match” icon 3410 with a stop sign icon 3420 to alert tournament staff that a match or device needs to be investigated.","With the board assignment provided in the match listing, staff can be dispatched to fix the device and/or complete the match, sending results back to the bracket program to free up the board and advance the bracket.","As discussed previously, there are several features throughout the integrated scoring system that prevent issues resulting from a loss of network connectivity.","Even if the network fails during the competition, the tournament record (comprising the event list, along with the corresponding match instructions) and the master tournament players list is still stored locally at the mobile computing device, which creates a backup option to score a match.","Players (or other scorers) can manually select the event and their participant records to create a match.","The completed match will reside on the individual tablet until the connectivity is restored.","When a connection is re-established, the scoring application will forward the completed match record(s) to the bracket program via the cloud server application.","While the record will lack a match ID and board assignment, it will contain a tournament ID, event ID and player IDs, enabling the bracket operator to manually fill in this information and update the results as needed.","FIG.","35 shows a method for facilitating a dart tournament using the integrated scoring system of the present disclosure.","The method may be implemented by an electronic bracket program, a cloud server application, an electronic dart scoring application, and one or more application program interfaces by first, at 3501, gathering, at the electronic bracket program, a master tournament player list for the tournament, wherein the master tournament player list includes the event or events in which each player is participating.","Then, the method may include, at 3502, generating, at the cloud server application, a tournament record based on the master tournament player list wherein the tournament record comprises at least device settings and match rules.","The method may further comprise, at 3503, sending the master tournament player list and the tournament record to each of the plurality of mobile computing devices executing the electronic scoring dart application.","At 3504, the method may comprise scoring a plurality of matches of the tournament on the plurality of mobile computing devices executing the electronic scoring dart application.","Then at 3505, the method may include automatically sending scores in substantially real-time from each of the plurality of matches upon their completion to the cloud server application and electronic bracket program via the one or more application program interfaces; and at 3506, automatically advancing players at the electronic bracket program based on the sent scores.","Embodiments of the invention may further comprise a non-transitory, tangible, computer-readable storage medium, encoded with processor-readable instructions to perform a method of providing information related to a dart game.","One non-transitory, tangible, computer-readable storage medium, encoded with processor-readable instructions may be described with reference to FIG.","28, below.","One such method may comprise rendering a dart game scoring interface on a mobile computing device.","One dart game scoring interface may comprise the various scoring interfaces and display screens shown in the figures and described herein.","One such interface may display at least one current player score and at least one another player score.","The method may further comprise ensuring that a dart score is entered correctly into the dart game scoring interface.","For example, a color of the at least one current player score (the player currently entering scoring data) may be differentiated from the color of the at least one another player's score.","Additionally, each entry to the scoring interface may be displayed in a scoring interface score window.","Also, the method may comprise at least one of (i) displaying in an audit trail a sum of each previous entry entered into the score window, and (ii) displaying a number of times a user has selected a target.","The method may also comprise sharing the dart game scoring interface with a plurality of additional mobile computing devices.","It is contemplated that a portion of the at least one current player score comprises mark notations, as described herein.","Furthermore, target on the dart board may comprise one of an enabled target and a disabled target.","This may occur in a cricket game.","For example, prior to both or all players hitting the target three times, after a player hits the target three times (receives three mark notations—two slashes and a circle), that player may receive a numerical score for the target amount for any subsequent hits (i.e., “selected” on the user interface) prior to the other player or players hitting the target three times.","During this period, the target is enabled.","After all players have hit the target three times, the target is disabled and no points may be obtained for this target by any player.","The user interface may also comprise a first scoring redundancy and a second scoring redundancy, to ensure scoring accuracy.","One such first redundancy may comprise differentiating a color of the enabled target from the disabled target.","A second redundancy may comprise: (i) accessing one sum in the audit trail, (ii) differentiating the color of the accessed sum from each other sum, and (iii) displaying in the score window each previous entry related to the accessed sum.","The non-transitory tangible computer-readable storage medium method may further comprise requesting an event key, also referred to herein as a code or a password, or any other term known in the art.","The event key may then be distributed to another computing device and then a dart game scoring interface may be received by another computing device, as well as displaying score information on the interface.","Such scoring information may be related to one or more forthcoming player dart throws for a next round.","Such scoring information may be provided before or after the player has thrown at least one dart for the round.","A fade-out display message may also provide information related to one or more recent dart throws to the plurality of additional mobile computing devices.","It is contemplated that ensuring that a dart score is entered correctly into the dart game scoring interface further comprises providing a series of selectable features that automatically enter a score related to a dart throw, decreasing a number of selections required to enter the score as compared to the number of selections required not using the series of selectable features, and calculating statistics related to the selectable features.","The systems and methods described herein can be implemented in a computer system in addition to the specific physical devices described herein.","Referring back to FIG.","28, shown is a diagrammatic representation of one embodiment of a computer system 2800 within which a set of instructions can execute for causing a device to perform or execute any one or more of the aspects and/or methodologies of the present disclosure.","A computer comprising the any of the devices disclosed with reference to FIGS.","1 and 30, such as, but not limited to, the scoreboard 112 device, the cloud server application 3030, the API 3020, and the bracket program 3010 are examples of some implementations of the computer system 2800.The components in FIG.","28 are examples only and do not limit the scope of use or functionality of any hardware, software, firmware, embedded logic component, or a combination of two or more such components implementing particular embodiments of this disclosure.","Some or all of the illustrated components can be part of the computer system 2800.For instance, the computer system 2800 can be a general purpose computer (e.g., a laptop computer) or an embedded logic device (e.g., an FPGA), to name just two non-limiting examples.","Computer system 2800 includes at least a processor 2801 such as a central processing unit (CPU) or an FPGA to name two non-limiting examples.","Any of the subsystems described throughout this disclosure could embody the processor 2801.The computer system 2800 may also comprise a memory 2803 and a storage 2808, both communicating with each other, and with other components, via a bus 2840.The bus 2840 may also link a display 2832, one or more input devices 2833 (which may, for example, include a keypad, a keyboard, a mouse, a stylus, etc.","), one or more output devices 2834, one or more storage devices 2835, and various non-transitory, tangible computer-readable storage media 2836 with each other and with one or more of the processor 2801, the memory 2803, and the storage 2808.All of these elements may interface directly or via one or more interfaces or adaptors to the bus 2840.For instance, the various non-transitory, tangible computer-readable storage media 2836 can interface with the bus 2840 via storage medium interface 2826.Computer system 2800 may have any suitable physical form, including but not limited to one or more integrated circuits (ICs), printed circuit boards (PCBs), mobile handheld devices (such as mobile telephones or PDAs), laptop or notebook computers, distributed computer systems, computing grids, or servers.","Processor(s) 2801 (or central processing unit(s) (CPU(s))) optionally contains a cache memory unit 2802 for temporary local storage of instructions, data, or computer addresses.","Processor(s) 2801 are configured to assist in execution of computer-readable instructions stored on at least one non-transitory, tangible computer-readable storage medium.","Computer system 2800 may provide functionality as a result of the processor(s) 2801 executing software embodied in one or more non-transitory, tangible computer-readable storage media, such as memory 2803, storage 2808, storage devices 2835, and/or storage medium 2836 (e.g., read only memory (ROM)).","For instance, the methods 2929 in FIG.","29 may be embodied in one or more non-transitory, tangible computer-readable storage media.","The non-transitory, tangible computer-readable storage media may store software that implements particular embodiments, such as the method 2929 and processor(s) 2801 may execute the software.","Memory 2803 may read the software from one or more other non-transitory, tangible computer-readable storage media (such as mass storage device(s) 2835, 2836) or from one or more other sources through a suitable interface, such as network interface 2820.Any of the subsystems herein disclosed could include a network interface such as the network interface 2820.The software may cause processor(s) 2801 to carry out one or more processes or one or more steps of one or more processes described or illustrated herein.","Carrying out such processes or steps may include defining data structures stored in memory 2803 and modifying the data structures as directed by the software.","In some embodiments, an FPGA can store instructions for carrying out functionality as described in this disclosure (e.g., the method 2929).","In other embodiments, firmware includes instructions for carrying out functionality as described in this disclosure (e.g., the method 2929).","The memory 2803 may include various components (e.g., non-transitory, tangible computer-readable storage media) including, but not limited to, a random access memory component (e.g., RAM 2804) (e.g., a static RAM “SRAM”, a dynamic RAM “DRAM, etc.","), a read-only component (e.g., ROM 2805), and any combinations thereof.","ROM 2805 may act to communicate data and instructions unidirectionally to processor(s) 2801, and RAM 2804 may act to communicate data and instructions bidirectionally with processor(s) 2801.ROM 2805 and RAM 2804 may include any suitable non-transitory, tangible computer-readable storage media.","In some instances, ROM 2805 and RAM 2804 include non-transitory, tangible computer-readable storage media for carrying out the method 2929.In one example, a basic input/output system 2806 (BIOS), including basic routines that help to transfer information between elements within computer system 2800, such as during start-up, may be stored in the memory 2803.Fixed storage 2808 is connected bidirectionally to processor(s) 2801, optionally through storage control unit 2807.Fixed storage 2808 provides additional data storage capacity and may also include any suitable non-transitory, tangible computer-readable media described herein.","Storage 2808 may be used to store operating system 2809, EXECs 2810 (executables), data 2811, API applications 2812 (application programs), and the like.","Often, although not always, storage 2808 is a secondary storage medium (such as a hard disk) that is slower than primary storage (e.g., memory 2803).","Storage 2808 can also include an optical disk drive, a solid-state memory device (e.g., flash-based systems), or a combination of any of the above.","Information in storage 2808 may, in appropriate cases, be incorporated as virtual memory in memory 2803.In one example, storage device(s) 2835 may be removably interfaced with computer system 2800 (e.g., via an external port connector (not shown)) via a storage device interface 2825.Particularly, storage device(s) 2835 and an associated machine-readable medium may provide nonvolatile and/or volatile storage of machine-readable instructions, data structures, program modules, and/or other data for the computer system 2800.In one example, software may reside, completely or partially, within a machine-readable medium on storage device(s) 2835.In another example, software may reside, completely or partially, within processor(s) 2801.Bus 2840 connects a wide variety of subsystems.","Herein, reference to a bus may encompass one or more digital signal lines serving a common function, where appropriate.","Bus 2840 may be any of several types of bus structures including, but not limited to, a memory bus, a memory controller, a peripheral bus, a local bus, and any combinations thereof, using any of a variety of bus architectures.","As an example, and not by way of limitation, such architectures include an Industry Standard Architecture (ISA) bus, an Enhanced ISA (EISA) bus, a Micro Channel Architecture (MCA) bus, a Video Electronics Standards Association local bus (VLB), a Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) bus, a PCI-Express (PCI-X) bus, an Accelerated Graphics Port (AGP) bus, HyperTransport (HTX) bus, serial advanced technology attachment (SATA) bus, and any combinations thereof.","Computer system 2800 may also include an input device 2833.In one example, a user of computer system 2800 may enter commands and/or other information into computer system 2800 via input device(s) 2833.Examples of an input device(s) 2833 include, but are not limited to, an alpha-numeric input device (e.g., a keyboard), a pointing device (e.g., a mouse or touchpad), a touchpad, a joystick, a gamepad, an audio input device (e.g., a microphone, a voice response system, etc.","), an optical scanner, a video or still image capture device (e.g., a camera), and any combinations thereof.","Input device(s) 2833 may be interfaced to bus 2840 via any of a variety of input interfaces 2823 (e.g., input interface 2823) including, but not limited to, serial, parallel, game port, USB, FIREWIRE, THUNDERBOLT, or any combination of the above.","In particular embodiments, when computer system 2800 is connected to network 2830, computer system 2800 may communicate with other devices, such as mobile devices and enterprise systems, connected to network 2830.Communications to and from computer system 2800 may be sent through network interface 2820.For example, network interface 2820 may receive incoming communications (such as requests or responses from other devices) in the form of one or more packets (such as Internet Protocol (IP) packets) from network 2830, and computer system 2800 may store the incoming communications in memory 2803 for processing.","Computer system 2800 may similarly store outgoing communications (such as requests or responses to other devices) in the form of one or more packets in memory 2803 and communicated to network 2830 from network interface 2820.Processor(s) 2801 may access these communication packets stored in memory 2803 for processing.","Examples of the network interface 2820 include, but are not limited to, a network interface card, a modem, and any combination thereof.","Examples of a network 2830 or network segment 2830 include, but are not limited to, a wide area network (WAN) (e.g., the Internet, an enterprise network), a local area network (LAN) (e.g., a network associated with an office, a building, a campus or other relatively small geographic space), a telephone network, a direct connection between two computing devices, and any combinations thereof.","A network, such as network 2830, may employ a wired and/or a wireless mode of communication.","In general, any network topology may be used.","Information and data can be displayed through a display 2832.Examples of a display 2832 include, but are not limited to, a liquid crystal display (LCD), an organic liquid crystal display (OLED), a cathode ray tube (CRT), a plasma display, and any combinations thereof.","The display 2832 can interface to the processor(s) 2801, memory 2803, and fixed storage 2808, as well as other devices, such as input device(s) 2833, via the bus 2840.The display 2832 is linked to the bus 2840 via a video interface 2822, and transport of data between the display 2832 and the bus 2840 can be controlled via the graphics control 2821.In addition to a display 2832, computer system 2800 may include one or more other peripheral output devices 2834 including, but not limited to, an audio speaker, a printer, and any combinations thereof.","Such peripheral output devices may be connected to the bus 2840 via an output interface 2824.Examples of an output interface 2824 include, but are not limited to, a serial port, a parallel connection, a USB port, a FIREWIRE port, a THUNDERBOLT port, and any combinations thereof.","In addition, or as an alternative, computer system 2800 may provide functionality as a result of logic hardwired or otherwise embodied in a circuit, which may operate in place of or together with software to execute one or more processes or one or more steps of one or more processes described or illustrated herein.","Reference to software in this disclosure may encompass logic, and reference to logic may encompass software.","Moreover, reference to a non-transitory, tangible computer-readable medium may encompass a circuit (such as an IC) storing software for execution, a circuit embodying logic for execution, or both, where appropriate.","The present disclosure encompasses any suitable combination of hardware, software, or both.","Those of skill in the art will understand that information and signals may be represented using any of a variety of different technologies and techniques.","Those of skill will further appreciate that the various illustrative logical blocks, modules, circuits, and algorithm steps described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein may be implemented as electronic hardware, computer software, or combinations of both.","To clearly illustrate this interchangeability of hardware and software, various illustrative components, blocks, modules, circuits, and steps have been described above generally in terms of their functionality.","Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware or software depends upon the particular application and design constraints imposed on the overall system.","Skilled artisans may implement the described functionality in varying ways for each particular application, but such implementation decisions should not be interpreted as causing a departure from the scope of the present disclosure.","The various illustrative logical blocks, modules, and circuits described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein may be implemented or performed with a general purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein.","A general purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but in the alternative, the processor may be any conventional processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine.","A processor may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices, e.g., a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other such configuration.","The steps of a method or algorithm described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein (e.g., the method 2929) may be embodied directly in hardware, in a software module executed by a processor, a software module implemented as digital logic devices, or in a combination of these.","A software module may reside in RAM memory, flash memory, ROM memory, EPROM memory, EEPROM memory, registers, hard disk, a removable disk, a CD-ROM, or any other form of non-transitory, tangible computer-readable storage medium known in the art.","An exemplary non-transitory, tangible computer-readable storage medium is coupled to the processor such that the processor can read information from, and write information to, the non-transitory, tangible computer-readable storage medium.","In the alternative, the non-transitory, tangible computer-readable storage medium may be integral to the processor.","The processor and the non-transitory, tangible computer-readable storage medium may reside in an ASIC.","The ASIC may reside in a user terminal.","In the alternative, the processor and the non-transitory, tangible computer-readable storage medium may reside as discrete components in a user terminal.","In some embodiments, a software module may be implemented as digital logic components such as those in an FPGA once programmed with the software module.","The previous description of the disclosed embodiments is provided to enable any person skilled in the art to make or use the present disclosure.","Various modifications to these embodiments will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the generic principles defined herein may be applied to other embodiments without departing from the spirit or scope of the disclosure.","Thus, the present disclosure is not intended to be limited to the embodiments shown herein but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the principles and novel features disclosed herein."]],"string":"[\n [\n \"DART SCORING SYSTEM\",\n \"A platform for facilitating a dart tournament allows gathering, at an electronic bracket program, a master tournament player list for the tournament, which includes the event or events in which each player is participating.\",\n \"The platform allows generating, at a cloud server application, a tournament record based on the master tournament player list.\",\n \"The platform allows sending of the master tournament player list and the tournament record to mobile computing devices executing an electronic dart scoring application.\",\n \"The platform allows scoring a plurality of matches of the tournament on the mobile computing devices executing the electronic dart scoring application.\",\n \"The platform allows automatically sending scores in substantially real-time from each of the plurality of matches upon their completion to the cloud server application and electronic bracket program via the one or more application program interfaces; and automatically advancing players at the electronic bracket program based on the sent scores.\"\n ],\n [\n \"1.An integrated dart scoring platform comprising: an electronic bracket program, a cloud server application, an electronic dart scoring application, and one or more application program interfaces, wherein the platform is configured to facilitate a dart tournament scored on the plurality of mobile computing devices executing the electronic scoring dart application: gathering, at the electronic bracket program, a master tournament player list for the tournament, wherein the master tournament player list includes the event or events in which each player is participating: generating, at the cloud server application, a tournament record based on the master tournament player list; wherein the tournament record comprises at least: device settings, and match rules; sending the master tournament player list and the tournament record to each of the plurality of mobile computing devices executing the electronic scoring dart application; scoring a plurality of matches of the tournament on the plurality of mobile computing devices executing the electronic scoring dart application; automatically sending scores in substantially real-time from each of the plurality of matches upon their completion to the cloud server application and electronic bracket program via the one or more application program interfaces; and automatically advancing players at the electronic bracket program based on the sent scores.\"\n ],\n [\n \" BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The game of darts is traditionally an English pub game in which each player takes turns throwing 3 steel-tipped throwing devices (i.e., “darts”) at various targets on a bristle board containing 20 segments and bulls eye.\",\n \"The two primary games played in the United States are titled '01 (“oh-one”) and Cricket.\",\n \"Historically, scoring was done on chalkboards and more recently, dry erase boards.\",\n \"Although electronic wall-mounted score machines have been developed, they can be expensive and many have a steep learning curve.\",\n \"Furthermore, electronic soft tip machines use special darts and special scoreboards to automatically record scores when the darts hit the board.\",\n \"These are akin to video games, often requiring money for each game and requiring players go to specific establishments having such scoreboards.\",\n \"Additionally, dart software programs (i.e., applications) typically have a narrow focus and their interfaces tend to be technical and difficult to learn as they do not conform to the typical chalkboard/dry erase board scoring system.\",\n \"Team/league and tournament play is especially challenging to accommodate in such software due to the nature of match format variations and group play.\",\n \"Many additional factors have prevented easy-to-use modern scoring systems from being developed and/or widely accepted.\",\n \"A first of these is math.\",\n \"Scoring a dart game is prone to math errors, which at a minimum slows game play and often results in incorrect scores.\",\n \"It is this particular pain point that is credited for giving rise to the soft-tip electronic vending game industry described above, impacting the popularity of the steel tipped game.\",\n \"A second factor is the existing electronic scoreboards, which, as stated, can be intimidating or confusing, especially for the uninitiated.\",\n \"Confirming and editing recent scores can be very difficult on these systems, due to a lack of instructions.\",\n \"Furthermore, interfaces vary dramatically from traditional chalk board scoring.\",\n \"A third preventing modern scoring systems from wide acceptance is that darts is a hard game to watch.\",\n \"For example, teammates and spectators often struggle with seeing the current score of the match due to legibility, lighting, positioning, and space restrictions.\",\n \"This often prevents spectators from keeping up with the status of a live game.\",\n \"A fourth problem is finding opponents & creating opportunities to play.\",\n \"As with scheduling any joint activity, the logistics of finding an agreeable time and a common meeting point, while managing the personal commitments in life, can make playing darts a challenge.\",\n \"A fifth issue are game rule variations.\",\n \"There are dozens of niche dart games and practice routines with rule variations.\",\n \"The result is that there are hundreds of possibilities of game types, with even identical games going by different names depending on geography.\",\n \"This difference creates decreased accuracy.\",\n \"Player performance also limits acceptance.\",\n \"Players are not familiar with ways to measure their performance as current player performance measurement tools require additional manual calculations after every game or match and is especially tedious for cricket-based games.\"\n ],\n [\n \" SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An aspect of the disclosure provides an integrated dart scoring platform comprising an electronic bracket program, a cloud server application, an electronic dart scoring application, and one or more application program interfaces.\",\n \"The platform may be configured to facilitate a dart tournament scored on the plurality of mobile computing devices executing the electronic scoring dart application by gathering, at the electronic bracket program, a master tournament player list for the tournament, wherein the master tournament player list includes the event or events in which each player is participating.\",\n \"Then, the platform may include, generating, at the cloud server application, a tournament record based on the master tournament player list wherein the tournament record comprises at least device settings and match rules.\",\n \"The platform may further comprise, sending the master tournament player list and the tournament record to each of the plurality of mobile computing devices executing the electronic scoring dart application.\",\n \"The platform may then comprise scoring a plurality of matches of the tournament on the plurality of mobile computing devices executing the electronic scoring dart application.\",\n \"Then the platform may include automatically sending scores in substantially real-time from each of the plurality of matches upon their completion to the cloud server application and electronic bracket program via the one or more application program interfaces; and automatically advancing players at the electronic bracket program based on the sent scores.\",\n \"Another aspect of the disclosure provides a method for facilitating a dart tournament.\",\n \"The method may include gathering, at an electronic bracket program, a master tournament player list for the tournament, wherein the master tournament player list includes the event or events in which each player is participating.\",\n \"Then, the method may include, generating, at a cloud server application, a tournament record based on the master tournament player list wherein the tournament record comprises at least device settings and match rules.\",\n \"The method may further comprise, sending the master tournament player list and the tournament record to each of a plurality of mobile computing devices executing an electronic scoring dart application.\",\n \"The method may then comprise scoring a plurality of matches of the tournament on the plurality of mobile computing devices executing the electronic scoring dart application.\",\n \"Then the method may include automatically sending scores in substantially real-time from each of the plurality of matches upon their completion to the cloud server application and electronic bracket program via the one or more application program interfaces; and automatically advancing players at the electronic bracket program based on the sent scores.\",\n \"Yet another aspect of the invention comprises a non-transitory, tangible, computer-readable storage medium, encoded with processor-readable instructions to perform a method of facilitating a dart tournament.\",\n \"The method may include gathering, at an electronic bracket program, a master tournament player list for the tournament, wherein the master tournament player list includes the event or events in which each player is participating.\",\n \"Then, the method may include, generating, at a cloud server application, a tournament record based on the master tournament player list wherein the tournament record comprises at least device settings and match rules.\",\n \"The method may further comprise, sending the master tournament player list and the tournament record to each of a plurality of mobile computing devices executing an electronic scoring dart application.\",\n \"The method may then comprise scoring a plurality of matches of the tournament on the plurality of mobile computing devices executing the electronic scoring dart application.\",\n \"Then the method may include automatically sending scores in substantially real-time from each of the plurality of matches upon their completion to the cloud server application and electronic bracket program via the one or more application program interfaces; and automatically advancing players at the electronic bracket program based on the sent scores.\"\n ],\n [\n \"PRIORITY This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"14/832,366 filed Aug. 21, 2015 and entitled “Dart Scoring System”, which claims priority to U.S.\",\n \"Provisional Application No.\",\n \"62/040,299, filed Aug. 21, 2014 and entitled “Dart Scoring System”, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.\",\n \"FIELD OF THE INVENTION This invention is related to the game of darts.\",\n \"In particular, but not by way of limitation, the invention is related to providing a scoring system for various dart games.\",\n \"BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The game of darts is traditionally an English pub game in which each player takes turns throwing 3 steel-tipped throwing devices (i.e., “darts”) at various targets on a bristle board containing 20 segments and bulls eye.\",\n \"The two primary games played in the United States are titled '01 (“oh-one”) and Cricket.\",\n \"Historically, scoring was done on chalkboards and more recently, dry erase boards.\",\n \"Although electronic wall-mounted score machines have been developed, they can be expensive and many have a steep learning curve.\",\n \"Furthermore, electronic soft tip machines use special darts and special scoreboards to automatically record scores when the darts hit the board.\",\n \"These are akin to video games, often requiring money for each game and requiring players go to specific establishments having such scoreboards.\",\n \"Additionally, dart software programs (i.e., applications) typically have a narrow focus and their interfaces tend to be technical and difficult to learn as they do not conform to the typical chalkboard/dry erase board scoring system.\",\n \"Team/league and tournament play is especially challenging to accommodate in such software due to the nature of match format variations and group play.\",\n \"Many additional factors have prevented easy-to-use modern scoring systems from being developed and/or widely accepted.\",\n \"A first of these is math.\",\n \"Scoring a dart game is prone to math errors, which at a minimum slows game play and often results in incorrect scores.\",\n \"It is this particular pain point that is credited for giving rise to the soft-tip electronic vending game industry described above, impacting the popularity of the steel tipped game.\",\n \"A second factor is the existing electronic scoreboards, which, as stated, can be intimidating or confusing, especially for the uninitiated.\",\n \"Confirming and editing recent scores can be very difficult on these systems, due to a lack of instructions.\",\n \"Furthermore, interfaces vary dramatically from traditional chalk board scoring.\",\n \"A third preventing modern scoring systems from wide acceptance is that darts is a hard game to watch.\",\n \"For example, teammates and spectators often struggle with seeing the current score of the match due to legibility, lighting, positioning, and space restrictions.\",\n \"This often prevents spectators from keeping up with the status of a live game.\",\n \"A fourth problem is finding opponents & creating opportunities to play.\",\n \"As with scheduling any joint activity, the logistics of finding an agreeable time and a common meeting point, while managing the personal commitments in life, can make playing darts a challenge.\",\n \"A fifth issue are game rule variations.\",\n \"There are dozens of niche dart games and practice routines with rule variations.\",\n \"The result is that there are hundreds of possibilities of game types, with even identical games going by different names depending on geography.\",\n \"This difference creates decreased accuracy.\",\n \"Player performance also limits acceptance.\",\n \"Players are not familiar with ways to measure their performance as current player performance measurement tools require additional manual calculations after every game or match and is especially tedious for cricket-based games.\",\n \"SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An aspect of the disclosure provides an integrated dart scoring platform comprising an electronic bracket program, a cloud server application, an electronic dart scoring application, and one or more application program interfaces.\",\n \"The platform may be configured to facilitate a dart tournament scored on the plurality of mobile computing devices executing the electronic scoring dart application by gathering, at the electronic bracket program, a master tournament player list for the tournament, wherein the master tournament player list includes the event or events in which each player is participating.\",\n \"Then, the platform may include, generating, at the cloud server application, a tournament record based on the master tournament player list wherein the tournament record comprises at least device settings and match rules.\",\n \"The platform may further comprise, sending the master tournament player list and the tournament record to each of the plurality of mobile computing devices executing the electronic scoring dart application.\",\n \"The platform may then comprise scoring a plurality of matches of the tournament on the plurality of mobile computing devices executing the electronic scoring dart application.\",\n \"Then the platform may include automatically sending scores in substantially real-time from each of the plurality of matches upon their completion to the cloud server application and electronic bracket program via the one or more application program interfaces; and automatically advancing players at the electronic bracket program based on the sent scores.\",\n \"Another aspect of the disclosure provides a method for facilitating a dart tournament.\",\n \"The method may include gathering, at an electronic bracket program, a master tournament player list for the tournament, wherein the master tournament player list includes the event or events in which each player is participating.\",\n \"Then, the method may include, generating, at a cloud server application, a tournament record based on the master tournament player list wherein the tournament record comprises at least device settings and match rules.\",\n \"The method may further comprise, sending the master tournament player list and the tournament record to each of a plurality of mobile computing devices executing an electronic scoring dart application.\",\n \"The method may then comprise scoring a plurality of matches of the tournament on the plurality of mobile computing devices executing the electronic scoring dart application.\",\n \"Then the method may include automatically sending scores in substantially real-time from each of the plurality of matches upon their completion to the cloud server application and electronic bracket program via the one or more application program interfaces; and automatically advancing players at the electronic bracket program based on the sent scores.\",\n \"Yet another aspect of the invention comprises a non-transitory, tangible, computer-readable storage medium, encoded with processor-readable instructions to perform a method of facilitating a dart tournament.\",\n \"The method may include gathering, at an electronic bracket program, a master tournament player list for the tournament, wherein the master tournament player list includes the event or events in which each player is participating.\",\n \"Then, the method may include, generating, at a cloud server application, a tournament record based on the master tournament player list wherein the tournament record comprises at least device settings and match rules.\",\n \"The method may further comprise, sending the master tournament player list and the tournament record to each of a plurality of mobile computing devices executing an electronic scoring dart application.\",\n \"The method may then comprise scoring a plurality of matches of the tournament on the plurality of mobile computing devices executing the electronic scoring dart application.\",\n \"Then the method may include automatically sending scores in substantially real-time from each of the plurality of matches upon their completion to the cloud server application and electronic bracket program via the one or more application program interfaces; and automatically advancing players at the electronic bracket program based on the sent scores.\",\n \"BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Various objects and advantages and a more complete understanding of the present invention are apparent and more readily appreciated by reference to the following Detailed Description and to the appended claims when taken in conjunction with the accompanying Drawings wherein: FIG.\",\n \"1 depicts a dart game system according to one embodiment of the invention; FIG.\",\n \"2A depicts a first screen of a dart gaming system broadcasting feature according to one embodiment of the invention; FIG.\",\n \"2B depicts a code screen according to one embodiment of the invention; FIG.\",\n \"2C depicts various dart game broadcasting options according to one embodiment of the invention; FIG.\",\n \"3 depicts a launch screen according to one embodiment of the invention; FIG.\",\n \"4 depicts an '01 scoring interface according to one embodiment of the invention; FIG.\",\n \"5A depicts a training tool according to one embodiment of the invention; FIG.\",\n \"5B depicts suggested out options in a notification according to one embodiment of the invention; FIG.\",\n \"6 depicts an assist notification according to one embodiment of the invention; FIG.\",\n \"7 depicts a cricket scoreboard according to one embodiment of the invention; FIG.\",\n \"8 depicts a cricket scoreboard according to one embodiment of the invention; FIG.\",\n \"9 depicts a cricket scoreboard according to one embodiment of the invention; FIG.\",\n \"10 depicts a marksman cricket scoreboard according to one embodiment of the invention; FIG.\",\n \"11A depicts a hint that may be provided during cricket play scoreboard according to one embodiment of the invention; FIG.\",\n \"11B depicts a hint that may be provided during cricket play scoreboard according to one embodiment of the invention; FIG.\",\n \"12 depicts a game and practice generation screen scoreboard according to one embodiment of the invention; FIG.\",\n \"12A depicts a game and practice generation screen scoreboard according to one embodiment of the invention; FIG.\",\n \"12B depicts a game and practice generation screen scoreboard according to one embodiment of the invention; FIG.\",\n \"13 depicts a Group/Team screen according to one embodiment of the invention; FIG.\",\n \"14 depicts a Group/Team screen according to one embodiment of the invention; FIG.\",\n \"15 depicts a game start screen according to one embodiment of the invention; FIG.\",\n \"16 depicts a menu screen according to one embodiment of the invention; FIG.\",\n \"17 depicts handicapping and custom scoring screen according to one embodiment of the invention; FIG.\",\n \"18 depicts a corking tool according to one embodiment of the invention; FIG.\",\n \"19 depicts user settings according to one embodiment of the invention; FIG.\",\n \"20 depicts various user interface screens for a dart gaming system according to one embodiment of the invention; FIG.\",\n \"21 depicts a match setup screen according to one embodiment of the invention; FIG.\",\n \"22 depicts a connection options screen according to one embodiment of the invention; FIG.\",\n \"23 depicts a second connection options screen according to one embodiment of the invention; FIG.\",\n \"24 depicts a report comprising statistics screen according to one embodiment of the invention; FIG.\",\n \"25 depicts a report comprising statistics screen according to one embodiment of the invention; FIG.\",\n \"26 depicts a communication according to one embodiment of the invention; FIG.\",\n \"27 depicts various statistical leaders according to one embodiment of the invention; FIG.\",\n \"28 depicts a diagrammatic representation of one embodiment of a computer system according to one embodiment of the invention; FIG.\",\n \"29 depicts a method according to one embodiment of the invention.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"30 depicts a logical block diagram of an integrated dart scoring platform for managing tournaments; FIG.\",\n \"31 depicts a settings screen and a match rules screen according to one embodiment of the invention; FIG.\",\n \"32 depicts a board selection screen, a selectable match screen, and a match confirmation screen according to one embodiment of the invention; FIG.\",\n \"33 depicts an aging board calls screen according to one embodiment of the invention; FIG.\",\n \"34 depicts a tournament viewing screen according to one embodiment of the invention; FIG.\",\n \"35 depicts a method for implementing a tournament via an integrated dart scoring platform according to one embodiment of the invention; DETAILED DESCRIPTION The dart game system 100 (also referred to herein as a dart scoring system or dart gaming system) seen in FIG.\",\n \"1 has addressed the issues presented above.\",\n \"For example, the dart gaming system's unique interface substantially decreases the need for math skills and does not interfere with even the most proficient player's game.\",\n \"The dart gaming system 100 may also provide a calculation of your three dart average for all games, including a reference point that compares it to your most recent 3 month average.\",\n \"The dart gaming system's interface makes it easy to score, confirm or edit what was entered on the prior turn.\",\n \"With network access, the dart gaming system's interface can be broadcast to any computing device, allowing spectators who are at a distance or even offsite to follow the score of the game on a public or personal device.\",\n \"Furthermore, with network or internet-enabled devices, the dart gaming system 100 allows two opponents in separate locations to play a game, each taking turns scoring their respective turns.\",\n \"The dart gaming system 100 also provides a custom play option for enabling various game rules, where users have the ability to design games and practice routines to create the version of the game they are accustomed to playing or want to play.\",\n \"One embodiment of the dart scoring system improves game play and the scoring experience.\",\n \"For example, the dart gaming system 100 captures data and statistics during the scoring of the game, eliminating the need for manual documentation.\",\n \"The dart gaming system 100 further utilizes the cloud to broadcast games for spectators to follow on any internet enabled device and enables game play between 2 opponents in separate locations.\",\n \"League and tournament play is supported with instant results & stats available to administrators, captains and players, and an interactive community is created utilizing the data collected from game play.\",\n \"It is contemplated that the system 100 may be utilized with or without a network connection.\",\n \"For example, when there is a network connection, the system 100 will automatically update the player/league/tournament statistics on a per throw/game/match segment, as identified by the user.\",\n \"However, if no network connection is available, the system stores the information locally and transfers the data to the server 180 up re-establishing a network connection, integrating the information with any previous information stored.\",\n \"Turning first to FIG.\",\n \"1, seen is on embodiment of a dart gaming system 100.Although each figure described below may refer to a particular aspect of the dart gaming system 100, it is contemplated that the figure, or a feature thereof, may be referred to as the system 100.As seen in FIG.\",\n \"1, one dart gaming system 100 comprises on-site solutions 110 and off-site solutions 120.The on-site solutions 110 may comprise a scoreboard 112, mobile device 114 or home device 116, while the off-site solutions 120 may comprise one or more network-enabled or internet-enabled devices.\",\n \"The off-site solutions 120 may also be referred to herein as remote devices or broadcast devices.\",\n \"The use of the system 100 is adapted to provide a quick, easy, and effective dart game scoring mechanism, having the ability to score many niche dart games and/or dart games with one or more regional variation.\",\n \"Each of the devices seen in FIG.\",\n \"1 may comprise a mobile computing device, a desktop device, or any other computing device known in the art.\",\n \"In one embodiment, the scoreboard 112 may be used to enter and display a dart game score on a user interface.\",\n \"A server 180 may broadcast the user interface to the remote devices.\",\n \"The home devices 116 may mirror the user interface by as a remote device 120.In addition to the scoreboard, 112, the mobile device 114 may also be used to enter scores onto the user interface.\",\n \"For example, the scoreboard 112 device may be placed near a dart board.\",\n \"In order to enter scores in a safe manner, a player may wish to use his or her handheld mobile device 114 to enter scores into the user interface instead of the scoreboard.\",\n \"However, if a mobile device 114 is used to enter scores, the scoreboard 112 may still control various user settings.\",\n \"Seen in FIG.\",\n \"19 is one set of user settings 1919 that may be controlled by the scoreboard.\",\n \"One of these user settings 1919 may comprise when the broadcast scores (i.e., the scores on the remote devices 120) are updated.\",\n \"For example, the scores on the broadcast devices may be updated after each dart throw or may be updated after each player, or after each round.\",\n \"Other update scenarios are contemplated.\",\n \"As seen in FIG.\",\n \"1, the remote devices may comprise advertisements—“ADS”, as shown in the figure.\",\n \"Turning now to FIG.\",\n \"20, seen is a system flow 2095 for enabling various system 100 features.\",\n \"For example, the log-in screen 2094 may be initially displayed to a user upon initiating the system 100 on any of the devices seen in FIG.\",\n \"1.Through this screen, a user of the dart gaming system 100 may create an active member user profile in the system 100 and access the system 100 features.\",\n \"Each active member may have access to all matches & events (e.g., games, tournaments, etc.)\",\n \"in which they have participated.\",\n \"Data from the games that users have participated in may be populated within a membership account on the server 180, giving each user access to performance analysis.\",\n \"Such analysis may be used to provide a user rating and/or a user ranking and/or any other rating/ranking information or metrics which can be used to compare to the user to other members.\",\n \"It is also contemplated that the dart gaming system 100 may be used be a guest user 352, as seen in FIG.\",\n \"3.A guest user may have the option of subscribing to the system 100 at any point and identifying the games they have previously participated in, populating their membership account with previous game data.\",\n \"Additionally, approved “outsiders” (e.g., though leagues, tournaments, etc.)\",\n \"can be given permission to have access to selected matches.\",\n \"As member games are stored over time, opportunities for virtual game play (i.e., database play) against themselves or others is available.\",\n \"After entering a username/password into the log-in screen 2094, the launch screen 2050 may be displayed.\",\n \"The launch screen 350 is also seen in FIG.\",\n \"3.Upon selecting the play 351 option in the launch screen 350, a menu 2026 screen, as also seen in FIG.\",\n \"16 may be displayed.\",\n \"Seen in FIG.\",\n \"16 are various dart game options 1628.A player may then select one of the dart game options 1628.Upon selecting one of the dart game options 1628, the match set up screen 2045 may be displayed, as seen in FIG.\",\n \"20.As seen in FIG.\",\n \"21, the match set up screen 2145 may comprise a connect 2131 option, manage player library 2132 option, match format 2133 option, add player 2134 option, and additional options 2136.The match format 2133 option modifies the no of games/sets/matches to be played.\",\n \"Players may be added through the add player 2134 and manage player library 2132 options.\",\n \"Upon selecting the players in the game, selecting the match format, and any additional options, the connect 2131 option may be selected.\",\n \"The connect 2131 option will display the first connection options screen 2060.As seen in FIG.\",\n \"22, the connection options screen 2260 may provide a broadcast match option 2261 and an online option 2262.By selecting the broadcast match option 2261, a second connection options screen 2365 may be displayed, as seen in FIG.\",\n \"23, which may provide a connection code 2366.The connection codes 2366, 266 described herein may also be referred to as a broadcast key, key, password, or any other similar term known in the art.\",\n \"The host may then share this connection code 266, 2366 with other users so that the other users may view the match.\",\n \"Turning now to FIGS.\",\n \"2A-2C, seen are examples of a dart gaming system broadcasting feature 230.The screen seen in FIG.\",\n \"2A may comprise a code option 231, which, when selected, may display the code screen 232 seen in FIG.\",\n \"2B.\",\n \"Entering the connection code 2366 into this screen will enable the spectator to receive the scoring interface from the scoreboard 112 or other on-site solution 110 device, via the server 180 in at least one embodiment.\",\n \"Selecting one of the link options 233 may provide a link to public matches to view.\",\n \"For example, the online option 2262 seen in FIG.\",\n \"22 may create a publicly-accessible link on a publicly-available webpage.\",\n \"This link may have the ability to “broadcast” their match play on the internet—viewable with any browser, when the link is accessed.\",\n \"For public broadcasts, interested parties may also be directed to a listing on a web page that provides a link which gives the spectator instant access to the game/match/tournament.\",\n \"The broadcasting application may comprise a feature which takes advantage of landscape display environments.\",\n \"One dart gaming system 100 may comprise an HTMLS (or any other program known in the art) program capable of running on any computing device comprising an internet browser such as, but not limited to, Internet Explorer®, Mozilla®, or Google Chrome®.\",\n \"As seen in FIG.\",\n \"2C, a standard viewing option 233, league viewing option 234, and/or game coach viewing option 235 may be provided to a spectator after either entering the code, as seen in FIG.\",\n \"2b, or accessing the link through the link options 233.The standard viewing option 233 may display a scoring interface and current averages for each player.\",\n \"The league viewing option 234 may also provide a match score and full name listing of the players, while the game coach option 235 may also enable the viewers to receive game tips and strategies.\",\n \"The players may also receive these tips and strategies or may choose not to receive them through the user settings 1919, as seen in FIG.\",\n \"19.The system 100 may comprise an audio and/or video component (e.g., live two-way audio and video) to any dart game initiated on the dart gaming system.\",\n \"Such audio/video may be provided through the dart gaming system using any 3rd-party VOIP or video-streaming service.\",\n \"It is contemplated that the video component may be utilized to support the scoring in the system 100.For example, if a score is contested, a video replay may be used to determine whether the entered score was accurate.\",\n \"Alternatively, the video feed may be automatically utilized by the system 100 to record scores in the system.\",\n \"Two players, geographically separated, can play a match through the dart gaming system 100 by connecting through the server 180.The server 180 will also distribute the user interface on the scoreboard 112 device to the spectators, as well as record and save all player, team, league, and tournament score data for each throw in every game played on the system 100.To enable play between two geographically remote players, a match host may provide the broadcast key to an opponent that the opponent uses to join the host in the system 100.The game may proceed on two devices, giving each player an opportunity to score their own turn.\",\n \"The server 180 ensures that each player's scoreboard 112 is updated with the same data in real-time, regardless of which player enters the data.\",\n \"The host may also have the option of broadcasting this game to spectators at the same time through the broadcasting feature seen in FIG.\",\n \"2 or described in relation to FIGS.\",\n \"22 and 23.One embodiment of the system 100 may comprise using data generated by the system 100 to create an interactive community between users of the system.\",\n \"In such a community, statistics for players may be created for comparison within and amongst the community.\",\n \"Such statistics and reports may be seen in FIGS.\",\n \"24 and 25.Furthermore, rankings may be created among friends and/or competitors, players may be allowed to share achievements amongst other users and the system may enable players to play another player's games from a system database.\",\n \"For example, users have the ability to practice against “real games” that were previously played by users of the system 100 (themselves or others).\",\n \"This feature is provided by the system 100 keeping a historical log of all games played by users of the system.\",\n \"In one such feature, the system 100 may select a random recent game previously played by a user.\",\n \"Such a game may have been won by the user.\",\n \"The system 100 then reproduces each turn the player had, while the challenging player throws live darts and records his turns as he normally would in the system 100.The result is a similar to playing against a computer opponent, but instead the user is alternating turns with a historical game.\",\n \"After a match ends, the dart gaming system 100 may generate a communication such as, but not limited to, an email with a link which accesses the reports seen in FIGS.\",\n \"24 and 25, or any other report.\",\n \"One such communication 2626 is seen in FIG.\",\n \"26.An example of statistics 2727 created with the system is shown in FIG.\",\n \"27.These reports and/or statistics may comprise information for all match participants and may comprise (a) an event description, (b) a match analysis, (c) a match recap, (d) the recognition of an exceptional player and any team accomplishments, and (e) any other news and/or offers for the user.\",\n \"In one embodiment, a user may have the ability to combine match data from separate devices or separate matches into one event summary that the user can review afterwards.\",\n \"For multi-device summaries, a user may request an “event key” and then distribute the key to other members of the match who may then flag their matches on their devices with this identifier.\",\n \"For a multi-match summary, a user can create an on-going “open” event.\",\n \"Anytime a user wants to include a specific match, they would simply reuse the assigned key.\",\n \"The dart gaming system 100 is adapted to reduce new user anxiety.\",\n \"For example, any required math skills for scoring are eliminated as the system 100 accommodates all level of users.\",\n \"This increases the scoring accuracy, using redundant features to mitigate the typical mistakes associated with electronic interfaces, including user miss-keys, score keeper errors and unresponsive devices.\",\n \"Furthermore, the system 100 uses traditional scoring methods to replicate the “chalk board” scoring experience, enabling easier, faster and more accurate match scoring, allowing the players and score keepers to focus on the game itself.\",\n \"Turning now to FIG.\",\n \"4, seen is one example of a scoring screen 490 for an '01 dart game.\",\n \"This may be the scoring screen 490 displayed on the scoring device 112 and adapted to receive scoring information, and may be broadcast to the off-site devices 120.Various challenges of scoring a dart match are addressed in such a screen 490.For example, the current turn 492 in the match (i.e., which identifies the user that needs to input a score for each round) is highlighted in s color different from the previously-entered scores in an audit trail 196 to make it clear to all what is being scored.\",\n \"Additionally, a score window 494 displays and stores for later review (upon accessing a score in the audit trail 496) what is actually being keyed by the user though an integrated calculator functionality within the keypad, which assists with math processing.\",\n \"Through the audit trail 496 of recent turns, players, score keepers and spectators may quickly and easily review the accuracy of entered prior turn scores.\",\n \"Also provided is an easy edit “UNDO” button 498 to erase the current entry.\",\n \"The UNDO button transforms into a BACK button when there are no entries in the score window 494 and the “BACK” button highlights the prior turn in the audit trail 496 to show parties what was keyed by the user in the score window 494 along with the resulting score in the audit trail 496.Seen in FIG.\",\n \"5A is one example of a training tool to assist in determining the optimum targets to win an '01 game.\",\n \"As seen, as assist notification 591 may display what score the “Guest” player would need to obtain with each dart in a 3-dart throw in order to obtain a score of “170”.\",\n \"These scores are shown as “T20,” “T20,” and “DB,” which means that the first dart throw lands in a triple-20 score portion of the dartboard, the second dart throw also lands on a triple-20 score portion of the dartboard, and the third dart throw lands in the double bull's-eye.\",\n \"With each triple-20 score providing sixty points and the double bulls-eye providing 50 points, this point total would be 60+60+50, or 170 points.\",\n \"Seen in FIG.\",\n \"5B are alternative or additional outputs 593 that may be shown in the notification 591.For example, instead of the alpha-numeric display shown in FIG.\",\n \"5A, only a numerical display may be used (though the display in FIG.\",\n \"5B does not add up to 170, so this is for a different game/user).\",\n \"The alternative output 593 may also provide a “hint” which provides a mathematical solution for reaching the optimum targets.\",\n \"In one embodiment, suggested outs for an '01 match may be broadcast to one or more connected devices.\",\n \"The devices adapted to receive the suggested outs may be set up through the options 1919, as seen in FIG.\",\n \"19.The suggested outs may be based on the current game score.\",\n \"For example, the system may utilize a network connection between the scoreboard 112, server 180, and remote devices to broadcast coaching tips to user device in real time or to assist a player with the current game.\",\n \"Such messages may be only displayed at an identified user device (e.g.\",\n \"the “host” device) and may not be displayed on a shared score board, which may also be referred to herein as a primary score board.\",\n \"In addition to the required out strategy for '01 games, additional examples of this feature comprise providing an additional number of point bullseyes required to win a game of Cricket.\",\n \"Alternatively, strategy tips may be provided to user for any game.\",\n \"As stated, such information may only be broadcast to a particular user, who may request it, which preserves the presentation of the game state on the primary device.\",\n \"Turning now to FIG.\",\n \"6, seen is an assist notification 691 comprising a suggested out option provided to a user that has thrown a partial turn, but still has one or two darts to throw to complete his round.\",\n \"In such an instance, the user may click, for example, the “+” sign in the image below.\",\n \"This may display one or more suggested targets for each throw.\",\n \"Turning now to FIG.\",\n \"7, seen is a cricket scoreboard 705.As seen, the cricket scoreboard 705 uses a “/” or “slash,” an “x,” and an “O” identify a single hit in a single-point throw, a double-point hit in a single throw, and a triple-point hit in a single throw, respectively, on that number.\",\n \"The cricket scoreboard 705 also displays the exact throws which lead to three hits “O” mark.\",\n \"For example, the “1” bubble shows two slashes (an “x”) and a circle.\",\n \"This is used for a user that hit the target over three separate turns.\",\n \"The “2” bubble displays a single-slash and a circle, evidencing that a player hit that target once in a prior turn (single slash) then connected again twice in a subsequent turn, with the additional two connections shown by the circle (a double target score portion of the mark was hit, for example).\",\n \"If the player hits a valid target three times in the same turn, then the closed target will be represented by a circle only, as seen in bubble “3.” Turning now to FIG.\",\n \"8, seen is one example of a cricket scoreboard 805 showing the redundancy in recording scores to ensure accuracy.\",\n \"For example, the current turn target “hits” 881 may be highlighted in a first color to differentiate current turn scores (marks) from pre-exiting scores 883 in a second color.\",\n \"Additional redundancy may be provided by displaying the number 887 of times a user has tapped the target button 807 for that target (tapping the target button 807 may be how a user identifies that the target was hit by a dart, thereby recording a score for that target).\",\n \"This number 887 is shown in FIG.\",\n \"8 as the “1” & “4” next to the “18” and “16” targets, respectively.\",\n \"Furthermore, any target hit that results in points for the turn, is reflected in the margin for that target (note the “16” points) in the margin for the “16” target.\",\n \"Redundancy is further provided by listing all target entries for the turn in the score window 894 (note the “18, 16×4 times”).\",\n \"If a target has been “closed” by both players in prior turns (i.e., no further points may be obtained for either player for that target/number), the target may become visibly inactive (e.g., the “20” target button may comprise a darker color).\",\n \"Turning now to FIG.\",\n \"9, seen is what may happen after a turn has been submitted by pressing the “enter” button, as seen in FIG.\",\n \"8.In one embodiment, the cricket scoreboard 905 may display what targets were scored on the previous turn (note the “1” and “4” in the margin).\",\n \"Exceptional or high-count turns may generate a pop-up fade-out message 907 calling out the nature of the accomplishment and to ensure the correct score was recorded.\",\n \"Seen in FIG.\",\n \"10 is a marksman cricket scoreboard 1015.The marksman cricket scoreboard 1015 comprises a 3-button (“D” button, target button, “T” button) approach to scoring cricket.\",\n \"The “D” button is for registering a double point score of the proximal Target Number and the “T” button is for registering a triple point score for the proximal Target Number amount.\",\n \"The Target Number registers a single target number score.\",\n \"This scoreboard 1015 may improve accuracy as the user avoids having to count and tap the Target Number multiple times for each hit that is a double or a triple.\",\n \"Furthermore, the score window 1094 displays exactly what was keyed.\",\n \"Speed of scoring may be increased since the maximum key stokes per turn is 3, as opposed to up to 9 with the approach seen, for example, in FIG.\",\n \"9.Unique statistics may also be provided with the marksman cricket scoreboard 1015.For example, since the user informs the scoreboard 1015 what segment (single/double/triple) of each target the each dart actually hits (as opposed to the “roll up” scoring method associated with the standard FIG.\",\n \"9 methods), specific statistics could be generated for this information, including, but not limited to, total missed darts (not just missed turns), total number of triple segments, doubles segments, single segments acquired, and targets hit but not scored due to opponent's existing position in the game.\",\n \"Such information may allow the user to know how many darts scored their full potential value or the average of potential value for each dart thrown.\",\n \"Turning now to FIGS.\",\n \"11A and 11B, seen are hints that may be provided during cricket play.\",\n \"In FIG.\",\n \"11A the hint is shown in the score window 1194, informing the Host player that the player is behind by 16 points.\",\n \"In FIG.\",\n \"11B, both players have closed out all their respective targets except the bulls-eye target (“B”).\",\n \"Rather than forcing each user to calculate the math value of the number of target bulls that are required for that player to win the game, the system calculates how many bull targets each player needs to hit to win the game.\",\n \"As seen in the score window 1194, the host player needs to acquire six Bull targets and the guest player requires only three bull targets to win.\",\n \"Turning now to FIG.\",\n \"12, seen is a game and practice generation screen 1215.The menu system seen in FIG.\",\n \"12 enables a user to design a game or practice routine according to their personal preferences and rules.\",\n \"Games and routines fall into 3 general categories: (i) point-style games, (ii) half-it style games, and (iii) target-style games.\",\n \"Games & routines can be further customized with options including (a) Enable Negative scoring, (b) Assuming 3 Dart Finish, (c) Determining Target values, (d) Enabling inclusion of Special targets, and (e) Determining the Starting target.\",\n \"Created games and routines can be saved for future use.\",\n \"FIGS.\",\n \"12A and 12B may also be used in creating the new games/practice routines.\",\n \"Turning now to FIG.\",\n \"13, seen is an example of a Group/Team screen 1325.The Group/Team screen 1325 provides the ability to easily run competing teams of 4-12 players (may have different number of player per team) in a multigame match while also tracking their personal performance and updating their performance statistics in real-time without interfering with match play.\",\n \"The Group/Team screen 1325 sets up group play by eliminating traditional menus & software wizards.\",\n \"As players are selected for each game through the Edit Teams button, the screen 1325 will automatically change from singles to doubles, triples, etc.\",\n \"As seen in FIG.\",\n \"13, one Group/Team screen 1325 may be adapted to select two teams for a match and display the team rosters.\",\n \"After selecting the players for each team, a match may be initiated by selecting the connect 1331 button.\",\n \"The connect button displayed in FIG.\",\n \"13 comprises a similar functionality as the connect 2131 option in FIG.\",\n \"21 and as seen and/or described elsewhere herein.\",\n \"The system 100 may record each player's turn in the order it occurred and automatically start a new set whenever there is a change in the player line-up.\",\n \"Through this feature, the system 100 is enabled to create a match summary populated with player names and their throwing order, while tracking individual performance—even when participating in group play (Doubles, Triples, Quadruples).\",\n \"The system 100 may inform the players to “Check In” before the next game commences As seen in the Group/Team screen 1425 in FIG.\",\n \"14, the players or a third-party score keeper may select the opponents from each team, with the system 100 automatically determining what type of group play is occurring (Doubles in the FIG.\",\n \"14 case).\",\n \"The system 100 may accommodate team number mismatches such as, but not limited to, Singles vs. Doubles, by automatically recording a “bye” (or miss) for the group that is short a player.\",\n \"Alternatively, the system 100 may rotate through each team, ensuring a team member is assigned to each round.\",\n \"The system 100 may also provide each opposing team how player data is displayed to the team members.\",\n \"For example, a Team Report may display team-related statistical data related to the match, tournament, league, and/or team history.\",\n \"A Group Report may provide data for an identified Doubles/Triples/Quads, etc.\",\n \"team.\",\n \"A Player Report may provide individual darts and accomplishments data, assigned to each player, regardless of whether they are involved in any team or group play.\",\n \"Examples of these reports may be seen in FIGS.\",\n \"24 & 25.Turning now to FIG.\",\n \"15, seen is how to select a starting player.\",\n \"After choosing the teams through the edit teams selection, selecting team members from each team to participate in the game from the team lists and connecting, the game start screen 1535 is shown.\",\n \"In the game start screen 1535, the selected players are listed and the user selects the play order for each group.\",\n \"This is done by touching or selecting each player in each team in the order which they will participate in the match.\",\n \"Selecting the player order allows the system 100 to assign the entered dart throw data and corresponding stats and achievements to each individual player, as opposed to a generic “pairing” or group.\",\n \"Dart throw data may be entered through one of the screens seen in FIGS.\",\n \"4-11B, or any other screen, depending on the dart game being played.\",\n \"During group play, the system 100 alternates between opposing teams, listing which player is currently throwing.\",\n \"For example, the player name may be listed at the top 1536 of the screen in lieu of, or in addition to, listing the team name.\",\n \"The system 100 may also create and provide custom menus for leagues and tournaments to reflect their exact format.\",\n \"One benefit of this would be fewer game set-up decisions (game type and options) that need to be made by the score keeper and players.\",\n \"When playing an accepted league format, upon launching the system 100 on a mobile computing device, players may be greeted with a simplified menu, such as, but not limited to, the menu 1626 seen in FIG.\",\n \"16.Such a menu 1626 would substantially eliminate the need to format each game prior to game start.\",\n \"One such menu 1626 may display the league name 1627, acronym and/or logo to reinforce the league brand and assure users they are playing the correct format.\",\n \"Also listed are various game options 1628.Looking now at FIG.\",\n \"17, seen is a handicapping and custom score chart 1717.Users have the ability with this chart 1717 to modify their starting score to create any custom game or to handicap one of the opponents.\",\n \"In one embodiment, prior to starting any game, a user can adjust the starting points, by simply tapping the starting score 1718 in the header.\",\n \"The system may allow you to input the starting total (point games) or pre-scored marks (cricket and target games) for either player.\",\n \"Users may also have the option of allowing the system to automatically determine the appropriate handicap for a given match up, based on their historical performance.\",\n \"One system 100 seen in FIG.\",\n \"1 may also comprise a corking tool 1880, as seen in FIG.\",\n \"18.Such a tool may be used to determine who throws first in a dart game.\",\n \"Prior to game play, each player often throws a single dart at the bulls-eye of a dart board & the player with the closest dart throws first.\",\n \"In order to determine who is the closest to the bulls-eye, the corking tool 1880 seen in FIG.\",\n \"18 was created.\",\n \"The arcs 1881 on the corking tool 1880 are shaped to align with the outer ring on the bulls-eye of a dart board.\",\n \"Using the measurement markings 1882 along the edges of the corking tool 1880, a user may determine what distance the dart is located from the outer ring of the bulls-eye, and compare such distance with a distance of another player, potentially playing from a remote location.\",\n \"As seen, the measurement markings 1882 are divided up into six lettered sections (A-D), with each lettered section being divided up into six separate numbered sections (1-6).\",\n \"The player with the smallest distance to the bull eye would throw first.\",\n \"Turning now to FIG.\",\n \"29, seen is method 2929 of conducting a dart game.\",\n \"The dart game referred to in method 2929 may comprise any of the dart games referred to in any of FIGS.\",\n \"1-28 such as, but not limited to, '01 and cricket.\",\n \"One method starts at 2909 and at 2919 comprises initiating a dart game in at least one location.\",\n \"For example, the location of the scoreboard 112 may comprise such a location.\",\n \"At 2939, the method comprises recording a dart player's scores across a plurality of rounds via a user interface on a mobile computing device.\",\n \"For example, the user interface may be any of the scoring interfaces described above such as, but not limited to, the '01 interface seen in FIG.\",\n \"4 or the cricket interface see in FIG.\",\n \"7.At 2949, the method 2929 comprises sharing the user interface and the dart plyer's scores in a near real-time manner with at least one remote location.\",\n \"Such a remote location may be the off-site devices 120 seen in FIG.\",\n \"1.Although not explicitly listed in FIG.\",\n \"29, it is contemplated that the user interface in the method 292 may comprise a first display screen, with the first display screen comprising a game creation option, a game join option, a game share option, and a game watch option.\",\n \"For example, and as seen in FIG.\",\n \"20 is the launch screen 2050, which may comprise the first display screen.\",\n \"Through the launch screen 2050, as use may create a game through the “play” feature (i.e., a game creation option), may join a game through the “connect” 2131 feature (or as otherwise described herein) after selecting any of the league, play, or another other of the options on the screen 2050, and may comprise a game watch option.\",\n \"Whatever dart game is chosen may comprise a first dart game.\",\n \"One method 2929 may further comprise initiating a second dart game.\",\n \"For example, the first and second dart games may be related to a league and/or event/tournament, as seen in FIG.\",\n \"20.One or more statistics may be obtained for the first dart game and the second dart game (as well as any additionally-related dart games, as identified by the player in the user settings 1919 or otherwise), aggregating the one or more statistics from the first dart game and the second dart game into a plurality of statistics for the dart player/league/tournament/event, and ranking at least a portion of the plurality of statistics for the dart player against one or more additional dart players/leagues/tournaments/events.\",\n \"The method 292 may further comprise providing match summary information to the dart player upon conclusion of the match—for example in a message with a link as shown in FIG.\",\n \"26.Game detail information may be provided to the dart player upon conclusion of the match.\",\n \"Player performance information may also be provided to at least one of the dart player and the at least one remote location one of during the match and upon conclusion of the match.\",\n \"Such information may be seen in FIGS.\",\n \"25, 26, as well as FIGS.\",\n \"9, 5, and 6.Further methods 292 may comprise storing the dart player's scores related to each of the plurality of rounds in the server 180, choosing to play a game against game stored in the server, and/or utilizing a server device to share the user interface and the dart player's scores in a near real-time manner with at least one additional location.\",\n \"Another aspect of the disclosure pertains to systems and methods for integrating the scoring application with systems for managing tournament brackets.\",\n \"Some software programs exist for managing the match-ups within sports tournaments, including dart tournaments.\",\n \"Such programs may be referred to herein as “electronic bracket programs,” or simply “bracket programs.” The present disclosure provides an electronic bracket program that interacts with the dart scoring application to create a comprehensive electronic tournament scoring and management system.\",\n \"The disclosure also provides application program interfaces (APIs) to allow the dart scoring system to integrate with existing electronic bracket programs.\",\n \"The APIs of the present dart scoring system provide several features and functions that facilitate the management of dart tournaments.\",\n \"Historically, steel tip dart competition has been conducted with a multi-part paper ticket based system, using one part to operate the bracket, one part to accompany the players as they proceed to each match assignment, and the last as proof of event registration.\",\n \"Such paper systems are inherently prone to errors and delays, since they are filled out by hand, manually numbered, and continuously change hands between staff and players.\",\n \"Sometimes, slips go missing or become duplicated.\",\n \"The APIs coordinate an electronic bracket program (including the one provided in the present disclosure and third-party programs) with the connected match scoring system described herein, which provides a level of service to players, spectators and staff that has not previously been available for events and tournaments.\",\n \"The APIs enable an electronic bracket program and dart match scoring software to communicate critical information with each other, simplifying the operation of each, reducing event staffing and the need for operational expertise with both programs.\",\n \"In addition, the overall system provides players and fans public access to all aspects of the tournaments, so they can locate individual matches, peruse bracket standings, or review results.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"30 shows a logical block diagram of an integrated dart scoring platform 3000 (which may also be referred to as an integrated dart scoring system) for conducting dart tournaments of the present disclosure.\",\n \"The diagram should not be construed as a hardware diagram, and may be implemented in software, hardware, or a combination of software and hardware.\",\n \"The system 3000 comprises a bracket program 3010.One function of the electronic bracket program 3010 is to provide an interface for collecting player (or team) information, which may be implemented by a Player Information Component 3011.For the purposes of a dart tournament, player information including a player name, player ID (e.g., an ID number assigned to members of sporting associations), and a player e-mail, may be entered upon registration in a particular tournament.\",\n \"Bracket programs can generate complete player rosters for a particular event and create an event ID (or competition ID) through an Event ID component 3012.A main function of an electronic bracket program is to create matchups of players out of the roster, based on the competition structure of the tournament, which may be implemented by an Initial Bracket Assignment Component 3013.For example, players on the roster may be placed into a single- or double-elimination competition format, or may be placed into round-robin pool play before being placed in single- or double-elimination rounds.\",\n \"Placing players in such brackets manually can be time-consuming and confusing, especially when there are large numbers of players.\",\n \"It can be even more time-consuming and confusing to manually advance players into different stages after wins and losses, which is why existing electronic bracket programs create the initial placements and advance players automatically when they win or lose.\",\n \"The automatic advancing of players may be implemented by the Bracket Advance Component 3014.The bracket program of the present disclosure provides these functions, but also provides unique features to facilitate the interaction with the dart scoring application.\",\n \"Several features of the bracket program of the present disclosure also make it easier to manage tournaments.\",\n \"One such feature includes dashboard indicators to create calls to action for a bracket operator.\",\n \"Another is a list view of the bracket to provide a simple action list for the bracket operator.\",\n \"Yet another is a system for creating a printable mailing label or other small paper document system that expedites the pairing of players and board assignments in the correct initial event board call process to expedite the running of the event.\",\n \"This is especially helpful for “Blind Draw” events, which, in a paper based system, require a multi-step process: First, staff must match all the individual player entries with a partner randomly, creating a doubles team.\",\n \"Then, staff must then randomly match each doubles team with an additional doubles team.\",\n \"Then, the match assignments are organized into a board assignment call order.\",\n \"With previous paper-based systems, written entry slips are spread out on a large table to create an initial match of paired teams.\",\n \"Then, a secondary match is performed to create the competitions, and then they are organized according to preferred board call assignment.\",\n \"The presently disclosed bracket program combines all three steps into one succinct process, that allows a bracket operator to print the board call slips, with the proper partners and opponents in the order they are to be call.\",\n \"Printing can occur on cards, full sheets of paper, or mailing labels.\",\n \"This feature reduces a 30-minute (or greater) process into an approximately five-minute process.\",\n \"Mailing labels allow the staff to reuse the original submitted paper entry slips.\",\n \"To utilize a bracket program (either the one of the present disclosure or a third-party bracket program) for a tournament, participants register once for the entire tournament, creating a player record that is aggregated into the Master Player Roster.\",\n \"Each player is then eligible to enter into individual event competitions.\",\n \"Individual event competition may include, for example, women's only, men's only, one game type only (e.g., either cricket or '01), multiple game types, singles, doubles, etc.\",\n \"The Master Player Roster comprises the player information for any player who registers a to play in at least one event throughout the tournament.\",\n \"An Event Player Roster (or simply “Event Roster”) is comprises just the player information for players competing in one particular event.\",\n \"There may be multiple Event Rosters within a Master Tournament Roster.\",\n \"Once a player enters an event through a registration process, the bracket program can either automatically import the eligible players for the event, or the tournament staff can manually enter and/or select participants.\",\n \"The bracket program then organizes the competition and provides a dart board assignment for each of the initial match(es) between players.\",\n \"In prior approaches, paper tickets would then be used to score the matches and the scores and winners would have to be manually entered in the bracket program, which would typically be run at one, or at most, a few computing devices operated by tournament administrators or staff.\",\n \"The integration system of the present disclosure allows the scoring to be done electronically, through computing devices at each board at which a match is being played that execute the dart scoring application of the present disclosure, and transmitted in real time to the bracket program via the cloud server application 3030.The cloud server application 3030 may be the same cloud server application referred to previously throughout this disclosure.\",\n \"The bracket program 3010 can then advance players automatically based on the transmitted scores from dart scoring application mobile devices 3050-3052, rather than wait for manual entry of scores and winners.\",\n \"The transferring functions between each of the computing devices and applications depicted in FIG.\",\n \"30 are performed by one or more APIs, depicted in FIG.\",\n \"30 as API 3020.As will be described throughout this disclosure, the API(s) 3020 allows the transfer of information back and forth between the bracket program 3020, cloud server application 3030, and the mobile devices 3050-3052, the control desk(s) 3040, and the remote broadcasting device(s) 3060.As depicted, this information includes, but is not limited to, player registration info 3021, event ID 3022, bracket assignments 3023, board assignments 3024, match scores 3025, notifications 3026, and match progress and status 3027.The integration system 3000 also allows spectators to view scores and tournament standings at one or more remote broadcasting devices 3060 for matches in progress in real-time.\",\n \"The present disclosure has previously described how individual matches may be viewed by spectators when broadcast publicly or with a private key; the integration system adds the ability for spectators to view multiple match scores within a tournament and the live tournament standings themselves.\",\n \"Additionally, the integrated scoring system 3000 may include a control desk interface 3040, on which certain functions for tournament administrators and staff may be displayed.\",\n \"It is contemplated that, in some embodiments, a separate device may not be required to implement the control desk interface 3040, and it may be displayed, instead, on a screen of a device that is running the dart scoring application.\",\n \"Still referring to FIG.\",\n \"30, to set up a tournament once players have been registered, a bracket program 3000 may first provide player registration information 3021 to the cloud server of the dart scoring application.\",\n \"The bracket program sends an Event ID 3022 (also known as a “Competition ID”), and a complete Event Player Roster, which includes at least a Player Name, Player ID, and (optionally, though not required) the Player e-mail of each player on the Event Player Roster.\",\n \"Then, the cloud server application, via a Tournament Record Component 3031, develops a Tournament Record, which adds, based on the Event ID, the following information: a Tournament ID (for login purposes) Event Data, Device Settings, Event Format (which provides designations indicating whether the event is Elimination, Round Robin, Set Play, Win by Two, etc.\",\n \"), and Match Instructions (which provide actual instructions like Cork for Start, number of legs, alternate, etc.\",\n \"), and optionally, a Player ID associated with the scoring application.\",\n \"Turning to FIG.\",\n \"31, the Device Settings may be visible on a settings screen 3100 of the dart scoring application that show which functions that may be accessible or inaccessible to scorers depending on the Match Rules, as shown on the match rules screen 3150.The device settings screen may highlight what features of the scoring application will be visible during game play and scoring.\",\n \"It may be configurable by a scorer, or frozen, depending on the tournament rules.\",\n \"Event Match Rules shown on the match rules screen 3150 may include, for example, the eligible games for the match, the starting rules, the number of legs to be played, etc.\",\n \"As shown in the match rules screen 3150, the applicable match rules are highlighted and the others are grayed out.\",\n \"Depending on the embodiments, scorers may or may not be able to alter these settings.\",\n \"Referring back to FIG.\",\n \"30, mobile devices 3050-3052 with the dart scoring application may associate with the tournament by logging in (e.g., entering the Event ID on a screen) to the dart scoring application.\",\n \"Any device (including the control desk 3040, the mobile application scoring devices 3050-3052, and the remote broadcasting device 3060) associated with the tournament may then receive, from the cloud server application 3030, the Tournament Record 3031, which comprises the complete Event Player Roster 3032, the Event Data 3033, the Device Rules 3033, the Event Match Rules 3035, and any associated Player IDs 3036 (including any player association IDs and scoring-application-specific IDs).\",\n \"In some embodiments, only selected information may be sent to each computing device depicted, based on permissions set at the permissions component 3038 at the cloud server application.\",\n \"The scoring system is intended to maintain wireless connectivity throughout the competition, so that board assignments, scores, and other information may be transmitted back-and-forth between the scoring devices, the cloud server application, and the bracket program.\",\n \"However, several features of the system provide backup and redundancy features to preserve information if network connectivity is lost.\",\n \"One of those features is that each device, once logged into the tournament, receives the Tournament Record and Master Tournament Player List and keeps a copy of it locally.\",\n \"This feature ensures that, once the device has logged into the tournament, it has at least all the assigned and scheduled matches at the proper boards.\",\n \"If, for example, network connectivity is lost after a few matches have been played, and the board assignments are no longer being updated to the device in real-time, the dart scoring application will still be able to pull up a list of correct possible match-ups at particular boards, and may be used to manually select players from the master tournament list if absolutely necessary.\",\n \"The Tournament Record 3031 is also transferred from the cloud server application to the bracket program itself through the API 3030.To continue setting up a tournament, the bracket program 3010 may then use this Tournament Record 3031 to create a board assignment for each match.\",\n \"Creating a bracket in order to figure out how to advance players and create match-ups is a first component of setting up a tournament; assigning the boards on which those matches are to take place is another endeavor.\",\n \"“Boards” may also be referred to as “dart alleys,” and may be identified by numbers.\",\n \"For example, the first two players may be assigned to Board 1, the second two players to Board 2, etc.\",\n \"In the past, tournament staff set up board assignments manually, which was a very cumbersome and confusing process.\",\n \"Some bracket programs have recently developed board assignment tools.\",\n \"The bracket program of the present disclosure provides an advanced “intelligent board assignment” system (depicted by component 3015) to further improve the process.\",\n \"In general, the process of board assignment in any tournament is accomplished by first creating a list of eligible events.\",\n \"Each event can import a player list or be manually populated from the master player list.\",\n \"After the bracket program organizes the competition for a specific event, the bracket program creates a Match ID for each individual player vs. player competition, associating it with the Event ID and Tournament ID.\",\n \"The final step is assigning a dart alley (board assignment) where the competition will take place.\",\n \"The cloud server application electronically notifies participants (for example, via e-mail, text message, push notification, or any other suitable electronic communication) of their board assignment, as well as publishing an electronic master list on viewing screens of the display system (e.g., the dart game display system referred to in FIGS.\",\n \"2A-2C).\",\n \"One of the fundamental challenges of running a steel tip dart tournament is that there are a limited number of playing fields (dart alleys), with potentially hundreds of players, that are being used by multiple events at the same time.\",\n \"Depending on the event format and match rules, the dartboards can turn over every 10-15 minutes.\",\n \"No matter what kind of system is used to facilitate a dart tournament, it is the goal of tournament staff to continuously assign as many boards as quickly as possible, without assigning multiple live matches to the same dart alley for certain events.\",\n \"In some event formats, though, multiple matches may purposefully be assigned to a single dart alley with the intention that they are to be played sequentially.\",\n \"To enable the continual assignment of boards without assigning multiple matches at the same time at the same boards, the bracket program must have a board management system, which is at the tournament level, and not at the individual event level.\",\n \"This allows the board management system to manage which boards are currently available (not being actively played on) and to enable tournament staff to develop individual board assignment guidelines for each event.\",\n \"For instance, in a singles competition event, staff may want to assign every available board.\",\n \"In a team event, staff may choose to assign every other board, or only even/odd boards to allow for additional physical spacing for the multi-player teams (since boards are often placed close together).\",\n \"Staff can also designate a range of dart alleys that are eligible for an individual event.\",\n \"For example, a particular event may have a board assignment guideline of “even numbered boards only, from 2 to 20,” out of a total of 50 available.\",\n \"In prior approaches, assigning boards in this way has been done manually and has been cumbersome to implement.\",\n \"These guidelines are typically set before the tournament begins, but may be updated as the tournament continues.\",\n \"In embodiments of the disclosure, the event board assignment can either be “absolute” or a “guideline”.\",\n \"When it is a guideline, each event bracket operator may view the total list of available dart alleys (those not being currently utilized by an active match from any event).\",\n \"However, the preferred dart alleys for the particular event the bracket operator is running may have a primary color designation, while the remaining ones are monochromatic.\",\n \"This allows the bracket operator to readily identify recommended boards, yet select any available board, should the need arise.\",\n \"In contrast, if an event board assignment is absolute, the designated boards do not appear in the list of boards that other bracket operators can view for their respective events.\",\n \"The intelligent board assignment system of the present disclosure (depicted in intelligent board assignment component 3015 of FIG.\",\n \"30) enables the assigning of multiple available boards at once.\",\n \"This system alleviates a large challenge for tournament management which is made apparent at the start of each event.\",\n \"A large event can have more than 50 dart alleys, and it is the goal of tournament staff to facilitate the board assignments as quickly as possible once the initial event draw is done.\",\n \"Assigning each board individually creates a time delay that prevents the event from getting underway.\",\n \"With a single command, the intelligent board assignment system of the bracket program allows an operator to assign all “available” boards (i.e., ones not being currently utilized), while respecting the board assignment guidelines for that particular event, and any others that are underway.\",\n \"The bracket operator has the option of “activating” the board assignments immediately, or setting them to a delay, to both enable additional editing (un-assigning or changing particular board assignments) and to manage when electronic board notifications are sent to the participants.\",\n \"Another aspect of the intelligent board management system is that the event operator has the ability to designate which round of the tournament this function should be applied to when they run the command: Preliminary round, Round 1, Round 2, etc.\",\n \"For example, a youth event may be set up with an absolute board assignment for boards 1-4 (i.e., all the boards 1-4) for the duration of the youth event, which, for this example, begins sometime after the very start of the tournament and ends sometime before the very end of the tournament.\",\n \"These boards will not be listed in any operator's event board list, except for the list of the bracket operator running the youth event.\",\n \"This same tournament may begin with a doubles event, for which the staff have set the board assignment guideline to “even numbered” dart alleys.\",\n \"Since the doubles event is the first event, there are no boards being utilized yet, the system automatically assigns matches to all available even numbered boards 5-50 in the initial round of competition, because boards 1-4 are not made available for assignment, having been assigned absolutely to the youth event.\",\n \"In this same tournament, towards the end of the doubles event, but still during the youth event, a singles competition event begins, and it has a broader board assignment guideline of “all boards,” which means that all boards that are available can be assigned.\",\n \"With a single command, all available even and odd boards (including ones that are available despite having been used in the doubles competition earlier) are assigned for the Prelim Round, and then repeated for Round 1 of the singles event with the exception of boards 1-4, which are still assigned to the youth event.\",\n \"For the remaining doubles matches, which are now fewer in number, only even numbered dart alleys continue to be recommended and available for the doubles bracket operator to schedule.\",\n \"Eventually the youth event ends, and the absolute board guideline for that event is retired, freeing up boards 1-4, for both the doubles and singles events, still respecting their event board guidelines.\",\n \"Additional guidelines may be implemented at the tournament level or event level to properly assign boards based on tournament or event rules.\",\n \"For example, some tournaments have a rule that a player cannot play on the same board for two consecutive matches because it could potentially give that player an advantage over his or her opponent.\",\n \"In order to implement this rule, the intelligent board assignment system may track previously played boards and take those into account in addition to the other event board assignment guidelines.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the intelligent board assignment system may have an option of placing a tournament in a full automation mode, rather than having bracket operators assign boards based on guidelines.\",\n \"Guidelines could instead be used to automatically assign everything from the initial board assignments to the final event match.\",\n \"The results from the scoring application would be used to automatically advance each winner through the bracket and create the board assignments based on bracket assignments.\",\n \"The overall integrated scoring system (or platform) may implement several permissions of restriction levels at the various interfaces of the system.\",\n \"In general, the scoring application is available to members (i.e., paid subscribers to the scoring application, whether participating in the current tournament or not) and tournament participants.\",\n \"The bracket operations, which may be implemented at the control desk 3040, are general only available to tournament staff.\",\n \"The dart game display system (e.g., on the remote broadcasting device 3060), is generally available to anyone who wants to watch, including tournament participants, staff, and spectators.\",\n \"The display system includes public access to tournament check-in, event registration confirmation (which allows viewing of registrations, but not the function of actually registering), fan alerts, board calls, and live match scores and statuses.\",\n \"The live scores and statuses are shown in FIG.\",\n \"34, As part of the integration between the bracket program and the scoring application, scorers on devices associated with the tournament may enter a board assignment in a board entry field 3201, as shown in board selection screen 3200 of FIG.\",\n \"32.Scorers may be players who self-score in some tournaments, or referees who score in other tournaments.\",\n \"Once a board assignment is entered, the scoring application presents only player match-ups that are assigned to that particular board.\",\n \"For example, in the match selection screen 3210, only one selectable match 3211 is presented for the scorer to select.\",\n \"In some embodiments, this selectable match is also presented based on the time and on previous matches that have been played.\",\n \"A “more options” button 3212 is also available, which may allow a scorer to view matches assigned to that particular board for future matches and alternate events.\",\n \"In some tournaments, multiple matches may be assigned to the same board at the same time, and the selectable match screen 3211 may present the matches in the recommended order of play to maximize efficiency.\",\n \"This selectable match screen 3211 is the result of filtering data at the cloud server application and/or the local scoring application.\",\n \"Without such filtering, scorers would have to manually check a master tournament list, and possibly a board assignment list and event list to confirm that the correct players are at the correct board.\",\n \"In large tournaments, the process of checking such lists can be time-consuming and error-prone, because they may have dozens or hundreds of entries.\",\n \"The selectable match screen 3210 presents only the correct possible matches for the selected board, reducing time and mistakes.\",\n \"Once a match is selected, a match confirmation screen 3220 may be shown.\",\n \"Each of the pieces of data created by the cloud server application enables the tailoring of distinct match instructions for each event to be delivered to each device.\",\n \"This, in turn, allows the dart scoring application and cloud server to run multiple overlapping events simultaneously at each individual scoring device.\",\n \"That is, event staff and players do not need to intervene manually to change scoring application instructions every time the same device is used for a different event.\",\n \"For example, a single tournament may have both cricket and '01 events, and singles and doubles events.\",\n \"Some players may be participating in both simultaneously.\",\n \"Also, some dart alleys may be used for both events.\",\n \"The rules may differ greatly or slightly between events; no matter the degree of change, it can be difficult to keep track of such changes manually or even mentally.\",\n \"When a board assignment is entered into the board selection screen 3200, one of the matches on the match selection screen 3210 is selected, and the match is confirmed on a match confirmation screen 3220, the scoring application screens that will be presented to the scorer will automatically have the correct competition records and match rules for the match.\",\n \"This ensures that, when players show up to play at an assigned board at a particular time, neither the staff nor players have to worry about interpreting and implementing the match rules for each event, and do not have to go through a tedious process of selecting participants from the master tournament list.\",\n \"Another aspect of the dart scoring system and integration with the bracket program is that match results may be reported in substantially real-time to the bracket program via the cloud server application and used to advance the winner.\",\n \"When the match is complete, the scoring application utilizes the API to return the competition record, appended with the match score, to the bracket program.\",\n \"The bracket program can then be set up in one of two ways.\",\n \"A first option is that an electronic notification appears in the bracket program, that the operator manually approves, releasing the board assignment, advancing the winning player and recording the match score.\",\n \"The second option is that the notification automatically performs these steps.\",\n \"The match result reporting feature allows tournaments to be run more efficiently and with fewer delays, because it eliminates the need to call in or physically walk scores over to a central control area where the bracket program is run.\",\n \"It also eliminates the need for waiting for advances and new board assignments from the bracket program to be communicated to a central viewing area or individual dart alleys.\",\n \"In any kind of tournament, bracket advances (whether done manually or electronically) are often displayed on some kind of whiteboard or paper on an easel.\",\n \"Since the bracket program itself is electronic, it may be displayed on a central screen, but finding an individual match or player on an entire displayed bracket can still be time-consuming in a big tournament.\",\n \"Sometimes, board assignments may be verbally broadcast over a PA system, but such announcements are easy to miss.\",\n \"In the present integrated dart scoring system, bracket advances and new board assignments are communicated in real-time back to the scoring applications on individual devices.\",\n \"They are also communicated electronically to each player via e-mail, text message, and/or push notification.\",\n \"It is contemplated that many tournament participants may have the dart scoring application running on their own smartphones, whether they are self-scoring the tournament matches or not, because if they have the application on their smartphones and are logged into the tournament, they can receive a push notification immediately with a new board assignment.\",\n \"Players may want to have the application running on their smartphones for other purposes, including watching other match scores and bracket standings in the tournament.\",\n \"Other spectator features enabled by the integrated dart scoring system will be described later in this disclosure.\",\n \"Other features of the integrated dart scoring system are related to the automated match status reporting feature, and provide additional tournament efficiency benefits.\",\n \"A challenge for all tournament events is running on-time.\",\n \"In a traditional paper-based environment, the two most common obstacles are players not responding to their verbal board assignments, which delays the start times of scheduled matched, or failing to report the winning result, which delays the next match assignment.\",\n \"Some players who delay reporting winning results do so because they are playing in a high volume of matches, and they may purposefully delay reporting in order to pace themselves and have the matches be a bit more spread out.\",\n \"In the present system, the cloud server application automatically time stamps all board assignments, and groups them according their delayed status in 5-minute increments.\",\n \"As shown in FIG.\",\n \"33, these delayed match starts may be displayed on an “aging board calls” screen 3300.This screen may be visible at a control desk interface of the integrated dart scoring system, and may only be accessible to tournament staff or officials.\",\n \"In other embodiments, it may be available to any user of the dart scoring application who is logged into the tournament.\",\n \"The aging board calls screen 3300 shows a list in which each line includes a board assignment 3310, a Match ID 3320, and a time-stamp of the board call 3330.Any board calls that have been time-stamped more than five minutes in the past and have not started a match are shown under a 5+ minutes line 3240 and any that have been time-stamped more than 10 minutes in the past are shown under a 10+ minutes line 3250.Other visual cues may be used to alert viewers that matches are running late.\",\n \"For example, matches that are more than 15 minutes late may be highlighted in or changed to red.\",\n \"This display is enabled by time-stamping bracket advances once they have occurred in the bracket program, sending out board calls to players contemporaneously, and transmitting this information to a computing device that displays the control desk interface.\",\n \"This display screen allows staff to police procrastinators and provide the documentation required to disqualify players who are delaying the tournament.\",\n \"Tournaments may have rules that disqualify players who are more than 10 minutes late to a board call, for example.\",\n \"Some other problems can delay tournaments as well.\",\n \"For example, matches may become abandoned or not formally completed due to technical glitches such as devices freezing or running out of batteries, or any number of other unique circumstances.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"34 shows a tournament viewing screen 3400 that may be available on a control desk screen or to any viewer watching the tournament through a viewing mode of the scoring application.\",\n \"If matches are abandoned, if they are not formally completed, or should the individual tablet become disconnected to the network, the cloud server application will replace a “live match” icon 3410 with a stop sign icon 3420 to alert tournament staff that a match or device needs to be investigated.\",\n \"With the board assignment provided in the match listing, staff can be dispatched to fix the device and/or complete the match, sending results back to the bracket program to free up the board and advance the bracket.\",\n \"As discussed previously, there are several features throughout the integrated scoring system that prevent issues resulting from a loss of network connectivity.\",\n \"Even if the network fails during the competition, the tournament record (comprising the event list, along with the corresponding match instructions) and the master tournament players list is still stored locally at the mobile computing device, which creates a backup option to score a match.\",\n \"Players (or other scorers) can manually select the event and their participant records to create a match.\",\n \"The completed match will reside on the individual tablet until the connectivity is restored.\",\n \"When a connection is re-established, the scoring application will forward the completed match record(s) to the bracket program via the cloud server application.\",\n \"While the record will lack a match ID and board assignment, it will contain a tournament ID, event ID and player IDs, enabling the bracket operator to manually fill in this information and update the results as needed.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"35 shows a method for facilitating a dart tournament using the integrated scoring system of the present disclosure.\",\n \"The method may be implemented by an electronic bracket program, a cloud server application, an electronic dart scoring application, and one or more application program interfaces by first, at 3501, gathering, at the electronic bracket program, a master tournament player list for the tournament, wherein the master tournament player list includes the event or events in which each player is participating.\",\n \"Then, the method may include, at 3502, generating, at the cloud server application, a tournament record based on the master tournament player list wherein the tournament record comprises at least device settings and match rules.\",\n \"The method may further comprise, at 3503, sending the master tournament player list and the tournament record to each of the plurality of mobile computing devices executing the electronic scoring dart application.\",\n \"At 3504, the method may comprise scoring a plurality of matches of the tournament on the plurality of mobile computing devices executing the electronic scoring dart application.\",\n \"Then at 3505, the method may include automatically sending scores in substantially real-time from each of the plurality of matches upon their completion to the cloud server application and electronic bracket program via the one or more application program interfaces; and at 3506, automatically advancing players at the electronic bracket program based on the sent scores.\",\n \"Embodiments of the invention may further comprise a non-transitory, tangible, computer-readable storage medium, encoded with processor-readable instructions to perform a method of providing information related to a dart game.\",\n \"One non-transitory, tangible, computer-readable storage medium, encoded with processor-readable instructions may be described with reference to FIG.\",\n \"28, below.\",\n \"One such method may comprise rendering a dart game scoring interface on a mobile computing device.\",\n \"One dart game scoring interface may comprise the various scoring interfaces and display screens shown in the figures and described herein.\",\n \"One such interface may display at least one current player score and at least one another player score.\",\n \"The method may further comprise ensuring that a dart score is entered correctly into the dart game scoring interface.\",\n \"For example, a color of the at least one current player score (the player currently entering scoring data) may be differentiated from the color of the at least one another player's score.\",\n \"Additionally, each entry to the scoring interface may be displayed in a scoring interface score window.\",\n \"Also, the method may comprise at least one of (i) displaying in an audit trail a sum of each previous entry entered into the score window, and (ii) displaying a number of times a user has selected a target.\",\n \"The method may also comprise sharing the dart game scoring interface with a plurality of additional mobile computing devices.\",\n \"It is contemplated that a portion of the at least one current player score comprises mark notations, as described herein.\",\n \"Furthermore, target on the dart board may comprise one of an enabled target and a disabled target.\",\n \"This may occur in a cricket game.\",\n \"For example, prior to both or all players hitting the target three times, after a player hits the target three times (receives three mark notations—two slashes and a circle), that player may receive a numerical score for the target amount for any subsequent hits (i.e., “selected” on the user interface) prior to the other player or players hitting the target three times.\",\n \"During this period, the target is enabled.\",\n \"After all players have hit the target three times, the target is disabled and no points may be obtained for this target by any player.\",\n \"The user interface may also comprise a first scoring redundancy and a second scoring redundancy, to ensure scoring accuracy.\",\n \"One such first redundancy may comprise differentiating a color of the enabled target from the disabled target.\",\n \"A second redundancy may comprise: (i) accessing one sum in the audit trail, (ii) differentiating the color of the accessed sum from each other sum, and (iii) displaying in the score window each previous entry related to the accessed sum.\",\n \"The non-transitory tangible computer-readable storage medium method may further comprise requesting an event key, also referred to herein as a code or a password, or any other term known in the art.\",\n \"The event key may then be distributed to another computing device and then a dart game scoring interface may be received by another computing device, as well as displaying score information on the interface.\",\n \"Such scoring information may be related to one or more forthcoming player dart throws for a next round.\",\n \"Such scoring information may be provided before or after the player has thrown at least one dart for the round.\",\n \"A fade-out display message may also provide information related to one or more recent dart throws to the plurality of additional mobile computing devices.\",\n \"It is contemplated that ensuring that a dart score is entered correctly into the dart game scoring interface further comprises providing a series of selectable features that automatically enter a score related to a dart throw, decreasing a number of selections required to enter the score as compared to the number of selections required not using the series of selectable features, and calculating statistics related to the selectable features.\",\n \"The systems and methods described herein can be implemented in a computer system in addition to the specific physical devices described herein.\",\n \"Referring back to FIG.\",\n \"28, shown is a diagrammatic representation of one embodiment of a computer system 2800 within which a set of instructions can execute for causing a device to perform or execute any one or more of the aspects and/or methodologies of the present disclosure.\",\n \"A computer comprising the any of the devices disclosed with reference to FIGS.\",\n \"1 and 30, such as, but not limited to, the scoreboard 112 device, the cloud server application 3030, the API 3020, and the bracket program 3010 are examples of some implementations of the computer system 2800.The components in FIG.\",\n \"28 are examples only and do not limit the scope of use or functionality of any hardware, software, firmware, embedded logic component, or a combination of two or more such components implementing particular embodiments of this disclosure.\",\n \"Some or all of the illustrated components can be part of the computer system 2800.For instance, the computer system 2800 can be a general purpose computer (e.g., a laptop computer) or an embedded logic device (e.g., an FPGA), to name just two non-limiting examples.\",\n \"Computer system 2800 includes at least a processor 2801 such as a central processing unit (CPU) or an FPGA to name two non-limiting examples.\",\n \"Any of the subsystems described throughout this disclosure could embody the processor 2801.The computer system 2800 may also comprise a memory 2803 and a storage 2808, both communicating with each other, and with other components, via a bus 2840.The bus 2840 may also link a display 2832, one or more input devices 2833 (which may, for example, include a keypad, a keyboard, a mouse, a stylus, etc.\",\n \"), one or more output devices 2834, one or more storage devices 2835, and various non-transitory, tangible computer-readable storage media 2836 with each other and with one or more of the processor 2801, the memory 2803, and the storage 2808.All of these elements may interface directly or via one or more interfaces or adaptors to the bus 2840.For instance, the various non-transitory, tangible computer-readable storage media 2836 can interface with the bus 2840 via storage medium interface 2826.Computer system 2800 may have any suitable physical form, including but not limited to one or more integrated circuits (ICs), printed circuit boards (PCBs), mobile handheld devices (such as mobile telephones or PDAs), laptop or notebook computers, distributed computer systems, computing grids, or servers.\",\n \"Processor(s) 2801 (or central processing unit(s) (CPU(s))) optionally contains a cache memory unit 2802 for temporary local storage of instructions, data, or computer addresses.\",\n \"Processor(s) 2801 are configured to assist in execution of computer-readable instructions stored on at least one non-transitory, tangible computer-readable storage medium.\",\n \"Computer system 2800 may provide functionality as a result of the processor(s) 2801 executing software embodied in one or more non-transitory, tangible computer-readable storage media, such as memory 2803, storage 2808, storage devices 2835, and/or storage medium 2836 (e.g., read only memory (ROM)).\",\n \"For instance, the methods 2929 in FIG.\",\n \"29 may be embodied in one or more non-transitory, tangible computer-readable storage media.\",\n \"The non-transitory, tangible computer-readable storage media may store software that implements particular embodiments, such as the method 2929 and processor(s) 2801 may execute the software.\",\n \"Memory 2803 may read the software from one or more other non-transitory, tangible computer-readable storage media (such as mass storage device(s) 2835, 2836) or from one or more other sources through a suitable interface, such as network interface 2820.Any of the subsystems herein disclosed could include a network interface such as the network interface 2820.The software may cause processor(s) 2801 to carry out one or more processes or one or more steps of one or more processes described or illustrated herein.\",\n \"Carrying out such processes or steps may include defining data structures stored in memory 2803 and modifying the data structures as directed by the software.\",\n \"In some embodiments, an FPGA can store instructions for carrying out functionality as described in this disclosure (e.g., the method 2929).\",\n \"In other embodiments, firmware includes instructions for carrying out functionality as described in this disclosure (e.g., the method 2929).\",\n \"The memory 2803 may include various components (e.g., non-transitory, tangible computer-readable storage media) including, but not limited to, a random access memory component (e.g., RAM 2804) (e.g., a static RAM “SRAM”, a dynamic RAM “DRAM, etc.\",\n \"), a read-only component (e.g., ROM 2805), and any combinations thereof.\",\n \"ROM 2805 may act to communicate data and instructions unidirectionally to processor(s) 2801, and RAM 2804 may act to communicate data and instructions bidirectionally with processor(s) 2801.ROM 2805 and RAM 2804 may include any suitable non-transitory, tangible computer-readable storage media.\",\n \"In some instances, ROM 2805 and RAM 2804 include non-transitory, tangible computer-readable storage media for carrying out the method 2929.In one example, a basic input/output system 2806 (BIOS), including basic routines that help to transfer information between elements within computer system 2800, such as during start-up, may be stored in the memory 2803.Fixed storage 2808 is connected bidirectionally to processor(s) 2801, optionally through storage control unit 2807.Fixed storage 2808 provides additional data storage capacity and may also include any suitable non-transitory, tangible computer-readable media described herein.\",\n \"Storage 2808 may be used to store operating system 2809, EXECs 2810 (executables), data 2811, API applications 2812 (application programs), and the like.\",\n \"Often, although not always, storage 2808 is a secondary storage medium (such as a hard disk) that is slower than primary storage (e.g., memory 2803).\",\n \"Storage 2808 can also include an optical disk drive, a solid-state memory device (e.g., flash-based systems), or a combination of any of the above.\",\n \"Information in storage 2808 may, in appropriate cases, be incorporated as virtual memory in memory 2803.In one example, storage device(s) 2835 may be removably interfaced with computer system 2800 (e.g., via an external port connector (not shown)) via a storage device interface 2825.Particularly, storage device(s) 2835 and an associated machine-readable medium may provide nonvolatile and/or volatile storage of machine-readable instructions, data structures, program modules, and/or other data for the computer system 2800.In one example, software may reside, completely or partially, within a machine-readable medium on storage device(s) 2835.In another example, software may reside, completely or partially, within processor(s) 2801.Bus 2840 connects a wide variety of subsystems.\",\n \"Herein, reference to a bus may encompass one or more digital signal lines serving a common function, where appropriate.\",\n \"Bus 2840 may be any of several types of bus structures including, but not limited to, a memory bus, a memory controller, a peripheral bus, a local bus, and any combinations thereof, using any of a variety of bus architectures.\",\n \"As an example, and not by way of limitation, such architectures include an Industry Standard Architecture (ISA) bus, an Enhanced ISA (EISA) bus, a Micro Channel Architecture (MCA) bus, a Video Electronics Standards Association local bus (VLB), a Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) bus, a PCI-Express (PCI-X) bus, an Accelerated Graphics Port (AGP) bus, HyperTransport (HTX) bus, serial advanced technology attachment (SATA) bus, and any combinations thereof.\",\n \"Computer system 2800 may also include an input device 2833.In one example, a user of computer system 2800 may enter commands and/or other information into computer system 2800 via input device(s) 2833.Examples of an input device(s) 2833 include, but are not limited to, an alpha-numeric input device (e.g., a keyboard), a pointing device (e.g., a mouse or touchpad), a touchpad, a joystick, a gamepad, an audio input device (e.g., a microphone, a voice response system, etc.\",\n \"), an optical scanner, a video or still image capture device (e.g., a camera), and any combinations thereof.\",\n \"Input device(s) 2833 may be interfaced to bus 2840 via any of a variety of input interfaces 2823 (e.g., input interface 2823) including, but not limited to, serial, parallel, game port, USB, FIREWIRE, THUNDERBOLT, or any combination of the above.\",\n \"In particular embodiments, when computer system 2800 is connected to network 2830, computer system 2800 may communicate with other devices, such as mobile devices and enterprise systems, connected to network 2830.Communications to and from computer system 2800 may be sent through network interface 2820.For example, network interface 2820 may receive incoming communications (such as requests or responses from other devices) in the form of one or more packets (such as Internet Protocol (IP) packets) from network 2830, and computer system 2800 may store the incoming communications in memory 2803 for processing.\",\n \"Computer system 2800 may similarly store outgoing communications (such as requests or responses to other devices) in the form of one or more packets in memory 2803 and communicated to network 2830 from network interface 2820.Processor(s) 2801 may access these communication packets stored in memory 2803 for processing.\",\n \"Examples of the network interface 2820 include, but are not limited to, a network interface card, a modem, and any combination thereof.\",\n \"Examples of a network 2830 or network segment 2830 include, but are not limited to, a wide area network (WAN) (e.g., the Internet, an enterprise network), a local area network (LAN) (e.g., a network associated with an office, a building, a campus or other relatively small geographic space), a telephone network, a direct connection between two computing devices, and any combinations thereof.\",\n \"A network, such as network 2830, may employ a wired and/or a wireless mode of communication.\",\n \"In general, any network topology may be used.\",\n \"Information and data can be displayed through a display 2832.Examples of a display 2832 include, but are not limited to, a liquid crystal display (LCD), an organic liquid crystal display (OLED), a cathode ray tube (CRT), a plasma display, and any combinations thereof.\",\n \"The display 2832 can interface to the processor(s) 2801, memory 2803, and fixed storage 2808, as well as other devices, such as input device(s) 2833, via the bus 2840.The display 2832 is linked to the bus 2840 via a video interface 2822, and transport of data between the display 2832 and the bus 2840 can be controlled via the graphics control 2821.In addition to a display 2832, computer system 2800 may include one or more other peripheral output devices 2834 including, but not limited to, an audio speaker, a printer, and any combinations thereof.\",\n \"Such peripheral output devices may be connected to the bus 2840 via an output interface 2824.Examples of an output interface 2824 include, but are not limited to, a serial port, a parallel connection, a USB port, a FIREWIRE port, a THUNDERBOLT port, and any combinations thereof.\",\n \"In addition, or as an alternative, computer system 2800 may provide functionality as a result of logic hardwired or otherwise embodied in a circuit, which may operate in place of or together with software to execute one or more processes or one or more steps of one or more processes described or illustrated herein.\",\n \"Reference to software in this disclosure may encompass logic, and reference to logic may encompass software.\",\n \"Moreover, reference to a non-transitory, tangible computer-readable medium may encompass a circuit (such as an IC) storing software for execution, a circuit embodying logic for execution, or both, where appropriate.\",\n \"The present disclosure encompasses any suitable combination of hardware, software, or both.\",\n \"Those of skill in the art will understand that information and signals may be represented using any of a variety of different technologies and techniques.\",\n \"Those of skill will further appreciate that the various illustrative logical blocks, modules, circuits, and algorithm steps described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein may be implemented as electronic hardware, computer software, or combinations of both.\",\n \"To clearly illustrate this interchangeability of hardware and software, various illustrative components, blocks, modules, circuits, and steps have been described above generally in terms of their functionality.\",\n \"Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware or software depends upon the particular application and design constraints imposed on the overall system.\",\n \"Skilled artisans may implement the described functionality in varying ways for each particular application, but such implementation decisions should not be interpreted as causing a departure from the scope of the present disclosure.\",\n \"The various illustrative logical blocks, modules, and circuits described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein may be implemented or performed with a general purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein.\",\n \"A general purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but in the alternative, the processor may be any conventional processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine.\",\n \"A processor may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices, e.g., a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other such configuration.\",\n \"The steps of a method or algorithm described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein (e.g., the method 2929) may be embodied directly in hardware, in a software module executed by a processor, a software module implemented as digital logic devices, or in a combination of these.\",\n \"A software module may reside in RAM memory, flash memory, ROM memory, EPROM memory, EEPROM memory, registers, hard disk, a removable disk, a CD-ROM, or any other form of non-transitory, tangible computer-readable storage medium known in the art.\",\n \"An exemplary non-transitory, tangible computer-readable storage medium is coupled to the processor such that the processor can read information from, and write information to, the non-transitory, tangible computer-readable storage medium.\",\n \"In the alternative, the non-transitory, tangible computer-readable storage medium may be integral to the processor.\",\n \"The processor and the non-transitory, tangible computer-readable storage medium may reside in an ASIC.\",\n \"The ASIC may reside in a user terminal.\",\n \"In the alternative, the processor and the non-transitory, tangible computer-readable storage medium may reside as discrete components in a user terminal.\",\n \"In some embodiments, a software module may be implemented as digital logic components such as those in an FPGA once programmed with the software module.\",\n \"The previous description of the disclosed embodiments is provided to enable any person skilled in the art to make or use the present disclosure.\",\n \"Various modifications to these embodiments will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the generic principles defined herein may be applied to other embodiments without departing from the spirit or scope of the disclosure.\",\n \"Thus, the present disclosure is not intended to be limited to the embodiments shown herein but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the principles and novel features disclosed herein.\"\n ]\n]"},"source":{"kind":"string","value":"Patent_15876037"}}},{"rowIdx":4495059,"cells":{"text":{"kind":"list like","value":[["ANCHOR BOLT ADAPTOR","An anchor bolt adapter (ABA) for adapting a bolt circle of an anchor bolt foundation to a bolt circle of a pole is adapted to secure a base to a foundation.","The ABA can comprise a downwardly positioned female threaded opening configured to receive a first one of the anchor bolts and an upwardly positioned female threaded opening configured to receive a threaded connector bolt."],["1.An anchor bolt adapter (ABA) for adapting a bolt circle of an anchor bolt foundation to a bolt circle of a pole, wherein the foundation includes a plurality of horizontally spaced-apart, upwardly directed anchor bolts having externally threaded upper ends, and the pole including a base portion with a plurality of openings formed therein corresponding to expected positions of the anchor bolts, the adapter comprising: a downwardly positioned female threaded opening configured to receive a first one of the anchor bolts; and an upwardly positioned female threaded opening configured to receive a threaded connector bolt, wherein the upwardly positioned female threaded opening is horizontally spaced apart from the downwardly positioned female threaded opening.","2.The ABA of claim 1, further comprising an intermediate upwardly or downwardly positioned female threaded opening, horizontally spaced between the downwardly positioned female threaded opening and the upwardly positioned female threaded opening.","3.The ABA of claim 1, wherein the downwardly positioned female threaded opening extends all the way from an upper surface of the ABA to a lower surface of the ABA.","4.The ABA of claim 1, wherein a center of the downwardly positioned, female threaded opening is spaced apart from a center of the an upwardly positioned female threaded opening by at least 3 cm.","5.The ABA of claim 1, wherein the ABA comprises a forged metal alloy.","6.The ABA of claim 1, wherein the downwardly positioned female threaded opening has a different gauge from the upwardly positioned female threaded opening.","7.A method of adapting a bolt circle of an anchor bolt foundation to a bolt circle of a pole, comprising: mating a downwardly positioned, female threaded opening of an anchor bolt adapter with an upwardly positioned male threaded anchor bolt having one end anchored into a foundation; and guiding a male threaded member, extending from a body of the anchor bolt adapter, up through a hole in the bolt circle.","8.The method of claim 7, further comprising mating the upwardly positioned male threaded member with a female threads of a nut, such that at least a portion of the base plate is substantially fixed between a top surface of the anchor bolt adapter and the nut.","9.The method of claim 7, further comprising guiding the upwardly positioned male threaded member of the anchor bolt through a hole in a second bolt circle.","10.The method of claim 7, wherein the anchor bolt adapter comprises an upwardly facing female threaded opening, the male threaded member is a bolt, and further comprising the step of mating the bolt with the upwardly facing female threaded opening 11.The method of claim 7, wherein the anchor bolt adapter comprises an upwardly facing female threaded opening, the male threaded member is a bolt, and further comprising guiding the downwardly bolt downwards through a hole in the bolt circle, to mate with the upwardly facing female threaded opening.","12.The method of claim 7, wherein the downwardly positioned female threaded opening has a different gauge from the male threaded member.","13.An anchored pole configuration, comprising: a foundation; at least an upwardly directed anchor bolt having one end anchored into the foundation, and an opposite, upwardly extending male threaded end; a pole having a base plate at a lower end, the base plate having a bolt circle; an adapter having a downwardly facing female threaded opening, in mating arrangement with the male threads of the first anchor bolt; and an attachment bolt extending from the adapter through the bolt circle.","14.The anchored pole configuration of claim 13, wherein the adapter further comprises upwardly facing female threads in mating arrangement with downwardly facing male threads of the attachment bolt.","15.The anchored pole configuration of claim 13, wherein that attachment bolt has male threads on both ends.","16.The anchored pole configuration of claim 13, wherein the attachment has a unitary construction with the adapter.","17.The anchored pole configuration of claim 13, wherein the adapter has a second, downwardly facing female threaded opening.","18.The anchored pole configuration of claim 13, wherein the downwardly positioned female threaded opening has a different gauge from the attachment bolt."],[" BACKGROUND The background description includes information that may be useful in understanding the present invention.","It is not an admission that any of the information provided herein is prior art or relevant to the presently claimed invention, or that any publication specifically or implicitly referenced is prior art.","All publications herein are incorporated by reference to the same extent as if each individual publication or patent application were specifically and individually indicated to be incorporated by reference.","Where a definition or use of a term in an incorporated reference is inconsistent or contrary to the definition of that term provided herein, the definition of that term provided herein applies and the definition of that term in the reference does not apply.","It is well recognized that light pole and the like foundation anchor bolts do not always match the mounting holes in the base plate of the light pole and the like.","This can occur for several reasons, including that the anchor bolts were installed incorrectly in the concrete foundation, or that the replacement pole is different from the original.","In the past this problem has often been addressed by cutting off and then drilling out the existing anchor bolts, followed by epoxying in the new ones.","Other solutions include demoing the existing footing, and then pouring a new footing with correct location of anchor bolts, modifying the base plate plate, or custom making an adaptor plate.","All of these solution are problematic from a cost and/or time standpoint.","Relevant patents and applications include U.S. Pat.","No.","3,552,698, US20130036679, U.S. Pat.","No.","4,295,308, U.S. Pat.","No.","3,837,752, U.S. Pat.","No.","3,521,413, U.S. Pat.","No.","3,572,223, U.S. Pat.","No.","3,630,474, U.S. Pat.","No.","4,923,319, U.S. Pat.","No.","7,721,490, U.S. Pat.","No.","8,037,651, U.S. Pat.","No.","8,281,531, US20090272053, and US20100293870.Thus, there remains a need for a system and method that accommodates misaligned anchor bolts and the base plate holes of light or other pole, without having to drill out the existing anchor bolts, or using custom adaptor place."],[" SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The following description includes information that may be useful in understanding the present invention.","It is not an admission that any of the information provided herein is prior art or relevant to the presently claimed invention, or that any publication specifically or implicitly referenced is prior art.","The inventive subject matter provides apparatus, systems, and methods in which a coupling block is physically positioned between an upwardly positioned anchor bolt and a horizontally disposed base plate.","The coupling block has at least one downwardly positioned, female threaded opening to receive one of the anchor bolts, and either (a) an upwardly positioned female threaded opening to receive a bolt, or (b) a bolt extending directly upwards out of the body of the coupling block.","In either case, an upwardly directed bolt has a bottom in the coupling block, whether or not held threadingly in place, passes up through a hole of the base plate, and is secured with a nut positioned above the base plate.","In light pole installation work, misalignment between anchor bolts and bolt circles/openings can require substantial investments in manpower and monetary resources to correct.","Conventional anchor bolts are directly anchored into anchor foundations comprising hard materials, such as wood and concrete.","As a result, misaligned anchor bolts often require the destruction of the anchor foundation.","It is therefore a principal object of the invention to provide a method and apparatus enabling misaligned anchor bolts to be connected to bolt circles on a light pole.","A further objective of the invention is to provide positional adjustment options on an anchor bolt adapter to adapt to a variety of bolt circle configurations associated with different base plates.","Yet another objective of the invention is to provide the ability to adjust the rotational position of a light pole in relation to the anchor bolts.","Various objects, features, aspects and advantages of the inventive subject matter will become more apparent from the following detailed description of preferred embodiments, along with the accompanying drawing figures in which like numerals represent like components.","The following discussion provides many example embodiments of the inventive subject matter.","Although each embodiment represents a single combination of inventive elements, the inventive subject matter is considered to include all possible combinations of the disclosed elements.","Thus if one embodiment comprises elements A, B, and C, and a second embodiment comprises elements B and D, then the inventive subject matter is also considered to include other remaining combinations of A, B, C, or D, even if not explicitly disclosed."],["Field of the Invention The field of the invention is light poles.","BACKGROUND The background description includes information that may be useful in understanding the present invention.","It is not an admission that any of the information provided herein is prior art or relevant to the presently claimed invention, or that any publication specifically or implicitly referenced is prior art.","All publications herein are incorporated by reference to the same extent as if each individual publication or patent application were specifically and individually indicated to be incorporated by reference.","Where a definition or use of a term in an incorporated reference is inconsistent or contrary to the definition of that term provided herein, the definition of that term provided herein applies and the definition of that term in the reference does not apply.","It is well recognized that light pole and the like foundation anchor bolts do not always match the mounting holes in the base plate of the light pole and the like.","This can occur for several reasons, including that the anchor bolts were installed incorrectly in the concrete foundation, or that the replacement pole is different from the original.","In the past this problem has often been addressed by cutting off and then drilling out the existing anchor bolts, followed by epoxying in the new ones.","Other solutions include demoing the existing footing, and then pouring a new footing with correct location of anchor bolts, modifying the base plate plate, or custom making an adaptor plate.","All of these solution are problematic from a cost and/or time standpoint.","Relevant patents and applications include U.S. Pat.","No.","3,552,698, US20130036679, U.S. Pat.","No.","4,295,308, U.S. Pat.","No.","3,837,752, U.S. Pat.","No.","3,521,413, U.S. Pat.","No.","3,572,223, U.S. Pat.","No.","3,630,474, U.S. Pat.","No.","4,923,319, U.S. Pat.","No.","7,721,490, U.S. Pat.","No.","8,037,651, U.S. Pat.","No.","8,281,531, US20090272053, and US20100293870.Thus, there remains a need for a system and method that accommodates misaligned anchor bolts and the base plate holes of light or other pole, without having to drill out the existing anchor bolts, or using custom adaptor place.","SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The following description includes information that may be useful in understanding the present invention.","It is not an admission that any of the information provided herein is prior art or relevant to the presently claimed invention, or that any publication specifically or implicitly referenced is prior art.","The inventive subject matter provides apparatus, systems, and methods in which a coupling block is physically positioned between an upwardly positioned anchor bolt and a horizontally disposed base plate.","The coupling block has at least one downwardly positioned, female threaded opening to receive one of the anchor bolts, and either (a) an upwardly positioned female threaded opening to receive a bolt, or (b) a bolt extending directly upwards out of the body of the coupling block.","In either case, an upwardly directed bolt has a bottom in the coupling block, whether or not held threadingly in place, passes up through a hole of the base plate, and is secured with a nut positioned above the base plate.","In light pole installation work, misalignment between anchor bolts and bolt circles/openings can require substantial investments in manpower and monetary resources to correct.","Conventional anchor bolts are directly anchored into anchor foundations comprising hard materials, such as wood and concrete.","As a result, misaligned anchor bolts often require the destruction of the anchor foundation.","It is therefore a principal object of the invention to provide a method and apparatus enabling misaligned anchor bolts to be connected to bolt circles on a light pole.","A further objective of the invention is to provide positional adjustment options on an anchor bolt adapter to adapt to a variety of bolt circle configurations associated with different base plates.","Yet another objective of the invention is to provide the ability to adjust the rotational position of a light pole in relation to the anchor bolts.","Various objects, features, aspects and advantages of the inventive subject matter will become more apparent from the following detailed description of preferred embodiments, along with the accompanying drawing figures in which like numerals represent like components.","The following discussion provides many example embodiments of the inventive subject matter.","Although each embodiment represents a single combination of inventive elements, the inventive subject matter is considered to include all possible combinations of the disclosed elements.","Thus if one embodiment comprises elements A, B, and C, and a second embodiment comprises elements B and D, then the inventive subject matter is also considered to include other remaining combinations of A, B, C, or D, even if not explicitly disclosed.","BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG.","1 is a partial view of a pole outfitted with a plurality of inventive Anchor Bolt Adaptors (ABAs).","FIG.","2 is a partial section view illustrating the manner in which the Anchor Bolt Adaptor (ABA) of FIG.","1 is positioned between the anchor bolts and the support plate of the pole.","FIG.","3 is a perspective view of the Anchor Bolt Adaptor (ABA) of FIG.","1.FIG.","4 is a partial top view of the Anchor Bolt Adaptor (ABA) of FIG.","1.FIG.","5 is a top-down perspective view of original bolt circle (anchor bolts) and a modified bolt circle.","FIG.","6 is an exploded view of components used to anchor the base plate to the foundation.","DETAILED DESCRIPTION The inventive subject matter provides apparatus, systems, and methods an anchor bolt adaptor (ABA) has at least one downwardly positioned female threaded opening positioned to mate with an upwardly positioned anchor bolt, and either (a) at least one upwardly positioned female threaded opening positioned to mate with a bolt passing upwards through a base plate, or (b) a bolt extending directly upwards out of the body of the coupling block.","As used herein the term “bolt” means a shaft having at least one machine-threaded end to which a nut could be secured.","Also as used herein, the term “threaded end” as applied to a bolt means that the bolt has at least some threads within an inch of an actual end of the bolt.","Similarly, the term “bolt having one end anchored into the foundation” means a bolt having at least one inch of the actual end of the bolt being anchored, threadingly or non-threadingly, into the foundation.","FIG.","1 is a partial view of a pole outfitted with a plurality of ABAs 10 coupled or connected to a pole 12 to a foundation 14 having a plurality of anchor bolts 16 set therein.","Pole 12 includes a horizontally disposed base plate 20 having a plurality of openings 22 formed therein that do not align with anchor bolt(s) 16.In other words, if footing 14 has 4 anchor bolts set therein a square or rectangle fashion, base plate 20 would have 4 openings 22 formed therein which are arranged in a square or rectangle fashion that does not match that of the anchor bolts 16.Each ABA 10 is mounted respectively on each of anchor bolts 16 using the internally threaded bore 29 that allows each upwardly facing female threaded opening to best align with their respective openings 22.In some embodiments, a washer 17 can be positioned on the upper face of ABA 10.It is also contemplated that ABA 10 of this invention also functions as a leveling nut for the light pole or the like.","It is further contemplated that the ABA 10 of this invention also functions as a spacer between the top of the foundation and bottom of the pole to allow for water drainage from inside the pole.","Bolt 36 is mounted to one of the unused threaded bore 29 that best corrects the offset to allow bolt circle 25 on base plate 20 to be secured to anchor bolts 16.Base plate 20 is mounted on the upper ends of the ABA 10 with bolt 36 extended upwards through the openings in washer 17 or not and through opening 22 formed in base plate 20 secured with washer 32 and threadable nut 30.As previously stated, ABA 10 connects the misaligned anchor bolts to base plate 20.FIG.","2 is a partial section view of one ABA 10 coupled or connected to the base of pole 12 at one end and attached to an anchor bolt 16 at the opposite end.","As depicted, anchor bolt 16 is screwed into ABA 10 using anchor bolt threads 18.On the opposite end, ABA 10 is removably coupled to base plate 20 of pole 12 through opening 22.FIG.","3 is a perspective view of one corner of the base of pole 12 and ABA 10 coupled to components allowing ABA 10 to anchor a light pole to a foundation.","ABA 10 includes an upper end 26, a lower end 28 and two or more internally threaded bores 29 (discussed below in FIG.","4) extending the distance between the upper and lower ends ABA 10.Anchor bolts 16 can include anchor bolt threads 18 on one end to be mated with the one or more internally threaded bores 29 of ABA 10.FIG.","4 is a top-down view of ABA 10.ABA 10 includes at least two threaded bores 29.ABA 10 is preferably a rectangular prism shape.","Threaded bores 29 can have any combination of diameters on the same ABA 10.For example, threaded bores 29 can be different diameters on the same ABA 10.It is also contemplated that threaded bore 29 can receive various adapters to adapt threaded bore 29 to bolts 36 with smaller diameters.","For example, a threaded bore 29 originally adapted to receive a 1 inch diameter bolt can receive an adapter allowing threaded bore 29 to receive a .75 inch diameter bolt.","However, ABA 10 can be cube-shaped, ellipsoid-shaped, spherical, and any combination thereof.","Cross-sections of ABA 10 from the top-down can be rectangular-shaped, oval-shaped, circle-shaped, and any combination thereof.","FIG.","5 is a top-down view of pivot circle 24 and bolt circle 25 which defines the maximum reach of ABA 10 and the minimum reach of ABA 10.ABA 10 pivots on a circumference defined by pivot circle 24.The minimum reach of ABA 10 is achieved when 4 ABA 10 are rotated such that the threaded bores 29 that couple with openings 22 are as close together as possible.","The maximum reach of ABA 10 is achieved when 4 ABA 10 are rotated such that the threaded bores 29 that couple with openings 22 are as far apart as possible.","It is contemplated that the ABA 10 can be rotated in varying degrees to allow it to anchor to base plates 20 with openings 22 falling between the minimum and maximum reach of ABA 10.FIG.","6 depicts an exploded view of components comprising the anchoring mechanism.","Anchor bolts 16 couple with threaded bore 29 of ABA 10 on one side of ABA 10.ABA 10 also couples with bolt 36 on the opposite side of ABA 10 via threaded bore 29.A second end of bolt 36 can be passed through the centers of washer 17, base plate 20 (not depicted), and washer 32 to secure ABA to base plate 20.Threadable nut 30 couples with the second end of bolt 36 to secure base plate 20 to the foundation 14.Thus, it can be seen that a unique ABA has been provided which accomplishes at least all of its stated objectives.","It should be apparent to those skilled in the art that many more modifications besides those already described are possible without departing from the inventive concepts herein.","The inventive subject matter, therefore, is not to be restricted except in the scope of the appended claims.","Moreover, in interpreting both the specification and the claims, all terms should be interpreted in the broadest possible manner consistent with the context.","In particular, the terms “comprises” and “comprising” should be interpreted as referring to elements, components, or steps in a non-exclusive manner, indicating that the referenced elements, components, or steps may be present, or utilized, or combined with other elements, components, or steps that are not expressly referenced.","Where the specification claims refers to at least one of something selected from the group consisting of A, B, C .",".",".","and N, the text should be interpreted as requiring only one element from the group, not A plus N, or B plus N, etc."]],"string":"[\n [\n \"ANCHOR BOLT ADAPTOR\",\n \"An anchor bolt adapter (ABA) for adapting a bolt circle of an anchor bolt foundation to a bolt circle of a pole is adapted to secure a base to a foundation.\",\n \"The ABA can comprise a downwardly positioned female threaded opening configured to receive a first one of the anchor bolts and an upwardly positioned female threaded opening configured to receive a threaded connector bolt.\"\n ],\n [\n \"1.An anchor bolt adapter (ABA) for adapting a bolt circle of an anchor bolt foundation to a bolt circle of a pole, wherein the foundation includes a plurality of horizontally spaced-apart, upwardly directed anchor bolts having externally threaded upper ends, and the pole including a base portion with a plurality of openings formed therein corresponding to expected positions of the anchor bolts, the adapter comprising: a downwardly positioned female threaded opening configured to receive a first one of the anchor bolts; and an upwardly positioned female threaded opening configured to receive a threaded connector bolt, wherein the upwardly positioned female threaded opening is horizontally spaced apart from the downwardly positioned female threaded opening.\",\n \"2.The ABA of claim 1, further comprising an intermediate upwardly or downwardly positioned female threaded opening, horizontally spaced between the downwardly positioned female threaded opening and the upwardly positioned female threaded opening.\",\n \"3.The ABA of claim 1, wherein the downwardly positioned female threaded opening extends all the way from an upper surface of the ABA to a lower surface of the ABA.\",\n \"4.The ABA of claim 1, wherein a center of the downwardly positioned, female threaded opening is spaced apart from a center of the an upwardly positioned female threaded opening by at least 3 cm.\",\n \"5.The ABA of claim 1, wherein the ABA comprises a forged metal alloy.\",\n \"6.The ABA of claim 1, wherein the downwardly positioned female threaded opening has a different gauge from the upwardly positioned female threaded opening.\",\n \"7.A method of adapting a bolt circle of an anchor bolt foundation to a bolt circle of a pole, comprising: mating a downwardly positioned, female threaded opening of an anchor bolt adapter with an upwardly positioned male threaded anchor bolt having one end anchored into a foundation; and guiding a male threaded member, extending from a body of the anchor bolt adapter, up through a hole in the bolt circle.\",\n \"8.The method of claim 7, further comprising mating the upwardly positioned male threaded member with a female threads of a nut, such that at least a portion of the base plate is substantially fixed between a top surface of the anchor bolt adapter and the nut.\",\n \"9.The method of claim 7, further comprising guiding the upwardly positioned male threaded member of the anchor bolt through a hole in a second bolt circle.\",\n \"10.The method of claim 7, wherein the anchor bolt adapter comprises an upwardly facing female threaded opening, the male threaded member is a bolt, and further comprising the step of mating the bolt with the upwardly facing female threaded opening 11.The method of claim 7, wherein the anchor bolt adapter comprises an upwardly facing female threaded opening, the male threaded member is a bolt, and further comprising guiding the downwardly bolt downwards through a hole in the bolt circle, to mate with the upwardly facing female threaded opening.\",\n \"12.The method of claim 7, wherein the downwardly positioned female threaded opening has a different gauge from the male threaded member.\",\n \"13.An anchored pole configuration, comprising: a foundation; at least an upwardly directed anchor bolt having one end anchored into the foundation, and an opposite, upwardly extending male threaded end; a pole having a base plate at a lower end, the base plate having a bolt circle; an adapter having a downwardly facing female threaded opening, in mating arrangement with the male threads of the first anchor bolt; and an attachment bolt extending from the adapter through the bolt circle.\",\n \"14.The anchored pole configuration of claim 13, wherein the adapter further comprises upwardly facing female threads in mating arrangement with downwardly facing male threads of the attachment bolt.\",\n \"15.The anchored pole configuration of claim 13, wherein that attachment bolt has male threads on both ends.\",\n \"16.The anchored pole configuration of claim 13, wherein the attachment has a unitary construction with the adapter.\",\n \"17.The anchored pole configuration of claim 13, wherein the adapter has a second, downwardly facing female threaded opening.\",\n \"18.The anchored pole configuration of claim 13, wherein the downwardly positioned female threaded opening has a different gauge from the attachment bolt.\"\n ],\n [\n \" BACKGROUND The background description includes information that may be useful in understanding the present invention.\",\n \"It is not an admission that any of the information provided herein is prior art or relevant to the presently claimed invention, or that any publication specifically or implicitly referenced is prior art.\",\n \"All publications herein are incorporated by reference to the same extent as if each individual publication or patent application were specifically and individually indicated to be incorporated by reference.\",\n \"Where a definition or use of a term in an incorporated reference is inconsistent or contrary to the definition of that term provided herein, the definition of that term provided herein applies and the definition of that term in the reference does not apply.\",\n \"It is well recognized that light pole and the like foundation anchor bolts do not always match the mounting holes in the base plate of the light pole and the like.\",\n \"This can occur for several reasons, including that the anchor bolts were installed incorrectly in the concrete foundation, or that the replacement pole is different from the original.\",\n \"In the past this problem has often been addressed by cutting off and then drilling out the existing anchor bolts, followed by epoxying in the new ones.\",\n \"Other solutions include demoing the existing footing, and then pouring a new footing with correct location of anchor bolts, modifying the base plate plate, or custom making an adaptor plate.\",\n \"All of these solution are problematic from a cost and/or time standpoint.\",\n \"Relevant patents and applications include U.S. Pat.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"3,552,698, US20130036679, U.S. Pat.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"4,295,308, U.S. Pat.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"3,837,752, U.S. Pat.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"3,521,413, U.S. Pat.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"3,572,223, U.S. Pat.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"3,630,474, U.S. Pat.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"4,923,319, U.S. Pat.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"7,721,490, U.S. Pat.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"8,037,651, U.S. Pat.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"8,281,531, US20090272053, and US20100293870.Thus, there remains a need for a system and method that accommodates misaligned anchor bolts and the base plate holes of light or other pole, without having to drill out the existing anchor bolts, or using custom adaptor place.\"\n ],\n [\n \" SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The following description includes information that may be useful in understanding the present invention.\",\n \"It is not an admission that any of the information provided herein is prior art or relevant to the presently claimed invention, or that any publication specifically or implicitly referenced is prior art.\",\n \"The inventive subject matter provides apparatus, systems, and methods in which a coupling block is physically positioned between an upwardly positioned anchor bolt and a horizontally disposed base plate.\",\n \"The coupling block has at least one downwardly positioned, female threaded opening to receive one of the anchor bolts, and either (a) an upwardly positioned female threaded opening to receive a bolt, or (b) a bolt extending directly upwards out of the body of the coupling block.\",\n \"In either case, an upwardly directed bolt has a bottom in the coupling block, whether or not held threadingly in place, passes up through a hole of the base plate, and is secured with a nut positioned above the base plate.\",\n \"In light pole installation work, misalignment between anchor bolts and bolt circles/openings can require substantial investments in manpower and monetary resources to correct.\",\n \"Conventional anchor bolts are directly anchored into anchor foundations comprising hard materials, such as wood and concrete.\",\n \"As a result, misaligned anchor bolts often require the destruction of the anchor foundation.\",\n \"It is therefore a principal object of the invention to provide a method and apparatus enabling misaligned anchor bolts to be connected to bolt circles on a light pole.\",\n \"A further objective of the invention is to provide positional adjustment options on an anchor bolt adapter to adapt to a variety of bolt circle configurations associated with different base plates.\",\n \"Yet another objective of the invention is to provide the ability to adjust the rotational position of a light pole in relation to the anchor bolts.\",\n \"Various objects, features, aspects and advantages of the inventive subject matter will become more apparent from the following detailed description of preferred embodiments, along with the accompanying drawing figures in which like numerals represent like components.\",\n \"The following discussion provides many example embodiments of the inventive subject matter.\",\n \"Although each embodiment represents a single combination of inventive elements, the inventive subject matter is considered to include all possible combinations of the disclosed elements.\",\n \"Thus if one embodiment comprises elements A, B, and C, and a second embodiment comprises elements B and D, then the inventive subject matter is also considered to include other remaining combinations of A, B, C, or D, even if not explicitly disclosed.\"\n ],\n [\n \"Field of the Invention The field of the invention is light poles.\",\n \"BACKGROUND The background description includes information that may be useful in understanding the present invention.\",\n \"It is not an admission that any of the information provided herein is prior art or relevant to the presently claimed invention, or that any publication specifically or implicitly referenced is prior art.\",\n \"All publications herein are incorporated by reference to the same extent as if each individual publication or patent application were specifically and individually indicated to be incorporated by reference.\",\n \"Where a definition or use of a term in an incorporated reference is inconsistent or contrary to the definition of that term provided herein, the definition of that term provided herein applies and the definition of that term in the reference does not apply.\",\n \"It is well recognized that light pole and the like foundation anchor bolts do not always match the mounting holes in the base plate of the light pole and the like.\",\n \"This can occur for several reasons, including that the anchor bolts were installed incorrectly in the concrete foundation, or that the replacement pole is different from the original.\",\n \"In the past this problem has often been addressed by cutting off and then drilling out the existing anchor bolts, followed by epoxying in the new ones.\",\n \"Other solutions include demoing the existing footing, and then pouring a new footing with correct location of anchor bolts, modifying the base plate plate, or custom making an adaptor plate.\",\n \"All of these solution are problematic from a cost and/or time standpoint.\",\n \"Relevant patents and applications include U.S. Pat.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"3,552,698, US20130036679, U.S. Pat.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"4,295,308, U.S. Pat.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"3,837,752, U.S. Pat.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"3,521,413, U.S. Pat.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"3,572,223, U.S. Pat.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"3,630,474, U.S. Pat.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"4,923,319, U.S. Pat.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"7,721,490, U.S. Pat.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"8,037,651, U.S. Pat.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"8,281,531, US20090272053, and US20100293870.Thus, there remains a need for a system and method that accommodates misaligned anchor bolts and the base plate holes of light or other pole, without having to drill out the existing anchor bolts, or using custom adaptor place.\",\n \"SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The following description includes information that may be useful in understanding the present invention.\",\n \"It is not an admission that any of the information provided herein is prior art or relevant to the presently claimed invention, or that any publication specifically or implicitly referenced is prior art.\",\n \"The inventive subject matter provides apparatus, systems, and methods in which a coupling block is physically positioned between an upwardly positioned anchor bolt and a horizontally disposed base plate.\",\n \"The coupling block has at least one downwardly positioned, female threaded opening to receive one of the anchor bolts, and either (a) an upwardly positioned female threaded opening to receive a bolt, or (b) a bolt extending directly upwards out of the body of the coupling block.\",\n \"In either case, an upwardly directed bolt has a bottom in the coupling block, whether or not held threadingly in place, passes up through a hole of the base plate, and is secured with a nut positioned above the base plate.\",\n \"In light pole installation work, misalignment between anchor bolts and bolt circles/openings can require substantial investments in manpower and monetary resources to correct.\",\n \"Conventional anchor bolts are directly anchored into anchor foundations comprising hard materials, such as wood and concrete.\",\n \"As a result, misaligned anchor bolts often require the destruction of the anchor foundation.\",\n \"It is therefore a principal object of the invention to provide a method and apparatus enabling misaligned anchor bolts to be connected to bolt circles on a light pole.\",\n \"A further objective of the invention is to provide positional adjustment options on an anchor bolt adapter to adapt to a variety of bolt circle configurations associated with different base plates.\",\n \"Yet another objective of the invention is to provide the ability to adjust the rotational position of a light pole in relation to the anchor bolts.\",\n \"Various objects, features, aspects and advantages of the inventive subject matter will become more apparent from the following detailed description of preferred embodiments, along with the accompanying drawing figures in which like numerals represent like components.\",\n \"The following discussion provides many example embodiments of the inventive subject matter.\",\n \"Although each embodiment represents a single combination of inventive elements, the inventive subject matter is considered to include all possible combinations of the disclosed elements.\",\n \"Thus if one embodiment comprises elements A, B, and C, and a second embodiment comprises elements B and D, then the inventive subject matter is also considered to include other remaining combinations of A, B, C, or D, even if not explicitly disclosed.\",\n \"BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG.\",\n \"1 is a partial view of a pole outfitted with a plurality of inventive Anchor Bolt Adaptors (ABAs).\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"2 is a partial section view illustrating the manner in which the Anchor Bolt Adaptor (ABA) of FIG.\",\n \"1 is positioned between the anchor bolts and the support plate of the pole.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"3 is a perspective view of the Anchor Bolt Adaptor (ABA) of FIG.\",\n \"1.FIG.\",\n \"4 is a partial top view of the Anchor Bolt Adaptor (ABA) of FIG.\",\n \"1.FIG.\",\n \"5 is a top-down perspective view of original bolt circle (anchor bolts) and a modified bolt circle.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"6 is an exploded view of components used to anchor the base plate to the foundation.\",\n \"DETAILED DESCRIPTION The inventive subject matter provides apparatus, systems, and methods an anchor bolt adaptor (ABA) has at least one downwardly positioned female threaded opening positioned to mate with an upwardly positioned anchor bolt, and either (a) at least one upwardly positioned female threaded opening positioned to mate with a bolt passing upwards through a base plate, or (b) a bolt extending directly upwards out of the body of the coupling block.\",\n \"As used herein the term “bolt” means a shaft having at least one machine-threaded end to which a nut could be secured.\",\n \"Also as used herein, the term “threaded end” as applied to a bolt means that the bolt has at least some threads within an inch of an actual end of the bolt.\",\n \"Similarly, the term “bolt having one end anchored into the foundation” means a bolt having at least one inch of the actual end of the bolt being anchored, threadingly or non-threadingly, into the foundation.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"1 is a partial view of a pole outfitted with a plurality of ABAs 10 coupled or connected to a pole 12 to a foundation 14 having a plurality of anchor bolts 16 set therein.\",\n \"Pole 12 includes a horizontally disposed base plate 20 having a plurality of openings 22 formed therein that do not align with anchor bolt(s) 16.In other words, if footing 14 has 4 anchor bolts set therein a square or rectangle fashion, base plate 20 would have 4 openings 22 formed therein which are arranged in a square or rectangle fashion that does not match that of the anchor bolts 16.Each ABA 10 is mounted respectively on each of anchor bolts 16 using the internally threaded bore 29 that allows each upwardly facing female threaded opening to best align with their respective openings 22.In some embodiments, a washer 17 can be positioned on the upper face of ABA 10.It is also contemplated that ABA 10 of this invention also functions as a leveling nut for the light pole or the like.\",\n \"It is further contemplated that the ABA 10 of this invention also functions as a spacer between the top of the foundation and bottom of the pole to allow for water drainage from inside the pole.\",\n \"Bolt 36 is mounted to one of the unused threaded bore 29 that best corrects the offset to allow bolt circle 25 on base plate 20 to be secured to anchor bolts 16.Base plate 20 is mounted on the upper ends of the ABA 10 with bolt 36 extended upwards through the openings in washer 17 or not and through opening 22 formed in base plate 20 secured with washer 32 and threadable nut 30.As previously stated, ABA 10 connects the misaligned anchor bolts to base plate 20.FIG.\",\n \"2 is a partial section view of one ABA 10 coupled or connected to the base of pole 12 at one end and attached to an anchor bolt 16 at the opposite end.\",\n \"As depicted, anchor bolt 16 is screwed into ABA 10 using anchor bolt threads 18.On the opposite end, ABA 10 is removably coupled to base plate 20 of pole 12 through opening 22.FIG.\",\n \"3 is a perspective view of one corner of the base of pole 12 and ABA 10 coupled to components allowing ABA 10 to anchor a light pole to a foundation.\",\n \"ABA 10 includes an upper end 26, a lower end 28 and two or more internally threaded bores 29 (discussed below in FIG.\",\n \"4) extending the distance between the upper and lower ends ABA 10.Anchor bolts 16 can include anchor bolt threads 18 on one end to be mated with the one or more internally threaded bores 29 of ABA 10.FIG.\",\n \"4 is a top-down view of ABA 10.ABA 10 includes at least two threaded bores 29.ABA 10 is preferably a rectangular prism shape.\",\n \"Threaded bores 29 can have any combination of diameters on the same ABA 10.For example, threaded bores 29 can be different diameters on the same ABA 10.It is also contemplated that threaded bore 29 can receive various adapters to adapt threaded bore 29 to bolts 36 with smaller diameters.\",\n \"For example, a threaded bore 29 originally adapted to receive a 1 inch diameter bolt can receive an adapter allowing threaded bore 29 to receive a .75 inch diameter bolt.\",\n \"However, ABA 10 can be cube-shaped, ellipsoid-shaped, spherical, and any combination thereof.\",\n \"Cross-sections of ABA 10 from the top-down can be rectangular-shaped, oval-shaped, circle-shaped, and any combination thereof.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"5 is a top-down view of pivot circle 24 and bolt circle 25 which defines the maximum reach of ABA 10 and the minimum reach of ABA 10.ABA 10 pivots on a circumference defined by pivot circle 24.The minimum reach of ABA 10 is achieved when 4 ABA 10 are rotated such that the threaded bores 29 that couple with openings 22 are as close together as possible.\",\n \"The maximum reach of ABA 10 is achieved when 4 ABA 10 are rotated such that the threaded bores 29 that couple with openings 22 are as far apart as possible.\",\n \"It is contemplated that the ABA 10 can be rotated in varying degrees to allow it to anchor to base plates 20 with openings 22 falling between the minimum and maximum reach of ABA 10.FIG.\",\n \"6 depicts an exploded view of components comprising the anchoring mechanism.\",\n \"Anchor bolts 16 couple with threaded bore 29 of ABA 10 on one side of ABA 10.ABA 10 also couples with bolt 36 on the opposite side of ABA 10 via threaded bore 29.A second end of bolt 36 can be passed through the centers of washer 17, base plate 20 (not depicted), and washer 32 to secure ABA to base plate 20.Threadable nut 30 couples with the second end of bolt 36 to secure base plate 20 to the foundation 14.Thus, it can be seen that a unique ABA has been provided which accomplishes at least all of its stated objectives.\",\n \"It should be apparent to those skilled in the art that many more modifications besides those already described are possible without departing from the inventive concepts herein.\",\n \"The inventive subject matter, therefore, is not to be restricted except in the scope of the appended claims.\",\n \"Moreover, in interpreting both the specification and the claims, all terms should be interpreted in the broadest possible manner consistent with the context.\",\n \"In particular, the terms “comprises” and “comprising” should be interpreted as referring to elements, components, or steps in a non-exclusive manner, indicating that the referenced elements, components, or steps may be present, or utilized, or combined with other elements, components, or steps that are not expressly referenced.\",\n \"Where the specification claims refers to at least one of something selected from the group consisting of A, B, C .\",\n \".\",\n \".\",\n \"and N, the text should be interpreted as requiring only one element from the group, not A plus N, or B plus N, etc.\"\n ]\n]"},"source":{"kind":"string","value":"Patent_15876042"}}},{"rowIdx":4495060,"cells":{"text":{"kind":"list like","value":[["LTE-BASED WIRELESS COMMUNICATION SYSTEM FOR THE M-LMS BAND","A receiver capable of receiving and a transmitter capable of transmitting LTE (Long-Term Evolution) signals.","The receiver is capable of executing firmware to determine position location from a received LTE-like position waveform over signals modulated on a carrier in a positioning frequency band.","In one embodiment the positioning signals are transmitted in a positioning band continuously for up to 100 ms, allowing the receiver to integrate the received positioning signals over a period of up to 100 ms.","In one such embodiment, the signals can be integrated coherently for up to 60 ms, assuming acceptable stability of the clock in the receiver and further assuming that less than a predetermined amount of Doppler shift has been introduced in the received signal.","The number of physical resource blocks (PRB) can be determined to optimize the signal allocation for the available bandwidth."],["1.A method for transmitting positioning signals, the method comprising: generating a grid of resource elements, the resource elements within the grid being grouped into physical resource blocks (PRBs); organizing the PRBs in slots, each slot having a number of the PRBs; and transmitting a signal used for positioning in multiple contiguous slots in a continuous transmission at a frequency within a frequency band allocated for determining position.","2.The method of claim 1, wherein the number of the PRBs is 37 or 40, and each PRB comprises 7×12 resource elements.","3.The method of claim 1, wherein each resource element represents an allocation of one symbol in time to one LTE OFDM (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing) sub-carrier in frequency.","4.The method of claim 1, wherein transmitting the slots includes transmitting the slots in at least 60 consecutive subframes.","5.The method of claim 1, wherein the frequency band is an M-LMS (Multilateration and Location Monitoring Service) band.","6.The method of claim 1, further comprising: transmitting a Long Term Evolution (LTE) signal over another frequency allocated by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for use by cellular telephones.","7.A method for receiving positioning signals, the method comprising: generating a grid of resource elements, the resource elements within the grid being grouped into physical resource blocks (PRBs); receiving an Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) modulated positioning signal on a frequency within a frequency band allocated for transmitting positioning signals; and searching for positioning information within the received positioning signal using the parameters of the generated grid of resource elements as search parameters, where multiple resource elements used for the positioning information are contiguous and received after being continuously transmitted.","8.The method of claim 7, wherein the grid of resource elements includes 37 or 40 PRBs that are grouped together in a slot, and each PRB comprises 7×12 resource elements.","9.The method of claim 7, wherein each resource element represents an allocation of one symbol in time to one LTE OFDM (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing) sub-carrier in frequency.","10.The method of claim 7, wherein searching for position information includes integrating the received signal over at least 60 consecutive subframes.","11.The method of claim 7, wherein the frequency band is an M-LMS (Multilateration and Location Monitoring Service) band.","12.A positioning system comprising: a transmitter that includes: a resource element grid generator (REGG) having first and second inputs and an output, the first input coupled to receive a signal indicating a number of physical resource blocks (PRBs) to be included in a generated grid of resource elements, and the second input coupled to receive a signal indicating a number of subframes to be consecutively transmitted by the transmitter; a modulator having a first input and an output, wherein the first input is coupled to the output of the REGG to receive a signal having a number of PRBs together in a slot and the signal having a number of slots to be consecutively transmitted from the transmitter; and a radio frequency (RF) signal generator having a first input coupled to the output of the modulator to receive a modulated waveform from the modulator, the modulated waveform having a number of consecutive slots to be contiguously transmitted in a continuous transmission at a frequency within a frequency band for transmitting a positioning signal.","13.The system of claim 12, wherein the transmitter further includes: a physical layer (PHY) controller, the PHY controller having a first output coupled to the first input of the REGG to provide the signal indicating the number of physical resource blocks (PRBs) to be included in the generated grid of resource elements, the PHY controller having a second output coupled to the second input of the REGG to provide the signal indicating the number of subframes to be consecutively transmitted by the transmitter, wherein the modulator has a second input coupled to the PHY controller to receive position location content to be modulated on the signal received from resource element grid generator.","14.The system of claim 12, wherein the RF signal generator has second input to receive information regarding a carrier frequency to be used for transmitting the positioning signal.","15.The system of claim 12, wherein the received signal indicating the number of PRBs to be included in the generated grid of resource elements indicates that 37 or 40 PRBs are to be included in the generated grid of resource elements, and wherein each PRB comprises 7×12 resource elements.","16.The system of claim 15, wherein each resource element represents the allocation of one symbol in time to one OFDM sub-carrier in frequency.","17.The system of claim 12, wherein the received signal indicating the number of subframes to be consecutively transmitted by the transmitter indicates that the number of subframes to be consecutively transmitted is 60.18.The system of claim 12, wherein the frequency band is an M-LMS (Multilateration and Location Monitoring Service) band.","19.The system of claim 12, the system further comprising: a receiver that includes: a down converter having a first input to receive an Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) modulated positioning signal, the down converter having a second input to receive information regarding a carrier frequency of the received positioning signal; and a searcher having a first input coupled to receive a signal indicating a number of physical resource blocks (PRBs) to be included in a search for position information within the received positioning signal, and having a second input coupled to receive a signal indicating a number of subframes over which the searcher is to integrate the received positioning signal in performing the search for positioning information.","20.The receiver of claim 19, wherein the received positioning signal comprises a plurality of consecutively transmitted slots, wherein each slot of the received positioning signal having 37 or 40 PRBs, wherein the signal indicating the number of PRBs indicates that there are 37 or 40 PRBs in each slot of the received positioning signal, and wherein each PRB comprises 7×12 resource elements."],[" BACKGROUND Quickly and accurately estimating the location of things within a geographic area can be very useful.","For example, information regarding the location of people or items can be used to speed up emergency response times, track movement of items and people, and link consumers to nearby businesses.","Most approaches rely on a process called trilateration.","Trilateration uses geometry to estimate the position of an object using distances traveled by different positioning signals (also referred to as “ranging” signals) that are transmitted from three or more transmitters to receivers that are co-located with the object to be located.","Various networks of transmitters have been used to transmit positioning signals.","For example, orbiting satellites in the Global Positioning Satellite (GPS) system transmit positioning signals.","Each GPS satellite transmits a positioning signal on which a coarse/acquisition code is modulated.","The positioning signal is received by a GPS receiver.","The GPS receiver identifies the time the positioning signal was transmitted by the satellite.","The receiver also determines a relative time of arrival based on an internal clock in the receiver.","Once the transmission time and the relative reception times of the positioning signal are known, the receiver uses measurements from at least three satellites to solve a set of simultaneous equations to determine the position and relative clock offset for the receiver.","Unfortunately, GPS signals are very faint, which means that the signals require integration over a very long time for a receiver to acquire a GPS signal and to demodulate enough information from the signal to determine the range measurements necessary to determine the location of the receiver.","In many cases, the range measurements are not as accurate as may be desired due to the fact that the signals may take indirect paths from the GPS satellites to the receiver.","Acquiring enough information to compute an estimated range measurement associated with a direct path from each GPS satellite to the receiver may take additional time and processing power.","Receiving weak GPS signals in urban environments poses additional problems.","Weak GPS signals often cannot reach receivers through buildings.","In addition, in such urban environments, GPS signals are more likely to take multiple paths by reflecting off buildings.","As noted above, such “multipathing” disrupts a receiver's ability to accurately estimate a range measurement between the receiver and the satellite.","One way to address the challenges of determining the position location of a device in an urban environment is to use terrestrial transmitter systems.","Such terrestrial transmitter systems provide stronger signals.","Furthermore, terrestrial transmitter systems can include transmitters at different locations within the urban environment that reduce the number of instances when there is no direct path between the satellite and the receiver.","Examples of terrestrial transmitter systems that transmit positioning signals are described in U.S. Pat.","No.","8,130,141 (the “'141 patent”).","In at least one embodiment of the '141 patent, each terrestrial transmitter uses a GPS-like channel to transmit a precisely-timed positioning signal.","The receiver computes its location by processing the positioning signals from three or more terrestrial transmitters, similar to the way in which the receiver would process GPS positioning signals from three or more GPS satellites.","Since most (if not all) receivers understand how to process GPS signaling, the signals transmitted by such a terrestrial transmitter system can be used by existing receivers with minimal (or no) modifications to those receivers.","Even though terrestrial transmitter systems provide a more-reliable positioning service than GPS, such terrestrial transmitter systems may require a substantial amount of additional infrastructure to transmit the terrestrial positioning signals.","Therefore, it would be desirable to reduce the need for such additional terrestrial hardware.","In addition to using terrestrial positioning signals transmitted from stations dedicated to sending such positioning signals, cellular telephones are capable of performing ranging measurements, such as observed time difference of arrival (OTDOA) measurements on cellular telephone signals, such as LTE (Long-Term Evolution) signals.","Such signals are transmitted with waveforms organized in resource blocks.","Each resource block consists of 7×12 resource elements in the case of normal cyclic prefix.","In one embodiment in which an extended cyclic prefix is used, a Physical Resource Block (PRB) only has 6 symbols.","A resource element represents the allocation of one symbol in time to one OFDM (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing) sub-carrier in frequency.","A typical LTE waveform is transmitted at a frequency that is different from the frequency of dedicated terrestrial positioning systems, such as systems that conform to the well-known M-LMS industry standard.","Typical LTE waveforms used to communicate positioning information comprise 50 resource blocks transmitted over a period of 6 ms.","Accordingly, when determining the time difference of arrival of such LTE signals, the received signal is integrated over a period of no more than 6 ms.","Restricting the positioning signals to 6 ms reduces the amount of bandwidth consumed by the positioning signals.","While it is advantageous to use LTE signals for ranging due to the ubiquitous nature of the LTE, there are several deficiencies with using the LTE signals for ranging.","For one, it would be advantageous to be able to integrate over longer times.","In addition, it would be advantageous to have waveforms that conform with a format optimized for position location rather than to a cellular telephone format, such as the signals that are transmitted by M-LMS (Multilateration and Location Monitoring Service) systems."],[" SUMMARY Various embodiments described in this disclosure relate generally to methods, systems, means, and machine-readable media for reducing the number of additional terrestrial transmitters required to provide a reliable “position location” system (i.e., a “positioning” system that aids in determining the position of a receiver).","Such methods, systems, means and machine-readable media may use pre-existing cellular telephone infrastructure to supplement terrestrial transmitter systems for determining the location of a receiver.","Certain embodiments include a receiver capable of receiving LTE (Long-Term Evolution) signals and capable of executing instructions embodied in firmware, software or the like, in order to determine position location information from a received LTE-like position waveform.","In one embodiment, positioning signals are transmitted continuously for what is referred to as a “positioning period” of up to 100 ms, allowing the receiver to integrate the received positioning signals over that positioning period.","The positioning signals can be integrated coherently for up to 60 ms, assuming acceptable stability of a clock in the receiver, and further assuming that less than a predetermined amount of Doppler shift has been introduced in the received signal.","For integration over a period greater than approximately 60 ms, the integration can be done non-coherently.","Instructions may be executed by a physical layer controller that controls a radio frequency section (RF) of the receiver.","Under the control of the firmware, the physical layer controller (i.e., PHY controller) instructs the RF section of the receiver to tune to a center frequency and indicates the number of PRB (physical resource blocks) to be used to generate the waveform.","The center frequency is outside the LTE band.","In addition, the number of PRBs (each having a bandwidth of 180 kHz (i.e., 12 sub-carriers multiplied by 15 kHz each) determines the bandwidth of the waveform.","In one embodiment, the frequency to which the RF section tunes is in the M-LMS (Multilateration and Location Monitoring Service) frequency band.","The PHY controller also instructs the RF section to receive the signal in accordance with an LTE-like format that has 40 PRBs for a bandwidth of approximately 7.2 MHz.","The resulting signal is then pulse shaped to constrain the signal to the desired frequency mask.","In one embodiment, the result of the pulse shaping is a signal having a bandwidth of 8 MHz.","Alternatively, the LTE-like format has 37 PRBs for a bandwidth of 6.66 MHz which is pulse shaped to fit within a 7.5 MHz mask.","In one embodiment, an LTE-like format can have other numbers of PRBs, where a PRB is defined according to the LTE standard.","Each such PRB includes 12 subcarriers, and each sub-carrier has a bandwidth of approximately 15 kHz and extends for a period of 1 ms (i.e., the duration of an LTE subframe).","A receiver may receive a waveform that includes a number of continuous subframes.","The PHY controller may instruct the RF section to receive the number of subframes that are included in the waveform.","In one embodiment, the waveform includes up to 100 or more subframes.","In another embodiment, the waveform includes 60 subframes and the receiver performs coherent integration on the received signals.","In yet another embodiment, the waveform includes 200 subframes.","In yet another embodiment, the waveform includes n subframes, where n is greater than a standard number of subframes.","The receiver may also decover the signal, including the PRS (position reference signal) samples, integrating them across the predetermined number of subframes to maximize the strength of the decovered positioning signal.","By using firmware to control the PHY controller, the RF section can be controlled in a way that uses LTE standard PRBs to allow the RF section to generate a new LTE format that is particularly well-suited for generating positioning signals, such as M-LMS signals.","Thus, the receiver may operate in accordance with the general operation of an LTE receiver, with the only change being to the firmware to instruct the RF section to generate a new waveform having a non-LTE standard number of PRBs at a non-LTE center frequency for a duration that is greater than the LTE waveform.","A transmitter may be capable of transmitting LTE signals and capable of executing instructions to form LTE-like positioning signals having a duration of greater than 6 ms transmitted at a carrier frequency within a terrestrial positioning system spectrum, such as the spectrum used by M-LMS.","In one embodiment, the instructions control the operation of a digital signal processor (DSP) within the physical layer of the transmitter.","In another embodiment, the signals that are transmitted during the positioning period use a different type of modulation that is optimized for the positioning application—e.g., based on direct sequence spread spectrum (DSSS), such as employed in systems currently deployed in the M-LMS band., where LTE-based signals are transmitted at the remaining times.","Details of embodiments are set forth in the drawings and the description below."],["RELATED APPLICATIONS This application relates to U.S. patent application Ser.","No.","62/117,580, filed Feb. 18, 2015, entitled AN LTE-BASED WIRELESS COMMUNICATION SYSTEM FOR THE M-LMS BAND, the content of which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.","This application relates to U.S. patent application Ser.","No.","15/015,935, filed Feb. 4, 2016, entitled AN LTE-BASED WIRELESS COMMUNICATION SYSTEM FOR THE M-LMS BAND, the content of which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.","FIELD Various embodiments relate to wireless communications, and more particularly, to transmitting positioning signals over an M-LMS band from an LTE (Long-Term Evolution) base station.","BACKGROUND Quickly and accurately estimating the location of things within a geographic area can be very useful.","For example, information regarding the location of people or items can be used to speed up emergency response times, track movement of items and people, and link consumers to nearby businesses.","Most approaches rely on a process called trilateration.","Trilateration uses geometry to estimate the position of an object using distances traveled by different positioning signals (also referred to as “ranging” signals) that are transmitted from three or more transmitters to receivers that are co-located with the object to be located.","Various networks of transmitters have been used to transmit positioning signals.","For example, orbiting satellites in the Global Positioning Satellite (GPS) system transmit positioning signals.","Each GPS satellite transmits a positioning signal on which a coarse/acquisition code is modulated.","The positioning signal is received by a GPS receiver.","The GPS receiver identifies the time the positioning signal was transmitted by the satellite.","The receiver also determines a relative time of arrival based on an internal clock in the receiver.","Once the transmission time and the relative reception times of the positioning signal are known, the receiver uses measurements from at least three satellites to solve a set of simultaneous equations to determine the position and relative clock offset for the receiver.","Unfortunately, GPS signals are very faint, which means that the signals require integration over a very long time for a receiver to acquire a GPS signal and to demodulate enough information from the signal to determine the range measurements necessary to determine the location of the receiver.","In many cases, the range measurements are not as accurate as may be desired due to the fact that the signals may take indirect paths from the GPS satellites to the receiver.","Acquiring enough information to compute an estimated range measurement associated with a direct path from each GPS satellite to the receiver may take additional time and processing power.","Receiving weak GPS signals in urban environments poses additional problems.","Weak GPS signals often cannot reach receivers through buildings.","In addition, in such urban environments, GPS signals are more likely to take multiple paths by reflecting off buildings.","As noted above, such “multipathing” disrupts a receiver's ability to accurately estimate a range measurement between the receiver and the satellite.","One way to address the challenges of determining the position location of a device in an urban environment is to use terrestrial transmitter systems.","Such terrestrial transmitter systems provide stronger signals.","Furthermore, terrestrial transmitter systems can include transmitters at different locations within the urban environment that reduce the number of instances when there is no direct path between the satellite and the receiver.","Examples of terrestrial transmitter systems that transmit positioning signals are described in U.S. Pat.","No.","8,130,141 (the “'141 patent”).","In at least one embodiment of the '141 patent, each terrestrial transmitter uses a GPS-like channel to transmit a precisely-timed positioning signal.","The receiver computes its location by processing the positioning signals from three or more terrestrial transmitters, similar to the way in which the receiver would process GPS positioning signals from three or more GPS satellites.","Since most (if not all) receivers understand how to process GPS signaling, the signals transmitted by such a terrestrial transmitter system can be used by existing receivers with minimal (or no) modifications to those receivers.","Even though terrestrial transmitter systems provide a more-reliable positioning service than GPS, such terrestrial transmitter systems may require a substantial amount of additional infrastructure to transmit the terrestrial positioning signals.","Therefore, it would be desirable to reduce the need for such additional terrestrial hardware.","In addition to using terrestrial positioning signals transmitted from stations dedicated to sending such positioning signals, cellular telephones are capable of performing ranging measurements, such as observed time difference of arrival (OTDOA) measurements on cellular telephone signals, such as LTE (Long-Term Evolution) signals.","Such signals are transmitted with waveforms organized in resource blocks.","Each resource block consists of 7×12 resource elements in the case of normal cyclic prefix.","In one embodiment in which an extended cyclic prefix is used, a Physical Resource Block (PRB) only has 6 symbols.","A resource element represents the allocation of one symbol in time to one OFDM (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing) sub-carrier in frequency.","A typical LTE waveform is transmitted at a frequency that is different from the frequency of dedicated terrestrial positioning systems, such as systems that conform to the well-known M-LMS industry standard.","Typical LTE waveforms used to communicate positioning information comprise 50 resource blocks transmitted over a period of 6 ms.","Accordingly, when determining the time difference of arrival of such LTE signals, the received signal is integrated over a period of no more than 6 ms.","Restricting the positioning signals to 6 ms reduces the amount of bandwidth consumed by the positioning signals.","While it is advantageous to use LTE signals for ranging due to the ubiquitous nature of the LTE, there are several deficiencies with using the LTE signals for ranging.","For one, it would be advantageous to be able to integrate over longer times.","In addition, it would be advantageous to have waveforms that conform with a format optimized for position location rather than to a cellular telephone format, such as the signals that are transmitted by M-LMS (Multilateration and Location Monitoring Service) systems.","SUMMARY Various embodiments described in this disclosure relate generally to methods, systems, means, and machine-readable media for reducing the number of additional terrestrial transmitters required to provide a reliable “position location” system (i.e., a “positioning” system that aids in determining the position of a receiver).","Such methods, systems, means and machine-readable media may use pre-existing cellular telephone infrastructure to supplement terrestrial transmitter systems for determining the location of a receiver.","Certain embodiments include a receiver capable of receiving LTE (Long-Term Evolution) signals and capable of executing instructions embodied in firmware, software or the like, in order to determine position location information from a received LTE-like position waveform.","In one embodiment, positioning signals are transmitted continuously for what is referred to as a “positioning period” of up to 100 ms, allowing the receiver to integrate the received positioning signals over that positioning period.","The positioning signals can be integrated coherently for up to 60 ms, assuming acceptable stability of a clock in the receiver, and further assuming that less than a predetermined amount of Doppler shift has been introduced in the received signal.","For integration over a period greater than approximately 60 ms, the integration can be done non-coherently.","Instructions may be executed by a physical layer controller that controls a radio frequency section (RF) of the receiver.","Under the control of the firmware, the physical layer controller (i.e., PHY controller) instructs the RF section of the receiver to tune to a center frequency and indicates the number of PRB (physical resource blocks) to be used to generate the waveform.","The center frequency is outside the LTE band.","In addition, the number of PRBs (each having a bandwidth of 180 kHz (i.e., 12 sub-carriers multiplied by 15 kHz each) determines the bandwidth of the waveform.","In one embodiment, the frequency to which the RF section tunes is in the M-LMS (Multilateration and Location Monitoring Service) frequency band.","The PHY controller also instructs the RF section to receive the signal in accordance with an LTE-like format that has 40 PRBs for a bandwidth of approximately 7.2 MHz.","The resulting signal is then pulse shaped to constrain the signal to the desired frequency mask.","In one embodiment, the result of the pulse shaping is a signal having a bandwidth of 8 MHz.","Alternatively, the LTE-like format has 37 PRBs for a bandwidth of 6.66 MHz which is pulse shaped to fit within a 7.5 MHz mask.","In one embodiment, an LTE-like format can have other numbers of PRBs, where a PRB is defined according to the LTE standard.","Each such PRB includes 12 subcarriers, and each sub-carrier has a bandwidth of approximately 15 kHz and extends for a period of 1 ms (i.e., the duration of an LTE subframe).","A receiver may receive a waveform that includes a number of continuous subframes.","The PHY controller may instruct the RF section to receive the number of subframes that are included in the waveform.","In one embodiment, the waveform includes up to 100 or more subframes.","In another embodiment, the waveform includes 60 subframes and the receiver performs coherent integration on the received signals.","In yet another embodiment, the waveform includes 200 subframes.","In yet another embodiment, the waveform includes n subframes, where n is greater than a standard number of subframes.","The receiver may also decover the signal, including the PRS (position reference signal) samples, integrating them across the predetermined number of subframes to maximize the strength of the decovered positioning signal.","By using firmware to control the PHY controller, the RF section can be controlled in a way that uses LTE standard PRBs to allow the RF section to generate a new LTE format that is particularly well-suited for generating positioning signals, such as M-LMS signals.","Thus, the receiver may operate in accordance with the general operation of an LTE receiver, with the only change being to the firmware to instruct the RF section to generate a new waveform having a non-LTE standard number of PRBs at a non-LTE center frequency for a duration that is greater than the LTE waveform.","A transmitter may be capable of transmitting LTE signals and capable of executing instructions to form LTE-like positioning signals having a duration of greater than 6 ms transmitted at a carrier frequency within a terrestrial positioning system spectrum, such as the spectrum used by M-LMS.","In one embodiment, the instructions control the operation of a digital signal processor (DSP) within the physical layer of the transmitter.","In another embodiment, the signals that are transmitted during the positioning period use a different type of modulation that is optimized for the positioning application—e.g., based on direct sequence spread spectrum (DSSS), such as employed in systems currently deployed in the M-LMS band., where LTE-based signals are transmitted at the remaining times.","Details of embodiments are set forth in the drawings and the description below.","BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG.","1 illustrates a positioning system.","FIG.","2 depicts a simplified block diagram of an LTE transmitter.","FIG.","3 illustrates of one embodiment of the structure of a waveform.","FIG.","4 shows additional details regarding the structure of an LTE waveform.","FIG.","5 depicts a simplified functional block diagram of the PHY layer of a transmitter.","FIG.","6 illustrates an LTE waveform where there are 40 PRBs in each slot.","FIG.","7 depicts a simplified block diagram of a receiver that is capable of receiving positioning signals in a positioning frequency band.","FIG.","8 depicts a simplified functional block diagram of the PHY layer of the receiver.","Like reference numbers and designations in the drawings indicate like elements.","DETAILED DESCRIPTION FIG.","1 illustrates a positioning system 100.The positioning system 100 includes any number of receivers, including a receiver 120 that receive signals from transmitters 110, satellites 150, and/or other system nodes 160 via corresponding transmitted communication signals 113, 153 and 163.The receiver 120 may also receive information from a backend system 130 through the transmitters 110 and from other receivers.","For the sake of simplicity, the connections between the backend system 130 and each of the transmitters 110 is not shown.","The transmitters 110 may be configured to transmit signals 113 that are received by the receiver 120.The transmitters 110 communicate with the backend 130 via the transmitted communication signals 133.In some embodiments, the transmitters 110 transmit the signals 113 using one or more common multiplexing schemes, such as time multiplexing using different time slots, code division multiplexing using different pseudorandom sequences, or frequency division multiplexing using different frequencies.","Each of the signals 113 from each of the transmitters 110 may carry different information that, once extracted by the receiver 120 or the backend 130, may identify the following: (1) the transmitter that transmitted the signal; (2) the latitude, longitude and altitude (LLA) of that transmitter; (3) pressure, temperature and other atmospheric conditions at or near that transmitter; (4) ranging information that is used to measure a distance to that transmitter; and (5) other information.","In one embodiment, at least one of the transmitters 110 is an LTE transmitter capable of sending signals in accordance with the LTE (Long Term Evolution) standard.","The receiver 120 may include a location computation engine (not shown) to determine positioning information based on the signals 113, 153, and/or 163 received from the transmitters 110, the satellites 150, and/or the nodes 160.The receiver 120 may include a signal processing component (not shown) that: (1) demodulates the received signals 113, 153, and/or 163; (2) estimates positioning information like travel time of the received signals 113, 153, and/or 163; and (3) uses the positioning information to estimate the position of the receiver 120.The backend 130 communicates with various other systems, such as the transmitters 110, the receivers 120, and the other networks 160.The backend system 130 may include one or more processor(s), data source(s), and other components (not shown).","One of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that methods described herein may be carried out using processors at any or all of the transmitters 110, the receivers 120, the backend 130, and other components of the system 100.FIG.","2 is a simplified block diagram of an LTE transmitter 200.An upper protocol layer module 202 determines the content that is to be transmitted based on information received from another source, such as from a backend system 130 (see FIG.","1) or from a network, such as the internet or a telecommunications network.","In one embodiment, the content to be transmitted is positioning information generated locally (i.e., either in a physical layer controller (PHY controller) 204 or upper protocol layers 202 of the receiver 200.Alternatively, the positioning information can be generated at a remote location and provided to the transmitter 200.In one embodiment in which the information to be transmitted is generated or received by the upper protocol layer 202, the information is provided by the upper protocol layer 202 to the PHY controller 204.The PHY controller 204 determines how much bandwidth is needed to transmit the information.","A set of LTE parameters are provided by the PHY controller 204 to the physical layer (PHY layer) 206.In response to the LTE parameters provided to the PHY layer 206 by the PHY controller 204, the PHY layer will modulate the information onto an LTE waveform and couple the LTE waveform to a transmission antenna 208.The current LTE standard defines positioning reference signals (PRS) that are transmitted in band (i.e., at the same frequency as the voice information).","Accordingly, the LTE standard places a limit on the duration of the PRS signal.","In one embodiment, the PRS signals are transmitted in a positioning frequency band that is distinct from the band used to communicate other information (e.g., voice and other non-position location related data).","FIG.","3 illustrates the structure of an LTE waveform 300.An LTE waveform is organized as frames 301.Each of the frames 301 is ten milliseconds (ms) long, and comprises ten subframes 303.Each of the subframes 303 is one ms long, and comprises two slots 305 of 0.5 ms each.","While a frame is ten ms long, the LTE standard limits PRS signals to a maximum of 6 subframes (i.e., 6 ms).","Positioning signals that conform to this structure are “covered” or “spread” with a pseudo-random number (PRN) code sequence based on a “gold code” sequence.","FIG.","4 shows additional details regarding the structure of an LTE waveform 300.Each of the slots 305 can be used to transmit a number of physical resource blocks (PRBs) 401.Each PRB 401 has a duration of 7 symbols in time and is 12 subcarriers wide in frequency (i.e., 7×12 resource elements).","Each subcarrier is 15 kHz wide.","A resource element 403 represents the allocation of one symbol in time to one subcarrier in frequency.","Accordingly, each PRB 401 comprises 84 resource elements 403.A typical LTE waveform used for cellular telephone communications has 50 PRBs centered at frequencies allocated by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).","When the PHY controller 204 instructs the PHY layer 206 to transmit information, the parameters that the PHY controller 204 provides the PHY layer 206 include: (1) the center frequency at which the LTE waveform is to be transmitted (i.e., the positioning frequency band carrier frequency); (2) the number of resource blocks that will be used in the waveform and (3) the number of subframes to be continuously transmitted.","FIG.","5 is a simplified functional block diagram of the PHY layer 206 in one embodiment.","The number of PRBs and subframes to be used are provided to the PHY layer 206 by the PHY controller 204 (see FIG.","2).","For each of the slots 305, a Resource Element Grid Generator (REGG) 502 generates a resource element grid 405 based on the information provided by the PHY controller 204.In one embodiment, each of the slots 305 includes 40 PRBs 401.In one embodiment, the REGG 502 is a digital signal processor (DSP) that generates a signal having a bandwidth determined by the number of the PRBs 401 to be included in the grid 405.Alternatively, the REGG 502 is an analog signal processor or module comprising discrete components capable of generating the grid 405.The generated grid 405 is coupled to an LTE modulator 504.The LTE modulator 504 modulates position location content to be transmitted onto the signals of the generated grid 405.In one embodiment, the content is modulated using OFDM (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing) modulation.","An output of the LTE modulator 504 is coupled to a pulse shaping filter module 506 that pulse shapes the signal to be transmitted to fit the waveform into a desired mask.","The mask is determined based on the position frequency band requirements provided by the PHY controller 204.The position frequency band requirements include the available bandwidth and the spectral mask to be used.","In one embodiment, these requirements are dictated by an industry standard.","In one embodiment in which the bandwidth of the positioning signal is 8 MHz, 40 PRBs 401 are used to generate the grid 405.In an alternative embodiment, the positioning signal bandwidth is 7.5 MHz, in which case 37 PRBs are used to generate the grid 405.The output from the filter 506 is coupled to an RF signal generator 508.The RF signal generator 508 up-converts the signal to the position location carrier frequency.","In one embodiment, the M-LMS band is used to transmit positioning signals using a waveform that is similar to the LTE waveform, but having a non-LTE carrier frequency, a number of PRBs that differ from the LTE waveform, and being transmitted with up to 200 or more subframes.","It should be noted that as a consequence of the pulse shaping of the filter 506, the output to the RF signal generator 508 will have an 8 MHz bandwidth, even though the generated grid is 40×180 kHz=7.2 MHz.","FIG.","6 is an illustration of an LTE waveform generated in one embodiment in which there are 40 PRBs in each slot.","In one such embodiment, 100 continuous subframes (having 200 slots) are transmitted together.","In another embodiment, the number of subframes that are transmitted together can vary depending upon the conditions under which signals are being transmitted.","Under conditions that are more challenging for the receivers, a greater number of subframes can be transmitted.","For example, when the transmitter is operating in an urban environment, a relatively large number of subframes can be transmitted together.","In one such embodiment, 200 or more subframes can be transmitted in a very challenging environment.","In a less challenging environment, 60 continuous subframes or less are transmitted together.","By continuously transmitting more subframes, the receiver can integrate over a longer period, increasing the sensitivity of the receiver.","FIG.","7 is a simplified block diagram of a receiver 700 in one embodiment.","Signals transmitted from an LTE transmitter 200 are received in an antenna 702.The output from the antenna 702 is coupled to a PHY layer 704.The PHY layer 704 receives control signals from a PHY controller 706.The control signals indicate the structure of the waveform to be received, including the frequency of the carrier, the number of subframes 303 over which the received signal will be integrated, and the number of PRBs 401 to be received.","As noted above in relation to one embodiment, the signals are received in the M-LMS band.","Alternatively, the signals can be received at other frequencies appropriate for transmission and reception of positioning signals.","For signals that are received with 200 or more subframes, the receiver can integrate the received signal over the entire period of 200 or more milliseconds.","In one such embodiment in which the received signal has a bandwidth of approximately 8 MHz, the PHY controller 706 instructs the PHY layer 704 that there are 40 PRBs in each slot.","Alternatively, the received signal may have a bandwidth of 7.5 MHz, in which case, the PHY controller 706 will instruct the PHY layer 704 that there are 37 PRBs in the received signal.","It will be understood by those skilled in the art that the particular number of PRBs to be received may depend upon the number of PRBs in the transmitted signals.","The number of PRBs, in turn, depends upon the bandwidth of the signal to be transmitted and the filter used within the transmitter to pulse shape the signal prior to up-converting the signal to the carrier frequency.","FIG.","8 is an exemplary simplified block diagram of a PHY layer 704.The received over-the-air (OTA) signals are coupled from the antenna 702 (see FIG.","7) to a receiver down converter 801 within the PHY layer 704.The output of the down converter 801 is coupled to a searcher 803.The searcher 803 also receives signals from the PHY controller 706.The signals from the PHY controller 706 indicate the number of subframes that have been continuously transmitted and the number of PRBs in each slot of each subframe.","The searcher 803 uses the number of PRBs to set the parameter for a PRS.","In one embodiment, the PRS includes a gold code that is OFDM encoded into the PRBs of the received signal.","Finding the gold code provides a means to determine the relative distance (i.e., range) from the transmitter to the receiver.","In addition, the searcher 803 uses the number of subframes to determine how long to integrate the signal received from the down converter 801.By receiving a signal that has a relatively large number of continuously transmitted PRBs, the integration period of the searcher can be relatively long.","Increasing the length of the integration period improves the sensitivity of the receiver.","The output of the searcher 803 is a ranging output 805 that can be used to determine the relative distance between the transmitter and the receiver.","Examples of Other Features in Some Embodiments Functionality and operation disclosed herein may be embodied as one or more methods implemented, in whole or in part, by machine(s)—e.g., processor(s), computers, or other suitable means known in the art—at one or more locations, which enhances the functionality of those machines, as well as computing devices that incorporate those machines.","Non-transitory machine-readable media embodying program instructions adapted to be executed to implement the method(s) are also contemplated.","Execution of the program instructions by one or more processors cause the processors to carry out the method(s).","Systems (e.g., apparatuses or components thereof) operable to implement the method(s) are also contemplated.","It is noted that method steps described herein may be order independent, and can therefore be performed in an order different from that described.","It is also noted that different method steps described herein can be combined to form any number of methods, as would be understood by one of skill in the art.","It is further noted that any two or more steps described herein may be performed at the same time.","Any method step or feature disclosed herein may be expressly restricted from a claim for various reasons like achieving reduced manufacturing costs, lower power consumption, and increased processing efficiency.","By way of example, not by way of limitation, method(s), system(s) or other means may perform the following or be operable perform the following: generating a grid of resource elements, the resource elements within the grid being grouped into physical resource blocks (PRBs); organizing the PRBs in slots, each slot having a number of the PRBs; and transmitting a plurality of the slots in a continuous transmission at a frequency within a frequency band allocated for determining position.","In different embodiments, the number of PRBs is 40 or 37.In at least one embodiment, the slot is 0.5 milliseconds in duration.","In at least one embodiment, each PRB comprises 7×12 resource elements.","In different embodiments, slots are transmitted in at least 60 consecutive subframes, at least 100 consecutive subframes, or at least 200 consecutive subframes.","In at least one embodiment, each resource element represents an allocation of one symbol in time to one OFDM (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing) sub-carrier in frequency.","In at least one embodiment, each resource element represents an allocation of one symbol in time to one LTE OFDM (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing) sub-carrier in frequency.","In at least one embodiment, the frequency band allocated for transmitting positioning signals is an M-LMS (Multilateration and Location Monitoring Service) band.","Method(s), system(s) or other means may further or alternatively perform the following or be operable to perform the following: transmitting a Long Term Evolution (LTE) signal over another frequency allocated by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for use by cellular telephones.","By way of example, not by way of limitation, method(s), system(s) or other means may perform the following or be operable perform the following: generating a grid of resource elements, the resource elements within the grid being grouped into physical resource blocks (PRBs); receiving an Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) modulated positioning signal on a frequency for transmitting positioning signals; and searching for positioning information within the received positioning signal using the parameters of the generated grid of resource elements as search parameters, where the resource elements used for positioning information are contiguous.","In different embodiments, the grid of resource elements includes 40 or 37 PRBs that are grouped together in a slot.","In at least one embodiment, the slot is 0.5 milliseconds in duration.","In at least one embodiment, each PRB comprises 7×12 resource elements.","In at least one embodiment, each resource element represents the allocation of one symbol in time to one OFDM sub-carrier in frequency.","In at least one embodiment, each resource element represents an allocation of one symbol in time to one LTE OFDM (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing) sub-carrier in frequency.","In at least one embodiment, each resource element represents the allocation of one symbol in time to one OFDM sub-carrier in frequency.","In different embodiments, searching for position information includes integrating the received signal over at least 60 consecutive subframes, at least 100 consecutive subframes, or at least 200 consecutive subframes.","In at least one embodiment, the frequency band is an M-LMS (Multilateration and Location Monitoring Service) band.","By way of example, one or more systems may comprise hardware modules that perform the methods or particular steps of the methods disclosed herein.","In accordance with certain embodiments, a transmitter for transmitting positioning signals includes: a resource element grid generator (REGG) having first and second inputs and an output, the first input coupled to receive a signal indicating a number of physical resource blocks (PRBs) to be included in a generated grid of resource elements, and the second input coupled to receive a signal indicating a number of subframes to be consecutively transmitted by the transmitter; a modulator having a first input and an output, wherein the first input is coupled to the output of the REGG to receive a signal having a number of PRBs together in a slot and the signal having a number of slots to be consecutively transmitted from the transmitter; and a radio frequency (RF) signal generator having a first input coupled to the output of the modulator to receive a modulated waveform from the modulator, the modulated waveform having a number of consecutive slots to be contiguously transmitted at a frequency within a frequency band for transmitting a positioning signal.","The transmitter may further comprise: a physical layer (PHY) controller, the PHY controller having a first output coupled to the first input of the REGG to provide the signal indicating the number of physical resource blocks (PRBs) to be included in the generated grid of resource elements, the PHY controller having a second output coupled to the second input of the REGG to provide the signal indicating the number of subframes to be consecutively transmitted by the transmitter.","In at least one embodiment, the modulator has a second input coupled to the PHY controller to receive position location content to be modulated on the signal received from resource element grid generator.","In at least one embodiment, the RF signal generator has second input to receive information regarding a carrier frequency to be used for transmitting the positioning signals.","In different embodiments, the received signal indicating the number of PRBs to be included in the generated grid of resource elements indicates that 40 or 37 PRBs are to be included in the generated grid of resource elements.","In at least one embodiment, each PRB comprises 7×12 resource elements.","In at least one embodiment, each resource element represents the allocation of one symbol in time to one OFDM sub-carrier in frequency.","In at least one embodiment, each resource element represents the allocation of one symbol in time to one OFDM sub-carrier in frequency.","In different embodiments, the received signal indicating the number of subframes to be consecutively transmitted by the transmitter indicates that the number of subframes to be consecutively transmitted is 60, 100 or 200.In at least one embodiment, the frequency band allocated by the FCC for transmitting positioning signals is an M-LMS (Multilateration and Location Monitoring Service) band.","In accordance with certain embodiments, a receiver of positioning signals includes: a down converter having a first input to receive an Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) modulated positioning signal, the down converter having a second input to receive information regarding a carrier frequency of the received positioning signal; and a searcher having a first input coupled to receive a signal indicating a number of physical resource blocks (PRBs) to be included in a search for position information within the received positioning signal, and having a second input coupled to receive a signal indicating a number of subframes over which the searcher is to integrate the received positioning signal in performing the search for positioning information.","In different embodiments, the received positioning signal comprises a plurality of consecutively transmitted slots, each slot of the received positioning signal having 40 or 37 PRBs.","In different embodiments, the signal indicating the number of PRBs indicates that there are 40 or 37 PRBs in each slot of the received positioning signal.","In different embodiments, the received positioning signal comprises 60, 100 or 200 subframes.","In different embodiments, the signal indicating the number of subframes indicates that the search is to integrate across 60, 100 or 200 subframes of the received signal.","In at least one embodiment, each PRB comprises 7×12 resource elements.","In at least one embodiment, each resource element represents the allocation of one symbol in time to one OFDM sub-carrier in frequency.","In at least one embodiment, each resource element represents the allocation of one symbol in time to one OFDM sub-carrier in frequency.","In at least one embodiment, each module includes one or more inputs to receive information used to perform what it is operable to do, and further includes one or more outputs to send information to other modules.","A “receiver” may be in the form of a computing device (e.g., a mobile phone, a tablet, a PDA, a laptop, a digital camera, a tracking tag).","A receiver may also take the form of any component of the computer, including a processor.","Processing by the receiver can also occur at a server.","The illustrative methods described herein may be implemented, performed, or otherwise controlled by suitable hardware known or later-developed by one of skill in the art, or by firmware or software executed by processor(s), or any combination of hardware, software and firmware.","Software may be downloadable and non-downloadable at a particular system.","Such software, once loaded on a machine, changes the operation of that machine.","Systems on which methods described herein are performed may include one or more means that implement those methods.","For example, such means may include processor(s) or other hardware that, when executing instructions (e.g., embodied in software or firmware), perform any method step disclosed herein.","A processor may include, or be included within, a computer or computing device, a controller, an integrated circuit, a “chip”, a system on a chip, a server, other programmable logic devices, other circuitry, or any combination thereof.","“Memory” may be accessible by a machine (e.g., a processor), such that the machine can read/write information from/to the memory.","Memory may be integral with or separate from the machine.","Memory may include a non-transitory machine-readable medium having machine-readable program code (e.g., instructions) embodied therein that is adapted to be executed to implement any or all of the methods and method steps disclosed herein.","Memory may include any available storage media, including removable, non-removable, volatile, and non-volatile media—e.g., integrated circuit media, magnetic storage media, optical storage media, or any other computer data storage media.","As used herein, machine-readable media includes all forms of machine-readable media except to the extent that such media is deemed to be non-statutory (e.g., transitory propagating signals).","All of the information disclosed herein may be represented by data, and that data may be transmitted over any communication pathway using any protocol, stored on data source(s), and processed by a processor.","Transmission of data may be carried out using a variety of wires, cables, radio signals and infrared light beams, and an even greater variety of connectors, plugs and protocols even if not shown or explicitly described.","Systems may exchange information with each other using any communication technology.","Data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, and chips and the like may be represented by voltages, currents, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or particles, or optical fields or particles.","Features in system figures that are illustrated as rectangles may refer to hardware, firmware or software.","It is noted that lines linking two such features may be illustrative of data transfer between those features.","Such transfer may occur directly between those features or through intermediate features.","Where no line connects two features, transfer of data between those features is contemplated unless otherwise stated.","When two things (e.g., modules, circuit elements, etc.)","are “coupled to” each other, those two things may be directly connected together, or may be separated by one or more intervening things.","Thus, no direct connection is required between the two things.","Where an output and an input are coupled to each other, data and/or signaling sent from the output is received by the input even if the data passes through one or more intermediate things.","The words comprise, comprising, include, including and the like are to be construed in an inclusive sense (i.e., not limited to) as opposed to an exclusive sense (i.e., consisting only of).","Words using the singular or plural number also include the plural or singular number, respectively.","The word or and the word and, as used in the Detailed Description, cover any of the items and all of the items in a list.","The words some, any and at least one refer to one or more.","The term may is used herein to indicate an example, not a requirement—e.g., a thing that may perform an operation or may have a characteristic need not perform that operation or have that characteristic in each embodiment, but that thing performs that operation or has that characteristic in at least one embodiment.","It is noted that the term “GPS” may refer to any Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS), such as GLONASS, Galileo, and Compass/Beidou, and vice versa."]],"string":"[\n [\n \"LTE-BASED WIRELESS COMMUNICATION SYSTEM FOR THE M-LMS BAND\",\n \"A receiver capable of receiving and a transmitter capable of transmitting LTE (Long-Term Evolution) signals.\",\n \"The receiver is capable of executing firmware to determine position location from a received LTE-like position waveform over signals modulated on a carrier in a positioning frequency band.\",\n \"In one embodiment the positioning signals are transmitted in a positioning band continuously for up to 100 ms, allowing the receiver to integrate the received positioning signals over a period of up to 100 ms.\",\n \"In one such embodiment, the signals can be integrated coherently for up to 60 ms, assuming acceptable stability of the clock in the receiver and further assuming that less than a predetermined amount of Doppler shift has been introduced in the received signal.\",\n \"The number of physical resource blocks (PRB) can be determined to optimize the signal allocation for the available bandwidth.\"\n ],\n [\n \"1.A method for transmitting positioning signals, the method comprising: generating a grid of resource elements, the resource elements within the grid being grouped into physical resource blocks (PRBs); organizing the PRBs in slots, each slot having a number of the PRBs; and transmitting a signal used for positioning in multiple contiguous slots in a continuous transmission at a frequency within a frequency band allocated for determining position.\",\n \"2.The method of claim 1, wherein the number of the PRBs is 37 or 40, and each PRB comprises 7×12 resource elements.\",\n \"3.The method of claim 1, wherein each resource element represents an allocation of one symbol in time to one LTE OFDM (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing) sub-carrier in frequency.\",\n \"4.The method of claim 1, wherein transmitting the slots includes transmitting the slots in at least 60 consecutive subframes.\",\n \"5.The method of claim 1, wherein the frequency band is an M-LMS (Multilateration and Location Monitoring Service) band.\",\n \"6.The method of claim 1, further comprising: transmitting a Long Term Evolution (LTE) signal over another frequency allocated by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for use by cellular telephones.\",\n \"7.A method for receiving positioning signals, the method comprising: generating a grid of resource elements, the resource elements within the grid being grouped into physical resource blocks (PRBs); receiving an Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) modulated positioning signal on a frequency within a frequency band allocated for transmitting positioning signals; and searching for positioning information within the received positioning signal using the parameters of the generated grid of resource elements as search parameters, where multiple resource elements used for the positioning information are contiguous and received after being continuously transmitted.\",\n \"8.The method of claim 7, wherein the grid of resource elements includes 37 or 40 PRBs that are grouped together in a slot, and each PRB comprises 7×12 resource elements.\",\n \"9.The method of claim 7, wherein each resource element represents an allocation of one symbol in time to one LTE OFDM (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing) sub-carrier in frequency.\",\n \"10.The method of claim 7, wherein searching for position information includes integrating the received signal over at least 60 consecutive subframes.\",\n \"11.The method of claim 7, wherein the frequency band is an M-LMS (Multilateration and Location Monitoring Service) band.\",\n \"12.A positioning system comprising: a transmitter that includes: a resource element grid generator (REGG) having first and second inputs and an output, the first input coupled to receive a signal indicating a number of physical resource blocks (PRBs) to be included in a generated grid of resource elements, and the second input coupled to receive a signal indicating a number of subframes to be consecutively transmitted by the transmitter; a modulator having a first input and an output, wherein the first input is coupled to the output of the REGG to receive a signal having a number of PRBs together in a slot and the signal having a number of slots to be consecutively transmitted from the transmitter; and a radio frequency (RF) signal generator having a first input coupled to the output of the modulator to receive a modulated waveform from the modulator, the modulated waveform having a number of consecutive slots to be contiguously transmitted in a continuous transmission at a frequency within a frequency band for transmitting a positioning signal.\",\n \"13.The system of claim 12, wherein the transmitter further includes: a physical layer (PHY) controller, the PHY controller having a first output coupled to the first input of the REGG to provide the signal indicating the number of physical resource blocks (PRBs) to be included in the generated grid of resource elements, the PHY controller having a second output coupled to the second input of the REGG to provide the signal indicating the number of subframes to be consecutively transmitted by the transmitter, wherein the modulator has a second input coupled to the PHY controller to receive position location content to be modulated on the signal received from resource element grid generator.\",\n \"14.The system of claim 12, wherein the RF signal generator has second input to receive information regarding a carrier frequency to be used for transmitting the positioning signal.\",\n \"15.The system of claim 12, wherein the received signal indicating the number of PRBs to be included in the generated grid of resource elements indicates that 37 or 40 PRBs are to be included in the generated grid of resource elements, and wherein each PRB comprises 7×12 resource elements.\",\n \"16.The system of claim 15, wherein each resource element represents the allocation of one symbol in time to one OFDM sub-carrier in frequency.\",\n \"17.The system of claim 12, wherein the received signal indicating the number of subframes to be consecutively transmitted by the transmitter indicates that the number of subframes to be consecutively transmitted is 60.18.The system of claim 12, wherein the frequency band is an M-LMS (Multilateration and Location Monitoring Service) band.\",\n \"19.The system of claim 12, the system further comprising: a receiver that includes: a down converter having a first input to receive an Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) modulated positioning signal, the down converter having a second input to receive information regarding a carrier frequency of the received positioning signal; and a searcher having a first input coupled to receive a signal indicating a number of physical resource blocks (PRBs) to be included in a search for position information within the received positioning signal, and having a second input coupled to receive a signal indicating a number of subframes over which the searcher is to integrate the received positioning signal in performing the search for positioning information.\",\n \"20.The receiver of claim 19, wherein the received positioning signal comprises a plurality of consecutively transmitted slots, wherein each slot of the received positioning signal having 37 or 40 PRBs, wherein the signal indicating the number of PRBs indicates that there are 37 or 40 PRBs in each slot of the received positioning signal, and wherein each PRB comprises 7×12 resource elements.\"\n ],\n [\n \" BACKGROUND Quickly and accurately estimating the location of things within a geographic area can be very useful.\",\n \"For example, information regarding the location of people or items can be used to speed up emergency response times, track movement of items and people, and link consumers to nearby businesses.\",\n \"Most approaches rely on a process called trilateration.\",\n \"Trilateration uses geometry to estimate the position of an object using distances traveled by different positioning signals (also referred to as “ranging” signals) that are transmitted from three or more transmitters to receivers that are co-located with the object to be located.\",\n \"Various networks of transmitters have been used to transmit positioning signals.\",\n \"For example, orbiting satellites in the Global Positioning Satellite (GPS) system transmit positioning signals.\",\n \"Each GPS satellite transmits a positioning signal on which a coarse/acquisition code is modulated.\",\n \"The positioning signal is received by a GPS receiver.\",\n \"The GPS receiver identifies the time the positioning signal was transmitted by the satellite.\",\n \"The receiver also determines a relative time of arrival based on an internal clock in the receiver.\",\n \"Once the transmission time and the relative reception times of the positioning signal are known, the receiver uses measurements from at least three satellites to solve a set of simultaneous equations to determine the position and relative clock offset for the receiver.\",\n \"Unfortunately, GPS signals are very faint, which means that the signals require integration over a very long time for a receiver to acquire a GPS signal and to demodulate enough information from the signal to determine the range measurements necessary to determine the location of the receiver.\",\n \"In many cases, the range measurements are not as accurate as may be desired due to the fact that the signals may take indirect paths from the GPS satellites to the receiver.\",\n \"Acquiring enough information to compute an estimated range measurement associated with a direct path from each GPS satellite to the receiver may take additional time and processing power.\",\n \"Receiving weak GPS signals in urban environments poses additional problems.\",\n \"Weak GPS signals often cannot reach receivers through buildings.\",\n \"In addition, in such urban environments, GPS signals are more likely to take multiple paths by reflecting off buildings.\",\n \"As noted above, such “multipathing” disrupts a receiver's ability to accurately estimate a range measurement between the receiver and the satellite.\",\n \"One way to address the challenges of determining the position location of a device in an urban environment is to use terrestrial transmitter systems.\",\n \"Such terrestrial transmitter systems provide stronger signals.\",\n \"Furthermore, terrestrial transmitter systems can include transmitters at different locations within the urban environment that reduce the number of instances when there is no direct path between the satellite and the receiver.\",\n \"Examples of terrestrial transmitter systems that transmit positioning signals are described in U.S. Pat.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"8,130,141 (the “'141 patent”).\",\n \"In at least one embodiment of the '141 patent, each terrestrial transmitter uses a GPS-like channel to transmit a precisely-timed positioning signal.\",\n \"The receiver computes its location by processing the positioning signals from three or more terrestrial transmitters, similar to the way in which the receiver would process GPS positioning signals from three or more GPS satellites.\",\n \"Since most (if not all) receivers understand how to process GPS signaling, the signals transmitted by such a terrestrial transmitter system can be used by existing receivers with minimal (or no) modifications to those receivers.\",\n \"Even though terrestrial transmitter systems provide a more-reliable positioning service than GPS, such terrestrial transmitter systems may require a substantial amount of additional infrastructure to transmit the terrestrial positioning signals.\",\n \"Therefore, it would be desirable to reduce the need for such additional terrestrial hardware.\",\n \"In addition to using terrestrial positioning signals transmitted from stations dedicated to sending such positioning signals, cellular telephones are capable of performing ranging measurements, such as observed time difference of arrival (OTDOA) measurements on cellular telephone signals, such as LTE (Long-Term Evolution) signals.\",\n \"Such signals are transmitted with waveforms organized in resource blocks.\",\n \"Each resource block consists of 7×12 resource elements in the case of normal cyclic prefix.\",\n \"In one embodiment in which an extended cyclic prefix is used, a Physical Resource Block (PRB) only has 6 symbols.\",\n \"A resource element represents the allocation of one symbol in time to one OFDM (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing) sub-carrier in frequency.\",\n \"A typical LTE waveform is transmitted at a frequency that is different from the frequency of dedicated terrestrial positioning systems, such as systems that conform to the well-known M-LMS industry standard.\",\n \"Typical LTE waveforms used to communicate positioning information comprise 50 resource blocks transmitted over a period of 6 ms.\",\n \"Accordingly, when determining the time difference of arrival of such LTE signals, the received signal is integrated over a period of no more than 6 ms.\",\n \"Restricting the positioning signals to 6 ms reduces the amount of bandwidth consumed by the positioning signals.\",\n \"While it is advantageous to use LTE signals for ranging due to the ubiquitous nature of the LTE, there are several deficiencies with using the LTE signals for ranging.\",\n \"For one, it would be advantageous to be able to integrate over longer times.\",\n \"In addition, it would be advantageous to have waveforms that conform with a format optimized for position location rather than to a cellular telephone format, such as the signals that are transmitted by M-LMS (Multilateration and Location Monitoring Service) systems.\"\n ],\n [\n \" SUMMARY Various embodiments described in this disclosure relate generally to methods, systems, means, and machine-readable media for reducing the number of additional terrestrial transmitters required to provide a reliable “position location” system (i.e., a “positioning” system that aids in determining the position of a receiver).\",\n \"Such methods, systems, means and machine-readable media may use pre-existing cellular telephone infrastructure to supplement terrestrial transmitter systems for determining the location of a receiver.\",\n \"Certain embodiments include a receiver capable of receiving LTE (Long-Term Evolution) signals and capable of executing instructions embodied in firmware, software or the like, in order to determine position location information from a received LTE-like position waveform.\",\n \"In one embodiment, positioning signals are transmitted continuously for what is referred to as a “positioning period” of up to 100 ms, allowing the receiver to integrate the received positioning signals over that positioning period.\",\n \"The positioning signals can be integrated coherently for up to 60 ms, assuming acceptable stability of a clock in the receiver, and further assuming that less than a predetermined amount of Doppler shift has been introduced in the received signal.\",\n \"For integration over a period greater than approximately 60 ms, the integration can be done non-coherently.\",\n \"Instructions may be executed by a physical layer controller that controls a radio frequency section (RF) of the receiver.\",\n \"Under the control of the firmware, the physical layer controller (i.e., PHY controller) instructs the RF section of the receiver to tune to a center frequency and indicates the number of PRB (physical resource blocks) to be used to generate the waveform.\",\n \"The center frequency is outside the LTE band.\",\n \"In addition, the number of PRBs (each having a bandwidth of 180 kHz (i.e., 12 sub-carriers multiplied by 15 kHz each) determines the bandwidth of the waveform.\",\n \"In one embodiment, the frequency to which the RF section tunes is in the M-LMS (Multilateration and Location Monitoring Service) frequency band.\",\n \"The PHY controller also instructs the RF section to receive the signal in accordance with an LTE-like format that has 40 PRBs for a bandwidth of approximately 7.2 MHz.\",\n \"The resulting signal is then pulse shaped to constrain the signal to the desired frequency mask.\",\n \"In one embodiment, the result of the pulse shaping is a signal having a bandwidth of 8 MHz.\",\n \"Alternatively, the LTE-like format has 37 PRBs for a bandwidth of 6.66 MHz which is pulse shaped to fit within a 7.5 MHz mask.\",\n \"In one embodiment, an LTE-like format can have other numbers of PRBs, where a PRB is defined according to the LTE standard.\",\n \"Each such PRB includes 12 subcarriers, and each sub-carrier has a bandwidth of approximately 15 kHz and extends for a period of 1 ms (i.e., the duration of an LTE subframe).\",\n \"A receiver may receive a waveform that includes a number of continuous subframes.\",\n \"The PHY controller may instruct the RF section to receive the number of subframes that are included in the waveform.\",\n \"In one embodiment, the waveform includes up to 100 or more subframes.\",\n \"In another embodiment, the waveform includes 60 subframes and the receiver performs coherent integration on the received signals.\",\n \"In yet another embodiment, the waveform includes 200 subframes.\",\n \"In yet another embodiment, the waveform includes n subframes, where n is greater than a standard number of subframes.\",\n \"The receiver may also decover the signal, including the PRS (position reference signal) samples, integrating them across the predetermined number of subframes to maximize the strength of the decovered positioning signal.\",\n \"By using firmware to control the PHY controller, the RF section can be controlled in a way that uses LTE standard PRBs to allow the RF section to generate a new LTE format that is particularly well-suited for generating positioning signals, such as M-LMS signals.\",\n \"Thus, the receiver may operate in accordance with the general operation of an LTE receiver, with the only change being to the firmware to instruct the RF section to generate a new waveform having a non-LTE standard number of PRBs at a non-LTE center frequency for a duration that is greater than the LTE waveform.\",\n \"A transmitter may be capable of transmitting LTE signals and capable of executing instructions to form LTE-like positioning signals having a duration of greater than 6 ms transmitted at a carrier frequency within a terrestrial positioning system spectrum, such as the spectrum used by M-LMS.\",\n \"In one embodiment, the instructions control the operation of a digital signal processor (DSP) within the physical layer of the transmitter.\",\n \"In another embodiment, the signals that are transmitted during the positioning period use a different type of modulation that is optimized for the positioning application—e.g., based on direct sequence spread spectrum (DSSS), such as employed in systems currently deployed in the M-LMS band., where LTE-based signals are transmitted at the remaining times.\",\n \"Details of embodiments are set forth in the drawings and the description below.\"\n ],\n [\n \"RELATED APPLICATIONS This application relates to U.S. patent application Ser.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"62/117,580, filed Feb. 18, 2015, entitled AN LTE-BASED WIRELESS COMMUNICATION SYSTEM FOR THE M-LMS BAND, the content of which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.\",\n \"This application relates to U.S. patent application Ser.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"15/015,935, filed Feb. 4, 2016, entitled AN LTE-BASED WIRELESS COMMUNICATION SYSTEM FOR THE M-LMS BAND, the content of which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.\",\n \"FIELD Various embodiments relate to wireless communications, and more particularly, to transmitting positioning signals over an M-LMS band from an LTE (Long-Term Evolution) base station.\",\n \"BACKGROUND Quickly and accurately estimating the location of things within a geographic area can be very useful.\",\n \"For example, information regarding the location of people or items can be used to speed up emergency response times, track movement of items and people, and link consumers to nearby businesses.\",\n \"Most approaches rely on a process called trilateration.\",\n \"Trilateration uses geometry to estimate the position of an object using distances traveled by different positioning signals (also referred to as “ranging” signals) that are transmitted from three or more transmitters to receivers that are co-located with the object to be located.\",\n \"Various networks of transmitters have been used to transmit positioning signals.\",\n \"For example, orbiting satellites in the Global Positioning Satellite (GPS) system transmit positioning signals.\",\n \"Each GPS satellite transmits a positioning signal on which a coarse/acquisition code is modulated.\",\n \"The positioning signal is received by a GPS receiver.\",\n \"The GPS receiver identifies the time the positioning signal was transmitted by the satellite.\",\n \"The receiver also determines a relative time of arrival based on an internal clock in the receiver.\",\n \"Once the transmission time and the relative reception times of the positioning signal are known, the receiver uses measurements from at least three satellites to solve a set of simultaneous equations to determine the position and relative clock offset for the receiver.\",\n \"Unfortunately, GPS signals are very faint, which means that the signals require integration over a very long time for a receiver to acquire a GPS signal and to demodulate enough information from the signal to determine the range measurements necessary to determine the location of the receiver.\",\n \"In many cases, the range measurements are not as accurate as may be desired due to the fact that the signals may take indirect paths from the GPS satellites to the receiver.\",\n \"Acquiring enough information to compute an estimated range measurement associated with a direct path from each GPS satellite to the receiver may take additional time and processing power.\",\n \"Receiving weak GPS signals in urban environments poses additional problems.\",\n \"Weak GPS signals often cannot reach receivers through buildings.\",\n \"In addition, in such urban environments, GPS signals are more likely to take multiple paths by reflecting off buildings.\",\n \"As noted above, such “multipathing” disrupts a receiver's ability to accurately estimate a range measurement between the receiver and the satellite.\",\n \"One way to address the challenges of determining the position location of a device in an urban environment is to use terrestrial transmitter systems.\",\n \"Such terrestrial transmitter systems provide stronger signals.\",\n \"Furthermore, terrestrial transmitter systems can include transmitters at different locations within the urban environment that reduce the number of instances when there is no direct path between the satellite and the receiver.\",\n \"Examples of terrestrial transmitter systems that transmit positioning signals are described in U.S. Pat.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"8,130,141 (the “'141 patent”).\",\n \"In at least one embodiment of the '141 patent, each terrestrial transmitter uses a GPS-like channel to transmit a precisely-timed positioning signal.\",\n \"The receiver computes its location by processing the positioning signals from three or more terrestrial transmitters, similar to the way in which the receiver would process GPS positioning signals from three or more GPS satellites.\",\n \"Since most (if not all) receivers understand how to process GPS signaling, the signals transmitted by such a terrestrial transmitter system can be used by existing receivers with minimal (or no) modifications to those receivers.\",\n \"Even though terrestrial transmitter systems provide a more-reliable positioning service than GPS, such terrestrial transmitter systems may require a substantial amount of additional infrastructure to transmit the terrestrial positioning signals.\",\n \"Therefore, it would be desirable to reduce the need for such additional terrestrial hardware.\",\n \"In addition to using terrestrial positioning signals transmitted from stations dedicated to sending such positioning signals, cellular telephones are capable of performing ranging measurements, such as observed time difference of arrival (OTDOA) measurements on cellular telephone signals, such as LTE (Long-Term Evolution) signals.\",\n \"Such signals are transmitted with waveforms organized in resource blocks.\",\n \"Each resource block consists of 7×12 resource elements in the case of normal cyclic prefix.\",\n \"In one embodiment in which an extended cyclic prefix is used, a Physical Resource Block (PRB) only has 6 symbols.\",\n \"A resource element represents the allocation of one symbol in time to one OFDM (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing) sub-carrier in frequency.\",\n \"A typical LTE waveform is transmitted at a frequency that is different from the frequency of dedicated terrestrial positioning systems, such as systems that conform to the well-known M-LMS industry standard.\",\n \"Typical LTE waveforms used to communicate positioning information comprise 50 resource blocks transmitted over a period of 6 ms.\",\n \"Accordingly, when determining the time difference of arrival of such LTE signals, the received signal is integrated over a period of no more than 6 ms.\",\n \"Restricting the positioning signals to 6 ms reduces the amount of bandwidth consumed by the positioning signals.\",\n \"While it is advantageous to use LTE signals for ranging due to the ubiquitous nature of the LTE, there are several deficiencies with using the LTE signals for ranging.\",\n \"For one, it would be advantageous to be able to integrate over longer times.\",\n \"In addition, it would be advantageous to have waveforms that conform with a format optimized for position location rather than to a cellular telephone format, such as the signals that are transmitted by M-LMS (Multilateration and Location Monitoring Service) systems.\",\n \"SUMMARY Various embodiments described in this disclosure relate generally to methods, systems, means, and machine-readable media for reducing the number of additional terrestrial transmitters required to provide a reliable “position location” system (i.e., a “positioning” system that aids in determining the position of a receiver).\",\n \"Such methods, systems, means and machine-readable media may use pre-existing cellular telephone infrastructure to supplement terrestrial transmitter systems for determining the location of a receiver.\",\n \"Certain embodiments include a receiver capable of receiving LTE (Long-Term Evolution) signals and capable of executing instructions embodied in firmware, software or the like, in order to determine position location information from a received LTE-like position waveform.\",\n \"In one embodiment, positioning signals are transmitted continuously for what is referred to as a “positioning period” of up to 100 ms, allowing the receiver to integrate the received positioning signals over that positioning period.\",\n \"The positioning signals can be integrated coherently for up to 60 ms, assuming acceptable stability of a clock in the receiver, and further assuming that less than a predetermined amount of Doppler shift has been introduced in the received signal.\",\n \"For integration over a period greater than approximately 60 ms, the integration can be done non-coherently.\",\n \"Instructions may be executed by a physical layer controller that controls a radio frequency section (RF) of the receiver.\",\n \"Under the control of the firmware, the physical layer controller (i.e., PHY controller) instructs the RF section of the receiver to tune to a center frequency and indicates the number of PRB (physical resource blocks) to be used to generate the waveform.\",\n \"The center frequency is outside the LTE band.\",\n \"In addition, the number of PRBs (each having a bandwidth of 180 kHz (i.e., 12 sub-carriers multiplied by 15 kHz each) determines the bandwidth of the waveform.\",\n \"In one embodiment, the frequency to which the RF section tunes is in the M-LMS (Multilateration and Location Monitoring Service) frequency band.\",\n \"The PHY controller also instructs the RF section to receive the signal in accordance with an LTE-like format that has 40 PRBs for a bandwidth of approximately 7.2 MHz.\",\n \"The resulting signal is then pulse shaped to constrain the signal to the desired frequency mask.\",\n \"In one embodiment, the result of the pulse shaping is a signal having a bandwidth of 8 MHz.\",\n \"Alternatively, the LTE-like format has 37 PRBs for a bandwidth of 6.66 MHz which is pulse shaped to fit within a 7.5 MHz mask.\",\n \"In one embodiment, an LTE-like format can have other numbers of PRBs, where a PRB is defined according to the LTE standard.\",\n \"Each such PRB includes 12 subcarriers, and each sub-carrier has a bandwidth of approximately 15 kHz and extends for a period of 1 ms (i.e., the duration of an LTE subframe).\",\n \"A receiver may receive a waveform that includes a number of continuous subframes.\",\n \"The PHY controller may instruct the RF section to receive the number of subframes that are included in the waveform.\",\n \"In one embodiment, the waveform includes up to 100 or more subframes.\",\n \"In another embodiment, the waveform includes 60 subframes and the receiver performs coherent integration on the received signals.\",\n \"In yet another embodiment, the waveform includes 200 subframes.\",\n \"In yet another embodiment, the waveform includes n subframes, where n is greater than a standard number of subframes.\",\n \"The receiver may also decover the signal, including the PRS (position reference signal) samples, integrating them across the predetermined number of subframes to maximize the strength of the decovered positioning signal.\",\n \"By using firmware to control the PHY controller, the RF section can be controlled in a way that uses LTE standard PRBs to allow the RF section to generate a new LTE format that is particularly well-suited for generating positioning signals, such as M-LMS signals.\",\n \"Thus, the receiver may operate in accordance with the general operation of an LTE receiver, with the only change being to the firmware to instruct the RF section to generate a new waveform having a non-LTE standard number of PRBs at a non-LTE center frequency for a duration that is greater than the LTE waveform.\",\n \"A transmitter may be capable of transmitting LTE signals and capable of executing instructions to form LTE-like positioning signals having a duration of greater than 6 ms transmitted at a carrier frequency within a terrestrial positioning system spectrum, such as the spectrum used by M-LMS.\",\n \"In one embodiment, the instructions control the operation of a digital signal processor (DSP) within the physical layer of the transmitter.\",\n \"In another embodiment, the signals that are transmitted during the positioning period use a different type of modulation that is optimized for the positioning application—e.g., based on direct sequence spread spectrum (DSSS), such as employed in systems currently deployed in the M-LMS band., where LTE-based signals are transmitted at the remaining times.\",\n \"Details of embodiments are set forth in the drawings and the description below.\",\n \"BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG.\",\n \"1 illustrates a positioning system.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"2 depicts a simplified block diagram of an LTE transmitter.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"3 illustrates of one embodiment of the structure of a waveform.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"4 shows additional details regarding the structure of an LTE waveform.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"5 depicts a simplified functional block diagram of the PHY layer of a transmitter.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"6 illustrates an LTE waveform where there are 40 PRBs in each slot.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"7 depicts a simplified block diagram of a receiver that is capable of receiving positioning signals in a positioning frequency band.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"8 depicts a simplified functional block diagram of the PHY layer of the receiver.\",\n \"Like reference numbers and designations in the drawings indicate like elements.\",\n \"DETAILED DESCRIPTION FIG.\",\n \"1 illustrates a positioning system 100.The positioning system 100 includes any number of receivers, including a receiver 120 that receive signals from transmitters 110, satellites 150, and/or other system nodes 160 via corresponding transmitted communication signals 113, 153 and 163.The receiver 120 may also receive information from a backend system 130 through the transmitters 110 and from other receivers.\",\n \"For the sake of simplicity, the connections between the backend system 130 and each of the transmitters 110 is not shown.\",\n \"The transmitters 110 may be configured to transmit signals 113 that are received by the receiver 120.The transmitters 110 communicate with the backend 130 via the transmitted communication signals 133.In some embodiments, the transmitters 110 transmit the signals 113 using one or more common multiplexing schemes, such as time multiplexing using different time slots, code division multiplexing using different pseudorandom sequences, or frequency division multiplexing using different frequencies.\",\n \"Each of the signals 113 from each of the transmitters 110 may carry different information that, once extracted by the receiver 120 or the backend 130, may identify the following: (1) the transmitter that transmitted the signal; (2) the latitude, longitude and altitude (LLA) of that transmitter; (3) pressure, temperature and other atmospheric conditions at or near that transmitter; (4) ranging information that is used to measure a distance to that transmitter; and (5) other information.\",\n \"In one embodiment, at least one of the transmitters 110 is an LTE transmitter capable of sending signals in accordance with the LTE (Long Term Evolution) standard.\",\n \"The receiver 120 may include a location computation engine (not shown) to determine positioning information based on the signals 113, 153, and/or 163 received from the transmitters 110, the satellites 150, and/or the nodes 160.The receiver 120 may include a signal processing component (not shown) that: (1) demodulates the received signals 113, 153, and/or 163; (2) estimates positioning information like travel time of the received signals 113, 153, and/or 163; and (3) uses the positioning information to estimate the position of the receiver 120.The backend 130 communicates with various other systems, such as the transmitters 110, the receivers 120, and the other networks 160.The backend system 130 may include one or more processor(s), data source(s), and other components (not shown).\",\n \"One of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that methods described herein may be carried out using processors at any or all of the transmitters 110, the receivers 120, the backend 130, and other components of the system 100.FIG.\",\n \"2 is a simplified block diagram of an LTE transmitter 200.An upper protocol layer module 202 determines the content that is to be transmitted based on information received from another source, such as from a backend system 130 (see FIG.\",\n \"1) or from a network, such as the internet or a telecommunications network.\",\n \"In one embodiment, the content to be transmitted is positioning information generated locally (i.e., either in a physical layer controller (PHY controller) 204 or upper protocol layers 202 of the receiver 200.Alternatively, the positioning information can be generated at a remote location and provided to the transmitter 200.In one embodiment in which the information to be transmitted is generated or received by the upper protocol layer 202, the information is provided by the upper protocol layer 202 to the PHY controller 204.The PHY controller 204 determines how much bandwidth is needed to transmit the information.\",\n \"A set of LTE parameters are provided by the PHY controller 204 to the physical layer (PHY layer) 206.In response to the LTE parameters provided to the PHY layer 206 by the PHY controller 204, the PHY layer will modulate the information onto an LTE waveform and couple the LTE waveform to a transmission antenna 208.The current LTE standard defines positioning reference signals (PRS) that are transmitted in band (i.e., at the same frequency as the voice information).\",\n \"Accordingly, the LTE standard places a limit on the duration of the PRS signal.\",\n \"In one embodiment, the PRS signals are transmitted in a positioning frequency band that is distinct from the band used to communicate other information (e.g., voice and other non-position location related data).\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"3 illustrates the structure of an LTE waveform 300.An LTE waveform is organized as frames 301.Each of the frames 301 is ten milliseconds (ms) long, and comprises ten subframes 303.Each of the subframes 303 is one ms long, and comprises two slots 305 of 0.5 ms each.\",\n \"While a frame is ten ms long, the LTE standard limits PRS signals to a maximum of 6 subframes (i.e., 6 ms).\",\n \"Positioning signals that conform to this structure are “covered” or “spread” with a pseudo-random number (PRN) code sequence based on a “gold code” sequence.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"4 shows additional details regarding the structure of an LTE waveform 300.Each of the slots 305 can be used to transmit a number of physical resource blocks (PRBs) 401.Each PRB 401 has a duration of 7 symbols in time and is 12 subcarriers wide in frequency (i.e., 7×12 resource elements).\",\n \"Each subcarrier is 15 kHz wide.\",\n \"A resource element 403 represents the allocation of one symbol in time to one subcarrier in frequency.\",\n \"Accordingly, each PRB 401 comprises 84 resource elements 403.A typical LTE waveform used for cellular telephone communications has 50 PRBs centered at frequencies allocated by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).\",\n \"When the PHY controller 204 instructs the PHY layer 206 to transmit information, the parameters that the PHY controller 204 provides the PHY layer 206 include: (1) the center frequency at which the LTE waveform is to be transmitted (i.e., the positioning frequency band carrier frequency); (2) the number of resource blocks that will be used in the waveform and (3) the number of subframes to be continuously transmitted.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"5 is a simplified functional block diagram of the PHY layer 206 in one embodiment.\",\n \"The number of PRBs and subframes to be used are provided to the PHY layer 206 by the PHY controller 204 (see FIG.\",\n \"2).\",\n \"For each of the slots 305, a Resource Element Grid Generator (REGG) 502 generates a resource element grid 405 based on the information provided by the PHY controller 204.In one embodiment, each of the slots 305 includes 40 PRBs 401.In one embodiment, the REGG 502 is a digital signal processor (DSP) that generates a signal having a bandwidth determined by the number of the PRBs 401 to be included in the grid 405.Alternatively, the REGG 502 is an analog signal processor or module comprising discrete components capable of generating the grid 405.The generated grid 405 is coupled to an LTE modulator 504.The LTE modulator 504 modulates position location content to be transmitted onto the signals of the generated grid 405.In one embodiment, the content is modulated using OFDM (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing) modulation.\",\n \"An output of the LTE modulator 504 is coupled to a pulse shaping filter module 506 that pulse shapes the signal to be transmitted to fit the waveform into a desired mask.\",\n \"The mask is determined based on the position frequency band requirements provided by the PHY controller 204.The position frequency band requirements include the available bandwidth and the spectral mask to be used.\",\n \"In one embodiment, these requirements are dictated by an industry standard.\",\n \"In one embodiment in which the bandwidth of the positioning signal is 8 MHz, 40 PRBs 401 are used to generate the grid 405.In an alternative embodiment, the positioning signal bandwidth is 7.5 MHz, in which case 37 PRBs are used to generate the grid 405.The output from the filter 506 is coupled to an RF signal generator 508.The RF signal generator 508 up-converts the signal to the position location carrier frequency.\",\n \"In one embodiment, the M-LMS band is used to transmit positioning signals using a waveform that is similar to the LTE waveform, but having a non-LTE carrier frequency, a number of PRBs that differ from the LTE waveform, and being transmitted with up to 200 or more subframes.\",\n \"It should be noted that as a consequence of the pulse shaping of the filter 506, the output to the RF signal generator 508 will have an 8 MHz bandwidth, even though the generated grid is 40×180 kHz=7.2 MHz.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"6 is an illustration of an LTE waveform generated in one embodiment in which there are 40 PRBs in each slot.\",\n \"In one such embodiment, 100 continuous subframes (having 200 slots) are transmitted together.\",\n \"In another embodiment, the number of subframes that are transmitted together can vary depending upon the conditions under which signals are being transmitted.\",\n \"Under conditions that are more challenging for the receivers, a greater number of subframes can be transmitted.\",\n \"For example, when the transmitter is operating in an urban environment, a relatively large number of subframes can be transmitted together.\",\n \"In one such embodiment, 200 or more subframes can be transmitted in a very challenging environment.\",\n \"In a less challenging environment, 60 continuous subframes or less are transmitted together.\",\n \"By continuously transmitting more subframes, the receiver can integrate over a longer period, increasing the sensitivity of the receiver.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"7 is a simplified block diagram of a receiver 700 in one embodiment.\",\n \"Signals transmitted from an LTE transmitter 200 are received in an antenna 702.The output from the antenna 702 is coupled to a PHY layer 704.The PHY layer 704 receives control signals from a PHY controller 706.The control signals indicate the structure of the waveform to be received, including the frequency of the carrier, the number of subframes 303 over which the received signal will be integrated, and the number of PRBs 401 to be received.\",\n \"As noted above in relation to one embodiment, the signals are received in the M-LMS band.\",\n \"Alternatively, the signals can be received at other frequencies appropriate for transmission and reception of positioning signals.\",\n \"For signals that are received with 200 or more subframes, the receiver can integrate the received signal over the entire period of 200 or more milliseconds.\",\n \"In one such embodiment in which the received signal has a bandwidth of approximately 8 MHz, the PHY controller 706 instructs the PHY layer 704 that there are 40 PRBs in each slot.\",\n \"Alternatively, the received signal may have a bandwidth of 7.5 MHz, in which case, the PHY controller 706 will instruct the PHY layer 704 that there are 37 PRBs in the received signal.\",\n \"It will be understood by those skilled in the art that the particular number of PRBs to be received may depend upon the number of PRBs in the transmitted signals.\",\n \"The number of PRBs, in turn, depends upon the bandwidth of the signal to be transmitted and the filter used within the transmitter to pulse shape the signal prior to up-converting the signal to the carrier frequency.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"8 is an exemplary simplified block diagram of a PHY layer 704.The received over-the-air (OTA) signals are coupled from the antenna 702 (see FIG.\",\n \"7) to a receiver down converter 801 within the PHY layer 704.The output of the down converter 801 is coupled to a searcher 803.The searcher 803 also receives signals from the PHY controller 706.The signals from the PHY controller 706 indicate the number of subframes that have been continuously transmitted and the number of PRBs in each slot of each subframe.\",\n \"The searcher 803 uses the number of PRBs to set the parameter for a PRS.\",\n \"In one embodiment, the PRS includes a gold code that is OFDM encoded into the PRBs of the received signal.\",\n \"Finding the gold code provides a means to determine the relative distance (i.e., range) from the transmitter to the receiver.\",\n \"In addition, the searcher 803 uses the number of subframes to determine how long to integrate the signal received from the down converter 801.By receiving a signal that has a relatively large number of continuously transmitted PRBs, the integration period of the searcher can be relatively long.\",\n \"Increasing the length of the integration period improves the sensitivity of the receiver.\",\n \"The output of the searcher 803 is a ranging output 805 that can be used to determine the relative distance between the transmitter and the receiver.\",\n \"Examples of Other Features in Some Embodiments Functionality and operation disclosed herein may be embodied as one or more methods implemented, in whole or in part, by machine(s)—e.g., processor(s), computers, or other suitable means known in the art—at one or more locations, which enhances the functionality of those machines, as well as computing devices that incorporate those machines.\",\n \"Non-transitory machine-readable media embodying program instructions adapted to be executed to implement the method(s) are also contemplated.\",\n \"Execution of the program instructions by one or more processors cause the processors to carry out the method(s).\",\n \"Systems (e.g., apparatuses or components thereof) operable to implement the method(s) are also contemplated.\",\n \"It is noted that method steps described herein may be order independent, and can therefore be performed in an order different from that described.\",\n \"It is also noted that different method steps described herein can be combined to form any number of methods, as would be understood by one of skill in the art.\",\n \"It is further noted that any two or more steps described herein may be performed at the same time.\",\n \"Any method step or feature disclosed herein may be expressly restricted from a claim for various reasons like achieving reduced manufacturing costs, lower power consumption, and increased processing efficiency.\",\n \"By way of example, not by way of limitation, method(s), system(s) or other means may perform the following or be operable perform the following: generating a grid of resource elements, the resource elements within the grid being grouped into physical resource blocks (PRBs); organizing the PRBs in slots, each slot having a number of the PRBs; and transmitting a plurality of the slots in a continuous transmission at a frequency within a frequency band allocated for determining position.\",\n \"In different embodiments, the number of PRBs is 40 or 37.In at least one embodiment, the slot is 0.5 milliseconds in duration.\",\n \"In at least one embodiment, each PRB comprises 7×12 resource elements.\",\n \"In different embodiments, slots are transmitted in at least 60 consecutive subframes, at least 100 consecutive subframes, or at least 200 consecutive subframes.\",\n \"In at least one embodiment, each resource element represents an allocation of one symbol in time to one OFDM (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing) sub-carrier in frequency.\",\n \"In at least one embodiment, each resource element represents an allocation of one symbol in time to one LTE OFDM (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing) sub-carrier in frequency.\",\n \"In at least one embodiment, the frequency band allocated for transmitting positioning signals is an M-LMS (Multilateration and Location Monitoring Service) band.\",\n \"Method(s), system(s) or other means may further or alternatively perform the following or be operable to perform the following: transmitting a Long Term Evolution (LTE) signal over another frequency allocated by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for use by cellular telephones.\",\n \"By way of example, not by way of limitation, method(s), system(s) or other means may perform the following or be operable perform the following: generating a grid of resource elements, the resource elements within the grid being grouped into physical resource blocks (PRBs); receiving an Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) modulated positioning signal on a frequency for transmitting positioning signals; and searching for positioning information within the received positioning signal using the parameters of the generated grid of resource elements as search parameters, where the resource elements used for positioning information are contiguous.\",\n \"In different embodiments, the grid of resource elements includes 40 or 37 PRBs that are grouped together in a slot.\",\n \"In at least one embodiment, the slot is 0.5 milliseconds in duration.\",\n \"In at least one embodiment, each PRB comprises 7×12 resource elements.\",\n \"In at least one embodiment, each resource element represents the allocation of one symbol in time to one OFDM sub-carrier in frequency.\",\n \"In at least one embodiment, each resource element represents an allocation of one symbol in time to one LTE OFDM (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing) sub-carrier in frequency.\",\n \"In at least one embodiment, each resource element represents the allocation of one symbol in time to one OFDM sub-carrier in frequency.\",\n \"In different embodiments, searching for position information includes integrating the received signal over at least 60 consecutive subframes, at least 100 consecutive subframes, or at least 200 consecutive subframes.\",\n \"In at least one embodiment, the frequency band is an M-LMS (Multilateration and Location Monitoring Service) band.\",\n \"By way of example, one or more systems may comprise hardware modules that perform the methods or particular steps of the methods disclosed herein.\",\n \"In accordance with certain embodiments, a transmitter for transmitting positioning signals includes: a resource element grid generator (REGG) having first and second inputs and an output, the first input coupled to receive a signal indicating a number of physical resource blocks (PRBs) to be included in a generated grid of resource elements, and the second input coupled to receive a signal indicating a number of subframes to be consecutively transmitted by the transmitter; a modulator having a first input and an output, wherein the first input is coupled to the output of the REGG to receive a signal having a number of PRBs together in a slot and the signal having a number of slots to be consecutively transmitted from the transmitter; and a radio frequency (RF) signal generator having a first input coupled to the output of the modulator to receive a modulated waveform from the modulator, the modulated waveform having a number of consecutive slots to be contiguously transmitted at a frequency within a frequency band for transmitting a positioning signal.\",\n \"The transmitter may further comprise: a physical layer (PHY) controller, the PHY controller having a first output coupled to the first input of the REGG to provide the signal indicating the number of physical resource blocks (PRBs) to be included in the generated grid of resource elements, the PHY controller having a second output coupled to the second input of the REGG to provide the signal indicating the number of subframes to be consecutively transmitted by the transmitter.\",\n \"In at least one embodiment, the modulator has a second input coupled to the PHY controller to receive position location content to be modulated on the signal received from resource element grid generator.\",\n \"In at least one embodiment, the RF signal generator has second input to receive information regarding a carrier frequency to be used for transmitting the positioning signals.\",\n \"In different embodiments, the received signal indicating the number of PRBs to be included in the generated grid of resource elements indicates that 40 or 37 PRBs are to be included in the generated grid of resource elements.\",\n \"In at least one embodiment, each PRB comprises 7×12 resource elements.\",\n \"In at least one embodiment, each resource element represents the allocation of one symbol in time to one OFDM sub-carrier in frequency.\",\n \"In at least one embodiment, each resource element represents the allocation of one symbol in time to one OFDM sub-carrier in frequency.\",\n \"In different embodiments, the received signal indicating the number of subframes to be consecutively transmitted by the transmitter indicates that the number of subframes to be consecutively transmitted is 60, 100 or 200.In at least one embodiment, the frequency band allocated by the FCC for transmitting positioning signals is an M-LMS (Multilateration and Location Monitoring Service) band.\",\n \"In accordance with certain embodiments, a receiver of positioning signals includes: a down converter having a first input to receive an Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) modulated positioning signal, the down converter having a second input to receive information regarding a carrier frequency of the received positioning signal; and a searcher having a first input coupled to receive a signal indicating a number of physical resource blocks (PRBs) to be included in a search for position information within the received positioning signal, and having a second input coupled to receive a signal indicating a number of subframes over which the searcher is to integrate the received positioning signal in performing the search for positioning information.\",\n \"In different embodiments, the received positioning signal comprises a plurality of consecutively transmitted slots, each slot of the received positioning signal having 40 or 37 PRBs.\",\n \"In different embodiments, the signal indicating the number of PRBs indicates that there are 40 or 37 PRBs in each slot of the received positioning signal.\",\n \"In different embodiments, the received positioning signal comprises 60, 100 or 200 subframes.\",\n \"In different embodiments, the signal indicating the number of subframes indicates that the search is to integrate across 60, 100 or 200 subframes of the received signal.\",\n \"In at least one embodiment, each PRB comprises 7×12 resource elements.\",\n \"In at least one embodiment, each resource element represents the allocation of one symbol in time to one OFDM sub-carrier in frequency.\",\n \"In at least one embodiment, each resource element represents the allocation of one symbol in time to one OFDM sub-carrier in frequency.\",\n \"In at least one embodiment, each module includes one or more inputs to receive information used to perform what it is operable to do, and further includes one or more outputs to send information to other modules.\",\n \"A “receiver” may be in the form of a computing device (e.g., a mobile phone, a tablet, a PDA, a laptop, a digital camera, a tracking tag).\",\n \"A receiver may also take the form of any component of the computer, including a processor.\",\n \"Processing by the receiver can also occur at a server.\",\n \"The illustrative methods described herein may be implemented, performed, or otherwise controlled by suitable hardware known or later-developed by one of skill in the art, or by firmware or software executed by processor(s), or any combination of hardware, software and firmware.\",\n \"Software may be downloadable and non-downloadable at a particular system.\",\n \"Such software, once loaded on a machine, changes the operation of that machine.\",\n \"Systems on which methods described herein are performed may include one or more means that implement those methods.\",\n \"For example, such means may include processor(s) or other hardware that, when executing instructions (e.g., embodied in software or firmware), perform any method step disclosed herein.\",\n \"A processor may include, or be included within, a computer or computing device, a controller, an integrated circuit, a “chip”, a system on a chip, a server, other programmable logic devices, other circuitry, or any combination thereof.\",\n \"“Memory” may be accessible by a machine (e.g., a processor), such that the machine can read/write information from/to the memory.\",\n \"Memory may be integral with or separate from the machine.\",\n \"Memory may include a non-transitory machine-readable medium having machine-readable program code (e.g., instructions) embodied therein that is adapted to be executed to implement any or all of the methods and method steps disclosed herein.\",\n \"Memory may include any available storage media, including removable, non-removable, volatile, and non-volatile media—e.g., integrated circuit media, magnetic storage media, optical storage media, or any other computer data storage media.\",\n \"As used herein, machine-readable media includes all forms of machine-readable media except to the extent that such media is deemed to be non-statutory (e.g., transitory propagating signals).\",\n \"All of the information disclosed herein may be represented by data, and that data may be transmitted over any communication pathway using any protocol, stored on data source(s), and processed by a processor.\",\n \"Transmission of data may be carried out using a variety of wires, cables, radio signals and infrared light beams, and an even greater variety of connectors, plugs and protocols even if not shown or explicitly described.\",\n \"Systems may exchange information with each other using any communication technology.\",\n \"Data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, and chips and the like may be represented by voltages, currents, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or particles, or optical fields or particles.\",\n \"Features in system figures that are illustrated as rectangles may refer to hardware, firmware or software.\",\n \"It is noted that lines linking two such features may be illustrative of data transfer between those features.\",\n \"Such transfer may occur directly between those features or through intermediate features.\",\n \"Where no line connects two features, transfer of data between those features is contemplated unless otherwise stated.\",\n \"When two things (e.g., modules, circuit elements, etc.)\",\n \"are “coupled to” each other, those two things may be directly connected together, or may be separated by one or more intervening things.\",\n \"Thus, no direct connection is required between the two things.\",\n \"Where an output and an input are coupled to each other, data and/or signaling sent from the output is received by the input even if the data passes through one or more intermediate things.\",\n \"The words comprise, comprising, include, including and the like are to be construed in an inclusive sense (i.e., not limited to) as opposed to an exclusive sense (i.e., consisting only of).\",\n \"Words using the singular or plural number also include the plural or singular number, respectively.\",\n \"The word or and the word and, as used in the Detailed Description, cover any of the items and all of the items in a list.\",\n \"The words some, any and at least one refer to one or more.\",\n \"The term may is used herein to indicate an example, not a requirement—e.g., a thing that may perform an operation or may have a characteristic need not perform that operation or have that characteristic in each embodiment, but that thing performs that operation or has that characteristic in at least one embodiment.\",\n \"It is noted that the term “GPS” may refer to any Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS), such as GLONASS, Galileo, and Compass/Beidou, and vice versa.\"\n ]\n]"},"source":{"kind":"string","value":"Patent_15876045"}}},{"rowIdx":4495061,"cells":{"text":{"kind":"list like","value":[["SEMICONDUCTOR PACKAGE WITH CANTILEVER PADS","One or more embodiments are directed to semiconductor packages with one or more cantilever pads and methods of making same.","In one embodiment a recess is located in a substrate of the package facing the cantilever pad.","The cantilever pad includes a conductive pad on which a conductive ball is formed.","The cantilever pad is configured to absorb stresses acting on the package."],["1.A method, comprising: forming a recess in a first surface of a first layer of insulative material; covering the recess with a second layer of insulative material, a layer of conductive material located on the second layer and extending over a portion of the recess; and forming a through hole in the second layer of insulative material to form a cantilever pad over the recess.","2.The method of claim 1, further comprising forming a conductive ball on the cantilever pad.","3.The method of claim 1, further comprising forming a conductive through via through the first and second layers, the conductive through via being electrically coupled to the cantilever pad.","4.The method of claim 3 wherein the conductive through via is coupled to a pad on a second surface of the first layer, the second surface being opposite the first surface, the pad being electrically coupled to the cantilever pad.","5.The method of claim 4, further comprising coupling a semiconductor die to the second surface of the first layer and electrically coupling the semiconductor die to the pad.","6.The method of claim 1 wherein forming the through hole comprises forming a U-shaped, C-shaped, or V-shaped through hole around the layer of conductive material extending over the portion of the recess.","7.A method, comprising: forming a recess in a first surface of a substrate that includes insulative material; partially covering the recess with a cantilevered pad, the cantilevered pad being configured to flex into the recess; and attaching a solder ball to the cantilevered pad.","8.The method of claim 7, further comprising coupling a semiconductor die to a second surface of the substrate, the second surface being opposite the first surface, and electrically coupling the semiconductor die to the cantilevered pad.","9.The method of claim 8 wherein electrically coupling the semiconductor die to the cantilevered pad includes coupling a first end of a wire to a bond pad of the semiconductor die and coupling a second end of the wire to a pad on a second surface of the substrate, wherein the pad on the second surface of the substrate is coupled to the cantilevered pad by a conductive through via in the substrate.","10.The method of claim 7 wherein partially covering the recess comprises: coupling a layer of insulative material to the first surface of the substrate; forming a conductive layer on the layer of the insulative material; and forming a through hole that extends through an entire thickness of the layer of insulative material.","11.The method of claim 10 wherein coupling the layer of insulative material to the first surface of the substrate comprises laminating the layer of insulative material to the first surface of the substrate.","12.The method of claim 10 wherein forming the through hole comprises forming a through hole that is U, C, or V shaped.","13.The method of claim 7 wherein forming the recess in the first surface of the substrate comprises forming a plurality of recesses in the first surface of the substrate, and wherein partially covering comprises partially covering the plurality of recesses with cantilevered pads, respectively.","14.A method, comprising: forming a recess in a first surface of a first layer of insulative material; coupling the first layer and a second layer of insulating material together, the second layer covering the recess; depositing a conductive material on the second layer, the conductive material located over a portion of the recess; and forming a through hole in the second layer of insulative material, the through hole of the second layer being in fluid communication with the recess of the second layer, wherein forming the through hole includes forming a cantilever pad, a portion of the conductive material deposited on the second layer being located on the cantilever pad.","15.The method of claim 14 wherein coupling the first and second layers together comprises laminating the first and second layers together.","16.The method of claim 14 wherein forming the through hole in the second layer occurs after coupling the first and second layers together.","17.The method of claim 14 wherein forming the through hole comprises forming a U-shaped, C-shaped, or V-shaped through hole.","18.The method of claim 14, further comprising: securing a semiconductor die to the first surface of the first layer; and electrically coupling the semiconductor die to the conductive material on the second layer and on the cantilever pad.","19.The method of claim 14 wherein forming the recess comprises forming a plurality of recesses and forming the through hole comprises forming a plurality of through holes."],[" BACKGROUND "],[" BRIEF SUMMARY One or more embodiments are directed to semiconductor packages with one or more cantilever pads and methods of making same.","In one embodiment a recess is located in a substrate of the package facing the cantilever pad.","The cantilever pad includes a conductive pad on which a conductive ball is formed.","The cantilever pad is configured to absorb stresses acting on the package.","For instance, the cantilever pad may be configured to flex into the recess and/or flex outwardly therefrom.","In that regard, the cantilever pad may respond readily in response to stress that is acting on various materials of the semiconductor package.","For instance, during operation, the cantilever pad may be configured to flex inward, toward the recess, and/or outward, away from the recess, in response to expansion of one or more materials caused by various materials having differing CTEs and expanding at differing rates.","Thus, the likelihood of cracks being formed in electrical structures of the package or a PCB coupled to the package is reduced.","In one embodiment, the cantilever pad may prevent or reduce the likelihood of cracks occurring in conductive balls that electrically couple the package to the PCB."],["BACKGROUND Technical Field Embodiments of the present disclosure are directed to semiconductor packages and methods of making same.","Description of the Related Art Reliability of semiconductor packages is of significant importance.","Although various issues cause reliability problems in semiconductor packages, one known reason for reliability issues is that packages and the boards, onto which the package are mounted, are formed of various types of materials, each having different coefficients of thermal expansion (CTE).","During use, heat is generated, and due to differing CTEs, stress may be introduced into the package and/or the board, which can cause cracks, for instance, in solder joints that couple the semiconductor package to a printed circuit board (PCB), thereby affecting board level reliability of the package by disrupting the electrical coupling between the package and the PCB.","BRIEF SUMMARY One or more embodiments are directed to semiconductor packages with one or more cantilever pads and methods of making same.","In one embodiment a recess is located in a substrate of the package facing the cantilever pad.","The cantilever pad includes a conductive pad on which a conductive ball is formed.","The cantilever pad is configured to absorb stresses acting on the package.","For instance, the cantilever pad may be configured to flex into the recess and/or flex outwardly therefrom.","In that regard, the cantilever pad may respond readily in response to stress that is acting on various materials of the semiconductor package.","For instance, during operation, the cantilever pad may be configured to flex inward, toward the recess, and/or outward, away from the recess, in response to expansion of one or more materials caused by various materials having differing CTEs and expanding at differing rates.","Thus, the likelihood of cracks being formed in electrical structures of the package or a PCB coupled to the package is reduced.","In one embodiment, the cantilever pad may prevent or reduce the likelihood of cracks occurring in conductive balls that electrically couple the package to the PCB.","BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS In the drawings, identical reference numbers identify similar elements.","The sizes and relative positions of elements in the drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale.","FIG.","1A is a cross-sectional view of a semiconductor package in accordance with one embodiment of the disclosure.","FIG.","1B is a close-up cross-sectional view of the package of FIG.","1.FIG.","1C is a close-up bottom view of the close-up view of FIG.","1B.","FIG.","2 is a close-up cross sectional view of the package of FIG.","1 coupled to another device.","FIG.","3 illustrates a bottom surface of a package that includes some cantilever pads in accordance with one embodiment.","FIGS.","4A-4H illustrate cross-sectional views illustrating the packages of FIG.","1 being assembled in the close-up view of FIG.","1B at various stages of manufacture in accordance with one embodiment.","DETAILED DESCRIPTION It will be appreciated that, although specific embodiments of the present disclosure are described herein for purposes of illustration, various modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure.","In the following description, certain specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of various aspects of the disclosed subject matter.","However, the disclosed subject matter may be practiced without these specific details.","In some instances, well-known structures and methods of semiconductor processing comprising embodiments of the subject matter disclosed herein have not been described in detail to avoid obscuring the descriptions of other aspects of the present disclosure.","FIG.","1A shows a cross-sectional view of a package 10 in accordance with one embodiment of the disclosure.","FIG.","1B shows a close-up view of a portion of FIG.","1A.","The package 10 includes a semiconductor die 12 on an upper surface 13 of a substrate 14.The semiconductor die 12 includes electrical structures of an electrical device, such as an integrated circuit.","The substrate 14 has a lower surface 15 opposite the upper surface 13 and includes one or more conductive and insulative layers.","In the illustrated embodiment, the substrate 14 includes first and second layers 17, 19 of insulative material; however, the substrate 14 may include any number of insulative layers.","The insulative layers may include any insulative material including ceramic, glass, polymer, or any other suitable insulative material.","The one or more conductive layers may be any conductive material, such as a metal material.","In one embodiment, the conductive layers are copper.","The semiconductor die 12 is coupled to the upper surface 13 of the substrate 14 by an adhesive material 18.The adhesive material 18 may be any adhesive material 18 that bonds the semiconductor die 12 to the upper surface 13 of the substrate 14, such as paste, glue, epoxy, double-sided tape, or any other suitable material.","The upper surface 13 of the substrate 14 includes a plurality of conductive fingers 20 located near one or more edges of the semiconductor die 12.Although only two conductive fingers 20 are shown, it is to be appreciated that any number of conductive fingers 20 may be provided, including just one.","In some embodiments, a plurality of conductive fingers 20 is located on each side of the semiconductor die 12.In general, the conductive fingers 20 are electrically isolated from each other, however, two or more may be coupled together by one or more conductive traces.","The semiconductor die 12 is electrically coupled to the conductive fingers 20.In particular, the electrical device of the semiconductor die 12 is coupled to the conductive fingers 20 by conductive wires 22.More particularly, a first end 24 of the conductive wire 22 is coupled to a bond pad of the semiconductor die 12, which may be coupled to various electrical components of the electrical device, and a second end 26 of the conductive wire is coupled to the conductive finger.","In another embodiment, the electrical device of the semiconductor die 12 is coupled to the conductive fingers 20 by flip chip arrangement as is well known in the art.","In that regard, the conductive fingers 20 would be located under the semiconductor die 12 and coupled to the bond pads of the semiconductor die 12 by conductive balls.","The lower surface 15 of the substrate 14 includes a plurality of cantilever pads 26.As best shown in FIG.","1B, the cantilever pads 26 include a conductive pad 28 that is supported by a substrate support portion 30.On the conductive pad 28 of the cantilever pad 26 is a conductive ball 31, such as a solder ball, that is configured to couple the package 10 to another substrate or board, such as a PCB 50 (FIG.","2).","The cantilever pads 26 are cantilevered by recesses 32 located above the cantilever pads 26 and by through openings 33 in the substrate 14 along three sides of the cantilever pads 26.In particular, the recesses 32 are located in the first layer 17 and the through openings 33 are located the second layer 19 in communication with the recesses 32.As best shown in FIG.","1C, through openings 33 extend from one end and along side surfaces of the cantilever pads 26 forming a C-shape in planar view.","The through openings 33, in planar view, may be any shape that forms a cantilever pad with the recess 32.For instance, the through openings 33 may also be V-shaped or U-shaped.","The thickness of the cantilever pad 26 is any thickness that provides suitable structural support for the cantilever pad 26 when the package 10 is attached to another substrate or board, while also allowing some flexing of the cantilever pad 26.The cantilever pad 26 may allow flexing in one direction, such as into or away from the recess 32, or in two directions, such as both into and away from the recess 32.The recess 32 may have a depth that is sufficient to provide adequate clearance in view of the flexing of the cantilever pad 26 into the recess 32 such that an upper surface of the cantilever pad 26 does not abut against the inner surface of the substrate 14 that delimits the recess 32.The conductive fingers 20 are electrically coupled to conductive pads 28 of the cantilever pads 26 by one or more conductive traces 36 and through vias 38 that extend through the substrate 14.That is, the conductive fingers 20 are coupled to the trace 36 located above the first layer 17.The trace 36 on the first layer 17 is coupled to the trace 36 on the second layer 19 by through vias 38 that extend through the first and second layers 17, 19 of the substrate 14.In the illustrated embodiment, an inner trace 44 couples the through via 38 in the first layer 17 to the through via 38 in the second layer 19.A dielectric material 46 is located over the traces 36 and on the first and second surfaces of the substrate 14.The dielectric material 46 may be any material that can provide protection from environmental sources of damage, such as corrosion, physical damage, moisture damage, or other causes of damage to electrical features.","In one embodiment, the dielectric material 46 is a solder mask material.","The solder mask may be a liquid material that hardens, such as during a curing process.","Encapsulation material 48 is located over the substrate, surrounding the die, the conductive fingers 20, and the conductive wires 22.The encapsulation material 48 may be any material configured to provide protection from environmental sources of damage, such as corrosion, physical damage, moisture damage, or other causes of damage to electrical devices.","The encapsulation material 48 may be a molding compound that includes one or more of polymer, polyurethane, acrylic, epoxy resin, silicone, or any other suitable material.","FIG.","2 shows a portion of the package 10 coupled to a board, such as a printed circuit board (PCB) 50 by the conductive balls 31.As shown in FIG.","2, the cantilever pad 26 flexes into the recess 32.The cantilever pad 26 may be able to absorb stresses created in various materials or components of the package or components coupled to the package.","In particular, the cantilever pad 26 can move into and/or away from the recess 26 in response to forces, such as those caused by thermal expansion of one or more components, thereby preventing or reducing the likelihood of cracks being formed in electrical components, such as conductive balls 31.Due to the flexibility of cantilever pad 26, the conductive joint reliability or solder joint reliability of the package 10 is improved.","The cantilever pad 26 may flex into the recess 32 during the mounting process in which the package 10 is mounted to the PCB 50 as well.","For instance, due to nonplanar conductive balls 31 (e.g., standoff height differences of the conductive balls), some cantilever pads 26 may flex inward or outward from the recess.","In some embodiments, pressure may be applied during mount, thereby placing a force on the cantilever pads 26 to move inward.","Nonplanar conductive balls may be caused by dispensing different proportions of conductive material that form the balls or by warping of various components of the package.","The package 10 may include any number of cantilever pads 26.In one embodiment, all of the conductive pads of a package are cantilever pads 26.In other embodiments, only some of the conductive pads of a package are cantilever pads 26, while the other conductive pads are not cantilevered.","In one embodiment, cantilever pads 26 are positioned on the package in locations that correspond to the largest amount of expected stress to be applied to the pad and conductive bump located on the pad.","FIG.","3 illustrates a layout of a bottom surface of a package 10a that includes conductive balls 31 secured to cantilever pads 26 as described above and traditional pads 27 that are not cantilevered.","That is, the cantilever pads 26 and conductive bump 31 are located at the perimeter of the package 10a, while the conductive pads 27 and conductive bump 31 at the center of the package 10a are traditional, non-cantilevered pads.","In some embodiments, during thermal expansion, the conductive pads and bumps located at the perimeter of a package may be exposed to greater stresses than the central pads.","In that regard, the cantilever pads 26 at an outer perimeter of the package are able to flex in response to stress induced therein, while the center pads are not exposed to substantial stresses.","FIGS.","4A-4H illustrate cross-sectional views illustrating the package 10 of FIG.","1A being assembled in the close-up view of FIG.","1B at various stages of manufacture in accordance with one embodiment.","FIG.","4A shows a first layer 17 of insulative core material which may be ceramic, glass, polymer, or any suitable core material.","Although not shown, the first layer 17 may, in some embodiments, be coupled to a support structure during at least a portion of the processing.","The first layer 17 of insulative material has a first surface 62 and a second surface 64.As shown in FIG.","4B, portions of the first layer 17 of the insulative material are removed.","In particular, recesses 32 are formed in the second surface 64 of the first layer 17 and through holes 66 are formed that extend from the first surface 62 to the second surface 64.The recesses 32 correspond to locations for the cantilever pads 26 and the through holes 66 correspond to locations for the conductive through vias 38 of FIGS.","1A and 1 B.","The recess 32 and through hole 66 are formed using standard semiconductor processing, including patterning the second surface using light sensitive material, such as photoresist and etching, such as wet and/or dry etching.","Although only one recess and through hole are shown, it will be clear to persons of ordinary skill in the art that a plurality of recesses 32 and through holes 66 are formed in the second surface 64 of the first layer 17.As shown in FIG.","4C, the through hole 66 is filled with a conductive material to form a conductive through via 38.Similarly, conductive material is deposited on the first and second surfaces 62, 64 of the first layer 17 above and below the conductive through vias 38 forming traces 36 and the conductive fingers 20.The deposition is performed using standard semiconductor processing techniques, which may include patterning the conductive material or blanket depositing the conductive material and then removing portions of the conductive material to form traces and conductive fingers.","As mentioned above, the conductive material may be any conductive material, and in one embodiment is copper.","In another embodiment the conductive material in the through via may be different from the conductive material forming the traces.","As shown in FIG.","3D, a second layer 19 of insulative material is secured to the second surface 64 of the first layer 17.The second layer 19 may be secured to the first layer 17 by any method, including by lamination, which may include pressure and/or heat.","The thickness of the second layer 19 varies depending on the material properties used for the second layer 19 and may also depend on the mechanical properties of the conductive material that forms the trace 36 and conductive pad 28.In an embodiment, in which the second layer 19 is ceramic, the second layer 19 may be a thin film.","As shown in FIG.","4D, a through hole 68 is formed in the second layer 19 below the conductive through via 38 in the first layer 17.The through hole 68 is formed using standard processing techniques including patterning and etching as referenced above.","The through hole 68 may be formed prior to securing the second layer 19 to the first layer 17 or after.","As shown in FIG.","4E, conductive material is deposited in the through hole 68 of the second layer 19 to form a conductive through via 38.The through via 38 of the second layer 19 is electrically coupled to the through via 38 of the first layer 17 by the inner trace 44.It is noted that the inner trace 44 extends laterally beyond the through vias 38.The inner trace 44 may resolve any misalignment issues that occur between the through via 38 of the first layer 17 and the through via 38 of the second layer 19 in view of the through holes 66 and 68 being etched in different processing steps.","As shown in FIG.","4E, a conductive material is deposited on the bottom surface of the second layer 19 to form trace 36 and conductive pad 28.The conductive material may be deposited and patterned using standard semiconductor techniques referenced above.","As shown in FIG.","4F, a dielectric layer 46 is deposited over portions of the first and second layers 17, 19 and various structures on the first and second layers 17 19, such as traces 36.The dielectric layer 46 is deposited by standard semiconductor processing techniques, including blanket deposition with patterning and etch or patterning light sensitive material then patterned deposition.","As mentioned above, the dielectric layer 46 may be formed by depositing a liquid material that hardens.","The liquid material may harden over time or may harden in a heating or curing step.","As shown in FIG.","4F, the conductive pad 28 on the second layer 19 remains exposed and conductive finger 20 on the first layer 17 remains exposed.","Additionally, a portion 70 of the second layer 19 remains uncovered by the dielectric layer 46.The portion 70 is at least partially located below the recess 32.The portion 70 that remains open has a shape that corresponds to the shape of the through opening 33 in FIG.","1C.","As indicated above, the shape of the portion 70, however, may be any shape that when etched away causes a portion of the second layer 19 to form the cantilever pad 26 with the recess 32.Thus, the shape may be any two or three-sided shape, such as a C-shape, U-shape, V-shape, or any other suitable shape.","As shown in FIG.","4G, the portion 70 of the second layer 19 below the recess is removed, such as in a dry or wet etch step.","In one embodiment, the dielectric material acts as an etch mask.","Upon removal of the portion 70 of the second layer 19, the cantilever pad 26 is formed.","As shown in FIG.","4H, the semiconductor die 12 is coupled to the upper surface 13 of the substrate 14 by the adhesive material 18.That is, the adhesive material may be applied to one or both of the upper surface 13 and a back surface of the semiconductor die 12.The conductive wire 22 is coupled between the semiconductor die 12 and the conductive finger 20 as is well known in the art.","An encapsulation material 48 is formed over the upper surface 13 of the substrate 14, encapsulating various components of the package.","The encapsulation material may be formed using standard semiconductor processing techniques, including using a mold in which molding compound is injected therein and around the various components.","The molding compound then hardens in a hardening step, which may include a curing or heat step.","Conductive ball 31 may be formed on the cantilever pad 26, such as by solder dispensing techniques.","In other embodiments, however, the conductive ball 31 is formed on another device to which the package 10 will be coupled.","It is to be understood that the method steps can be performed in any order and thus may be in a different order than is shown and described.","For instance, the through opening 33 may be formed in the second layer 19 before coupling the first and second layers 17, 19 together.","The various embodiments described above can be combined to provide further embodiments.","All of the U.S. patents, U.S. patent application publications, U.S. patent applications, foreign patents, foreign patent applications and non-patent publications referred to in this specification and/or listed in the Application Data Sheet are incorporated herein by reference, in their entirety.","Aspects of the embodiments can be modified, if necessary to employ concepts of the various patents, applications and publications to provide yet further embodiments.","These and other changes can be made to the embodiments in light of the above-detailed description.","In general, in the following claims, the terms used should not be construed to limit the claims to the specific embodiments disclosed in the specification and the claims, but should be construed to include all possible embodiments along with the full scope of equivalents to which such claims are entitled.","Accordingly, the claims are not limited by the disclosure."]],"string":"[\n [\n \"SEMICONDUCTOR PACKAGE WITH CANTILEVER PADS\",\n \"One or more embodiments are directed to semiconductor packages with one or more cantilever pads and methods of making same.\",\n \"In one embodiment a recess is located in a substrate of the package facing the cantilever pad.\",\n \"The cantilever pad includes a conductive pad on which a conductive ball is formed.\",\n \"The cantilever pad is configured to absorb stresses acting on the package.\"\n ],\n [\n \"1.A method, comprising: forming a recess in a first surface of a first layer of insulative material; covering the recess with a second layer of insulative material, a layer of conductive material located on the second layer and extending over a portion of the recess; and forming a through hole in the second layer of insulative material to form a cantilever pad over the recess.\",\n \"2.The method of claim 1, further comprising forming a conductive ball on the cantilever pad.\",\n \"3.The method of claim 1, further comprising forming a conductive through via through the first and second layers, the conductive through via being electrically coupled to the cantilever pad.\",\n \"4.The method of claim 3 wherein the conductive through via is coupled to a pad on a second surface of the first layer, the second surface being opposite the first surface, the pad being electrically coupled to the cantilever pad.\",\n \"5.The method of claim 4, further comprising coupling a semiconductor die to the second surface of the first layer and electrically coupling the semiconductor die to the pad.\",\n \"6.The method of claim 1 wherein forming the through hole comprises forming a U-shaped, C-shaped, or V-shaped through hole around the layer of conductive material extending over the portion of the recess.\",\n \"7.A method, comprising: forming a recess in a first surface of a substrate that includes insulative material; partially covering the recess with a cantilevered pad, the cantilevered pad being configured to flex into the recess; and attaching a solder ball to the cantilevered pad.\",\n \"8.The method of claim 7, further comprising coupling a semiconductor die to a second surface of the substrate, the second surface being opposite the first surface, and electrically coupling the semiconductor die to the cantilevered pad.\",\n \"9.The method of claim 8 wherein electrically coupling the semiconductor die to the cantilevered pad includes coupling a first end of a wire to a bond pad of the semiconductor die and coupling a second end of the wire to a pad on a second surface of the substrate, wherein the pad on the second surface of the substrate is coupled to the cantilevered pad by a conductive through via in the substrate.\",\n \"10.The method of claim 7 wherein partially covering the recess comprises: coupling a layer of insulative material to the first surface of the substrate; forming a conductive layer on the layer of the insulative material; and forming a through hole that extends through an entire thickness of the layer of insulative material.\",\n \"11.The method of claim 10 wherein coupling the layer of insulative material to the first surface of the substrate comprises laminating the layer of insulative material to the first surface of the substrate.\",\n \"12.The method of claim 10 wherein forming the through hole comprises forming a through hole that is U, C, or V shaped.\",\n \"13.The method of claim 7 wherein forming the recess in the first surface of the substrate comprises forming a plurality of recesses in the first surface of the substrate, and wherein partially covering comprises partially covering the plurality of recesses with cantilevered pads, respectively.\",\n \"14.A method, comprising: forming a recess in a first surface of a first layer of insulative material; coupling the first layer and a second layer of insulating material together, the second layer covering the recess; depositing a conductive material on the second layer, the conductive material located over a portion of the recess; and forming a through hole in the second layer of insulative material, the through hole of the second layer being in fluid communication with the recess of the second layer, wherein forming the through hole includes forming a cantilever pad, a portion of the conductive material deposited on the second layer being located on the cantilever pad.\",\n \"15.The method of claim 14 wherein coupling the first and second layers together comprises laminating the first and second layers together.\",\n \"16.The method of claim 14 wherein forming the through hole in the second layer occurs after coupling the first and second layers together.\",\n \"17.The method of claim 14 wherein forming the through hole comprises forming a U-shaped, C-shaped, or V-shaped through hole.\",\n \"18.The method of claim 14, further comprising: securing a semiconductor die to the first surface of the first layer; and electrically coupling the semiconductor die to the conductive material on the second layer and on the cantilever pad.\",\n \"19.The method of claim 14 wherein forming the recess comprises forming a plurality of recesses and forming the through hole comprises forming a plurality of through holes.\"\n ],\n [\n \" BACKGROUND \"\n ],\n [\n \" BRIEF SUMMARY One or more embodiments are directed to semiconductor packages with one or more cantilever pads and methods of making same.\",\n \"In one embodiment a recess is located in a substrate of the package facing the cantilever pad.\",\n \"The cantilever pad includes a conductive pad on which a conductive ball is formed.\",\n \"The cantilever pad is configured to absorb stresses acting on the package.\",\n \"For instance, the cantilever pad may be configured to flex into the recess and/or flex outwardly therefrom.\",\n \"In that regard, the cantilever pad may respond readily in response to stress that is acting on various materials of the semiconductor package.\",\n \"For instance, during operation, the cantilever pad may be configured to flex inward, toward the recess, and/or outward, away from the recess, in response to expansion of one or more materials caused by various materials having differing CTEs and expanding at differing rates.\",\n \"Thus, the likelihood of cracks being formed in electrical structures of the package or a PCB coupled to the package is reduced.\",\n \"In one embodiment, the cantilever pad may prevent or reduce the likelihood of cracks occurring in conductive balls that electrically couple the package to the PCB.\"\n ],\n [\n \"BACKGROUND Technical Field Embodiments of the present disclosure are directed to semiconductor packages and methods of making same.\",\n \"Description of the Related Art Reliability of semiconductor packages is of significant importance.\",\n \"Although various issues cause reliability problems in semiconductor packages, one known reason for reliability issues is that packages and the boards, onto which the package are mounted, are formed of various types of materials, each having different coefficients of thermal expansion (CTE).\",\n \"During use, heat is generated, and due to differing CTEs, stress may be introduced into the package and/or the board, which can cause cracks, for instance, in solder joints that couple the semiconductor package to a printed circuit board (PCB), thereby affecting board level reliability of the package by disrupting the electrical coupling between the package and the PCB.\",\n \"BRIEF SUMMARY One or more embodiments are directed to semiconductor packages with one or more cantilever pads and methods of making same.\",\n \"In one embodiment a recess is located in a substrate of the package facing the cantilever pad.\",\n \"The cantilever pad includes a conductive pad on which a conductive ball is formed.\",\n \"The cantilever pad is configured to absorb stresses acting on the package.\",\n \"For instance, the cantilever pad may be configured to flex into the recess and/or flex outwardly therefrom.\",\n \"In that regard, the cantilever pad may respond readily in response to stress that is acting on various materials of the semiconductor package.\",\n \"For instance, during operation, the cantilever pad may be configured to flex inward, toward the recess, and/or outward, away from the recess, in response to expansion of one or more materials caused by various materials having differing CTEs and expanding at differing rates.\",\n \"Thus, the likelihood of cracks being formed in electrical structures of the package or a PCB coupled to the package is reduced.\",\n \"In one embodiment, the cantilever pad may prevent or reduce the likelihood of cracks occurring in conductive balls that electrically couple the package to the PCB.\",\n \"BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS In the drawings, identical reference numbers identify similar elements.\",\n \"The sizes and relative positions of elements in the drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"1A is a cross-sectional view of a semiconductor package in accordance with one embodiment of the disclosure.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"1B is a close-up cross-sectional view of the package of FIG.\",\n \"1.FIG.\",\n \"1C is a close-up bottom view of the close-up view of FIG.\",\n \"1B.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"2 is a close-up cross sectional view of the package of FIG.\",\n \"1 coupled to another device.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"3 illustrates a bottom surface of a package that includes some cantilever pads in accordance with one embodiment.\",\n \"FIGS.\",\n \"4A-4H illustrate cross-sectional views illustrating the packages of FIG.\",\n \"1 being assembled in the close-up view of FIG.\",\n \"1B at various stages of manufacture in accordance with one embodiment.\",\n \"DETAILED DESCRIPTION It will be appreciated that, although specific embodiments of the present disclosure are described herein for purposes of illustration, various modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure.\",\n \"In the following description, certain specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of various aspects of the disclosed subject matter.\",\n \"However, the disclosed subject matter may be practiced without these specific details.\",\n \"In some instances, well-known structures and methods of semiconductor processing comprising embodiments of the subject matter disclosed herein have not been described in detail to avoid obscuring the descriptions of other aspects of the present disclosure.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"1A shows a cross-sectional view of a package 10 in accordance with one embodiment of the disclosure.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"1B shows a close-up view of a portion of FIG.\",\n \"1A.\",\n \"The package 10 includes a semiconductor die 12 on an upper surface 13 of a substrate 14.The semiconductor die 12 includes electrical structures of an electrical device, such as an integrated circuit.\",\n \"The substrate 14 has a lower surface 15 opposite the upper surface 13 and includes one or more conductive and insulative layers.\",\n \"In the illustrated embodiment, the substrate 14 includes first and second layers 17, 19 of insulative material; however, the substrate 14 may include any number of insulative layers.\",\n \"The insulative layers may include any insulative material including ceramic, glass, polymer, or any other suitable insulative material.\",\n \"The one or more conductive layers may be any conductive material, such as a metal material.\",\n \"In one embodiment, the conductive layers are copper.\",\n \"The semiconductor die 12 is coupled to the upper surface 13 of the substrate 14 by an adhesive material 18.The adhesive material 18 may be any adhesive material 18 that bonds the semiconductor die 12 to the upper surface 13 of the substrate 14, such as paste, glue, epoxy, double-sided tape, or any other suitable material.\",\n \"The upper surface 13 of the substrate 14 includes a plurality of conductive fingers 20 located near one or more edges of the semiconductor die 12.Although only two conductive fingers 20 are shown, it is to be appreciated that any number of conductive fingers 20 may be provided, including just one.\",\n \"In some embodiments, a plurality of conductive fingers 20 is located on each side of the semiconductor die 12.In general, the conductive fingers 20 are electrically isolated from each other, however, two or more may be coupled together by one or more conductive traces.\",\n \"The semiconductor die 12 is electrically coupled to the conductive fingers 20.In particular, the electrical device of the semiconductor die 12 is coupled to the conductive fingers 20 by conductive wires 22.More particularly, a first end 24 of the conductive wire 22 is coupled to a bond pad of the semiconductor die 12, which may be coupled to various electrical components of the electrical device, and a second end 26 of the conductive wire is coupled to the conductive finger.\",\n \"In another embodiment, the electrical device of the semiconductor die 12 is coupled to the conductive fingers 20 by flip chip arrangement as is well known in the art.\",\n \"In that regard, the conductive fingers 20 would be located under the semiconductor die 12 and coupled to the bond pads of the semiconductor die 12 by conductive balls.\",\n \"The lower surface 15 of the substrate 14 includes a plurality of cantilever pads 26.As best shown in FIG.\",\n \"1B, the cantilever pads 26 include a conductive pad 28 that is supported by a substrate support portion 30.On the conductive pad 28 of the cantilever pad 26 is a conductive ball 31, such as a solder ball, that is configured to couple the package 10 to another substrate or board, such as a PCB 50 (FIG.\",\n \"2).\",\n \"The cantilever pads 26 are cantilevered by recesses 32 located above the cantilever pads 26 and by through openings 33 in the substrate 14 along three sides of the cantilever pads 26.In particular, the recesses 32 are located in the first layer 17 and the through openings 33 are located the second layer 19 in communication with the recesses 32.As best shown in FIG.\",\n \"1C, through openings 33 extend from one end and along side surfaces of the cantilever pads 26 forming a C-shape in planar view.\",\n \"The through openings 33, in planar view, may be any shape that forms a cantilever pad with the recess 32.For instance, the through openings 33 may also be V-shaped or U-shaped.\",\n \"The thickness of the cantilever pad 26 is any thickness that provides suitable structural support for the cantilever pad 26 when the package 10 is attached to another substrate or board, while also allowing some flexing of the cantilever pad 26.The cantilever pad 26 may allow flexing in one direction, such as into or away from the recess 32, or in two directions, such as both into and away from the recess 32.The recess 32 may have a depth that is sufficient to provide adequate clearance in view of the flexing of the cantilever pad 26 into the recess 32 such that an upper surface of the cantilever pad 26 does not abut against the inner surface of the substrate 14 that delimits the recess 32.The conductive fingers 20 are electrically coupled to conductive pads 28 of the cantilever pads 26 by one or more conductive traces 36 and through vias 38 that extend through the substrate 14.That is, the conductive fingers 20 are coupled to the trace 36 located above the first layer 17.The trace 36 on the first layer 17 is coupled to the trace 36 on the second layer 19 by through vias 38 that extend through the first and second layers 17, 19 of the substrate 14.In the illustrated embodiment, an inner trace 44 couples the through via 38 in the first layer 17 to the through via 38 in the second layer 19.A dielectric material 46 is located over the traces 36 and on the first and second surfaces of the substrate 14.The dielectric material 46 may be any material that can provide protection from environmental sources of damage, such as corrosion, physical damage, moisture damage, or other causes of damage to electrical features.\",\n \"In one embodiment, the dielectric material 46 is a solder mask material.\",\n \"The solder mask may be a liquid material that hardens, such as during a curing process.\",\n \"Encapsulation material 48 is located over the substrate, surrounding the die, the conductive fingers 20, and the conductive wires 22.The encapsulation material 48 may be any material configured to provide protection from environmental sources of damage, such as corrosion, physical damage, moisture damage, or other causes of damage to electrical devices.\",\n \"The encapsulation material 48 may be a molding compound that includes one or more of polymer, polyurethane, acrylic, epoxy resin, silicone, or any other suitable material.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"2 shows a portion of the package 10 coupled to a board, such as a printed circuit board (PCB) 50 by the conductive balls 31.As shown in FIG.\",\n \"2, the cantilever pad 26 flexes into the recess 32.The cantilever pad 26 may be able to absorb stresses created in various materials or components of the package or components coupled to the package.\",\n \"In particular, the cantilever pad 26 can move into and/or away from the recess 26 in response to forces, such as those caused by thermal expansion of one or more components, thereby preventing or reducing the likelihood of cracks being formed in electrical components, such as conductive balls 31.Due to the flexibility of cantilever pad 26, the conductive joint reliability or solder joint reliability of the package 10 is improved.\",\n \"The cantilever pad 26 may flex into the recess 32 during the mounting process in which the package 10 is mounted to the PCB 50 as well.\",\n \"For instance, due to nonplanar conductive balls 31 (e.g., standoff height differences of the conductive balls), some cantilever pads 26 may flex inward or outward from the recess.\",\n \"In some embodiments, pressure may be applied during mount, thereby placing a force on the cantilever pads 26 to move inward.\",\n \"Nonplanar conductive balls may be caused by dispensing different proportions of conductive material that form the balls or by warping of various components of the package.\",\n \"The package 10 may include any number of cantilever pads 26.In one embodiment, all of the conductive pads of a package are cantilever pads 26.In other embodiments, only some of the conductive pads of a package are cantilever pads 26, while the other conductive pads are not cantilevered.\",\n \"In one embodiment, cantilever pads 26 are positioned on the package in locations that correspond to the largest amount of expected stress to be applied to the pad and conductive bump located on the pad.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"3 illustrates a layout of a bottom surface of a package 10a that includes conductive balls 31 secured to cantilever pads 26 as described above and traditional pads 27 that are not cantilevered.\",\n \"That is, the cantilever pads 26 and conductive bump 31 are located at the perimeter of the package 10a, while the conductive pads 27 and conductive bump 31 at the center of the package 10a are traditional, non-cantilevered pads.\",\n \"In some embodiments, during thermal expansion, the conductive pads and bumps located at the perimeter of a package may be exposed to greater stresses than the central pads.\",\n \"In that regard, the cantilever pads 26 at an outer perimeter of the package are able to flex in response to stress induced therein, while the center pads are not exposed to substantial stresses.\",\n \"FIGS.\",\n \"4A-4H illustrate cross-sectional views illustrating the package 10 of FIG.\",\n \"1A being assembled in the close-up view of FIG.\",\n \"1B at various stages of manufacture in accordance with one embodiment.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"4A shows a first layer 17 of insulative core material which may be ceramic, glass, polymer, or any suitable core material.\",\n \"Although not shown, the first layer 17 may, in some embodiments, be coupled to a support structure during at least a portion of the processing.\",\n \"The first layer 17 of insulative material has a first surface 62 and a second surface 64.As shown in FIG.\",\n \"4B, portions of the first layer 17 of the insulative material are removed.\",\n \"In particular, recesses 32 are formed in the second surface 64 of the first layer 17 and through holes 66 are formed that extend from the first surface 62 to the second surface 64.The recesses 32 correspond to locations for the cantilever pads 26 and the through holes 66 correspond to locations for the conductive through vias 38 of FIGS.\",\n \"1A and 1 B.\",\n \"The recess 32 and through hole 66 are formed using standard semiconductor processing, including patterning the second surface using light sensitive material, such as photoresist and etching, such as wet and/or dry etching.\",\n \"Although only one recess and through hole are shown, it will be clear to persons of ordinary skill in the art that a plurality of recesses 32 and through holes 66 are formed in the second surface 64 of the first layer 17.As shown in FIG.\",\n \"4C, the through hole 66 is filled with a conductive material to form a conductive through via 38.Similarly, conductive material is deposited on the first and second surfaces 62, 64 of the first layer 17 above and below the conductive through vias 38 forming traces 36 and the conductive fingers 20.The deposition is performed using standard semiconductor processing techniques, which may include patterning the conductive material or blanket depositing the conductive material and then removing portions of the conductive material to form traces and conductive fingers.\",\n \"As mentioned above, the conductive material may be any conductive material, and in one embodiment is copper.\",\n \"In another embodiment the conductive material in the through via may be different from the conductive material forming the traces.\",\n \"As shown in FIG.\",\n \"3D, a second layer 19 of insulative material is secured to the second surface 64 of the first layer 17.The second layer 19 may be secured to the first layer 17 by any method, including by lamination, which may include pressure and/or heat.\",\n \"The thickness of the second layer 19 varies depending on the material properties used for the second layer 19 and may also depend on the mechanical properties of the conductive material that forms the trace 36 and conductive pad 28.In an embodiment, in which the second layer 19 is ceramic, the second layer 19 may be a thin film.\",\n \"As shown in FIG.\",\n \"4D, a through hole 68 is formed in the second layer 19 below the conductive through via 38 in the first layer 17.The through hole 68 is formed using standard processing techniques including patterning and etching as referenced above.\",\n \"The through hole 68 may be formed prior to securing the second layer 19 to the first layer 17 or after.\",\n \"As shown in FIG.\",\n \"4E, conductive material is deposited in the through hole 68 of the second layer 19 to form a conductive through via 38.The through via 38 of the second layer 19 is electrically coupled to the through via 38 of the first layer 17 by the inner trace 44.It is noted that the inner trace 44 extends laterally beyond the through vias 38.The inner trace 44 may resolve any misalignment issues that occur between the through via 38 of the first layer 17 and the through via 38 of the second layer 19 in view of the through holes 66 and 68 being etched in different processing steps.\",\n \"As shown in FIG.\",\n \"4E, a conductive material is deposited on the bottom surface of the second layer 19 to form trace 36 and conductive pad 28.The conductive material may be deposited and patterned using standard semiconductor techniques referenced above.\",\n \"As shown in FIG.\",\n \"4F, a dielectric layer 46 is deposited over portions of the first and second layers 17, 19 and various structures on the first and second layers 17 19, such as traces 36.The dielectric layer 46 is deposited by standard semiconductor processing techniques, including blanket deposition with patterning and etch or patterning light sensitive material then patterned deposition.\",\n \"As mentioned above, the dielectric layer 46 may be formed by depositing a liquid material that hardens.\",\n \"The liquid material may harden over time or may harden in a heating or curing step.\",\n \"As shown in FIG.\",\n \"4F, the conductive pad 28 on the second layer 19 remains exposed and conductive finger 20 on the first layer 17 remains exposed.\",\n \"Additionally, a portion 70 of the second layer 19 remains uncovered by the dielectric layer 46.The portion 70 is at least partially located below the recess 32.The portion 70 that remains open has a shape that corresponds to the shape of the through opening 33 in FIG.\",\n \"1C.\",\n \"As indicated above, the shape of the portion 70, however, may be any shape that when etched away causes a portion of the second layer 19 to form the cantilever pad 26 with the recess 32.Thus, the shape may be any two or three-sided shape, such as a C-shape, U-shape, V-shape, or any other suitable shape.\",\n \"As shown in FIG.\",\n \"4G, the portion 70 of the second layer 19 below the recess is removed, such as in a dry or wet etch step.\",\n \"In one embodiment, the dielectric material acts as an etch mask.\",\n \"Upon removal of the portion 70 of the second layer 19, the cantilever pad 26 is formed.\",\n \"As shown in FIG.\",\n \"4H, the semiconductor die 12 is coupled to the upper surface 13 of the substrate 14 by the adhesive material 18.That is, the adhesive material may be applied to one or both of the upper surface 13 and a back surface of the semiconductor die 12.The conductive wire 22 is coupled between the semiconductor die 12 and the conductive finger 20 as is well known in the art.\",\n \"An encapsulation material 48 is formed over the upper surface 13 of the substrate 14, encapsulating various components of the package.\",\n \"The encapsulation material may be formed using standard semiconductor processing techniques, including using a mold in which molding compound is injected therein and around the various components.\",\n \"The molding compound then hardens in a hardening step, which may include a curing or heat step.\",\n \"Conductive ball 31 may be formed on the cantilever pad 26, such as by solder dispensing techniques.\",\n \"In other embodiments, however, the conductive ball 31 is formed on another device to which the package 10 will be coupled.\",\n \"It is to be understood that the method steps can be performed in any order and thus may be in a different order than is shown and described.\",\n \"For instance, the through opening 33 may be formed in the second layer 19 before coupling the first and second layers 17, 19 together.\",\n \"The various embodiments described above can be combined to provide further embodiments.\",\n \"All of the U.S. patents, U.S. patent application publications, U.S. patent applications, foreign patents, foreign patent applications and non-patent publications referred to in this specification and/or listed in the Application Data Sheet are incorporated herein by reference, in their entirety.\",\n \"Aspects of the embodiments can be modified, if necessary to employ concepts of the various patents, applications and publications to provide yet further embodiments.\",\n \"These and other changes can be made to the embodiments in light of the above-detailed description.\",\n \"In general, in the following claims, the terms used should not be construed to limit the claims to the specific embodiments disclosed in the specification and the claims, but should be construed to include all possible embodiments along with the full scope of equivalents to which such claims are entitled.\",\n \"Accordingly, the claims are not limited by the disclosure.\"\n ]\n]"},"source":{"kind":"string","value":"Patent_15876046"}}},{"rowIdx":4495062,"cells":{"text":{"kind":"list like","value":[["APPLICATION SPECIFIC INTEGRATED CIRCUIT INTERCONNECT","Systems and methods for providing Chronos Channel interconnects in an ASIC are provided.","Chronos Channels rely on a reduced set of timing assumptions and are robust against delay variations.","Chronos Channels transmit data using delay insensitive (DI) codes and quasi-delay-insensitive (QDI) logic.","Chronos Channels are insensitive to all wire and gate delay variations, but for those belonging to a few specific forking logic paths called isochronic forks.","Chronos Channels use temporal compression in internal paths to reduce the overheads of QDI logic and efficiently transmit data.","Chronos Channels are defined by a combination of a DI code, a temporal compression ratio and hardware."],["1.A point-to-point connection between a first intellectual property (IP) block and a second IP block of an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), the point-to-point connection comprising: a transmitter (TX) associated with the first IP block, the TX comprising one or more delay insensitive (DI) encoders and one or more temporal compressors, and configured to transform input data signals from the first IP block into one or more temporally compressed DI asynchronous signals and transmit the temporally compressed DI asynchronous signals via a channel; a receiver (RX) associated with the second IP block, the RX comprising one or more DI decoders and one or more temporal decompressors, and configured to receive the one or more DI asynchronous signals via the channel and restore the one or more compressed DI asynchronous signals to form a representation of the input data signals compliant to an input data format of the second IP block; and wherein the channel is a timing independent channel between the first IP block and the second IP block, wherein the one or more DI asynchronous signals from the TX are propagated via the timing independent channel in a self-timed fashion to the RX.","2.The point-to-point connection as recited in claim 1, wherein the TX is configured to encode data symbols comprising two elements (a,b) using DI encoding that relies on three codewords A, B, and C and the RX is configured to decode the codewords (A,B,C) using DI encoding to form duplicates of the data symbols (a,b).","3.The point-to-point connection as recited in claim 1, wherein the TX is configured to encode data symbols comprising two elements (a,b) using DI encoding that relies on four codewords A, B, C and D, and the RX is configured to decode the codewords (A,B,C and D) using DI decoding to form duplicates of the data symbols (a,b).","4.The point-to-point connection as recited in claim 1, wherein the TX is configured to encode data symbols comprising four elements (a,b,c,d) using DI encoding that relies on four symbols A, B, C and D, and the RX is configured to decode the codewords (A,B,C and D) using DI decoding to form duplicates of the data symbols (a, b, c, d).","5.The point-to-point connection as recited in claim 1, wherein the TX is configured to use a selected one of a plurality of DI encoding schemes to transform the input data signals into the compressed DI asynchronous signals and the RX is configured to restore the one or more compressed DI asynchronous signals to form the representation of the input data signals compliant to the input data format of the second IP block."],[" BACKGROUND "],[" SUMMARY Apparatuses and methods for ASIC design are provided.","According to various aspects, there is provided a point-to-point connection between a first intellectual property (IP) block and a second IP block of an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC).","The point-to-point connection may comprise a transmitter (TX) associated with the first IP block, the TX comprising one or more delay insensitive (DI) encoders and one or more temporal compressors, and configured to transform input data signals to the first IP block into one or more temporally compressed DI asynchronous signals and transmit the temporally compressed DI asynchronous signals via a channel.","The point-to-point connection may further comprise a receiver (RX) associated with the second IP block, the RX comprising one or more DI decoders, and configured to receive the one or more DI asynchronous signals via the channel and restore the one or more compressed DI asynchronous signals to form a representation of the input data signals compliant to an input data format of the second IP block; and wherein the channel is a timing independent channel between the first IP block and the second IP block, wherein the one or more DI asynchronous signals from the TX are propagated via the timing independent channel in a self-timed fashion to the RX.","According to various aspects, there is provided a point-to-multipoint connection between a first intellectual property (IP) block and a plurality of IP blocks.","The point-to-multipoint connection may comprise a transmitter (TX) associated with the first IP block, the TX comprising one or more delay insensitive (DI) encoders and one or more temporal compressors, and configured to transform input data signals from the first IP block into temporally compressed DI asynchronous signals.","The a point-to-multipoint connection may further comprise a timing independent channel between the TX and a Flow Control block, wherein the DI asynchronous signal from the TX is propagated via the timing independent channel in a self-timed fashion to the Flow Control block; the Flow Control block comprising a quasi-delay-insensitive (QDI) Flow Control element configured to broadcast or selectively propagate the compressed DI asynchronous signals to a plurality of individual timing independent channels; and multiple receivers (RXs) associated with receiving IP blocks, each RX comprising one or more DI decoders and one or more temporal decompressors, and configured to receive the DI asynchronous signals from the Flow control block and restore the compressed DI asynchronous signals received from the the Flow Control block to form duplicates of the input data signals.","According to various aspects, there is provided a multipoint-to-point connection between a transmitting Intellectual Property (IP) block and a plurality of receiving IP blocks.","The multipoint-to-point connection may comprise a plurality of transmitters (TXs) each associated with respective transmitting IP blocks, each TX comprising one or more delay insensitive (DI) encoders and one or more temporal compressors, and configured to transform input data signals received from the transmitting IP blocks into temporally compressed DI asynchronous signals.","The multipoint-to-point connection may further comprise a plurality of timing independent channels between the TXs and individual inputs of a Flow Control block, wherein the compressed DI asynchronous signals from the TXs are propagated via timing independent channels in a self-timed fashion to the Flow Control block; the Flow Control block comprising a QDI Flow Control element configured to merge or selectively propagate the individual timing independent channels; anda receiver (RX) associated with the receiving IP block, the RX comprising one or more DI decoders and one or more temporal decompressors, and configured to restore the compressed DI asynchronous signal received from the Flow Control block to form duplicates of the input data signals.","According to various aspects, there is provided a multipoint-to-multipoint connection between a plurality of transmitting IP blocks and a plurality of receiving IP blocks.","The multipoint-to-multipoint connection may comprise a plurality of transmitters (TXs) each associated with a respective one of the transmitting IP blocks, each TX comprising one or more delay insensitive (DI) encoders and one or more temporal compressors, and configured to transform input data signals from the IP block into temporally compressed DI asynchronous signals.","The multipoint-to-multipoint connection may further comprise timing independent channels between the TXs and individual inputs of a Flow Control block, wherein the DI asynchronous signals from the TXs are propagated via the timing independent channels in a self-timed fashion to the Flow Control block; the Flow Control block comprising a QDI Flow Control element configured to merge or selectively propagate the DI asynchronous signals to the individual timing independent channels; the QDI Flow Control element further configured to broadcast or selectively propagate the DI asynchronous signals to the individual timing independent channels; and multiple receivers (RXs) associated with the receiving IP blocks, each RX comprising one or more DI decoders and one or more temporal decompressors, and configured to receive the compressed DI asynchronous signals via the individual timing independent channels and restore the compressed DI asynchronous signal to form duplicates of the input data signals.","Other features and advantages of the present inventive concept should be apparent from the following description which illustrates by way of example aspects of the present inventive concept."],["RELATED APPLICATIONS INFORMATION This present application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser.","No.","15/344,416, entitled “Application specific integrated circuit interconnect,” filed on Nov. 4, 2016, which claims the benefit of priority under 35 U.S.C.","119(e) to Provisional Patent Application Ser.","No.","62/372,217, entitled “Application Specific Integrated Circuit Point-to-Point Interconnect,” filed Aug. 8, 2016 and claims the benefit of priority under 35 U.S.C.","119(e) to Provisional Patent Application Ser.","No.","62/250,998, entitled “Application Specific Integrated Circuit Point-to-Point Interconnect,” filed Nov. 4, 2015, all of which are incorporated herein by reference as if set forth in full.","BACKGROUND 1.Technical Field The various embodiments described herein are related to application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), and more particularly to the design of various ASICs.","2.Related Art Continuing advances in semiconductor device fabrication technology have yielded a steady decline in the size of process nodes.","For example, 22 nanometer (nm) process nodes were introduced in 2012 but were quickly succeeded by 14 nm fin field-effect transistors (FinFETs) in 2014 while 5 nm process nodes are projected for 2020.The decrease in process node size allows a growing number of intellectual property (IP) cores or IP blocks to be placed on a single ASIC chip.","That is, modern ASIC designs often spread numerous process nodes across a comparatively large silicon die, and include combinations of IP blocks and logic functions.","At the same time, modern technology also requires increased connectivity and large data transfers between various IP blocks.","In addition, modern ASIC chips frequently include multiple clock domains in order to leverage multi-core implementations.","Thus, one or more clock signals may need to be distributed across the chip in a manner that minimizes clock skew.","For instance, the edge of the clock signal received at a logic block located near a clock source should be aligned with those received at more distant logic blocks.","Conventionally, a balanced clock signal distribution (i.e., timing closure) is achieved by inserting buffers.","For example, pursuant to a traditional ASIC design flow, after floor planning and placing various IP blocks, a clock tree (i.e., a clock distribution network) may be synthesized and buffers may be added along the signal path from a clock source to various IP blocks according to the clock tree.","In fact, timing closure for a clock signal that is distributed over a large and complex ASIC design typically requires the strategic placement of numerous buffers.","Moreover, the distribution of a clock signal is also highly susceptible to both systematic and random variations.","In particular, proper timing closure must account for the effects of on-chip variations that arise as a result of different process, voltage, and temperature (PVTs) and operation modes, which would otherwise introduce additional clock skews.","As such, the most laborious and time consuming aspect of conventional ASIC design tends to be clock alignment.","Clock tree synthesis and timing closure generally require significant manual intervention.","In addition, the mechanisms (i.e., buffers) used to balance the clock across an ASIC chip generally consume a majority of the power in any conventional ASIC design.","Therefore, what is needed are an apparatus and method that overcome these significant problems found in the aforementioned conventional approach to ASIC design.","SUMMARY Apparatuses and methods for ASIC design are provided.","According to various aspects, there is provided a point-to-point connection between a first intellectual property (IP) block and a second IP block of an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC).","The point-to-point connection may comprise a transmitter (TX) associated with the first IP block, the TX comprising one or more delay insensitive (DI) encoders and one or more temporal compressors, and configured to transform input data signals to the first IP block into one or more temporally compressed DI asynchronous signals and transmit the temporally compressed DI asynchronous signals via a channel.","The point-to-point connection may further comprise a receiver (RX) associated with the second IP block, the RX comprising one or more DI decoders, and configured to receive the one or more DI asynchronous signals via the channel and restore the one or more compressed DI asynchronous signals to form a representation of the input data signals compliant to an input data format of the second IP block; and wherein the channel is a timing independent channel between the first IP block and the second IP block, wherein the one or more DI asynchronous signals from the TX are propagated via the timing independent channel in a self-timed fashion to the RX.","According to various aspects, there is provided a point-to-multipoint connection between a first intellectual property (IP) block and a plurality of IP blocks.","The point-to-multipoint connection may comprise a transmitter (TX) associated with the first IP block, the TX comprising one or more delay insensitive (DI) encoders and one or more temporal compressors, and configured to transform input data signals from the first IP block into temporally compressed DI asynchronous signals.","The a point-to-multipoint connection may further comprise a timing independent channel between the TX and a Flow Control block, wherein the DI asynchronous signal from the TX is propagated via the timing independent channel in a self-timed fashion to the Flow Control block; the Flow Control block comprising a quasi-delay-insensitive (QDI) Flow Control element configured to broadcast or selectively propagate the compressed DI asynchronous signals to a plurality of individual timing independent channels; and multiple receivers (RXs) associated with receiving IP blocks, each RX comprising one or more DI decoders and one or more temporal decompressors, and configured to receive the DI asynchronous signals from the Flow control block and restore the compressed DI asynchronous signals received from the the Flow Control block to form duplicates of the input data signals.","According to various aspects, there is provided a multipoint-to-point connection between a transmitting Intellectual Property (IP) block and a plurality of receiving IP blocks.","The multipoint-to-point connection may comprise a plurality of transmitters (TXs) each associated with respective transmitting IP blocks, each TX comprising one or more delay insensitive (DI) encoders and one or more temporal compressors, and configured to transform input data signals received from the transmitting IP blocks into temporally compressed DI asynchronous signals.","The multipoint-to-point connection may further comprise a plurality of timing independent channels between the TXs and individual inputs of a Flow Control block, wherein the compressed DI asynchronous signals from the TXs are propagated via timing independent channels in a self-timed fashion to the Flow Control block; the Flow Control block comprising a QDI Flow Control element configured to merge or selectively propagate the individual timing independent channels; anda receiver (RX) associated with the receiving IP block, the RX comprising one or more DI decoders and one or more temporal decompressors, and configured to restore the compressed DI asynchronous signal received from the Flow Control block to form duplicates of the input data signals.","According to various aspects, there is provided a multipoint-to-multipoint connection between a plurality of transmitting IP blocks and a plurality of receiving IP blocks.","The multipoint-to-multipoint connection may comprise a plurality of transmitters (TXs) each associated with a respective one of the transmitting IP blocks, each TX comprising one or more delay insensitive (DI) encoders and one or more temporal compressors, and configured to transform input data signals from the IP block into temporally compressed DI asynchronous signals.","The multipoint-to-multipoint connection may further comprise timing independent channels between the TXs and individual inputs of a Flow Control block, wherein the DI asynchronous signals from the TXs are propagated via the timing independent channels in a self-timed fashion to the Flow Control block; the Flow Control block comprising a QDI Flow Control element configured to merge or selectively propagate the DI asynchronous signals to the individual timing independent channels; the QDI Flow Control element further configured to broadcast or selectively propagate the DI asynchronous signals to the individual timing independent channels; and multiple receivers (RXs) associated with the receiving IP blocks, each RX comprising one or more DI decoders and one or more temporal decompressors, and configured to receive the compressed DI asynchronous signals via the individual timing independent channels and restore the compressed DI asynchronous signal to form duplicates of the input data signals.","Other features and advantages of the present inventive concept should be apparent from the following description which illustrates by way of example aspects of the present inventive concept.","BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The above and other aspects and features of the present inventive concept will be more apparent by describing example embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: FIG.","1 is a general block diagram illustrating a possible embodiment of a generic Chronos Channel implementation; FIG.","2a is an example of a 2 bits Chronos Channel; FIG.","2b is an example of a 4 bits Chronos Channel; FIG.","2c is an example of a 6 bits Chronos Channel; FIG.","2d is an example of an 8 bits Chronos Channel; FIG.","3a represents a Chronos Robust flow graph; FIG.","3b represents a Chronos Robust Low Power flow graph; FIG.","3c represents a Chronos Dense flow graph; FIG.","4a shows an exemplary Chronos Channel using Join or Merge blocks; FIG.","4b shows an exemplary Chronos Channel using Fork or Steer blocks; and FIG.","4c shows an exemplary Chronos Channel using Join, Merge, Fork and Steer blocks.","FIG.","5 is a flowchart illustrating a process for ASIC design according to various embodiments; FIG.","6 is a flowchart illustrating a process for gasket generation according to various embodiments; and FIG.","7 is a block diagram illustrating a wired or wireless system according to various embodiments.","DETAILED DESCRIPTION While certain embodiments are described, these embodiments are presented by way of example only, and are not intended to limit the scope of protection.","The methods and systems described herein may be embodied in a variety of other forms.","Furthermore, various omissions, substitutions, and changes in the form of the example methods and systems described herein may be made without departing from the scope of protection.","A Chronos Channel is an ASIC Interconnect that allows transmitter blocks to send data to receiver blocks.","Chronos Channels stand out by relying on a reduced set of timing assumptions and being robust against delay variations.","To do so, Chronos Channels transmit data using delay insensitive (DI) codes and quasi-delay-insensitive (QDI) logic.","In this way, Chronos Channels are insensitive to all wire and gate delay variations, but for those belonging to a few specific forking logic paths called isochronic forks.","Also, a unique characteristic of a Chronos Channel, when compared to related solutions, is that it uses temporal compression in its internal paths to reduce the overheads of QDI logic and efficiently transmit data.","In fact, data can be compressed by different ratios, which can be any rational number (as long as a technology specific maximum frequency restriction is respected).","In this way, a Chronos Channel is defined by the combination of a DI code (and related handshake protocol), a temporal compression ratio and the hardware required to encode, decode, compress, decompress and transmit data.","DI codes are a specific family of encoding schemes where no codeword can be contained in another codeword.","This allows a receiver to perceive the transmission of a codeword unambiguously.","Such a characteristic eliminates the need for a control signal that identifies the validity of a data channel, and its respective timing assumptions (as in synchronous or bundled-data asynchronous design), as the validity of the data channel is encoded in the data itself.","Also, note that, usually, DI codes are employed in digital applications, which means that their code words are typically defined using a set of binary values.","However, in a Chronos Channel, signals do not need to be digital and codewords can be represented using sets with more than 2 values, provided that data is still encoded using a DI code.","In other words, the data in a Chronos Channel can be composed of analog signals, as long as no codeword is contained in another codeword.","Such a characteristic allows a more flexible usage of Chronos Channels.","Another aspect of DI codes is that, to allow data transmission, they are usually coupled to a handshake protocol, which is usually 4- or 2-phases.","A large variety of DI codes are available in the state-of-the-art.","One example of DI encoding schemes for Chronos Channels is the Chronos-Robust encoding scheme, a flowchart of which is illustrated in FIG.","3a.","In this scheme 300, the decoded data is represented by the set of symbols (a,b) and the encoded data by (A, B, C).","For transmitting data using this encoding scheme, whenever codeword “A” 301 is detected in the channel, one can safely identify that a value “a” 303 is in the channel.","The same is valid whenever a codeword “B” 304 is detected and one can safely identify a value “b” 305.However, to allow data transmission there is always the transmission of an empty codeword “C” 306 between every valid codeword (“A” or “B”).","This allows a receiver to detect sequences of “A”s or “B”s unambiguously.","In this case, a 4-phase handshake is established and the protocol for transmitting data is: (i) the sender issues a valid codeword; (ii) the receiver acknowledges the valid codeword; (iii) the sender issues a spacer; and (iv) the receiver acknowledges the spacer.","As an example, one can have a 1 bit binary data (a=0, b=1) being encoded using 2 bits binary codewords (A=01, B=10, C=00).","Note that, by using this scheme, one can safely identify transitions between “a” and “b”.","As another example, one can have the same 1 bit binary data (a=0, b=1) being encoded using a single analog signal (A=0V, B=1V, C=0.5V).","Another example of DI encoding scheme for a Chronos Channel is the Chronos-Robust Low Power encoding scheme, a flowchart of which is illustrated in FIG.","3b.","In this scheme, 310, decoded data is represented by (a,b) and encoded data by (A, B, C, D).","For transmitting data using this encoding scheme, it is not enough to analyze the current codeword to detect the respective value.","For example, codeword “A” 311 may represent either an “a” 312 or a “b” 314 value, depending if the previous codeword was “B” 315 or “C” 316, respectively.","In this case, where one can only detect a value analyzing transitions, rather than codewords, a 2-phase handshake protocol is required: (i) the sender issues a new codeword; (ii) the receiver acknowledges the codeword; As an example, one can have a 1 bit binary data (a=0, b=1) being encoded using 2 bits binary codewords (A=00, B=01, C=10, D=11).","Note that, by using this scheme, one can safely identify “a” values whenever there is a transition in the least significant bit of the codewords and “b” values whenever there is a transition in the most significant bit of the codewords.","Compared to the Chronos Robust encoding scheme this encoding scheme reduces the number of transitions leading to lower switching power.","A Chronos Robust Dense encoding scheme illustrated in FIG.","3c is another DI encoding scheme, where decoded data is represented by the set (a,b,c,d) and encoded data by (A, B, C, D).","In this encoding scheme 320, it is also not enough to analyze the current codeword to detect the respective value.","In this encoding scheme a value is detected by analyzing transitions, rather than codewords.","However, differently from the Chronos Robust Low Power example, data detection always requires 2 transitions, one to issue a pre-valid codeword (B 322 or C 323) and one to issue a valid codeword (A 321 or D 324).","Therefore, a 4-phase handshake protocol is required: (i) the sender issues a new pre-valid codeword; (ii) the receiver acknowledges the pre-valid codeword; (iii) the sender issues a new codeword; and (iv) the receiver acknowledges the new codeword.","As an example, one can have a 2 bit binary data (a=00, b=01, c=10, d=11) being encoded using 2 bits binary codewords (A=00, B=01,C=10, D=11).","Note that, by using this encoding scheme, one can safely identify valid data such that: (i) “a”: whenever there is a transition to B followed by a transition to A; (ii) “b”: whenever there is a transition to C followed by a transition to A; (iii) “c”: whenever there is a transition to B followed by a transition to D; and (iv) “d”: whenever there is a transition to C followed by a transition to D. A possible application of the Chronos Robust Dense encoding scheme is data encryption or data correction.","Chronos Channels do not have a global clock signal, hence their basic performance cannot be defined as an operating frequency, but rather as a cycle time.","In such channels, the cycle time is defined as the time between two consecutive transactions when the Channel is always transmitting data.","In other words, the cycle time of a Chronos Channel dictates how fast it can consume the data of a producer and how fast it will generate data to a consumer.","For example, assuming that the cycle time of a Chronos Channel is fns, a producer can generate a new data every 1 ns (or operate at an equivalent frequency of 1 GHz) and safely assume that every new piece of data it generates will be consumed by the Chronos Channel.","Similarly, in this case, a consumer can expect to receive a new data every 1 ns from the channel.","Hence, it can also sample data at an equivalent frequency of 1 GHz.","Note, however, that Chronos Channels do not have any assumption of possible clock signals used in producers and consumers connected to them, as they employ synchronizers in their control path interfaces.","Another performance metric of a Chronos Channel is its latency, or the time it takes for data being available in its inputs to being transmitted to its outputs.","Note that, depending on the spatial distribution of the Chronos Channel in the physical implementation of the circuit, its latency can grow, due to long wiring.","Although it is unavoidable to increase the latency as the length of wires increase, the impact on cycle time can be mitigated (or even avoided) by adding repeater stages, which are like pipeline stages.","In this way, a long link may exhibit an increased latency but cycle time can remain the same.","In other words, it can take some cycles for the data to propagate through the Chronos Channel.","However, the producer will still be able to inject new data at every cycle time and the consumer can still expect a new data at every cycle time.","The notion of the cycle time and latency of a Chronos Channel is important to understand the different possibilities of temporal compression that can be adopted for these channels.","In a Chronos Channel, the temporal compression ratio determines the number of slots in which a cycle time will be divided.","This allows distributing temporally the data to be transmitted and reducing hardware overhead because the different slots can be propagated by sequentially using the same hardware.","In other words, the temporal compression ratio defines how many pieces the data will be split into in order to be serially transmitted through the Chronos Channel.","This ratio can be defined as any positive rational number and is only constrained by the maximum frequency allowed by a target technology.","For example, assuming a cycle time of 1 ns, a compression ratio of 2 means that the data to be transmitted will be split in two pieces of data, each with a 0.5 ns slot of the total cycle time.","In this way, the circuit implemented in the Chronos Channel needs to guarantee that each piece of data can be transmitted in 0.5 ns to ensure a 1 ns cycle time.","Note that, for higher temporal compression ratios, this cycle time is reduced, in such a way that the maximum ratio possible is limited by the maximum ratio allowed by the target technology (or the minimum delay for a single slot).","To implement a Chronos Channel in a target technology, different circuits can be employed.","FIG.","1 shows a block diagram of a possible embodiment of a generic Chronos Channel implementation with the general hardware organization, in various embodiments, to explore the functionality of these circuits.","In this hardware organization 100 there are 5 main components: encoders (Enc) 111; temporal compressors (TC) 112; repeaters (RP) 130; temporal decompressors (TD) 122; and decoders (Dec) 121.An encoder 111 is responsible for transforming the input data (e.g., input data received from a producer IP block to be transmitted to a consumer IP block), which is represented using “m” wires, into encoded data that uses “k” wires and a specific DI code.","A Chronos Channel requires “j” encoders 111, where “j” is the size of the input data divided by the size of the DI code of choice.","Also, encoder blocks 111 may require input control signals to indicate the validity of the data in their inputs.","A clock signal (clockA) can be used for synchronous data inputs and an enable signal (enableA) can be used to enable or disable data consumption in order to fulfil specific data transmission protocol requirements.","These encoder blocks 111 also generate an output control signal to indicate when the Chronos Channel is full and cannot accept new data.","Note that data in either the inputs or the outputs of an encoder 111 can be digital or analog.","The TC 112 splits a “j” sized set of encoded data in “j/i” (or the temporal compression ratio) “i” sized sets of encoded data.","Then, the TC 112 issues each of the “j/i” sets in its outputs, one at a time.","To control the flow of this data, the handshake protocol defined by the choice of DI code is used.","Note that the maximum time to transmit each of the “j/i” sets is the delay of the slot defined by the target cycle time divided by the compression ratio.","In this way, and assuming that the remaining parts of the circuit will also be able to consume the data while guaranteeing cycle time performance, all the “j/i” sets will be sent in one cycle time.","The outputs of the TC 112 can feed either a repeater 130 or the TD 122 directly.","Also, note that in case “j/i” is not a natural number, but rather a positive rational number, the TC 112 will use only the required number of its outputs in the transmission of the last slots of data.","Nevertheless, the division of the cycle time in slots will still be a natural number defined as the ceiling function of “j/i”.","Repeaters 130 have memory elements and are capable of holding encoded data and sending it to a next repeater or the TD 122.To control the flow of this data, the handshake protocol defined by the choice of DI code is used.","Furthermore, the maximum time to transmit each of the “j/i” sets is also the delay of the slot defined by the target cycle time divided by the compression ratio.","Note that repeaters 130 may or may not be required in a Chronos Channel, as they are used to fix slot delay violations in long paths that fail to meet cycle time requirements or to improve signal strength.","Also, note that different numbers of repeaters 130 may be required for the different outputs of a TC 112.This is valid because, in a Chronos Channel, there is no global control signal dictating how events flow through the data path.","Rather, each path from an output of a TC 112 to the input of a TD 122 has an independent flow control.","Again, the only restriction is the specified cycle time.","The TD 122 merges “q/i” sets of encoded data, each with size “i”, in a single set of encoded data with size “q”.","Then the TD 122 issues the whole “q” sized set in its outputs, which feed the decoder blocks 121.To control the flow of this data, the handshake protocol defined by the choice of DI code is used.","In this circuit, the maximum time to consume each of the “q/i” sets is the delay of the slot defined by the target cycle time divided by its compression ratio.","Note that, in some embodiments, TDs 122 can have a different compression ratio than that of the TC 112 and can generate sets with a different size from those originally consumed by the TC 112.This is particularly useful when connecting transmitters and receivers with different clock frequencies.","Also, if the compression ratio of the TD 122 is a positive rational number, it will only use the required number of its inputs in the consumption of the last slots of data.","The decoder 121 is responsible for transforming input encoded data, which is represented using “k” wires and a specific DI code, back to the original input data that used “m” wires.","In various embodiments, the decoder 121 is configured to transform the input encoded data to form a representation of the data signals input to the encoders 111, the representation being compliant to an input data format of the consumer IP block.","To decode data, a Chronos Channel needs “q” decoders, as defined in the compression ratio of the TD 133.A decoder block may also require input control signals to indicate that data in its outputs was successfully collected.","To do so, a clock signal (clockB) can be used, for synchronous data outputs, and an enable signal (enableB) can be used to enable or disable the generation of new data in the outputs of the Chronos Channel, to fulfil specific data transmission protocol requirements.","Furthermore, decoders 121 also generate an output control signal to indicate when they are empty, which means there is no data in the Chronos Channel to be consumed.","Note that data in either the inputs or the outputs of a decoder 121 can be digital or analog.","Another important concept in a Chronos Channel is the definition of TX and RX blocks.","As FIG.","1 shows, TX 110 is the block that comprises the encoders 111 and TC 112 of the channel and RX 120 is the block that comprises the decoders 121 and TD 122 of the channel.","In this way, the control signals connected to the TX 110 (enableA, clockA and full) must be produced and consumed by the transmitter connected to the Chronos Channel, whenever applicable.","This means that the clock connected to the TX 110 (clockA) must be the same clock connected to the transmitter, assuming that the transmitter is synchronous.","The same is valid for the input and output control signals of the TX 110 (enableA and valid), they must be respectively produced and consumed by the transmitter.","In a similar way, the control signals of the RX 120 (enableB, clockB and empty) must be produced and consumed by the receiver connected to the Chronos Channel.","Due to the asynchronous communication between TX and RX blocks 110 and 120, a Chronos Channel can interface transmitters and receivers that operate at different frequencies and with different data bus widths (as the compression ratios can be different in the TX and RX blocks 110 and 120).","However, to avoid data loss, it must be ensured that the receiver consumes data as fast as the producer generates new data.","To do so, the output throughput must be greater or equal to the input throughput.","More specifically, recalling FIG.","1: FB*p≥FA*n, where FB is the frequency of clockB and FA is the frequency of clockA.","The usage of controllers coupled to the TX 110 and RX 120 can enable avoiding the requirement of constrained frequencies between transmitter and receiver blocks.","Such controllers must be able to implement a communication protocol using the control signals provided by the TX and RX blocks 110 and 120.Note that these signals allow implementing a variety of communication protocols, such as (and not limited to) handshake- or credit-based protocols.","The coupling of controllers to a Chronos Channel generates what is called a Chronos Link, and enables leveraging the full flexibility of Chronos Channels.","This is because transmitters and receivers connected to Chronos Links can be completely asynchronous to each other and communication may be established by a handshake procedure without any need to perform complex timing closure.","An example of such an implementation is given in patent application Ser.","No.","15/344,420.FIG.","2a is a block diagram of a 2 bits Chronos Channel illustrating a point-to-point connection 200 from a transmitter (TX 211) operating at 100 MHz and sending digital data with a width of 2 bits to a receiver (RX 212) operating at 100 MHz and receiving digital data with a width of 2 bits.","The employed TX 211 block and the RX 212 block both have a temporal compression ratio of 1 and, therefore, their TC and decompressor blocks can be omitted.","Furthermore, in this example, data within the Chronos Channel is encoded using a digital 1-of-4 DI code, and requires 4 wires for each 2 bits of decoded data.","In this example, one repeater 213 is enough to guarantee throughput and signal strength requirements.","FIG.","2b is a block diagram of a 4 bits Chronos Channel illustrating a point-to-point connection 220 from a transmitter (TX 221) operating at 100 MHz and sending digital data with a width of 4 bits to a receiver (RX 222) operating at 200 MHz and receiving digital data with a width of 2 bits.","To accommodate the discrepancy between the input and the output data widths while maintaining throughput, the TX 221 has a temporal compression ratio of 2 and the RX 222 has a temporal ratio of 1.In this example, data within the Chronos Channel is also encoded using a digital 1-of-4 DI code, and requires 4 wires for each 2 bits of decoded data.","Also, two repeaters 223 and 224 are used to guarantee throughput and signal strength requirements.","Note that, because the compression ratio in the RX 222 is 1, a single decoder (Dec1) is used.","However, because the compression ratio in the TX 221 is 2, the 4 bits input data is split in two 2 bits buses that are connected to 2 encoders 225 and 226 that generate data using a 1-of-4 DI code.","The generated data is the input to a 2 to 1 TC 227 that issues the data of one input at a time in its output, which is also encoded using a 1-of-4 DI code.","FIG.","2c is a block diagram of a 6 bits Chronos Channel illustrating a point-to-point connection 240 from a transmitter (TX 241) operating at 100 MHz and sending digital data with a width of 6 bits to a receiver (RX 245) operating at 300 MHz and receiving digital data with a width of 2 bits.","To accommodate the discrepancy between the input and the output data widths while maintaining throughput, the TX 241 has a temporal compression ratio of 3 and the RX 245 has a ratio of 1.Furthermore, this example demonstrates how TXs can be nested to allow more flexible and modular design of Chronos Channels, as the input data is divided in two buses, with widths of 4 and 2 bits.","The bus of 4 bits is input to the nested TX 242, which can be the same implementation described in reference to TX 221 in FIG.","2b.","In this way, TX 242 encodes the data using a 1-of-4 DI code and divides it in two temporal slots, sending one at a time in its output.","The TX 242 output is then connected to the first two inputs of the 3 to 1 TC 244 shown in FIG.","2c.","The third input of the TC 244 is connected to an encoder 243 that generates data using the same 1-of-4 DI codes used in the nested TX1 242.The TC 244 will then issue the three inputs one at a time to an output, which is directly connected to the RX 245.Note that in this example there is no need for repeaters between the TX and RX blocks.","FIG.","2d is a block diagram of an 8 bits Chronos Channel illustrating a point-to-point connection 250 from a transmitter (TX 251) operating at 100 MHz and sending digital data with a width of 8 bits to a receiver (RX 259) operating at 100 MHz and receiving digital data with a width of 8 bits.","In this example, the TX 251 and RX 259 have the same throughput, requiring the same temporal compression ratio (in this case 4).","Also, this example shows how TCs and decompressors can be arranged in tree structures, as they are associative.","In the TX block 251, 4 encoders (End, Enc2, Enc3 and Enc4) encode data using a 1-of-4 DI code and two pairs of encoders, with each pair of encoders being connected to one of two 2 to 1 TCs 252 and 253.The TCs 252 and 253 are then connected to another TC 254.In this example, a single repeater 255 between the TX 251 and RX 259 blocks is used to fulfil throughput requirements.","In the RX 259, TDs 256, 257 and 258 are organized in a tree structure where a single 1 to 2 TD 256 has its outputs connected to two other TDs 257 and 258.These TDs 256, 257 and 258, in turn, are connected to 4 decoders (Dec1, Dec2, Dec3 and Dec4) to decode the 1-of-4 DI data back to 8 bits digital data.","In various embodiments, the decoders Dec1, Dec2, Dec3 and Dec4 are configured to transform encoded data input to the decoders to form a representation of data signals generated by a producer IP block and input to the encoders Enc1, Enc2, Enc3 and Enc4, the representation being compliant to an input data format of the consumer IP block.","FIG.","4a shows a block diagram of an exemplary Chronos Channel using Join or Merge blocks in a multi-point-to-point connection 400 according to various embodiments.","Referring to FIG.","4a, in various embodiments, a multi-point-to-point connection 400 may serve as a connection between two producer IP blocks and a third consumer IP block.","The producer IPs are connected to respective inputs of TXs 401 and 402 (and subsequently to inputs of two repeaters RPO and RP1 in this example), thereby generating two independent paths in the Chronos Channel.","These paths can then be combined using a flow control block 403, which can be (but are not limited to) a merge, a join or a select component, depending of the control flow requirements.","For example, a merge component combines the information of both paths into a single output path, while a select or a join component can arbitrate between paths using some control mechanism.","The output of the control flow block 403 will be propagated to the inputs of an RX block 404 via a third repeater RP2 in this example.","Note that repeaters RP0, RP1 and RP2 can be added in any point between TXs 401 and 402 and RX 404, including before and after the flow control block 403.FIG.","4b shows a block diagram of an exemplary Chronos Channel using Fork or Steer blocks in a point-to-multi-point connection 420 according to various embodiments.","Referring to FIG.","4b, in various embodiments, the point-to-multi-point connection 420 may serve as a connection between a producer IP block and two consumer IP blocks.","The producer IP is connected to an input of TX 421 (and a repeater RPO in this example) and the generated path in the Chronos Channel can be divided using a flow control block 422, which can be (but is not limited to) a fork or a steer component, depending on the flow control requirements.","For example, a fork component sends the same input information to both output paths, while a steer component can arbitrate to send different input information to each of the output paths using some control mechanism.","The outputs of the control flow block 422 are propagated to inputs of RX blocks 423 and 424.Note that repeaters RP0, RP1 and RP2 can be added in any point between the TX 421 and the RXs 423 and 424, including before and after the flow control block 422.FIG.","4c shows a block diagram of an exemplary Chronos Channel using Join, Merge, Fork and Steer blocks illustrating a multi-point-to-multi-point connection 430 according to various embodiments.","Referring to FIG.","4c, in various embodiments, the multi-point-to-multi-point connection 430 may serve as a connection between a set of producer IP blocks and a set of consumer IP blocks.","Each producer IP block is connected to one of j TXs (TX0, TX1 to TXj), each which generates an independent path in the Chronos Channel.","These independent paths can then be combined using different combinations of flow control blocks and any number of repeaters (RP0 to RPh) to implement a specific functionality.","The combined paths are received at another set of flow control blocks and forwarded via repeaters (RP0, RP1 to RPq in this example) to receivers RX0, RX1 to RXq.","In the end of each path in the Chronos Channel, the RXs are interfaced with the consumer IPs.","Note that between the TXs (TX0, TX1 to TXj) and the RXs (RX0, RX1 to RXq), different combinations of flow control blocks and repeaters can be employed, to fulfil functional and performance requirements.","All the logic used to implement the components of a Chronos Channel must be QDI.","This requirement is to ensure the robustness of such channels and to guarantee that synchronization and control of events inside a Chronos Channel are all performed asynchronously.","This allows timing independent channels to be established between IP blocks in an ASIC design.","In this way, timing closure for the ASIC design may be accomplished with simplified, top level checks.","That is, testing each individual IP block in the ASIC design across all corners (i.e., PVT) obviates any complex timing margin evaluation for the ASIC design as a whole.","In various embodiments, a timing independent channel between two or more IP blocks may include one or more repeaters, which can improve signal strength and throughput.","In various embodiments, repeaters may be inserted on the basis of distance between IP blocks, which can be determined beforehand.","Advantageously, a Chronos Channel included in an ASIC design renders the ASIC design insensitive to PVT variations and resilient to aging.","Due to the absence of a clock, the ASIC design also consumes less power.","The ASIC design also exhibits low electromagnetic interference (EMI) as a result of the self-timed nature of the circuits as well as low leakage.","Consequently, the ASIC design may be especially ideal for large area ASICs where routing (i.e., of the clock signal) is difficult and significant effort is traditionally expended in synthesizing a clock tree to balance the skew across corners and modes of operation.","In various embodiments, each IP block may be associated with a liberty (i.e., .lib) file describing the timing and power parameters for the block in a particular technology across a range of operation modes.","Moreover, each IP block may also be associated with an abstract view, which contains the IP physical boundary as well as the location of each pin.","A top level netlist may describe the connections between different IP blocks.","In addition, information on different clock domains should also be available.","The foregoing information may serve as inputs into a Chronos Channel generation process.","FIG.","5 is a flowchart illustrating a process 500 for ASIC design according to various embodiments.","Referring to FIG.","5, in various embodiments, the process 500 includes a physical design step 510.In various embodiments, the physical design step 510 may include partitioning 512, floorplanning 514, placement 516, gasket insertion 518, simplified routing 520, and simplified timing check 522.In various embodiments, gasket insertion 518 replaces clock tree synthesis, which could be performed as part of the physical design step in a conventional ASIC design flow (e.g., a conventional ASIC design flow).","According to one exemplary embodiment, gasket insertion 518 communication between various IP blocks uses self-timed as opposed to synchronous signals.","Gasket insertion 518 includes inserting one or more gaskets (i.e., a transmitter gasket and/or a receiver gasket) for each IP block in an ASIC design.","The gaskets transform a signal between two IP blocks from a synchronous signal to an asynchronous self-timed signal with a handshake between the IP blocks.","In various embodiments, simplified signal routing 520 replaces conventional signal routing.","The gaskets afford independence from any timing constraints.","Consequently, connections between various IP blocks may be easily established.","One or more asynchronous buffers (Abufs) may be inserted as a repeater between distantly located IP blocks in order to improve signal strength and throughput.","Nevertheless, Abufs are inserted based on the distance between IP blocks and not based on any process, voltage and temperature (PVT) conditions or operation mode variations.","In various embodiments, simplified timing check 522 replaces timing closure, which may be performed as part of the physical design step in a conventional ASIC design flow.","The use of gaskets obviates a substantial need to evaluate timing margins across PVT corners.","Most PVT and operation mode variations are accounted for by the asynchronous protocol.","In various embodiments, the simplified timing check 522 includes verification of a small subset (e.g., approximate 10%) of slow corners.","In various embodiments, each IP block may be associated with a liberty (i.e., .lib) file describing the timing and power parameters for the block in a particular technology across a range of operation modes.","Moreover, each IP block may also be associated with an abstract view, which contains the IP physical boundary as well as the location of each pin.","A top level netlist may describe the connection between different IP blocks.","In addition, information on different clock domains should also be available.","The foregoing information may serve as inputs into a gasket generation process.","FIG.","6 is a flowchart illustrating a process 600 for gasket generation according to various embodiments.","Referring to FIGS.","5 and 6, in various embodiments, the process 600 may implement gasket insertion 518.In various embodiments, one or more point-to-point buses (e.g., one of the point-to-point connections 200, 220 or 240) and/or point-to-multi-point buses (e.g., the point-to-multi-point connection 420) and/or multi-point-to-point buses (e.g., the multi-point-to-point connection 400) and/or multi-point-to-multi-point buses (e.g., the multi-point-to-multi-point connection 430) are identified in an ASIC design (602).","The maximum speed of a clock associated with each bus is determined (604).","For example, buses may include output signals from one IP block to one or more other IP blocks.","The maximum speed of the clock associated with each bus corresponds to a maximum equivalent speed in an asynchronous domain for a given technology (i.e., MSPD).","As such, the MSPD for each bus is determined (606).","A required number of dual-rail or 1-of-n QDI blocks (i.e., encoders and decoders) is determined based on the MSPD for each bus (608).","The transmitter and receiver gaskets for each bus may include the same number of dual-rail or 1-of-n QDI blocks.","In various embodiments, a dual-rail or 1-of-n QDI implementation guarantees delay insensitivity in the timing independent channels between IP blocks in the ASIC design.","One or more asynchronous multiplexers may be inserted to multiplex low speed transmission bus outputs from the dual rail or 1-of-n QDI encoders (610).","The multiplexing of low speed transmission buses alleviates congestion.","Thus, the transmitter gasket for each bus may include a certain number of asynchronous multiplexers.","As such, a corresponding number of de-multiplexers are inserted on the receiving side (612).","The de-multiplexers de-multiplex the buses to its original speed.","FIG.","7 is a block diagram illustrating a wired or wireless system 550 according to various embodiments.","Referring to FIGS.","5, 6 and 7, the system 550 may be used to perform the process 600.In various embodiments, the system 550 may be a conventional personal computer, computer server, personal digital assistant, smart phone, tablet computer, or any other processor enabled device that is capable of wired or wireless data communication.","A person having ordinary skill in the art can appreciate that other computer systems and/or architectures may be used without departing from the scope of the present inventive concept.","The system 550 preferably includes one or more processors, such as processor 560.Additional processors may be provided, such as an auxiliary processor to manage input/output, an auxiliary processor to perform floating point mathematical operations, a special-purpose microprocessor having an architecture suitable for fast execution of signal processing algorithms (e.g., digital signal processor), a slave processor subordinate to the main processing system (e.g., back-end processor), an additional microprocessor or controller for dual or multiple processor systems, or a coprocessor.","Such auxiliary processors may be discrete processors or may be integrated with the processor 560.The processor 560 is preferably connected to a communication bus 555.The communication bus 555 may include a data channel for facilitating information transfer between storage and other peripheral components of the system 550.The communication bus 555 further may provide a set of signals used for communication with the processor 560, including a data bus, address bus, and control bus (not shown).","The communication bus 555 may comprise any standard or non-standard bus architecture such as, for example, bus architectures compliant with industry standard architecture (“ISA”), extended industry standard architecture (“EISA”), Micro Channel Architecture (“MCA”), peripheral component interconnect (“PCI”) local bus, or standards promulgated by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (“IEEE”) including IEEE 488 general-purpose interface bus (“GPIB”), IEEE 696/S-100, and the like.","The system 550 preferably includes a main memory 565 and may also include a secondary memory 570.The main memory 565 provides storage of instructions and data for programs executing on the processor 560.The main memory 565 is typically semiconductor-based memory such as dynamic random access memory (“DRAM”) and/or static random access memory (“SRAM”).","Other semiconductor-based memory types include, for example, synchronous dynamic random access memory (“SDRAM”), Rambus dynamic random access memory (“RDRAM”), ferroelectric random access memory (“FRAM”), and the like, including read only memory (“ROM”).","The secondary memory 570 may optionally include an internal memory 575 and/or a removable medium 580, for example a floppy disk drive, a magnetic tape drive, a compact disc (“CD”) drive, a digital versatile disc (“DVD”) drive, etc.","The removable medium 580 is read from and/or written to in a well-known manner.","Removable medium 580 may be, for example, a floppy disk, magnetic tape, CD, DVD, SD card, etc.","The removable medium 580 is a non-transitory computer readable medium having stored thereon computer executable code (i.e., software) and/or data.","The computer software or data stored on the removable medium 580 is read into the system 550 for execution by the processor 560.In alternative embodiments, secondary memory 570 may include other similar means for allowing computer programs or other data or instructions to be loaded into the system 550.Such means may include, for example, an external medium 595 and a communication interface 590.Examples of external medium 595 may include an external hard disk drive or an external optical drive, or and external magneto-optical drive.","Other examples of secondary memory 570 may include semiconductor-based memory such as programmable read-only memory (“PROM”), erasable programmable read-only memory (“EPROM”), electrically erasable read-only memory (“EEPROM”), or flash memory (block oriented memory similar to EEPROM).","The removable medium 580 and the communication interface 590 allow software and data to be transferred from the external medium 595 to the system 550.The system 550 may also include an input/output (“I/O”) interface 585.The I/O interface 585 facilitates input from and output to external devices.","For example the I/O interface 585 may receive input from a keyboard or mouse and may provide output to a display.","The I/O interface 585 is capable of facilitating input from and output to various alternative types of human interface and machine interface devices alike.","The communication interface 590 allows software and data to be transferred between system 550 and external devices (e.g.","printers), networks, or information sources.","For example, computer software or executable code may be transferred to system 550 from a network server via communication interface 590.Examples of communication interface 590 include, for example, but not limited to, a modem, a network interface card (“NIC”), a wireless data card, a communications port, a PCMCIA slot and card, an infrared interface, and an IEEE 1394 fire-wire.","The communication interface 590 preferably implements industry promulgated protocol standards, such as Ethernet IEEE 802 standards, Fiber Channel, digital subscriber line (“DSL”), asynchronous digital subscriber line (“ADSL”), frame relay, asynchronous transfer mode (“ATM”), integrated digital services network (“ISDN”), personal communications services (“PCS”), transmission control protocol/Internet protocol (“TCP/IP”), serial line Internet protocol/point to point protocol (“SLIP/PPP”), and so on, but may also implement customized or non-standard interface protocols as well.","Software and data transferred via the communication interface 590 are generally in the form of electrical communication signals 605.In one exemplary embodiment, these electrical communication signals 605 are provided to the communication interface 590 via a communication channel 635.In one embodiment, the communication channel 635 may be a wired or wireless network, or any variety of other communication links.","The communication channel 635 carries the electrical communication signals 605 and can be implemented using a variety of wired or wireless communication means including wire or cable, fiber optics, conventional phone line, cellular phone link, wireless data communication link, radio frequency (“RF”) link, or infrared link, just to name a few.","Computer executable code (i.e., computer programs or software) is stored in the main memory 565 and/or the secondary memory 570.Computer programs can also be received via communication interface 590 and stored in the main memory 565 and/or the secondary memory 570.Such computer programs, when executed, enable the system 550 to perform the various functions of the present invention as previously described.","In this description, the term “computer readable medium” is used to refer to any non-transitory computer readable storage media used to provide computer executable code (e.g., software and computer programs) to the system 550.Examples of these media include the main memory 565, the secondary memory 570 (including the internal memory 575, the removable medium 580, and the external medium 595), and any peripheral device communicatively coupled with the communication interface 590 (including a network information server or other network device).","These non-transitory computer readable mediums are means for providing executable code, programming instructions, and software to the system 550.In one embodiment implemented using software, the software may be stored on a computer readable medium and loaded into the system 550 by way of the removable medium 580, the I/O interface 585, or the communication interface 590.In such an embodiment, the software is loaded into the system 550 in the form of electrical communication signals 605.The software, when executed by the processor 560, preferably causes the processor 560 to perform the inventive features and functions previously described herein.","The system 550 also includes optional wireless communication components that facilitate wireless communication over a voice and over a data network.","The wireless communication components comprise an antenna system 655, a radio system 645 and a baseband system 625.In the system 550, radio frequency (“RF”) signals are transmitted and received over the air by the antenna system 655 under the management of the radio system 645.In one embodiment, the antenna system 655 may comprise one or more antennae and one or more multiplexors (not shown) that perform a switching function to provide the antenna system 655 with transmit and receive signal paths.","In the receive path, received RF signals can be coupled from a multiplexor to a low noise amplifier (not shown) that amplifies the received RF signal and sends the amplified signal to the radio system 645.In alternative embodiments, the radio system 645 may comprise one or more radios that are configured to communicate over various frequencies.","In one embodiment, the radio system 645 may combine a demodulator (not shown) and modulator (not shown) in one integrated circuit (“IC”).","The demodulator and modulator can also be separate components.","In the incoming path, the demodulator strips away the RF carrier signal leaving a baseband receive audio signal, which is sent from the radio system 645 to the baseband system 625.If the received signal contains audio information, then baseband system 625 decodes the signal and converts it to an analog signal.","Then the signal is amplified and sent to a speaker.","The baseband system 625 may also receive analog audio signals from a microphone.","These analog audio signals are converted to digital signals and encoded by the baseband system 625.The baseband system 625 also codes the digital signals for transmission and generates a baseband transmit audio signal that is routed to the modulator portion of the radio system 645.The modulator mixes the baseband transmit audio signal with an RF carrier signal generating an RF transmit signal that is routed to the antenna system 655 and may pass through a power amplifier (not shown).","The power amplifier amplifies the RF transmit signal and routes it to the antenna system 655 where the signal is switched to the antenna port for transmission.","The baseband system 625 may also be communicatively coupled with the processor 560.The processor 560 has access to main memory 565 and/or secondary memory 570.The processor 560 is preferably configured to execute instructions (i.e., computer programs or software) that can be stored in the main memory 565 or the secondary memory 570.Computer programs can also be received from the baseband system 625and stored in the main memory 565 or in secondary memory 570, or executed upon receipt.","Such computer programs, when executed, enable the system 550 to perform the various functions of the present invention as previously described.","For example, the main memory 565 may include various software modules (not shown) that are executable by processor 560.The accompanying claims and their equivalents are intended to cover such forms or modifications as would fall within the scope and spirit of the protection.","For example, the example apparatuses, methods, and systems disclosed herein can be applied wireless communication devices incorporating HF and/or UHF RFID reader capabilities.","The various components illustrated in the figures may be implemented as, for example, but not limited to, software and/or firmware on a processor, ASIC/FPGA/DSP, or dedicated hardware.","Also, the features and attributes of the specific example embodiments disclosed above may be combined in different ways to form additional embodiments, all of which fall within the scope of the present disclosure.","The foregoing method descriptions and the process flow diagrams are provided merely as illustrative examples and are not intended to require or imply that the steps of the various embodiments must be performed in the order presented.","As will be appreciated by one of skill in the art the order of steps in the foregoing embodiments may be performed in any order.","Words such as “thereafter,” “then,” “next,” etc.","are not intended to limit the order of the steps; these words are simply used to guide the reader through the description of the methods.","Further, any reference to claim elements in the singular, for example, using the articles “a,” “an” or “the” is not to be construed as limiting the element to the singular.","The various illustrative logical blocks, modules, circuits, and algorithm steps described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein may be implemented as electronic hardware, computer software, or combinations of both.","To clearly illustrate this interchangeability of hardware and software, various illustrative components, blocks, modules, circuits, and steps have been described above generally in terms of their functionality.","Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware or software depends upon the particular application and design constraints imposed on the overall system.","Skilled artisans may implement the described functionality in varying ways for each particular application, but such implementation decisions should not be interpreted as causing a departure from the scope of the present invention.","The hardware used to implement the various illustrative logics, logical blocks, modules, and circuits described in connection with the aspects disclosed herein may be implemented or performed with a general purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein.","A general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but, in the alternative, the processor may be any conventional processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine.","A processor may also be implemented as a combination of receiver devices, e.g., a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other such configuration.","Alternatively, some steps or methods may be performed by circuitry that is specific to a given function.","In one or more exemplary aspects, the functions described may be implemented in hardware, software, firmware, or any combination thereof.","If implemented in software, the functions may be stored as one or more instructions or code on a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium or non-transitory processor-readable storage medium.","The steps of a method or algorithm disclosed herein may be embodied in processor-executable instructions that may reside on a non-transitory computer-readable or processor-readable storage medium.","Non-transitory computer-readable or processor-readable storage media may be any storage media that may be accessed by a computer or a processor.","By way of example but not limitation, such non-transitory computer-readable or processor-readable storage media may include RAM, ROM, EEPROM, FLASH memory, CD-ROM or other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium that may be used to store desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and that may be accessed by a computer.","Disk and disc, as used herein, includes compact disc (CD), laser disc, optical disc, digital versatile disc (DVD), floppy disk, and Blu-ray disc where disks usually reproduce data magnetically, while discs reproduce data optically with lasers.","Combinations of the above are also included within the scope of non-transitory computer-readable and processor-readable media.","Additionally, the operations of a method or algorithm may reside as one or any combination or set of codes and/or instructions on a non-transitory processor-readable storage medium and/or computer-readable storage medium, which may be incorporated into a computer program product.","Although the present disclosure provides certain example embodiments and applications, other embodiments that are apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art, including embodiments which do not provide all of the features and advantages set forth herein, are also within the scope of this disclosure.","Accordingly, the scope of the present disclosure is intended to be defined only by reference to the appended claims."]],"string":"[\n [\n \"APPLICATION SPECIFIC INTEGRATED CIRCUIT INTERCONNECT\",\n \"Systems and methods for providing Chronos Channel interconnects in an ASIC are provided.\",\n \"Chronos Channels rely on a reduced set of timing assumptions and are robust against delay variations.\",\n \"Chronos Channels transmit data using delay insensitive (DI) codes and quasi-delay-insensitive (QDI) logic.\",\n \"Chronos Channels are insensitive to all wire and gate delay variations, but for those belonging to a few specific forking logic paths called isochronic forks.\",\n \"Chronos Channels use temporal compression in internal paths to reduce the overheads of QDI logic and efficiently transmit data.\",\n \"Chronos Channels are defined by a combination of a DI code, a temporal compression ratio and hardware.\"\n ],\n [\n \"1.A point-to-point connection between a first intellectual property (IP) block and a second IP block of an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), the point-to-point connection comprising: a transmitter (TX) associated with the first IP block, the TX comprising one or more delay insensitive (DI) encoders and one or more temporal compressors, and configured to transform input data signals from the first IP block into one or more temporally compressed DI asynchronous signals and transmit the temporally compressed DI asynchronous signals via a channel; a receiver (RX) associated with the second IP block, the RX comprising one or more DI decoders and one or more temporal decompressors, and configured to receive the one or more DI asynchronous signals via the channel and restore the one or more compressed DI asynchronous signals to form a representation of the input data signals compliant to an input data format of the second IP block; and wherein the channel is a timing independent channel between the first IP block and the second IP block, wherein the one or more DI asynchronous signals from the TX are propagated via the timing independent channel in a self-timed fashion to the RX.\",\n \"2.The point-to-point connection as recited in claim 1, wherein the TX is configured to encode data symbols comprising two elements (a,b) using DI encoding that relies on three codewords A, B, and C and the RX is configured to decode the codewords (A,B,C) using DI encoding to form duplicates of the data symbols (a,b).\",\n \"3.The point-to-point connection as recited in claim 1, wherein the TX is configured to encode data symbols comprising two elements (a,b) using DI encoding that relies on four codewords A, B, C and D, and the RX is configured to decode the codewords (A,B,C and D) using DI decoding to form duplicates of the data symbols (a,b).\",\n \"4.The point-to-point connection as recited in claim 1, wherein the TX is configured to encode data symbols comprising four elements (a,b,c,d) using DI encoding that relies on four symbols A, B, C and D, and the RX is configured to decode the codewords (A,B,C and D) using DI decoding to form duplicates of the data symbols (a, b, c, d).\",\n \"5.The point-to-point connection as recited in claim 1, wherein the TX is configured to use a selected one of a plurality of DI encoding schemes to transform the input data signals into the compressed DI asynchronous signals and the RX is configured to restore the one or more compressed DI asynchronous signals to form the representation of the input data signals compliant to the input data format of the second IP block.\"\n ],\n [\n \" BACKGROUND \"\n ],\n [\n \" SUMMARY Apparatuses and methods for ASIC design are provided.\",\n \"According to various aspects, there is provided a point-to-point connection between a first intellectual property (IP) block and a second IP block of an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC).\",\n \"The point-to-point connection may comprise a transmitter (TX) associated with the first IP block, the TX comprising one or more delay insensitive (DI) encoders and one or more temporal compressors, and configured to transform input data signals to the first IP block into one or more temporally compressed DI asynchronous signals and transmit the temporally compressed DI asynchronous signals via a channel.\",\n \"The point-to-point connection may further comprise a receiver (RX) associated with the second IP block, the RX comprising one or more DI decoders, and configured to receive the one or more DI asynchronous signals via the channel and restore the one or more compressed DI asynchronous signals to form a representation of the input data signals compliant to an input data format of the second IP block; and wherein the channel is a timing independent channel between the first IP block and the second IP block, wherein the one or more DI asynchronous signals from the TX are propagated via the timing independent channel in a self-timed fashion to the RX.\",\n \"According to various aspects, there is provided a point-to-multipoint connection between a first intellectual property (IP) block and a plurality of IP blocks.\",\n \"The point-to-multipoint connection may comprise a transmitter (TX) associated with the first IP block, the TX comprising one or more delay insensitive (DI) encoders and one or more temporal compressors, and configured to transform input data signals from the first IP block into temporally compressed DI asynchronous signals.\",\n \"The a point-to-multipoint connection may further comprise a timing independent channel between the TX and a Flow Control block, wherein the DI asynchronous signal from the TX is propagated via the timing independent channel in a self-timed fashion to the Flow Control block; the Flow Control block comprising a quasi-delay-insensitive (QDI) Flow Control element configured to broadcast or selectively propagate the compressed DI asynchronous signals to a plurality of individual timing independent channels; and multiple receivers (RXs) associated with receiving IP blocks, each RX comprising one or more DI decoders and one or more temporal decompressors, and configured to receive the DI asynchronous signals from the Flow control block and restore the compressed DI asynchronous signals received from the the Flow Control block to form duplicates of the input data signals.\",\n \"According to various aspects, there is provided a multipoint-to-point connection between a transmitting Intellectual Property (IP) block and a plurality of receiving IP blocks.\",\n \"The multipoint-to-point connection may comprise a plurality of transmitters (TXs) each associated with respective transmitting IP blocks, each TX comprising one or more delay insensitive (DI) encoders and one or more temporal compressors, and configured to transform input data signals received from the transmitting IP blocks into temporally compressed DI asynchronous signals.\",\n \"The multipoint-to-point connection may further comprise a plurality of timing independent channels between the TXs and individual inputs of a Flow Control block, wherein the compressed DI asynchronous signals from the TXs are propagated via timing independent channels in a self-timed fashion to the Flow Control block; the Flow Control block comprising a QDI Flow Control element configured to merge or selectively propagate the individual timing independent channels; anda receiver (RX) associated with the receiving IP block, the RX comprising one or more DI decoders and one or more temporal decompressors, and configured to restore the compressed DI asynchronous signal received from the Flow Control block to form duplicates of the input data signals.\",\n \"According to various aspects, there is provided a multipoint-to-multipoint connection between a plurality of transmitting IP blocks and a plurality of receiving IP blocks.\",\n \"The multipoint-to-multipoint connection may comprise a plurality of transmitters (TXs) each associated with a respective one of the transmitting IP blocks, each TX comprising one or more delay insensitive (DI) encoders and one or more temporal compressors, and configured to transform input data signals from the IP block into temporally compressed DI asynchronous signals.\",\n \"The multipoint-to-multipoint connection may further comprise timing independent channels between the TXs and individual inputs of a Flow Control block, wherein the DI asynchronous signals from the TXs are propagated via the timing independent channels in a self-timed fashion to the Flow Control block; the Flow Control block comprising a QDI Flow Control element configured to merge or selectively propagate the DI asynchronous signals to the individual timing independent channels; the QDI Flow Control element further configured to broadcast or selectively propagate the DI asynchronous signals to the individual timing independent channels; and multiple receivers (RXs) associated with the receiving IP blocks, each RX comprising one or more DI decoders and one or more temporal decompressors, and configured to receive the compressed DI asynchronous signals via the individual timing independent channels and restore the compressed DI asynchronous signal to form duplicates of the input data signals.\",\n \"Other features and advantages of the present inventive concept should be apparent from the following description which illustrates by way of example aspects of the present inventive concept.\"\n ],\n [\n \"RELATED APPLICATIONS INFORMATION This present application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"15/344,416, entitled “Application specific integrated circuit interconnect,” filed on Nov. 4, 2016, which claims the benefit of priority under 35 U.S.C.\",\n \"119(e) to Provisional Patent Application Ser.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"62/372,217, entitled “Application Specific Integrated Circuit Point-to-Point Interconnect,” filed Aug. 8, 2016 and claims the benefit of priority under 35 U.S.C.\",\n \"119(e) to Provisional Patent Application Ser.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"62/250,998, entitled “Application Specific Integrated Circuit Point-to-Point Interconnect,” filed Nov. 4, 2015, all of which are incorporated herein by reference as if set forth in full.\",\n \"BACKGROUND 1.Technical Field The various embodiments described herein are related to application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), and more particularly to the design of various ASICs.\",\n \"2.Related Art Continuing advances in semiconductor device fabrication technology have yielded a steady decline in the size of process nodes.\",\n \"For example, 22 nanometer (nm) process nodes were introduced in 2012 but were quickly succeeded by 14 nm fin field-effect transistors (FinFETs) in 2014 while 5 nm process nodes are projected for 2020.The decrease in process node size allows a growing number of intellectual property (IP) cores or IP blocks to be placed on a single ASIC chip.\",\n \"That is, modern ASIC designs often spread numerous process nodes across a comparatively large silicon die, and include combinations of IP blocks and logic functions.\",\n \"At the same time, modern technology also requires increased connectivity and large data transfers between various IP blocks.\",\n \"In addition, modern ASIC chips frequently include multiple clock domains in order to leverage multi-core implementations.\",\n \"Thus, one or more clock signals may need to be distributed across the chip in a manner that minimizes clock skew.\",\n \"For instance, the edge of the clock signal received at a logic block located near a clock source should be aligned with those received at more distant logic blocks.\",\n \"Conventionally, a balanced clock signal distribution (i.e., timing closure) is achieved by inserting buffers.\",\n \"For example, pursuant to a traditional ASIC design flow, after floor planning and placing various IP blocks, a clock tree (i.e., a clock distribution network) may be synthesized and buffers may be added along the signal path from a clock source to various IP blocks according to the clock tree.\",\n \"In fact, timing closure for a clock signal that is distributed over a large and complex ASIC design typically requires the strategic placement of numerous buffers.\",\n \"Moreover, the distribution of a clock signal is also highly susceptible to both systematic and random variations.\",\n \"In particular, proper timing closure must account for the effects of on-chip variations that arise as a result of different process, voltage, and temperature (PVTs) and operation modes, which would otherwise introduce additional clock skews.\",\n \"As such, the most laborious and time consuming aspect of conventional ASIC design tends to be clock alignment.\",\n \"Clock tree synthesis and timing closure generally require significant manual intervention.\",\n \"In addition, the mechanisms (i.e., buffers) used to balance the clock across an ASIC chip generally consume a majority of the power in any conventional ASIC design.\",\n \"Therefore, what is needed are an apparatus and method that overcome these significant problems found in the aforementioned conventional approach to ASIC design.\",\n \"SUMMARY Apparatuses and methods for ASIC design are provided.\",\n \"According to various aspects, there is provided a point-to-point connection between a first intellectual property (IP) block and a second IP block of an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC).\",\n \"The point-to-point connection may comprise a transmitter (TX) associated with the first IP block, the TX comprising one or more delay insensitive (DI) encoders and one or more temporal compressors, and configured to transform input data signals to the first IP block into one or more temporally compressed DI asynchronous signals and transmit the temporally compressed DI asynchronous signals via a channel.\",\n \"The point-to-point connection may further comprise a receiver (RX) associated with the second IP block, the RX comprising one or more DI decoders, and configured to receive the one or more DI asynchronous signals via the channel and restore the one or more compressed DI asynchronous signals to form a representation of the input data signals compliant to an input data format of the second IP block; and wherein the channel is a timing independent channel between the first IP block and the second IP block, wherein the one or more DI asynchronous signals from the TX are propagated via the timing independent channel in a self-timed fashion to the RX.\",\n \"According to various aspects, there is provided a point-to-multipoint connection between a first intellectual property (IP) block and a plurality of IP blocks.\",\n \"The point-to-multipoint connection may comprise a transmitter (TX) associated with the first IP block, the TX comprising one or more delay insensitive (DI) encoders and one or more temporal compressors, and configured to transform input data signals from the first IP block into temporally compressed DI asynchronous signals.\",\n \"The a point-to-multipoint connection may further comprise a timing independent channel between the TX and a Flow Control block, wherein the DI asynchronous signal from the TX is propagated via the timing independent channel in a self-timed fashion to the Flow Control block; the Flow Control block comprising a quasi-delay-insensitive (QDI) Flow Control element configured to broadcast or selectively propagate the compressed DI asynchronous signals to a plurality of individual timing independent channels; and multiple receivers (RXs) associated with receiving IP blocks, each RX comprising one or more DI decoders and one or more temporal decompressors, and configured to receive the DI asynchronous signals from the Flow control block and restore the compressed DI asynchronous signals received from the the Flow Control block to form duplicates of the input data signals.\",\n \"According to various aspects, there is provided a multipoint-to-point connection between a transmitting Intellectual Property (IP) block and a plurality of receiving IP blocks.\",\n \"The multipoint-to-point connection may comprise a plurality of transmitters (TXs) each associated with respective transmitting IP blocks, each TX comprising one or more delay insensitive (DI) encoders and one or more temporal compressors, and configured to transform input data signals received from the transmitting IP blocks into temporally compressed DI asynchronous signals.\",\n \"The multipoint-to-point connection may further comprise a plurality of timing independent channels between the TXs and individual inputs of a Flow Control block, wherein the compressed DI asynchronous signals from the TXs are propagated via timing independent channels in a self-timed fashion to the Flow Control block; the Flow Control block comprising a QDI Flow Control element configured to merge or selectively propagate the individual timing independent channels; anda receiver (RX) associated with the receiving IP block, the RX comprising one or more DI decoders and one or more temporal decompressors, and configured to restore the compressed DI asynchronous signal received from the Flow Control block to form duplicates of the input data signals.\",\n \"According to various aspects, there is provided a multipoint-to-multipoint connection between a plurality of transmitting IP blocks and a plurality of receiving IP blocks.\",\n \"The multipoint-to-multipoint connection may comprise a plurality of transmitters (TXs) each associated with a respective one of the transmitting IP blocks, each TX comprising one or more delay insensitive (DI) encoders and one or more temporal compressors, and configured to transform input data signals from the IP block into temporally compressed DI asynchronous signals.\",\n \"The multipoint-to-multipoint connection may further comprise timing independent channels between the TXs and individual inputs of a Flow Control block, wherein the DI asynchronous signals from the TXs are propagated via the timing independent channels in a self-timed fashion to the Flow Control block; the Flow Control block comprising a QDI Flow Control element configured to merge or selectively propagate the DI asynchronous signals to the individual timing independent channels; the QDI Flow Control element further configured to broadcast or selectively propagate the DI asynchronous signals to the individual timing independent channels; and multiple receivers (RXs) associated with the receiving IP blocks, each RX comprising one or more DI decoders and one or more temporal decompressors, and configured to receive the compressed DI asynchronous signals via the individual timing independent channels and restore the compressed DI asynchronous signal to form duplicates of the input data signals.\",\n \"Other features and advantages of the present inventive concept should be apparent from the following description which illustrates by way of example aspects of the present inventive concept.\",\n \"BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The above and other aspects and features of the present inventive concept will be more apparent by describing example embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: FIG.\",\n \"1 is a general block diagram illustrating a possible embodiment of a generic Chronos Channel implementation; FIG.\",\n \"2a is an example of a 2 bits Chronos Channel; FIG.\",\n \"2b is an example of a 4 bits Chronos Channel; FIG.\",\n \"2c is an example of a 6 bits Chronos Channel; FIG.\",\n \"2d is an example of an 8 bits Chronos Channel; FIG.\",\n \"3a represents a Chronos Robust flow graph; FIG.\",\n \"3b represents a Chronos Robust Low Power flow graph; FIG.\",\n \"3c represents a Chronos Dense flow graph; FIG.\",\n \"4a shows an exemplary Chronos Channel using Join or Merge blocks; FIG.\",\n \"4b shows an exemplary Chronos Channel using Fork or Steer blocks; and FIG.\",\n \"4c shows an exemplary Chronos Channel using Join, Merge, Fork and Steer blocks.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"5 is a flowchart illustrating a process for ASIC design according to various embodiments; FIG.\",\n \"6 is a flowchart illustrating a process for gasket generation according to various embodiments; and FIG.\",\n \"7 is a block diagram illustrating a wired or wireless system according to various embodiments.\",\n \"DETAILED DESCRIPTION While certain embodiments are described, these embodiments are presented by way of example only, and are not intended to limit the scope of protection.\",\n \"The methods and systems described herein may be embodied in a variety of other forms.\",\n \"Furthermore, various omissions, substitutions, and changes in the form of the example methods and systems described herein may be made without departing from the scope of protection.\",\n \"A Chronos Channel is an ASIC Interconnect that allows transmitter blocks to send data to receiver blocks.\",\n \"Chronos Channels stand out by relying on a reduced set of timing assumptions and being robust against delay variations.\",\n \"To do so, Chronos Channels transmit data using delay insensitive (DI) codes and quasi-delay-insensitive (QDI) logic.\",\n \"In this way, Chronos Channels are insensitive to all wire and gate delay variations, but for those belonging to a few specific forking logic paths called isochronic forks.\",\n \"Also, a unique characteristic of a Chronos Channel, when compared to related solutions, is that it uses temporal compression in its internal paths to reduce the overheads of QDI logic and efficiently transmit data.\",\n \"In fact, data can be compressed by different ratios, which can be any rational number (as long as a technology specific maximum frequency restriction is respected).\",\n \"In this way, a Chronos Channel is defined by the combination of a DI code (and related handshake protocol), a temporal compression ratio and the hardware required to encode, decode, compress, decompress and transmit data.\",\n \"DI codes are a specific family of encoding schemes where no codeword can be contained in another codeword.\",\n \"This allows a receiver to perceive the transmission of a codeword unambiguously.\",\n \"Such a characteristic eliminates the need for a control signal that identifies the validity of a data channel, and its respective timing assumptions (as in synchronous or bundled-data asynchronous design), as the validity of the data channel is encoded in the data itself.\",\n \"Also, note that, usually, DI codes are employed in digital applications, which means that their code words are typically defined using a set of binary values.\",\n \"However, in a Chronos Channel, signals do not need to be digital and codewords can be represented using sets with more than 2 values, provided that data is still encoded using a DI code.\",\n \"In other words, the data in a Chronos Channel can be composed of analog signals, as long as no codeword is contained in another codeword.\",\n \"Such a characteristic allows a more flexible usage of Chronos Channels.\",\n \"Another aspect of DI codes is that, to allow data transmission, they are usually coupled to a handshake protocol, which is usually 4- or 2-phases.\",\n \"A large variety of DI codes are available in the state-of-the-art.\",\n \"One example of DI encoding schemes for Chronos Channels is the Chronos-Robust encoding scheme, a flowchart of which is illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"3a.\",\n \"In this scheme 300, the decoded data is represented by the set of symbols (a,b) and the encoded data by (A, B, C).\",\n \"For transmitting data using this encoding scheme, whenever codeword “A” 301 is detected in the channel, one can safely identify that a value “a” 303 is in the channel.\",\n \"The same is valid whenever a codeword “B” 304 is detected and one can safely identify a value “b” 305.However, to allow data transmission there is always the transmission of an empty codeword “C” 306 between every valid codeword (“A” or “B”).\",\n \"This allows a receiver to detect sequences of “A”s or “B”s unambiguously.\",\n \"In this case, a 4-phase handshake is established and the protocol for transmitting data is: (i) the sender issues a valid codeword; (ii) the receiver acknowledges the valid codeword; (iii) the sender issues a spacer; and (iv) the receiver acknowledges the spacer.\",\n \"As an example, one can have a 1 bit binary data (a=0, b=1) being encoded using 2 bits binary codewords (A=01, B=10, C=00).\",\n \"Note that, by using this scheme, one can safely identify transitions between “a” and “b”.\",\n \"As another example, one can have the same 1 bit binary data (a=0, b=1) being encoded using a single analog signal (A=0V, B=1V, C=0.5V).\",\n \"Another example of DI encoding scheme for a Chronos Channel is the Chronos-Robust Low Power encoding scheme, a flowchart of which is illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"3b.\",\n \"In this scheme, 310, decoded data is represented by (a,b) and encoded data by (A, B, C, D).\",\n \"For transmitting data using this encoding scheme, it is not enough to analyze the current codeword to detect the respective value.\",\n \"For example, codeword “A” 311 may represent either an “a” 312 or a “b” 314 value, depending if the previous codeword was “B” 315 or “C” 316, respectively.\",\n \"In this case, where one can only detect a value analyzing transitions, rather than codewords, a 2-phase handshake protocol is required: (i) the sender issues a new codeword; (ii) the receiver acknowledges the codeword; As an example, one can have a 1 bit binary data (a=0, b=1) being encoded using 2 bits binary codewords (A=00, B=01, C=10, D=11).\",\n \"Note that, by using this scheme, one can safely identify “a” values whenever there is a transition in the least significant bit of the codewords and “b” values whenever there is a transition in the most significant bit of the codewords.\",\n \"Compared to the Chronos Robust encoding scheme this encoding scheme reduces the number of transitions leading to lower switching power.\",\n \"A Chronos Robust Dense encoding scheme illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"3c is another DI encoding scheme, where decoded data is represented by the set (a,b,c,d) and encoded data by (A, B, C, D).\",\n \"In this encoding scheme 320, it is also not enough to analyze the current codeword to detect the respective value.\",\n \"In this encoding scheme a value is detected by analyzing transitions, rather than codewords.\",\n \"However, differently from the Chronos Robust Low Power example, data detection always requires 2 transitions, one to issue a pre-valid codeword (B 322 or C 323) and one to issue a valid codeword (A 321 or D 324).\",\n \"Therefore, a 4-phase handshake protocol is required: (i) the sender issues a new pre-valid codeword; (ii) the receiver acknowledges the pre-valid codeword; (iii) the sender issues a new codeword; and (iv) the receiver acknowledges the new codeword.\",\n \"As an example, one can have a 2 bit binary data (a=00, b=01, c=10, d=11) being encoded using 2 bits binary codewords (A=00, B=01,C=10, D=11).\",\n \"Note that, by using this encoding scheme, one can safely identify valid data such that: (i) “a”: whenever there is a transition to B followed by a transition to A; (ii) “b”: whenever there is a transition to C followed by a transition to A; (iii) “c”: whenever there is a transition to B followed by a transition to D; and (iv) “d”: whenever there is a transition to C followed by a transition to D. A possible application of the Chronos Robust Dense encoding scheme is data encryption or data correction.\",\n \"Chronos Channels do not have a global clock signal, hence their basic performance cannot be defined as an operating frequency, but rather as a cycle time.\",\n \"In such channels, the cycle time is defined as the time between two consecutive transactions when the Channel is always transmitting data.\",\n \"In other words, the cycle time of a Chronos Channel dictates how fast it can consume the data of a producer and how fast it will generate data to a consumer.\",\n \"For example, assuming that the cycle time of a Chronos Channel is fns, a producer can generate a new data every 1 ns (or operate at an equivalent frequency of 1 GHz) and safely assume that every new piece of data it generates will be consumed by the Chronos Channel.\",\n \"Similarly, in this case, a consumer can expect to receive a new data every 1 ns from the channel.\",\n \"Hence, it can also sample data at an equivalent frequency of 1 GHz.\",\n \"Note, however, that Chronos Channels do not have any assumption of possible clock signals used in producers and consumers connected to them, as they employ synchronizers in their control path interfaces.\",\n \"Another performance metric of a Chronos Channel is its latency, or the time it takes for data being available in its inputs to being transmitted to its outputs.\",\n \"Note that, depending on the spatial distribution of the Chronos Channel in the physical implementation of the circuit, its latency can grow, due to long wiring.\",\n \"Although it is unavoidable to increase the latency as the length of wires increase, the impact on cycle time can be mitigated (or even avoided) by adding repeater stages, which are like pipeline stages.\",\n \"In this way, a long link may exhibit an increased latency but cycle time can remain the same.\",\n \"In other words, it can take some cycles for the data to propagate through the Chronos Channel.\",\n \"However, the producer will still be able to inject new data at every cycle time and the consumer can still expect a new data at every cycle time.\",\n \"The notion of the cycle time and latency of a Chronos Channel is important to understand the different possibilities of temporal compression that can be adopted for these channels.\",\n \"In a Chronos Channel, the temporal compression ratio determines the number of slots in which a cycle time will be divided.\",\n \"This allows distributing temporally the data to be transmitted and reducing hardware overhead because the different slots can be propagated by sequentially using the same hardware.\",\n \"In other words, the temporal compression ratio defines how many pieces the data will be split into in order to be serially transmitted through the Chronos Channel.\",\n \"This ratio can be defined as any positive rational number and is only constrained by the maximum frequency allowed by a target technology.\",\n \"For example, assuming a cycle time of 1 ns, a compression ratio of 2 means that the data to be transmitted will be split in two pieces of data, each with a 0.5 ns slot of the total cycle time.\",\n \"In this way, the circuit implemented in the Chronos Channel needs to guarantee that each piece of data can be transmitted in 0.5 ns to ensure a 1 ns cycle time.\",\n \"Note that, for higher temporal compression ratios, this cycle time is reduced, in such a way that the maximum ratio possible is limited by the maximum ratio allowed by the target technology (or the minimum delay for a single slot).\",\n \"To implement a Chronos Channel in a target technology, different circuits can be employed.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"1 shows a block diagram of a possible embodiment of a generic Chronos Channel implementation with the general hardware organization, in various embodiments, to explore the functionality of these circuits.\",\n \"In this hardware organization 100 there are 5 main components: encoders (Enc) 111; temporal compressors (TC) 112; repeaters (RP) 130; temporal decompressors (TD) 122; and decoders (Dec) 121.An encoder 111 is responsible for transforming the input data (e.g., input data received from a producer IP block to be transmitted to a consumer IP block), which is represented using “m” wires, into encoded data that uses “k” wires and a specific DI code.\",\n \"A Chronos Channel requires “j” encoders 111, where “j” is the size of the input data divided by the size of the DI code of choice.\",\n \"Also, encoder blocks 111 may require input control signals to indicate the validity of the data in their inputs.\",\n \"A clock signal (clockA) can be used for synchronous data inputs and an enable signal (enableA) can be used to enable or disable data consumption in order to fulfil specific data transmission protocol requirements.\",\n \"These encoder blocks 111 also generate an output control signal to indicate when the Chronos Channel is full and cannot accept new data.\",\n \"Note that data in either the inputs or the outputs of an encoder 111 can be digital or analog.\",\n \"The TC 112 splits a “j” sized set of encoded data in “j/i” (or the temporal compression ratio) “i” sized sets of encoded data.\",\n \"Then, the TC 112 issues each of the “j/i” sets in its outputs, one at a time.\",\n \"To control the flow of this data, the handshake protocol defined by the choice of DI code is used.\",\n \"Note that the maximum time to transmit each of the “j/i” sets is the delay of the slot defined by the target cycle time divided by the compression ratio.\",\n \"In this way, and assuming that the remaining parts of the circuit will also be able to consume the data while guaranteeing cycle time performance, all the “j/i” sets will be sent in one cycle time.\",\n \"The outputs of the TC 112 can feed either a repeater 130 or the TD 122 directly.\",\n \"Also, note that in case “j/i” is not a natural number, but rather a positive rational number, the TC 112 will use only the required number of its outputs in the transmission of the last slots of data.\",\n \"Nevertheless, the division of the cycle time in slots will still be a natural number defined as the ceiling function of “j/i”.\",\n \"Repeaters 130 have memory elements and are capable of holding encoded data and sending it to a next repeater or the TD 122.To control the flow of this data, the handshake protocol defined by the choice of DI code is used.\",\n \"Furthermore, the maximum time to transmit each of the “j/i” sets is also the delay of the slot defined by the target cycle time divided by the compression ratio.\",\n \"Note that repeaters 130 may or may not be required in a Chronos Channel, as they are used to fix slot delay violations in long paths that fail to meet cycle time requirements or to improve signal strength.\",\n \"Also, note that different numbers of repeaters 130 may be required for the different outputs of a TC 112.This is valid because, in a Chronos Channel, there is no global control signal dictating how events flow through the data path.\",\n \"Rather, each path from an output of a TC 112 to the input of a TD 122 has an independent flow control.\",\n \"Again, the only restriction is the specified cycle time.\",\n \"The TD 122 merges “q/i” sets of encoded data, each with size “i”, in a single set of encoded data with size “q”.\",\n \"Then the TD 122 issues the whole “q” sized set in its outputs, which feed the decoder blocks 121.To control the flow of this data, the handshake protocol defined by the choice of DI code is used.\",\n \"In this circuit, the maximum time to consume each of the “q/i” sets is the delay of the slot defined by the target cycle time divided by its compression ratio.\",\n \"Note that, in some embodiments, TDs 122 can have a different compression ratio than that of the TC 112 and can generate sets with a different size from those originally consumed by the TC 112.This is particularly useful when connecting transmitters and receivers with different clock frequencies.\",\n \"Also, if the compression ratio of the TD 122 is a positive rational number, it will only use the required number of its inputs in the consumption of the last slots of data.\",\n \"The decoder 121 is responsible for transforming input encoded data, which is represented using “k” wires and a specific DI code, back to the original input data that used “m” wires.\",\n \"In various embodiments, the decoder 121 is configured to transform the input encoded data to form a representation of the data signals input to the encoders 111, the representation being compliant to an input data format of the consumer IP block.\",\n \"To decode data, a Chronos Channel needs “q” decoders, as defined in the compression ratio of the TD 133.A decoder block may also require input control signals to indicate that data in its outputs was successfully collected.\",\n \"To do so, a clock signal (clockB) can be used, for synchronous data outputs, and an enable signal (enableB) can be used to enable or disable the generation of new data in the outputs of the Chronos Channel, to fulfil specific data transmission protocol requirements.\",\n \"Furthermore, decoders 121 also generate an output control signal to indicate when they are empty, which means there is no data in the Chronos Channel to be consumed.\",\n \"Note that data in either the inputs or the outputs of a decoder 121 can be digital or analog.\",\n \"Another important concept in a Chronos Channel is the definition of TX and RX blocks.\",\n \"As FIG.\",\n \"1 shows, TX 110 is the block that comprises the encoders 111 and TC 112 of the channel and RX 120 is the block that comprises the decoders 121 and TD 122 of the channel.\",\n \"In this way, the control signals connected to the TX 110 (enableA, clockA and full) must be produced and consumed by the transmitter connected to the Chronos Channel, whenever applicable.\",\n \"This means that the clock connected to the TX 110 (clockA) must be the same clock connected to the transmitter, assuming that the transmitter is synchronous.\",\n \"The same is valid for the input and output control signals of the TX 110 (enableA and valid), they must be respectively produced and consumed by the transmitter.\",\n \"In a similar way, the control signals of the RX 120 (enableB, clockB and empty) must be produced and consumed by the receiver connected to the Chronos Channel.\",\n \"Due to the asynchronous communication between TX and RX blocks 110 and 120, a Chronos Channel can interface transmitters and receivers that operate at different frequencies and with different data bus widths (as the compression ratios can be different in the TX and RX blocks 110 and 120).\",\n \"However, to avoid data loss, it must be ensured that the receiver consumes data as fast as the producer generates new data.\",\n \"To do so, the output throughput must be greater or equal to the input throughput.\",\n \"More specifically, recalling FIG.\",\n \"1: FB*p≥FA*n, where FB is the frequency of clockB and FA is the frequency of clockA.\",\n \"The usage of controllers coupled to the TX 110 and RX 120 can enable avoiding the requirement of constrained frequencies between transmitter and receiver blocks.\",\n \"Such controllers must be able to implement a communication protocol using the control signals provided by the TX and RX blocks 110 and 120.Note that these signals allow implementing a variety of communication protocols, such as (and not limited to) handshake- or credit-based protocols.\",\n \"The coupling of controllers to a Chronos Channel generates what is called a Chronos Link, and enables leveraging the full flexibility of Chronos Channels.\",\n \"This is because transmitters and receivers connected to Chronos Links can be completely asynchronous to each other and communication may be established by a handshake procedure without any need to perform complex timing closure.\",\n \"An example of such an implementation is given in patent application Ser.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"15/344,420.FIG.\",\n \"2a is a block diagram of a 2 bits Chronos Channel illustrating a point-to-point connection 200 from a transmitter (TX 211) operating at 100 MHz and sending digital data with a width of 2 bits to a receiver (RX 212) operating at 100 MHz and receiving digital data with a width of 2 bits.\",\n \"The employed TX 211 block and the RX 212 block both have a temporal compression ratio of 1 and, therefore, their TC and decompressor blocks can be omitted.\",\n \"Furthermore, in this example, data within the Chronos Channel is encoded using a digital 1-of-4 DI code, and requires 4 wires for each 2 bits of decoded data.\",\n \"In this example, one repeater 213 is enough to guarantee throughput and signal strength requirements.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"2b is a block diagram of a 4 bits Chronos Channel illustrating a point-to-point connection 220 from a transmitter (TX 221) operating at 100 MHz and sending digital data with a width of 4 bits to a receiver (RX 222) operating at 200 MHz and receiving digital data with a width of 2 bits.\",\n \"To accommodate the discrepancy between the input and the output data widths while maintaining throughput, the TX 221 has a temporal compression ratio of 2 and the RX 222 has a temporal ratio of 1.In this example, data within the Chronos Channel is also encoded using a digital 1-of-4 DI code, and requires 4 wires for each 2 bits of decoded data.\",\n \"Also, two repeaters 223 and 224 are used to guarantee throughput and signal strength requirements.\",\n \"Note that, because the compression ratio in the RX 222 is 1, a single decoder (Dec1) is used.\",\n \"However, because the compression ratio in the TX 221 is 2, the 4 bits input data is split in two 2 bits buses that are connected to 2 encoders 225 and 226 that generate data using a 1-of-4 DI code.\",\n \"The generated data is the input to a 2 to 1 TC 227 that issues the data of one input at a time in its output, which is also encoded using a 1-of-4 DI code.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"2c is a block diagram of a 6 bits Chronos Channel illustrating a point-to-point connection 240 from a transmitter (TX 241) operating at 100 MHz and sending digital data with a width of 6 bits to a receiver (RX 245) operating at 300 MHz and receiving digital data with a width of 2 bits.\",\n \"To accommodate the discrepancy between the input and the output data widths while maintaining throughput, the TX 241 has a temporal compression ratio of 3 and the RX 245 has a ratio of 1.Furthermore, this example demonstrates how TXs can be nested to allow more flexible and modular design of Chronos Channels, as the input data is divided in two buses, with widths of 4 and 2 bits.\",\n \"The bus of 4 bits is input to the nested TX 242, which can be the same implementation described in reference to TX 221 in FIG.\",\n \"2b.\",\n \"In this way, TX 242 encodes the data using a 1-of-4 DI code and divides it in two temporal slots, sending one at a time in its output.\",\n \"The TX 242 output is then connected to the first two inputs of the 3 to 1 TC 244 shown in FIG.\",\n \"2c.\",\n \"The third input of the TC 244 is connected to an encoder 243 that generates data using the same 1-of-4 DI codes used in the nested TX1 242.The TC 244 will then issue the three inputs one at a time to an output, which is directly connected to the RX 245.Note that in this example there is no need for repeaters between the TX and RX blocks.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"2d is a block diagram of an 8 bits Chronos Channel illustrating a point-to-point connection 250 from a transmitter (TX 251) operating at 100 MHz and sending digital data with a width of 8 bits to a receiver (RX 259) operating at 100 MHz and receiving digital data with a width of 8 bits.\",\n \"In this example, the TX 251 and RX 259 have the same throughput, requiring the same temporal compression ratio (in this case 4).\",\n \"Also, this example shows how TCs and decompressors can be arranged in tree structures, as they are associative.\",\n \"In the TX block 251, 4 encoders (End, Enc2, Enc3 and Enc4) encode data using a 1-of-4 DI code and two pairs of encoders, with each pair of encoders being connected to one of two 2 to 1 TCs 252 and 253.The TCs 252 and 253 are then connected to another TC 254.In this example, a single repeater 255 between the TX 251 and RX 259 blocks is used to fulfil throughput requirements.\",\n \"In the RX 259, TDs 256, 257 and 258 are organized in a tree structure where a single 1 to 2 TD 256 has its outputs connected to two other TDs 257 and 258.These TDs 256, 257 and 258, in turn, are connected to 4 decoders (Dec1, Dec2, Dec3 and Dec4) to decode the 1-of-4 DI data back to 8 bits digital data.\",\n \"In various embodiments, the decoders Dec1, Dec2, Dec3 and Dec4 are configured to transform encoded data input to the decoders to form a representation of data signals generated by a producer IP block and input to the encoders Enc1, Enc2, Enc3 and Enc4, the representation being compliant to an input data format of the consumer IP block.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"4a shows a block diagram of an exemplary Chronos Channel using Join or Merge blocks in a multi-point-to-point connection 400 according to various embodiments.\",\n \"Referring to FIG.\",\n \"4a, in various embodiments, a multi-point-to-point connection 400 may serve as a connection between two producer IP blocks and a third consumer IP block.\",\n \"The producer IPs are connected to respective inputs of TXs 401 and 402 (and subsequently to inputs of two repeaters RPO and RP1 in this example), thereby generating two independent paths in the Chronos Channel.\",\n \"These paths can then be combined using a flow control block 403, which can be (but are not limited to) a merge, a join or a select component, depending of the control flow requirements.\",\n \"For example, a merge component combines the information of both paths into a single output path, while a select or a join component can arbitrate between paths using some control mechanism.\",\n \"The output of the control flow block 403 will be propagated to the inputs of an RX block 404 via a third repeater RP2 in this example.\",\n \"Note that repeaters RP0, RP1 and RP2 can be added in any point between TXs 401 and 402 and RX 404, including before and after the flow control block 403.FIG.\",\n \"4b shows a block diagram of an exemplary Chronos Channel using Fork or Steer blocks in a point-to-multi-point connection 420 according to various embodiments.\",\n \"Referring to FIG.\",\n \"4b, in various embodiments, the point-to-multi-point connection 420 may serve as a connection between a producer IP block and two consumer IP blocks.\",\n \"The producer IP is connected to an input of TX 421 (and a repeater RPO in this example) and the generated path in the Chronos Channel can be divided using a flow control block 422, which can be (but is not limited to) a fork or a steer component, depending on the flow control requirements.\",\n \"For example, a fork component sends the same input information to both output paths, while a steer component can arbitrate to send different input information to each of the output paths using some control mechanism.\",\n \"The outputs of the control flow block 422 are propagated to inputs of RX blocks 423 and 424.Note that repeaters RP0, RP1 and RP2 can be added in any point between the TX 421 and the RXs 423 and 424, including before and after the flow control block 422.FIG.\",\n \"4c shows a block diagram of an exemplary Chronos Channel using Join, Merge, Fork and Steer blocks illustrating a multi-point-to-multi-point connection 430 according to various embodiments.\",\n \"Referring to FIG.\",\n \"4c, in various embodiments, the multi-point-to-multi-point connection 430 may serve as a connection between a set of producer IP blocks and a set of consumer IP blocks.\",\n \"Each producer IP block is connected to one of j TXs (TX0, TX1 to TXj), each which generates an independent path in the Chronos Channel.\",\n \"These independent paths can then be combined using different combinations of flow control blocks and any number of repeaters (RP0 to RPh) to implement a specific functionality.\",\n \"The combined paths are received at another set of flow control blocks and forwarded via repeaters (RP0, RP1 to RPq in this example) to receivers RX0, RX1 to RXq.\",\n \"In the end of each path in the Chronos Channel, the RXs are interfaced with the consumer IPs.\",\n \"Note that between the TXs (TX0, TX1 to TXj) and the RXs (RX0, RX1 to RXq), different combinations of flow control blocks and repeaters can be employed, to fulfil functional and performance requirements.\",\n \"All the logic used to implement the components of a Chronos Channel must be QDI.\",\n \"This requirement is to ensure the robustness of such channels and to guarantee that synchronization and control of events inside a Chronos Channel are all performed asynchronously.\",\n \"This allows timing independent channels to be established between IP blocks in an ASIC design.\",\n \"In this way, timing closure for the ASIC design may be accomplished with simplified, top level checks.\",\n \"That is, testing each individual IP block in the ASIC design across all corners (i.e., PVT) obviates any complex timing margin evaluation for the ASIC design as a whole.\",\n \"In various embodiments, a timing independent channel between two or more IP blocks may include one or more repeaters, which can improve signal strength and throughput.\",\n \"In various embodiments, repeaters may be inserted on the basis of distance between IP blocks, which can be determined beforehand.\",\n \"Advantageously, a Chronos Channel included in an ASIC design renders the ASIC design insensitive to PVT variations and resilient to aging.\",\n \"Due to the absence of a clock, the ASIC design also consumes less power.\",\n \"The ASIC design also exhibits low electromagnetic interference (EMI) as a result of the self-timed nature of the circuits as well as low leakage.\",\n \"Consequently, the ASIC design may be especially ideal for large area ASICs where routing (i.e., of the clock signal) is difficult and significant effort is traditionally expended in synthesizing a clock tree to balance the skew across corners and modes of operation.\",\n \"In various embodiments, each IP block may be associated with a liberty (i.e., .lib) file describing the timing and power parameters for the block in a particular technology across a range of operation modes.\",\n \"Moreover, each IP block may also be associated with an abstract view, which contains the IP physical boundary as well as the location of each pin.\",\n \"A top level netlist may describe the connections between different IP blocks.\",\n \"In addition, information on different clock domains should also be available.\",\n \"The foregoing information may serve as inputs into a Chronos Channel generation process.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"5 is a flowchart illustrating a process 500 for ASIC design according to various embodiments.\",\n \"Referring to FIG.\",\n \"5, in various embodiments, the process 500 includes a physical design step 510.In various embodiments, the physical design step 510 may include partitioning 512, floorplanning 514, placement 516, gasket insertion 518, simplified routing 520, and simplified timing check 522.In various embodiments, gasket insertion 518 replaces clock tree synthesis, which could be performed as part of the physical design step in a conventional ASIC design flow (e.g., a conventional ASIC design flow).\",\n \"According to one exemplary embodiment, gasket insertion 518 communication between various IP blocks uses self-timed as opposed to synchronous signals.\",\n \"Gasket insertion 518 includes inserting one or more gaskets (i.e., a transmitter gasket and/or a receiver gasket) for each IP block in an ASIC design.\",\n \"The gaskets transform a signal between two IP blocks from a synchronous signal to an asynchronous self-timed signal with a handshake between the IP blocks.\",\n \"In various embodiments, simplified signal routing 520 replaces conventional signal routing.\",\n \"The gaskets afford independence from any timing constraints.\",\n \"Consequently, connections between various IP blocks may be easily established.\",\n \"One or more asynchronous buffers (Abufs) may be inserted as a repeater between distantly located IP blocks in order to improve signal strength and throughput.\",\n \"Nevertheless, Abufs are inserted based on the distance between IP blocks and not based on any process, voltage and temperature (PVT) conditions or operation mode variations.\",\n \"In various embodiments, simplified timing check 522 replaces timing closure, which may be performed as part of the physical design step in a conventional ASIC design flow.\",\n \"The use of gaskets obviates a substantial need to evaluate timing margins across PVT corners.\",\n \"Most PVT and operation mode variations are accounted for by the asynchronous protocol.\",\n \"In various embodiments, the simplified timing check 522 includes verification of a small subset (e.g., approximate 10%) of slow corners.\",\n \"In various embodiments, each IP block may be associated with a liberty (i.e., .lib) file describing the timing and power parameters for the block in a particular technology across a range of operation modes.\",\n \"Moreover, each IP block may also be associated with an abstract view, which contains the IP physical boundary as well as the location of each pin.\",\n \"A top level netlist may describe the connection between different IP blocks.\",\n \"In addition, information on different clock domains should also be available.\",\n \"The foregoing information may serve as inputs into a gasket generation process.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"6 is a flowchart illustrating a process 600 for gasket generation according to various embodiments.\",\n \"Referring to FIGS.\",\n \"5 and 6, in various embodiments, the process 600 may implement gasket insertion 518.In various embodiments, one or more point-to-point buses (e.g., one of the point-to-point connections 200, 220 or 240) and/or point-to-multi-point buses (e.g., the point-to-multi-point connection 420) and/or multi-point-to-point buses (e.g., the multi-point-to-point connection 400) and/or multi-point-to-multi-point buses (e.g., the multi-point-to-multi-point connection 430) are identified in an ASIC design (602).\",\n \"The maximum speed of a clock associated with each bus is determined (604).\",\n \"For example, buses may include output signals from one IP block to one or more other IP blocks.\",\n \"The maximum speed of the clock associated with each bus corresponds to a maximum equivalent speed in an asynchronous domain for a given technology (i.e., MSPD).\",\n \"As such, the MSPD for each bus is determined (606).\",\n \"A required number of dual-rail or 1-of-n QDI blocks (i.e., encoders and decoders) is determined based on the MSPD for each bus (608).\",\n \"The transmitter and receiver gaskets for each bus may include the same number of dual-rail or 1-of-n QDI blocks.\",\n \"In various embodiments, a dual-rail or 1-of-n QDI implementation guarantees delay insensitivity in the timing independent channels between IP blocks in the ASIC design.\",\n \"One or more asynchronous multiplexers may be inserted to multiplex low speed transmission bus outputs from the dual rail or 1-of-n QDI encoders (610).\",\n \"The multiplexing of low speed transmission buses alleviates congestion.\",\n \"Thus, the transmitter gasket for each bus may include a certain number of asynchronous multiplexers.\",\n \"As such, a corresponding number of de-multiplexers are inserted on the receiving side (612).\",\n \"The de-multiplexers de-multiplex the buses to its original speed.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"7 is a block diagram illustrating a wired or wireless system 550 according to various embodiments.\",\n \"Referring to FIGS.\",\n \"5, 6 and 7, the system 550 may be used to perform the process 600.In various embodiments, the system 550 may be a conventional personal computer, computer server, personal digital assistant, smart phone, tablet computer, or any other processor enabled device that is capable of wired or wireless data communication.\",\n \"A person having ordinary skill in the art can appreciate that other computer systems and/or architectures may be used without departing from the scope of the present inventive concept.\",\n \"The system 550 preferably includes one or more processors, such as processor 560.Additional processors may be provided, such as an auxiliary processor to manage input/output, an auxiliary processor to perform floating point mathematical operations, a special-purpose microprocessor having an architecture suitable for fast execution of signal processing algorithms (e.g., digital signal processor), a slave processor subordinate to the main processing system (e.g., back-end processor), an additional microprocessor or controller for dual or multiple processor systems, or a coprocessor.\",\n \"Such auxiliary processors may be discrete processors or may be integrated with the processor 560.The processor 560 is preferably connected to a communication bus 555.The communication bus 555 may include a data channel for facilitating information transfer between storage and other peripheral components of the system 550.The communication bus 555 further may provide a set of signals used for communication with the processor 560, including a data bus, address bus, and control bus (not shown).\",\n \"The communication bus 555 may comprise any standard or non-standard bus architecture such as, for example, bus architectures compliant with industry standard architecture (“ISA”), extended industry standard architecture (“EISA”), Micro Channel Architecture (“MCA”), peripheral component interconnect (“PCI”) local bus, or standards promulgated by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (“IEEE”) including IEEE 488 general-purpose interface bus (“GPIB”), IEEE 696/S-100, and the like.\",\n \"The system 550 preferably includes a main memory 565 and may also include a secondary memory 570.The main memory 565 provides storage of instructions and data for programs executing on the processor 560.The main memory 565 is typically semiconductor-based memory such as dynamic random access memory (“DRAM”) and/or static random access memory (“SRAM”).\",\n \"Other semiconductor-based memory types include, for example, synchronous dynamic random access memory (“SDRAM”), Rambus dynamic random access memory (“RDRAM”), ferroelectric random access memory (“FRAM”), and the like, including read only memory (“ROM”).\",\n \"The secondary memory 570 may optionally include an internal memory 575 and/or a removable medium 580, for example a floppy disk drive, a magnetic tape drive, a compact disc (“CD”) drive, a digital versatile disc (“DVD”) drive, etc.\",\n \"The removable medium 580 is read from and/or written to in a well-known manner.\",\n \"Removable medium 580 may be, for example, a floppy disk, magnetic tape, CD, DVD, SD card, etc.\",\n \"The removable medium 580 is a non-transitory computer readable medium having stored thereon computer executable code (i.e., software) and/or data.\",\n \"The computer software or data stored on the removable medium 580 is read into the system 550 for execution by the processor 560.In alternative embodiments, secondary memory 570 may include other similar means for allowing computer programs or other data or instructions to be loaded into the system 550.Such means may include, for example, an external medium 595 and a communication interface 590.Examples of external medium 595 may include an external hard disk drive or an external optical drive, or and external magneto-optical drive.\",\n \"Other examples of secondary memory 570 may include semiconductor-based memory such as programmable read-only memory (“PROM”), erasable programmable read-only memory (“EPROM”), electrically erasable read-only memory (“EEPROM”), or flash memory (block oriented memory similar to EEPROM).\",\n \"The removable medium 580 and the communication interface 590 allow software and data to be transferred from the external medium 595 to the system 550.The system 550 may also include an input/output (“I/O”) interface 585.The I/O interface 585 facilitates input from and output to external devices.\",\n \"For example the I/O interface 585 may receive input from a keyboard or mouse and may provide output to a display.\",\n \"The I/O interface 585 is capable of facilitating input from and output to various alternative types of human interface and machine interface devices alike.\",\n \"The communication interface 590 allows software and data to be transferred between system 550 and external devices (e.g.\",\n \"printers), networks, or information sources.\",\n \"For example, computer software or executable code may be transferred to system 550 from a network server via communication interface 590.Examples of communication interface 590 include, for example, but not limited to, a modem, a network interface card (“NIC”), a wireless data card, a communications port, a PCMCIA slot and card, an infrared interface, and an IEEE 1394 fire-wire.\",\n \"The communication interface 590 preferably implements industry promulgated protocol standards, such as Ethernet IEEE 802 standards, Fiber Channel, digital subscriber line (“DSL”), asynchronous digital subscriber line (“ADSL”), frame relay, asynchronous transfer mode (“ATM”), integrated digital services network (“ISDN”), personal communications services (“PCS”), transmission control protocol/Internet protocol (“TCP/IP”), serial line Internet protocol/point to point protocol (“SLIP/PPP”), and so on, but may also implement customized or non-standard interface protocols as well.\",\n \"Software and data transferred via the communication interface 590 are generally in the form of electrical communication signals 605.In one exemplary embodiment, these electrical communication signals 605 are provided to the communication interface 590 via a communication channel 635.In one embodiment, the communication channel 635 may be a wired or wireless network, or any variety of other communication links.\",\n \"The communication channel 635 carries the electrical communication signals 605 and can be implemented using a variety of wired or wireless communication means including wire or cable, fiber optics, conventional phone line, cellular phone link, wireless data communication link, radio frequency (“RF”) link, or infrared link, just to name a few.\",\n \"Computer executable code (i.e., computer programs or software) is stored in the main memory 565 and/or the secondary memory 570.Computer programs can also be received via communication interface 590 and stored in the main memory 565 and/or the secondary memory 570.Such computer programs, when executed, enable the system 550 to perform the various functions of the present invention as previously described.\",\n \"In this description, the term “computer readable medium” is used to refer to any non-transitory computer readable storage media used to provide computer executable code (e.g., software and computer programs) to the system 550.Examples of these media include the main memory 565, the secondary memory 570 (including the internal memory 575, the removable medium 580, and the external medium 595), and any peripheral device communicatively coupled with the communication interface 590 (including a network information server or other network device).\",\n \"These non-transitory computer readable mediums are means for providing executable code, programming instructions, and software to the system 550.In one embodiment implemented using software, the software may be stored on a computer readable medium and loaded into the system 550 by way of the removable medium 580, the I/O interface 585, or the communication interface 590.In such an embodiment, the software is loaded into the system 550 in the form of electrical communication signals 605.The software, when executed by the processor 560, preferably causes the processor 560 to perform the inventive features and functions previously described herein.\",\n \"The system 550 also includes optional wireless communication components that facilitate wireless communication over a voice and over a data network.\",\n \"The wireless communication components comprise an antenna system 655, a radio system 645 and a baseband system 625.In the system 550, radio frequency (“RF”) signals are transmitted and received over the air by the antenna system 655 under the management of the radio system 645.In one embodiment, the antenna system 655 may comprise one or more antennae and one or more multiplexors (not shown) that perform a switching function to provide the antenna system 655 with transmit and receive signal paths.\",\n \"In the receive path, received RF signals can be coupled from a multiplexor to a low noise amplifier (not shown) that amplifies the received RF signal and sends the amplified signal to the radio system 645.In alternative embodiments, the radio system 645 may comprise one or more radios that are configured to communicate over various frequencies.\",\n \"In one embodiment, the radio system 645 may combine a demodulator (not shown) and modulator (not shown) in one integrated circuit (“IC”).\",\n \"The demodulator and modulator can also be separate components.\",\n \"In the incoming path, the demodulator strips away the RF carrier signal leaving a baseband receive audio signal, which is sent from the radio system 645 to the baseband system 625.If the received signal contains audio information, then baseband system 625 decodes the signal and converts it to an analog signal.\",\n \"Then the signal is amplified and sent to a speaker.\",\n \"The baseband system 625 may also receive analog audio signals from a microphone.\",\n \"These analog audio signals are converted to digital signals and encoded by the baseband system 625.The baseband system 625 also codes the digital signals for transmission and generates a baseband transmit audio signal that is routed to the modulator portion of the radio system 645.The modulator mixes the baseband transmit audio signal with an RF carrier signal generating an RF transmit signal that is routed to the antenna system 655 and may pass through a power amplifier (not shown).\",\n \"The power amplifier amplifies the RF transmit signal and routes it to the antenna system 655 where the signal is switched to the antenna port for transmission.\",\n \"The baseband system 625 may also be communicatively coupled with the processor 560.The processor 560 has access to main memory 565 and/or secondary memory 570.The processor 560 is preferably configured to execute instructions (i.e., computer programs or software) that can be stored in the main memory 565 or the secondary memory 570.Computer programs can also be received from the baseband system 625and stored in the main memory 565 or in secondary memory 570, or executed upon receipt.\",\n \"Such computer programs, when executed, enable the system 550 to perform the various functions of the present invention as previously described.\",\n \"For example, the main memory 565 may include various software modules (not shown) that are executable by processor 560.The accompanying claims and their equivalents are intended to cover such forms or modifications as would fall within the scope and spirit of the protection.\",\n \"For example, the example apparatuses, methods, and systems disclosed herein can be applied wireless communication devices incorporating HF and/or UHF RFID reader capabilities.\",\n \"The various components illustrated in the figures may be implemented as, for example, but not limited to, software and/or firmware on a processor, ASIC/FPGA/DSP, or dedicated hardware.\",\n \"Also, the features and attributes of the specific example embodiments disclosed above may be combined in different ways to form additional embodiments, all of which fall within the scope of the present disclosure.\",\n \"The foregoing method descriptions and the process flow diagrams are provided merely as illustrative examples and are not intended to require or imply that the steps of the various embodiments must be performed in the order presented.\",\n \"As will be appreciated by one of skill in the art the order of steps in the foregoing embodiments may be performed in any order.\",\n \"Words such as “thereafter,” “then,” “next,” etc.\",\n \"are not intended to limit the order of the steps; these words are simply used to guide the reader through the description of the methods.\",\n \"Further, any reference to claim elements in the singular, for example, using the articles “a,” “an” or “the” is not to be construed as limiting the element to the singular.\",\n \"The various illustrative logical blocks, modules, circuits, and algorithm steps described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein may be implemented as electronic hardware, computer software, or combinations of both.\",\n \"To clearly illustrate this interchangeability of hardware and software, various illustrative components, blocks, modules, circuits, and steps have been described above generally in terms of their functionality.\",\n \"Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware or software depends upon the particular application and design constraints imposed on the overall system.\",\n \"Skilled artisans may implement the described functionality in varying ways for each particular application, but such implementation decisions should not be interpreted as causing a departure from the scope of the present invention.\",\n \"The hardware used to implement the various illustrative logics, logical blocks, modules, and circuits described in connection with the aspects disclosed herein may be implemented or performed with a general purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein.\",\n \"A general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but, in the alternative, the processor may be any conventional processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine.\",\n \"A processor may also be implemented as a combination of receiver devices, e.g., a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other such configuration.\",\n \"Alternatively, some steps or methods may be performed by circuitry that is specific to a given function.\",\n \"In one or more exemplary aspects, the functions described may be implemented in hardware, software, firmware, or any combination thereof.\",\n \"If implemented in software, the functions may be stored as one or more instructions or code on a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium or non-transitory processor-readable storage medium.\",\n \"The steps of a method or algorithm disclosed herein may be embodied in processor-executable instructions that may reside on a non-transitory computer-readable or processor-readable storage medium.\",\n \"Non-transitory computer-readable or processor-readable storage media may be any storage media that may be accessed by a computer or a processor.\",\n \"By way of example but not limitation, such non-transitory computer-readable or processor-readable storage media may include RAM, ROM, EEPROM, FLASH memory, CD-ROM or other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium that may be used to store desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and that may be accessed by a computer.\",\n \"Disk and disc, as used herein, includes compact disc (CD), laser disc, optical disc, digital versatile disc (DVD), floppy disk, and Blu-ray disc where disks usually reproduce data magnetically, while discs reproduce data optically with lasers.\",\n \"Combinations of the above are also included within the scope of non-transitory computer-readable and processor-readable media.\",\n \"Additionally, the operations of a method or algorithm may reside as one or any combination or set of codes and/or instructions on a non-transitory processor-readable storage medium and/or computer-readable storage medium, which may be incorporated into a computer program product.\",\n \"Although the present disclosure provides certain example embodiments and applications, other embodiments that are apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art, including embodiments which do not provide all of the features and advantages set forth herein, are also within the scope of this disclosure.\",\n \"Accordingly, the scope of the present disclosure is intended to be defined only by reference to the appended claims.\"\n ]\n]"},"source":{"kind":"string","value":"Patent_15876047"}}},{"rowIdx":4495063,"cells":{"text":{"kind":"list like","value":[["Crystalline Semiconductor Growth on Amorphous and Poly-Crystalline Substrates","A multilayer semiconductor structure including at least in part a substrate and an III-N film layer.","The substrate's constant of thermal expansion being substantially matched to the III-N film's constant of thermal expansion.","The multilayer semiconductor structure may also include a crystal matching layer that has a lattice constant that substantially matches the lattice of constant of the III-N film.","By not relying on the substrate for lattice matching the III-N film, the multilayer structure allows greater flexibility in the selection of an applicable substrate."],["1.A multilayer structure comprising: a semiconductor substrate; a seed layer comprising of silicon deposited above the semiconductor substrate; a graphitic crystal matching layer comprising carbon deposited above the seed layer; and a device layer formed above the graphitic crystal matching layer, wherein the semiconductor substrate has a coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) substantially matching a CTE of the device layer.","2.The multilayer structure of claim 1, wherein the seed layer defines crystal orientation and grain size of the graphitic crystal matching layer.","3.The multilayer structure of claim 1, wherein the semiconductor substrate is not a single crystal substrate.","4.The multilayer structure of claim 1, wherein the semiconductor substrate comprises oriented multi-crystalline material.","5.The multilayer structure of claim 1, wherein the graphitic crystal matching layer has point defects throughout its surface.","6.The multilayer structure of claim 1, wherein the device layer comprises one or more of the following materials: AlGaN, GaN, or InGaN 7.The multilayer structure of claim 5, further comprising a nucleation layer deposited on the graphitic crystal matching layer.","8.The multilayer structure of claim 1, wherein the graphitic crystal matching layer comprises at least two layers of carbon.","9.The multilayer structure of claim 8, wherein the graphitic crystal matching layer has point defects in a first layer of carbon, wherein the first layer of carbon is above all other layers of carbon.","10.A method of creating a multilayer structure comprising: forming a seed layer comprising of silicon deposited above a semiconductor substrate; forming a graphitic crystal matching layer comprising carbon above the seed layer; and forming a device layer above the graphitic crystal matching layer, wherein the semiconductor substrate has a coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) substantially matching a CTE of the device layer.","11.The method of claim 10, wherein the seed layer defines crystal orientation and grain size of the graphitic crystal matching layer.","12.The method of claim 10, wherein the semiconductor substrate is not a single crystal substrate.","13.The method of claim 10, wherein the semiconductor substrate comprises oriented multi-crystalline material.","14.The method of claim 10, wherein the graphitic crystal matching layer has point defects throughout its surface.","15.The method of claim 10, wherein the device layer comprises one or more of the following materials: AlGaN, GaN, or InGaN 16.The method of claim 14, further comprising forming a nucleation layer deposited on the graphitic crystal matching layer.","17.The method of claim 10, wherein the graphitic crystal matching layer comprises at least two layers of carbon.","18.The method of claim 10, wherein the graphitic crystal matching layer has point defects in a first layer of carbon, wherein the first layer of carbon is above all other layers of carbon.","19.The method of claim 10, initially forming the graphitic crystal matching layer on a metal surface using vapor phase deposition, wherein the metal surface is separate from the semiconductor substrate, seed layer, and device layer; mechanically removing the graphitic crystal matching layer from the metal surface; and depositing the graphitic crystal matching layer on the seed layer."],[" BACKGROUND Group III-Nitride (III-N) semiconductors such as AlN, Al GaN, GaN, and InGaN have become important materials for the production of Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs) and high power devices such as High-Electron-Mobility Transistors (HEMTs).","Other III-Nitrides such as AlN and AlGaN are often included in device structures to mitigate mismatches in lattice and thermal expansion or as barrier or cladding layers in LEDs.","Homoepitaxial growth of III-Nitrides has significant commercial limitations due to the absence of crystalline III-N substrates of reasonable cost and adequate size.","Accordingly, heteroepitaxial growth methods have been developed wherein the III-Nitrides are grown on non-native substrates which are not well-matched to III-Nitride films in terms of crystal lattice dimensions or coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE).","The mismatch between the substrate, also referred to as the growth template, and the III-N film results in undesirable defects in the films crystal structure and distortions such as bowing or cracking of the substrate/film stack.","Current techniques for heteroepitaxy growth of III-N materials involve expensive processes while only partially mitigating defect generation resulting from lattice and CTE mismatch."],[" BRIEF SUMMARY Various embodiments of the invention seek to separate the CTE and lattice matching requirements for optimized III-Nitride growth by (1) creating a coefficient of thermal expansion match by providing a CTE-matched substrate and (2) creating a lattice-matched growth surface using a film or stack of films that create a crystalline lattice structure and/or lattice spacing.","Embodiments of the present invention may be achieved, for example, by selecting a bulk material for a substrate having a coefficient of thermal expansion substantially matching that of GaN or other semiconductor film and being manufactured as a wafer-like substrate with sub-nanometer-scale surface finish and selecting a thin film material or material stack that can be induced to have a crystal lattice substantially matching that of GaN.","The thin film material or material stack is deposited on the bulk material in such a way that the thin film crystal structure is achieved independently of the bulk materials structure or lack of structure.","In one embodiment, the thin film crystalline layer or stack of layers establishes a crystal structure suitable for the nucleation and growth of III-Nitride films.","Crystal quality can be further influence by adding seed layers, also known as underlayers, between the bulk substrate and the thin film stack.","Seed layers can also be used to influence both crystal orientation and grain size of the thin film stack.","In one embodiment, the substrate is chosen to be CTE matched to the GaN film, but the substrate is not a single crystal or oriented multi-crystalline material and does not provide a crystalline template for the GaN growth.","Instead, an oriented crystalline template for the GaN is provided by the intermediate layers (e.g.","thin film crystalline layer, seed layer etc.).","In contrast with growth templates currently used in the art, embodiments of the invention do not rely on the structure of the bulk substrate to establish crystallinity.","Crystallinity is established only in the thin film stack, with no required coincidence or crystal registry to the crystal lattice of the substrate.","Consequently, the bulk material can be chosen based on CTE properties and suitability for mass production; opening the opportunity to use amorphous or low crystal quality poly-crystals with little to no crystalline orientation."],["CROSS REFERENCE RELATED APPLICATIONS The present application is a continuation in part of application Ser.","No.","15/161,111 entitled “Crystalline Semiconductor Growth on Amorphous and Polycrystalline Substrates” filed May 20, 2016, which claims benefit under 35 USC 119 (e) of U.S.","Provisional Application No.","62/184,692 entitled “Power Devices and LED Architectures Enabled by Bulk Quality Seeded Growth of a Member in the Solid Solution of Al GaN-InGaN using Group III-Nitride Crystal Matching Layer (“CML”) film” filed Jun.","25, 2015; and of U.S.","Provisional Application No.","62/233,157 entitled “Crystalline Semiconductor Growth on Amorphous and Poly-Crystalline Substrates” filed Sep. 25, 2015; the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.","TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention is related to a multilayer semiconductor structure.","BACKGROUND Group III-Nitride (III-N) semiconductors such as AlN, Al GaN, GaN, and InGaN have become important materials for the production of Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs) and high power devices such as High-Electron-Mobility Transistors (HEMTs).","Other III-Nitrides such as AlN and AlGaN are often included in device structures to mitigate mismatches in lattice and thermal expansion or as barrier or cladding layers in LEDs.","Homoepitaxial growth of III-Nitrides has significant commercial limitations due to the absence of crystalline III-N substrates of reasonable cost and adequate size.","Accordingly, heteroepitaxial growth methods have been developed wherein the III-Nitrides are grown on non-native substrates which are not well-matched to III-Nitride films in terms of crystal lattice dimensions or coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE).","The mismatch between the substrate, also referred to as the growth template, and the III-N film results in undesirable defects in the films crystal structure and distortions such as bowing or cracking of the substrate/film stack.","Current techniques for heteroepitaxy growth of III-N materials involve expensive processes while only partially mitigating defect generation resulting from lattice and CTE mismatch.","BRIEF SUMMARY Various embodiments of the invention seek to separate the CTE and lattice matching requirements for optimized III-Nitride growth by (1) creating a coefficient of thermal expansion match by providing a CTE-matched substrate and (2) creating a lattice-matched growth surface using a film or stack of films that create a crystalline lattice structure and/or lattice spacing.","Embodiments of the present invention may be achieved, for example, by selecting a bulk material for a substrate having a coefficient of thermal expansion substantially matching that of GaN or other semiconductor film and being manufactured as a wafer-like substrate with sub-nanometer-scale surface finish and selecting a thin film material or material stack that can be induced to have a crystal lattice substantially matching that of GaN.","The thin film material or material stack is deposited on the bulk material in such a way that the thin film crystal structure is achieved independently of the bulk materials structure or lack of structure.","In one embodiment, the thin film crystalline layer or stack of layers establishes a crystal structure suitable for the nucleation and growth of III-Nitride films.","Crystal quality can be further influence by adding seed layers, also known as underlayers, between the bulk substrate and the thin film stack.","Seed layers can also be used to influence both crystal orientation and grain size of the thin film stack.","In one embodiment, the substrate is chosen to be CTE matched to the GaN film, but the substrate is not a single crystal or oriented multi-crystalline material and does not provide a crystalline template for the GaN growth.","Instead, an oriented crystalline template for the GaN is provided by the intermediate layers (e.g.","thin film crystalline layer, seed layer etc.).","In contrast with growth templates currently used in the art, embodiments of the invention do not rely on the structure of the bulk substrate to establish crystallinity.","Crystallinity is established only in the thin film stack, with no required coincidence or crystal registry to the crystal lattice of the substrate.","Consequently, the bulk material can be chosen based on CTE properties and suitability for mass production; opening the opportunity to use amorphous or low crystal quality poly-crystals with little to no crystalline orientation.","BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG.","1A is a cross sectional view of a multilayer semiconductor structure, in accordance with one exemplary embodiment of the present invention.","FIG.","1B is a cross sectional view of a multilayer semiconductor structure, in accordance with one exemplary embodiment of the present invention.","FIG.","1C is a cross sectional view of a multilayer semiconductor structure, in accordance with one exemplary embodiment of the present invention.","FIG.","1D is a cross sectional view of a multilayer semiconductor structure, in accordance with one exemplary embodiment of the present invention.","FIG.","1E is a cross sectional view of a multilayer semiconductor structure, in accordance with one exemplary embodiment of the present invention.","DETAILED DESCRIPTION The various embodiments are described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings.","These example embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the invention to readers of this specification having knowledge in the technical field.","Like numbers refer to like elements throughout.","FIG.","1E illustrates a cross-section view of multilayer structure 100.Multilayer structure 100 includes several layers including: substrate 101, isolation layer 103, seed layer 105, crystal matching layer 107, nucleation layer 109, and III-N film 111.III-N film is a layer of semiconductor material consisting of at least one group III nitride material and/or their alloys (e.g.","GaN, InN, AlGaN, InGaN).","In some embodiments one or more layers 103, 105, 109, and 111 may be optional.","Although, embodiments of the present invention are described below with reference to an III-N film, it is understood that any semiconductor film may be used by adjusting crystal matching layer 107 to accommodate the lattice parameter of the chosen semiconductor film.","The process of forming multilayer structure 100 is described with relation to FIGS.","1A-1E.","Now with reference to FIG.","1A, multilayer structure 100 includes, in part isolation layer 103 deposited via physical layer deposition (PVD) or chemical vapor deposition (CVD) on substrate 101.Depending on various applications, substrate 101 includes, in part a semiconductor material, a compound semiconductor material, or other type of material such as a metal or non-metal.","For example, the materials comprising substrate 101 may include: molybdenum, molybdenum-copper, poly-aluminum nitride ceramic, mullite ceramic, alumina, sapphire, refractory nitrides of Zr(ZrN), Ti (Ti-N), Hf (HFN) or any alloy therein, graphite, aluminum-oxynitrides, silicon, silicon carbide, zinc oxides and rare earth oxides, and/or other suitable materials.","In some embodiments, substrate 101 has a thickness in the range of 250 microns to 1 mm.","Depending on various applications and material composition, substrate 101 may take different structural forms.","For example, substrate 101 may include an amorphous or polycrystalline structure.","However, in other embodiments, substrate 101 may include a single crystal (e.g.","sapphire and silicon) or oriented multi-crystalline material.","Regardless of the material or the structure, substrate 101 has a coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) substantially matching the CTE of III-N film 111.In accordance with one embodiment of the present invention, substrate 101 for the multilayer structure 100 may be chosen for its CTE properties, and there may be no reliance on the underlying crystal structure of the substrate.","As a result, substrate 101 may include any material so long as substrate 101 has a CTE (ppm per degree Kelvin or 10̂−6/K) that substantially matches the III-N film 111.Instead of depending on substrate 101 for providing a crystal structure or template for III-N film 111 growth, the crystal matching layer 107 may completely replace, upgrade, or enhance the crystal structure of substrate 101 and directly enable III-N film 111 growth.","What is considered a substantially matched CTE depends on the application of the multilayer structure 100.In accordance with one embodiment, the substrate's CTE is within ±5% of the III-N film's CTE to be substantially matching.","For example, in order for a substrate to be substantially matched with GaN (having an approximate CTE of 5.6), the substrate has a CTE between 5.32 and 5.88.The CTE of molybdenum is approximately 5.4, and according to one embodiment, is substantially matched to the CTE of GaN.","Applications in power semiconductor discrete devices, GaN based integrated circuits (IC), or high current density optoelectronic devices; of which creating significant thermal stresses during fabrication of semiconductor device layer on the substrate would benefit from a substantial match in CTE in accordance with one embodiment.","On the other hand, a silicon substrate with an approximate CTE of 2.6, would not be substantially matched to the CTE of the GaN film according to one embodiment.","According to one embodiment, other materials that substantially match GaN include but are not limited to: Zirconium, Molybdenum, pure Arsenic, ZrTi (86:14 atomic percent), Carbide, and multigrained or polycrystalline Aluminum Nitride ceramic (1 to 1 atomic ratio).","In one embodiment, a substrate's CTE substantially matches the III-N film's CTE if the substrate's CTE is within 1 unit (where 1 unit is a ppm per degree Kelvin) of the III-N film's CTE.","In accordance with this embodiment, materials that substantially match GaN include, but are not limited to: Zirconium, Osmium, Hafnium, Chromium, Molybdenum, Cerium, Rhenium, Tantalum, Iridium, Ruthenium, Tungsten, Praseodymium, Germanium, InAs, InP, InSb, AlAs, AlP, GaP, GaAs, pure Arsenic, Molybdenum-Copper, alloys of ZrTi, alloys of HfTi, Carbide, and poly-Aluminum Nitride ceramic (1 to 1 atomic ratio), Titanium, alloys of Molybdenum, alloys of Tungsten, alloys of Nickel, alloys of Niobium, alloys of Iridium, Kovar, alloys of Neodymium, Molybdenum-Copper, metal alloys of Ti, alloys of Zr, alloys of Hf, Carbide, poly-Aluminum Nitride ceramic of varying atomic proportions, alumina ceramic, titania, polycrystalline SiC.","Typical applications requiring a substantially matched CTE according to this embodiment include, but are not limited to, thermal annealing, thermal degas or cleaning steps, physical or chemical film growth, recrystallization steps, metal contact firing steps, implantation and subsequent annealing, or any circuit fabrication steps (mask/lithography, growth, etch/pattern, metallization, CMP, etc) that may require temperature heat up/cool down steps in any portion of the range of 1400 Celsius to room temperature and must remain below 50 microns of substrate or wafer bow over any wafer diameter.","In another embodiment, a substrate's CTE substantially matches the III-N film's CTE if the substrate's CTE is within 0.5 unit (where the unit is a ppm per degree Kelvin) of the III-N film's CTE.","For example, molybdenum has a CTE of approximately 5.4, which is within 0.5 of the CTE (unit of ppm per degree Kelvin) of GaN.","In accordance with this embodiment, other materials that substantially match GaN include, but are not limited to: Molybdenum, pure Arsenic, Chromium, ZrTi (86:14), Carbide, Germanium, Osmium, Zirconium, Hafnium, InSb, Kovar, and poly-Aluminum Nitride ceramic (1 to 1 atomic ratio).","Typical applications requiring a substantially matched CTE according to this embodiment include, but are not limited to: thermal annealing, thermal degas or cleaning steps, physical or chemical film growth, recrystallization steps, metal contact firing steps, implantation and subsequent annealing, or any circuit fabrication step (mask/lithography, growth, etch/pattern, metallization, CMP, etc.)","that requires temperature heat up/cool down steps in any portion of the range of 1400 Celsius to room temperature, and must remain below 25 microns of substrate or wafer bow over any wafer diameter.","It is known that differences in CTE between a film and substrate can lead to residual stress between the film and the substrate as a result of heating and cooling processes during film deposition.","Residual stress may result in compression or tension on the film.","When the film compresses, the residual stress may be relieved by buckling of the film, but when the film is under tension, the residual stress may be relieved by cracking of the film.","In one embodiment, in the case of a CTE mismatch between the film and the substrate that results in residual stress, the multilayer structure 100 should be designed to create compression on III-N film 111 rather than tension on III-N film 111.Moreover, maintaining wafer flatness is crucial to manufacture devices from the deposited GaN film(s) on the substrates.","For any film thickness of GaN grown on a substrate where the film thickness is less than the substrate thickness, Table 1 enumerates designs that would be allowed assuming increasing substrate diameter and corresponding thickness to achieve two categories of tolerable bow or warp, namely less than 25 microns and lower than 50 microns (limits mainly set by automatic handling equipment and limits in depth of focus for lithographic steps).","TABLE 1 Extrinsic Strain Delta CTE allowed @ Assumed allowed by 1400 C. Calculated Thickness Diameter CTE Match matching cool down max Bow Curvature (micron) (nam) Range (ppm/C) cycle (micron) (1/km) 675 150 +/−5% 0.28 −0.000385 3.21 1.14 725 200 +/−5% 0.28 −0.000385 5.31 1.06 825 300 +/−5% 0.28 −0.000385 10.50 0.93 675 150 +/−0.5 0.5 −0.0006875 5.73 2.04 725 200 +/−0.5 0.5 −0.0006875 9.48 1.90 825 300 +/−0.5 0.5 −0.0006875 18.75 1.67 675 150 +/−1.0 1.0 −0.001375 11.46 4.07 725 200 +/−1.0 1.0 −0.001375 18.97 3.79 825 300 +/−1.0 1.0 −0.001375 37.50 3.33 To remain below 50 microns of bow or warp any wafer diameter and any of the 3 ranges of CTE matching can be used (+/−5% of value, +/−0.5, and +/−1.0 about the value of GaN).","Similarly to remain below 25 microns of bow or warp all wafer diameters are allowed for all 3 ranges of CTE matching with the exception of 300 mm for +/−1.0 ppm about the GaN value.","This latter condition could be reached if wafer thickness is allowed to increase by industry standards to 1200 mm (<25 microns bow for a +/−1 ppm delta in CTE compared to GaN on 300 mm diameter).","As previously stated, the isolation layer 103 is deposited on substrate 101 by any suitable PVD or CVD process (e.g.","Plasma-enhanced chemical vapor disposition (PECVD), Low-pressure chemical vapor deposition (LPCVD), Atomic layer deposition (ALD), Plasma Torch, Liquid phase epitaxy (LPE), and spin coat annealing) In some embodiments, the thickness of the isolation layer 103 is in the range of 1.0 nm (1 nm=1 nanometer=1×10−9 m) to 500 nm.","In one embodiment, the isolation layer 103 is deposited via a spin on coat technique from a liquid and annealed to achieve a smooth film.","The isolation layer 103 may serve as a smooth and non-reacting surface for subsequent layers.","The isolation layer 103 may be also used to prevent subsequent layers from replicating an undesirable crystal structure that may be found in substrate 101, resetting the crystalline orientation and setting a new growth axis.","Materials that could be used in the isolation layer 103 would have one or more of the following function(s) and properties: amorphous or lack of crystal structure, be deposited as non-conformal films, low stress, and the capability to fill in high aspect ratio morphology such as pits, grooves, or ledges.","For example, glasses, glassy carbon, metal nitrides, oxy-nitrides, and oxides such as SiO2 are examples of materials that can be included in the isolation layer 103.In some embodiments, where the substrate has a desirable crystal structure isolation layer 103 may be omitted from structure 100.In one embodiment, isolation layer 103 includes silicon dioxide or silicon nitride.","In some embodiments, isolation layer 103 includes multiple layers followed by a chemical mechanical polish to achieve sufficient flatness, in the range of <5 nm rms surface roughness on areas of 25 um×25 um.","Now with reference to FIG.","1B, seed layer 105 is deposited on isolation layer 103.Seed layer 105 includes, in part one or more thin film layers deposited on top of each other (i.e.","in a stack) by any known CVD or PVD process.","In some embodiments, the thickness of the seed layer 105 is in the range of 1 atomic layer to 500 nm.","Seed layer 105 defines crystal orientation, crystal polarity, crystal structure type, and/or grain size for crystal matching layer 107 and may consist of multiple layers.","In one embodiment, the seed layer 105 includes, in part at least one or more of the following materials: carbon, iron, chromium, titanium, cobalt, ruthenium, tantalum, nickel, and molybdenum.","In one embodiment, seed layers will be grown using PVD techniques and will be grown at appropriate temperatures and target power to achieve dense films.","In the case of wurtzite structure films, the c-axis will be normal to the growth plane, and in the case of cubic crystals, the 111 axis will be normal to the growth plane.","For example, a first layer in seed layer 105 includes titanium (Ti) and may be used to lower the surface energy of substrate 101 in order to improve the growth of subsequent layers by thermodynamically favoring the (0001) direction to be normal to the plane.","In another example, substrate 101 is an aluminum nitride ceramic wafer and seed layer 105 is a thin film layer of cobalt, which together establish a hexagonal close packed (HCP) structure with the c-axis perpendicular to substrate 101.The HCP structure created by seed layer 105 influences the crystal orientation of the subsequent crystal matching layer 107.In other embodiments, seed layer 105 may be used to form a face center cubic (FCC) structure, HCP, or a body centered cubic (BCC) structure, which allows the crystal matching layer 107 to grow with the HCP crystal structure.","Stated another way, the seed layer 105 does not have to be a matched crystal structure to the crystal matching layer 107; instead the seed layer 105 is an appropriate crystal structure.","In some embodiments where substrate 101 presents a suitable crystal structure, both isolation layer 103 and seed layer 105 may be omitted from multilayer structure 100.Examples of such substrates could include ZrTi, Molybdebdum, HfTi, c-oriented polycrystalline Aluminum Nitride, and c-oriented poly-crystalline SiC, materials with CTE within +/−5% about the value of GaN.","With reference to FIG.","1C, crystal matching layer 107 is deposited on seed layer 105.The crystal matching layer may be deposited on seed layer 105 using any known and suitable PVD or CVD method.","Because, substrate 101 is selected due to its CTE qualities in relation to III-N film 111, there may exist lattice constant mismatch between substrate 101 and III-N film 111.In particular, the lattice mismatch can be extremely different, and may be greater than the 13% typically sought for heteroepitaxy.","Embodiments of the invention allow for independently matching the CTE of substrate 101 and III-N film 111 without regard to the lattice parameter of substrate 101 of multilayer structure 100.The crystal matching layer 107 includes, in part one or more metal layers that accommodate and/or eliminate the lattice constant mismatch between substrate 101 and III-N film 111.The thickness of crystal matching layer 107 ranges between 5 nm and 1000 nm.","In one embodiment, the crystal matching layer includes, in part two or more constituent elements, for example two constituents includes, in part a first chemical element and a second chemical element to form a constituent element alloy.","The constituent elements may have similar crystal structures at room temperature, such as an HCP structure.","In addition to crystal structures, the constituent elements may have similar chemical properties.","In one embodiment, the first and second chemical elements may both belong to group four elements (e.g.","titanium (Ti), zirconium (Zr), hafnium (Hf) and rutherfordium (Rf)), alloys of the group four elements, nitrides of the group four elements, and the alloys further alloyed with the elements of tantalum (Ta), boron (B), silicon (Si), and the crystal matching layer 107 is capped with the nucleation layer 109.The constituent element alloy may include a third chemical element or more elements which have similar crystal structures and similar chemical properties.","The different chemical elements and the proportions of those chemical elements that make up the constituent element alloy(s) of crystal matching layer 107 may be modified to substantially match the lattice constant of III-N film 111.According one embodiment, ranges for substantial match for heteroepitaxy to mimic homo-epitaxy and do not form crystal misfit and dislocation defects is within the range of +/−1-3% of the value of the III-N film layer's lattice constant (layer 111).","The process of selecting and proportion these chemical elements is further described in U.S. patent application Ser.","No.","8,956,952 and U.S. patent application Ser.","No.","14/106,657.By utilizing crystal matching layer 107, potential residual stress, along with point and extended defects such as crystal misfit and threading dislocation, may all together be lowered or completely removed which might otherwise occur in III-N film 111 as a result of the difference in the lattice constants between substrate 101 and III-N film 111.Substantially matching the lattice constants (i.e.","+/−1-3%) of crystal matching layer 107 and III-N film 111 aids in the growth of the highest crystalline quality III-N film.","In another embodiment, the crystal matching layer 107 may comprise of a glassy carbon, graphene carbon, graphitic carbon, or pyrolyzed carbon, diamond carbon, and diamond-like coatings that has been purposefully “peppered” with point defects throughout the surface of the film.","The term “graphitic crystal matching layer” and like terms refers to an embodiment where crystal matching layer 107 comprises may comprise of a glassy carbon, graphene carbon, graphitic carbon, or pyrolyzed carbon, diamond carbon, and diamond-like coatings that has been purposefully “peppered” with point defects throughout the surface of the film.","The graphitic crystal matching layer 107 is comprised of >2 carbon layers (e.g.","2, 3, 4, 5), wherein the point defects are introduced in the topmost layer of carbon atoms.","A point defect is created by a displacing an atom from its equilibrium lattice position.","In one embodiment, graphitic crystal matching layer 107 is initially grown on low cost metal such as copper metal, or SiC wafer, or SiC coating on Si wafer, forming graphene from the decomposition of a methane or acetylene gas, or other carbon containing gas using a vapor phase deposition.","The carbon grows as graphene sheets, 1 to 5 carbon layers thick, and can be mechanically released using a thermal anneal tape or direct wafer to wafer contact transfer method, and subsequently transferred by direct application to seed layer 105 (or any other suitable layer.)","Once the graphitic crystal matching layer 107 is transferred to multilayer structure 100 the tape or the carrier substrate of the graphitic crystal matching layer 107 is released by reheating to temperatures above 250 C and cooling down to room temperature.","In a second embodiment, a positive photoresist (PR) is spun directly onto seed layer 105 and then annealed at temperatures >1000C in inert gas annealing chamber or under high vacuum, resulting in benzene rings in the PR to form hexagonal graphene or graphitic carbon as the volatile organic compounds are evaporated from the PR.","Thus the PR becomes graphitic or graphene and acts as the graphitic crystal matching layer.","The ability to use graphene comes about due to the satisfied sp2 bonds associated with graphene, which in turn does not provide chemically reactive sites for traditional epitaxial growth that rely on covalent bonding out of the plane of the film on the graphene.","Instead, the first layer of atoms from nucleation layer 109 is attracted to the outermost layer of atoms from graphitic crystal matching layer 107 owing to the point defects, otherwise uniform film formation would not arise without the point defect strategy.","State another way, without point defects in graphitic crystal matching layer 107 subsequent layers cannot be uniformly grown on graphitic crystal matching layer 107.This means no electrons transfer and no significant lattice mismatch can form, with III-N film 111 if one can nucleate the III-N film 111 (e.g.","AlGaN, GaN, InGaN) on the graphene, the only bonds of significance that determine strain are the cohesive ones within the III-N film 111 itself.","Stated another way, the graphene or graphitic crystal matching layer 107 interface with substrate 101 consists of van der Waals bonds only, which allows for completely relaxed growth of III-N film 111 at its unstrained lattice parameters, producing a compliant interface.","Furthermore, graphene allows for the growth of high quality III-N films since III-N film 111 does not initiate with strain.","Because of the lack of strain there is no buildup as the film grows to a given thickness as is traditionally the case with heteroepitaxy of dissimilar materials.","The cause for a film to form defects is the buildup of strain leading to stress which is released by forming extended defects after a critical thickness is reached.","By utilizing van der Waals nucleation, defects which are typically generated due to this strain have no driving force to form.","In other words, when using a graphene or graphitic crystal with sp2 bonding within the plane and no out of plane bonds for the crystal matching layer 107, requiring the addition of point defects by plasma exposure or other energetic bombardment prior to growth of nucleation layer 109, III-N film 111 film grows unstrained to underlying substrate 101 which paves the way for very high structural and crystalline quality film to grow with its equilibrium lattice constants.","In one embodiment, crystals in the range of 3.1 Angstroms to 4.5 Angstroms can grow “relaxed” and without mismatch, as they are accommodated to float via van der Waal interaction.","In another embodiment, the graphitic crystal matching layer 107 is a thermal conductive layer in the range of 1000 to 2000 Watts/meter*Kelvin (W/m*k), enabling heat to be removed from this layer that is in in the range 20× to 40× more thermally conductive than the substrates or the GaN itself.","Thus, for example, the graphitic crystal matching layer 107 would allow a transistor that operates at 250 C to run at 100 C for example.","Typical conductivity of polycrsytalline AlN is about 150-180 W/mK, Si and GaN are approximately 50 W/mK.","Thus, the graphitic crystal matching layer 107 operation as a heat sink would be a big advantage over traditional heat sinks in the semiconductor field.","Now with reference to FIG.","1D, nucleation layer 109 is deposited on the crystal matching layer 107.The nucleation layer 109 may be deposited by any suitable PVD or CVD process.","The nucleation layer provides a surface that is chemically and physically compatible with III-N film 111.Nucleation layer 109 also provides a suitable growth environment (i.e.","chemistry, crystal polarity, and symmetry) for growing III-N film 111.In some embodiments, nucleation layer 109 includes, in part a nitride film (e.g.","aluminum nitride (AlN)).","In one embodiment, nucleation layer 109 is deposited in the range of 1.0 nm to 200 nm and is pseudomorphically grown to maintain the lattice of the crystal matching layer 107.The nucleation layer 109 may be pseudomorphically (with the same lattice parameter of crystal matching layer 107) grown aluminum nitride (AlN), aluminum gallium nitride (AlGaN), gallium nitride (GaN), indium gallium nitride (InGaN).","In one embodiment, the nucleation layer 109 has the same lattice parameter as the crystal matching layer 107.With reference to FIG.","1E, III-N film 111 is deposited on the nucleation layer 109.The III-N film may be epitaxial grown by any suitable PVD or CVD process.","In one embodiment, the III-N film 111 is a semiconductor compound and a member of the solid solution gallium nitride (GaN) and its alloys with aluminum (Al), indium (In), boron (B), including and not limited to: aluminum nitride (AlN), aluminum gallium nitride (AlGaN), gallium nitride (GaN), indium nitride (InN), indium gallium nitride (InGaN), and boron nitride (BN).","A novel concept presented by the embodiments of the present invention is that by removing lattice mismatch and CTE mismatch independently using multilayer structure 100, for the first time there is no upper limit to the thickness of the III-N film 111 that can be grown.","In an alternate embodiment III-N film 111 is deposited on the nucleation layer 109 or directly upon the crystal matching layer 107 by hydride Vapour Phase Epitaxy (HVPE).","The use of HVPE for the epitaxial growth of the III-N semiconductor allows for the III-N semiconductor to grow cost effective high crystalline quality (thick) films.","Typically, HVPE films can be grown from 10 microns to 1 mm in 1-3 hours, whereas the limitation in grow rates for conventional MOCVD limits grow to <10 microns, takes 10-20 hours to grow.","In one embodiment, multilayer structure 100 includes the following layers: poly ALN substrate with a diameter of 200 mm and a thickness of 825 micron (101), spin on glass such as SiO2 with a thickness of 750 nm (103), tantalum seed layer with a thickness of 10 nm (105), ZrTi with a thickness of 1000 nm (107), AlN with a thickness of 200 nm (109), and device layers of GaN with a thickness of 1 micron to 50 micron (111).","In another embodiment, multilayer structure includes the following layers: polycrystalline AlN ceramic substrate with a diameter of 200 nm and a thickness of 825 um (101), SiO2 layer with a thickness of 750 nm (103), graphene seed layer with a thickness of >2 atomic layers (107), AlN layer with a thickness of >10 nm (109), and a device layers of GaN with a thickness of 1 micron to 50 micron (111).","Many modifications and other example embodiments set forth herein will bring to mind to the reader knowledgeable in the technical field to which these example pertain to having the benefit of the teachings presented in the foregoing descriptions and the associated drawings.","Therefore, it is to be understood that the embodiments are not to be limited to the specific ones disclosed and that modifications and other embodiments are intended to be included within the scope of the claims.","Moreover, although the foregoing descriptions and the associated drawings describe example embodiments in the context of certain example combinations of elements and/or functions, it should be appreciated that different combinations of elements and/or functions may be provided by alternative embodiments without departing from the scope of the appended claims.","In this regard, for example, different combinations of elements and/or functions other than those explicitly described above are also contemplated as may be set forth in some of the appended claims."]],"string":"[\n [\n \"Crystalline Semiconductor Growth on Amorphous and Poly-Crystalline Substrates\",\n \"A multilayer semiconductor structure including at least in part a substrate and an III-N film layer.\",\n \"The substrate's constant of thermal expansion being substantially matched to the III-N film's constant of thermal expansion.\",\n \"The multilayer semiconductor structure may also include a crystal matching layer that has a lattice constant that substantially matches the lattice of constant of the III-N film.\",\n \"By not relying on the substrate for lattice matching the III-N film, the multilayer structure allows greater flexibility in the selection of an applicable substrate.\"\n ],\n [\n \"1.A multilayer structure comprising: a semiconductor substrate; a seed layer comprising of silicon deposited above the semiconductor substrate; a graphitic crystal matching layer comprising carbon deposited above the seed layer; and a device layer formed above the graphitic crystal matching layer, wherein the semiconductor substrate has a coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) substantially matching a CTE of the device layer.\",\n \"2.The multilayer structure of claim 1, wherein the seed layer defines crystal orientation and grain size of the graphitic crystal matching layer.\",\n \"3.The multilayer structure of claim 1, wherein the semiconductor substrate is not a single crystal substrate.\",\n \"4.The multilayer structure of claim 1, wherein the semiconductor substrate comprises oriented multi-crystalline material.\",\n \"5.The multilayer structure of claim 1, wherein the graphitic crystal matching layer has point defects throughout its surface.\",\n \"6.The multilayer structure of claim 1, wherein the device layer comprises one or more of the following materials: AlGaN, GaN, or InGaN 7.The multilayer structure of claim 5, further comprising a nucleation layer deposited on the graphitic crystal matching layer.\",\n \"8.The multilayer structure of claim 1, wherein the graphitic crystal matching layer comprises at least two layers of carbon.\",\n \"9.The multilayer structure of claim 8, wherein the graphitic crystal matching layer has point defects in a first layer of carbon, wherein the first layer of carbon is above all other layers of carbon.\",\n \"10.A method of creating a multilayer structure comprising: forming a seed layer comprising of silicon deposited above a semiconductor substrate; forming a graphitic crystal matching layer comprising carbon above the seed layer; and forming a device layer above the graphitic crystal matching layer, wherein the semiconductor substrate has a coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) substantially matching a CTE of the device layer.\",\n \"11.The method of claim 10, wherein the seed layer defines crystal orientation and grain size of the graphitic crystal matching layer.\",\n \"12.The method of claim 10, wherein the semiconductor substrate is not a single crystal substrate.\",\n \"13.The method of claim 10, wherein the semiconductor substrate comprises oriented multi-crystalline material.\",\n \"14.The method of claim 10, wherein the graphitic crystal matching layer has point defects throughout its surface.\",\n \"15.The method of claim 10, wherein the device layer comprises one or more of the following materials: AlGaN, GaN, or InGaN 16.The method of claim 14, further comprising forming a nucleation layer deposited on the graphitic crystal matching layer.\",\n \"17.The method of claim 10, wherein the graphitic crystal matching layer comprises at least two layers of carbon.\",\n \"18.The method of claim 10, wherein the graphitic crystal matching layer has point defects in a first layer of carbon, wherein the first layer of carbon is above all other layers of carbon.\",\n \"19.The method of claim 10, initially forming the graphitic crystal matching layer on a metal surface using vapor phase deposition, wherein the metal surface is separate from the semiconductor substrate, seed layer, and device layer; mechanically removing the graphitic crystal matching layer from the metal surface; and depositing the graphitic crystal matching layer on the seed layer.\"\n ],\n [\n \" BACKGROUND Group III-Nitride (III-N) semiconductors such as AlN, Al GaN, GaN, and InGaN have become important materials for the production of Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs) and high power devices such as High-Electron-Mobility Transistors (HEMTs).\",\n \"Other III-Nitrides such as AlN and AlGaN are often included in device structures to mitigate mismatches in lattice and thermal expansion or as barrier or cladding layers in LEDs.\",\n \"Homoepitaxial growth of III-Nitrides has significant commercial limitations due to the absence of crystalline III-N substrates of reasonable cost and adequate size.\",\n \"Accordingly, heteroepitaxial growth methods have been developed wherein the III-Nitrides are grown on non-native substrates which are not well-matched to III-Nitride films in terms of crystal lattice dimensions or coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE).\",\n \"The mismatch between the substrate, also referred to as the growth template, and the III-N film results in undesirable defects in the films crystal structure and distortions such as bowing or cracking of the substrate/film stack.\",\n \"Current techniques for heteroepitaxy growth of III-N materials involve expensive processes while only partially mitigating defect generation resulting from lattice and CTE mismatch.\"\n ],\n [\n \" BRIEF SUMMARY Various embodiments of the invention seek to separate the CTE and lattice matching requirements for optimized III-Nitride growth by (1) creating a coefficient of thermal expansion match by providing a CTE-matched substrate and (2) creating a lattice-matched growth surface using a film or stack of films that create a crystalline lattice structure and/or lattice spacing.\",\n \"Embodiments of the present invention may be achieved, for example, by selecting a bulk material for a substrate having a coefficient of thermal expansion substantially matching that of GaN or other semiconductor film and being manufactured as a wafer-like substrate with sub-nanometer-scale surface finish and selecting a thin film material or material stack that can be induced to have a crystal lattice substantially matching that of GaN.\",\n \"The thin film material or material stack is deposited on the bulk material in such a way that the thin film crystal structure is achieved independently of the bulk materials structure or lack of structure.\",\n \"In one embodiment, the thin film crystalline layer or stack of layers establishes a crystal structure suitable for the nucleation and growth of III-Nitride films.\",\n \"Crystal quality can be further influence by adding seed layers, also known as underlayers, between the bulk substrate and the thin film stack.\",\n \"Seed layers can also be used to influence both crystal orientation and grain size of the thin film stack.\",\n \"In one embodiment, the substrate is chosen to be CTE matched to the GaN film, but the substrate is not a single crystal or oriented multi-crystalline material and does not provide a crystalline template for the GaN growth.\",\n \"Instead, an oriented crystalline template for the GaN is provided by the intermediate layers (e.g.\",\n \"thin film crystalline layer, seed layer etc.).\",\n \"In contrast with growth templates currently used in the art, embodiments of the invention do not rely on the structure of the bulk substrate to establish crystallinity.\",\n \"Crystallinity is established only in the thin film stack, with no required coincidence or crystal registry to the crystal lattice of the substrate.\",\n \"Consequently, the bulk material can be chosen based on CTE properties and suitability for mass production; opening the opportunity to use amorphous or low crystal quality poly-crystals with little to no crystalline orientation.\"\n ],\n [\n \"CROSS REFERENCE RELATED APPLICATIONS The present application is a continuation in part of application Ser.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"15/161,111 entitled “Crystalline Semiconductor Growth on Amorphous and Polycrystalline Substrates” filed May 20, 2016, which claims benefit under 35 USC 119 (e) of U.S.\",\n \"Provisional Application No.\",\n \"62/184,692 entitled “Power Devices and LED Architectures Enabled by Bulk Quality Seeded Growth of a Member in the Solid Solution of Al GaN-InGaN using Group III-Nitride Crystal Matching Layer (“CML”) film” filed Jun.\",\n \"25, 2015; and of U.S.\",\n \"Provisional Application No.\",\n \"62/233,157 entitled “Crystalline Semiconductor Growth on Amorphous and Poly-Crystalline Substrates” filed Sep. 25, 2015; the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.\",\n \"TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention is related to a multilayer semiconductor structure.\",\n \"BACKGROUND Group III-Nitride (III-N) semiconductors such as AlN, Al GaN, GaN, and InGaN have become important materials for the production of Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs) and high power devices such as High-Electron-Mobility Transistors (HEMTs).\",\n \"Other III-Nitrides such as AlN and AlGaN are often included in device structures to mitigate mismatches in lattice and thermal expansion or as barrier or cladding layers in LEDs.\",\n \"Homoepitaxial growth of III-Nitrides has significant commercial limitations due to the absence of crystalline III-N substrates of reasonable cost and adequate size.\",\n \"Accordingly, heteroepitaxial growth methods have been developed wherein the III-Nitrides are grown on non-native substrates which are not well-matched to III-Nitride films in terms of crystal lattice dimensions or coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE).\",\n \"The mismatch between the substrate, also referred to as the growth template, and the III-N film results in undesirable defects in the films crystal structure and distortions such as bowing or cracking of the substrate/film stack.\",\n \"Current techniques for heteroepitaxy growth of III-N materials involve expensive processes while only partially mitigating defect generation resulting from lattice and CTE mismatch.\",\n \"BRIEF SUMMARY Various embodiments of the invention seek to separate the CTE and lattice matching requirements for optimized III-Nitride growth by (1) creating a coefficient of thermal expansion match by providing a CTE-matched substrate and (2) creating a lattice-matched growth surface using a film or stack of films that create a crystalline lattice structure and/or lattice spacing.\",\n \"Embodiments of the present invention may be achieved, for example, by selecting a bulk material for a substrate having a coefficient of thermal expansion substantially matching that of GaN or other semiconductor film and being manufactured as a wafer-like substrate with sub-nanometer-scale surface finish and selecting a thin film material or material stack that can be induced to have a crystal lattice substantially matching that of GaN.\",\n \"The thin film material or material stack is deposited on the bulk material in such a way that the thin film crystal structure is achieved independently of the bulk materials structure or lack of structure.\",\n \"In one embodiment, the thin film crystalline layer or stack of layers establishes a crystal structure suitable for the nucleation and growth of III-Nitride films.\",\n \"Crystal quality can be further influence by adding seed layers, also known as underlayers, between the bulk substrate and the thin film stack.\",\n \"Seed layers can also be used to influence both crystal orientation and grain size of the thin film stack.\",\n \"In one embodiment, the substrate is chosen to be CTE matched to the GaN film, but the substrate is not a single crystal or oriented multi-crystalline material and does not provide a crystalline template for the GaN growth.\",\n \"Instead, an oriented crystalline template for the GaN is provided by the intermediate layers (e.g.\",\n \"thin film crystalline layer, seed layer etc.).\",\n \"In contrast with growth templates currently used in the art, embodiments of the invention do not rely on the structure of the bulk substrate to establish crystallinity.\",\n \"Crystallinity is established only in the thin film stack, with no required coincidence or crystal registry to the crystal lattice of the substrate.\",\n \"Consequently, the bulk material can be chosen based on CTE properties and suitability for mass production; opening the opportunity to use amorphous or low crystal quality poly-crystals with little to no crystalline orientation.\",\n \"BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG.\",\n \"1A is a cross sectional view of a multilayer semiconductor structure, in accordance with one exemplary embodiment of the present invention.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"1B is a cross sectional view of a multilayer semiconductor structure, in accordance with one exemplary embodiment of the present invention.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"1C is a cross sectional view of a multilayer semiconductor structure, in accordance with one exemplary embodiment of the present invention.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"1D is a cross sectional view of a multilayer semiconductor structure, in accordance with one exemplary embodiment of the present invention.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"1E is a cross sectional view of a multilayer semiconductor structure, in accordance with one exemplary embodiment of the present invention.\",\n \"DETAILED DESCRIPTION The various embodiments are described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings.\",\n \"These example embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the invention to readers of this specification having knowledge in the technical field.\",\n \"Like numbers refer to like elements throughout.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"1E illustrates a cross-section view of multilayer structure 100.Multilayer structure 100 includes several layers including: substrate 101, isolation layer 103, seed layer 105, crystal matching layer 107, nucleation layer 109, and III-N film 111.III-N film is a layer of semiconductor material consisting of at least one group III nitride material and/or their alloys (e.g.\",\n \"GaN, InN, AlGaN, InGaN).\",\n \"In some embodiments one or more layers 103, 105, 109, and 111 may be optional.\",\n \"Although, embodiments of the present invention are described below with reference to an III-N film, it is understood that any semiconductor film may be used by adjusting crystal matching layer 107 to accommodate the lattice parameter of the chosen semiconductor film.\",\n \"The process of forming multilayer structure 100 is described with relation to FIGS.\",\n \"1A-1E.\",\n \"Now with reference to FIG.\",\n \"1A, multilayer structure 100 includes, in part isolation layer 103 deposited via physical layer deposition (PVD) or chemical vapor deposition (CVD) on substrate 101.Depending on various applications, substrate 101 includes, in part a semiconductor material, a compound semiconductor material, or other type of material such as a metal or non-metal.\",\n \"For example, the materials comprising substrate 101 may include: molybdenum, molybdenum-copper, poly-aluminum nitride ceramic, mullite ceramic, alumina, sapphire, refractory nitrides of Zr(ZrN), Ti (Ti-N), Hf (HFN) or any alloy therein, graphite, aluminum-oxynitrides, silicon, silicon carbide, zinc oxides and rare earth oxides, and/or other suitable materials.\",\n \"In some embodiments, substrate 101 has a thickness in the range of 250 microns to 1 mm.\",\n \"Depending on various applications and material composition, substrate 101 may take different structural forms.\",\n \"For example, substrate 101 may include an amorphous or polycrystalline structure.\",\n \"However, in other embodiments, substrate 101 may include a single crystal (e.g.\",\n \"sapphire and silicon) or oriented multi-crystalline material.\",\n \"Regardless of the material or the structure, substrate 101 has a coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) substantially matching the CTE of III-N film 111.In accordance with one embodiment of the present invention, substrate 101 for the multilayer structure 100 may be chosen for its CTE properties, and there may be no reliance on the underlying crystal structure of the substrate.\",\n \"As a result, substrate 101 may include any material so long as substrate 101 has a CTE (ppm per degree Kelvin or 10̂−6/K) that substantially matches the III-N film 111.Instead of depending on substrate 101 for providing a crystal structure or template for III-N film 111 growth, the crystal matching layer 107 may completely replace, upgrade, or enhance the crystal structure of substrate 101 and directly enable III-N film 111 growth.\",\n \"What is considered a substantially matched CTE depends on the application of the multilayer structure 100.In accordance with one embodiment, the substrate's CTE is within ±5% of the III-N film's CTE to be substantially matching.\",\n \"For example, in order for a substrate to be substantially matched with GaN (having an approximate CTE of 5.6), the substrate has a CTE between 5.32 and 5.88.The CTE of molybdenum is approximately 5.4, and according to one embodiment, is substantially matched to the CTE of GaN.\",\n \"Applications in power semiconductor discrete devices, GaN based integrated circuits (IC), or high current density optoelectronic devices; of which creating significant thermal stresses during fabrication of semiconductor device layer on the substrate would benefit from a substantial match in CTE in accordance with one embodiment.\",\n \"On the other hand, a silicon substrate with an approximate CTE of 2.6, would not be substantially matched to the CTE of the GaN film according to one embodiment.\",\n \"According to one embodiment, other materials that substantially match GaN include but are not limited to: Zirconium, Molybdenum, pure Arsenic, ZrTi (86:14 atomic percent), Carbide, and multigrained or polycrystalline Aluminum Nitride ceramic (1 to 1 atomic ratio).\",\n \"In one embodiment, a substrate's CTE substantially matches the III-N film's CTE if the substrate's CTE is within 1 unit (where 1 unit is a ppm per degree Kelvin) of the III-N film's CTE.\",\n \"In accordance with this embodiment, materials that substantially match GaN include, but are not limited to: Zirconium, Osmium, Hafnium, Chromium, Molybdenum, Cerium, Rhenium, Tantalum, Iridium, Ruthenium, Tungsten, Praseodymium, Germanium, InAs, InP, InSb, AlAs, AlP, GaP, GaAs, pure Arsenic, Molybdenum-Copper, alloys of ZrTi, alloys of HfTi, Carbide, and poly-Aluminum Nitride ceramic (1 to 1 atomic ratio), Titanium, alloys of Molybdenum, alloys of Tungsten, alloys of Nickel, alloys of Niobium, alloys of Iridium, Kovar, alloys of Neodymium, Molybdenum-Copper, metal alloys of Ti, alloys of Zr, alloys of Hf, Carbide, poly-Aluminum Nitride ceramic of varying atomic proportions, alumina ceramic, titania, polycrystalline SiC.\",\n \"Typical applications requiring a substantially matched CTE according to this embodiment include, but are not limited to, thermal annealing, thermal degas or cleaning steps, physical or chemical film growth, recrystallization steps, metal contact firing steps, implantation and subsequent annealing, or any circuit fabrication steps (mask/lithography, growth, etch/pattern, metallization, CMP, etc) that may require temperature heat up/cool down steps in any portion of the range of 1400 Celsius to room temperature and must remain below 50 microns of substrate or wafer bow over any wafer diameter.\",\n \"In another embodiment, a substrate's CTE substantially matches the III-N film's CTE if the substrate's CTE is within 0.5 unit (where the unit is a ppm per degree Kelvin) of the III-N film's CTE.\",\n \"For example, molybdenum has a CTE of approximately 5.4, which is within 0.5 of the CTE (unit of ppm per degree Kelvin) of GaN.\",\n \"In accordance with this embodiment, other materials that substantially match GaN include, but are not limited to: Molybdenum, pure Arsenic, Chromium, ZrTi (86:14), Carbide, Germanium, Osmium, Zirconium, Hafnium, InSb, Kovar, and poly-Aluminum Nitride ceramic (1 to 1 atomic ratio).\",\n \"Typical applications requiring a substantially matched CTE according to this embodiment include, but are not limited to: thermal annealing, thermal degas or cleaning steps, physical or chemical film growth, recrystallization steps, metal contact firing steps, implantation and subsequent annealing, or any circuit fabrication step (mask/lithography, growth, etch/pattern, metallization, CMP, etc.)\",\n \"that requires temperature heat up/cool down steps in any portion of the range of 1400 Celsius to room temperature, and must remain below 25 microns of substrate or wafer bow over any wafer diameter.\",\n \"It is known that differences in CTE between a film and substrate can lead to residual stress between the film and the substrate as a result of heating and cooling processes during film deposition.\",\n \"Residual stress may result in compression or tension on the film.\",\n \"When the film compresses, the residual stress may be relieved by buckling of the film, but when the film is under tension, the residual stress may be relieved by cracking of the film.\",\n \"In one embodiment, in the case of a CTE mismatch between the film and the substrate that results in residual stress, the multilayer structure 100 should be designed to create compression on III-N film 111 rather than tension on III-N film 111.Moreover, maintaining wafer flatness is crucial to manufacture devices from the deposited GaN film(s) on the substrates.\",\n \"For any film thickness of GaN grown on a substrate where the film thickness is less than the substrate thickness, Table 1 enumerates designs that would be allowed assuming increasing substrate diameter and corresponding thickness to achieve two categories of tolerable bow or warp, namely less than 25 microns and lower than 50 microns (limits mainly set by automatic handling equipment and limits in depth of focus for lithographic steps).\",\n \"TABLE 1 Extrinsic Strain Delta CTE allowed @ Assumed allowed by 1400 C. Calculated Thickness Diameter CTE Match matching cool down max Bow Curvature (micron) (nam) Range (ppm/C) cycle (micron) (1/km) 675 150 +/−5% 0.28 −0.000385 3.21 1.14 725 200 +/−5% 0.28 −0.000385 5.31 1.06 825 300 +/−5% 0.28 −0.000385 10.50 0.93 675 150 +/−0.5 0.5 −0.0006875 5.73 2.04 725 200 +/−0.5 0.5 −0.0006875 9.48 1.90 825 300 +/−0.5 0.5 −0.0006875 18.75 1.67 675 150 +/−1.0 1.0 −0.001375 11.46 4.07 725 200 +/−1.0 1.0 −0.001375 18.97 3.79 825 300 +/−1.0 1.0 −0.001375 37.50 3.33 To remain below 50 microns of bow or warp any wafer diameter and any of the 3 ranges of CTE matching can be used (+/−5% of value, +/−0.5, and +/−1.0 about the value of GaN).\",\n \"Similarly to remain below 25 microns of bow or warp all wafer diameters are allowed for all 3 ranges of CTE matching with the exception of 300 mm for +/−1.0 ppm about the GaN value.\",\n \"This latter condition could be reached if wafer thickness is allowed to increase by industry standards to 1200 mm (<25 microns bow for a +/−1 ppm delta in CTE compared to GaN on 300 mm diameter).\",\n \"As previously stated, the isolation layer 103 is deposited on substrate 101 by any suitable PVD or CVD process (e.g.\",\n \"Plasma-enhanced chemical vapor disposition (PECVD), Low-pressure chemical vapor deposition (LPCVD), Atomic layer deposition (ALD), Plasma Torch, Liquid phase epitaxy (LPE), and spin coat annealing) In some embodiments, the thickness of the isolation layer 103 is in the range of 1.0 nm (1 nm=1 nanometer=1×10−9 m) to 500 nm.\",\n \"In one embodiment, the isolation layer 103 is deposited via a spin on coat technique from a liquid and annealed to achieve a smooth film.\",\n \"The isolation layer 103 may serve as a smooth and non-reacting surface for subsequent layers.\",\n \"The isolation layer 103 may be also used to prevent subsequent layers from replicating an undesirable crystal structure that may be found in substrate 101, resetting the crystalline orientation and setting a new growth axis.\",\n \"Materials that could be used in the isolation layer 103 would have one or more of the following function(s) and properties: amorphous or lack of crystal structure, be deposited as non-conformal films, low stress, and the capability to fill in high aspect ratio morphology such as pits, grooves, or ledges.\",\n \"For example, glasses, glassy carbon, metal nitrides, oxy-nitrides, and oxides such as SiO2 are examples of materials that can be included in the isolation layer 103.In some embodiments, where the substrate has a desirable crystal structure isolation layer 103 may be omitted from structure 100.In one embodiment, isolation layer 103 includes silicon dioxide or silicon nitride.\",\n \"In some embodiments, isolation layer 103 includes multiple layers followed by a chemical mechanical polish to achieve sufficient flatness, in the range of <5 nm rms surface roughness on areas of 25 um×25 um.\",\n \"Now with reference to FIG.\",\n \"1B, seed layer 105 is deposited on isolation layer 103.Seed layer 105 includes, in part one or more thin film layers deposited on top of each other (i.e.\",\n \"in a stack) by any known CVD or PVD process.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the thickness of the seed layer 105 is in the range of 1 atomic layer to 500 nm.\",\n \"Seed layer 105 defines crystal orientation, crystal polarity, crystal structure type, and/or grain size for crystal matching layer 107 and may consist of multiple layers.\",\n \"In one embodiment, the seed layer 105 includes, in part at least one or more of the following materials: carbon, iron, chromium, titanium, cobalt, ruthenium, tantalum, nickel, and molybdenum.\",\n \"In one embodiment, seed layers will be grown using PVD techniques and will be grown at appropriate temperatures and target power to achieve dense films.\",\n \"In the case of wurtzite structure films, the c-axis will be normal to the growth plane, and in the case of cubic crystals, the 111 axis will be normal to the growth plane.\",\n \"For example, a first layer in seed layer 105 includes titanium (Ti) and may be used to lower the surface energy of substrate 101 in order to improve the growth of subsequent layers by thermodynamically favoring the (0001) direction to be normal to the plane.\",\n \"In another example, substrate 101 is an aluminum nitride ceramic wafer and seed layer 105 is a thin film layer of cobalt, which together establish a hexagonal close packed (HCP) structure with the c-axis perpendicular to substrate 101.The HCP structure created by seed layer 105 influences the crystal orientation of the subsequent crystal matching layer 107.In other embodiments, seed layer 105 may be used to form a face center cubic (FCC) structure, HCP, or a body centered cubic (BCC) structure, which allows the crystal matching layer 107 to grow with the HCP crystal structure.\",\n \"Stated another way, the seed layer 105 does not have to be a matched crystal structure to the crystal matching layer 107; instead the seed layer 105 is an appropriate crystal structure.\",\n \"In some embodiments where substrate 101 presents a suitable crystal structure, both isolation layer 103 and seed layer 105 may be omitted from multilayer structure 100.Examples of such substrates could include ZrTi, Molybdebdum, HfTi, c-oriented polycrystalline Aluminum Nitride, and c-oriented poly-crystalline SiC, materials with CTE within +/−5% about the value of GaN.\",\n \"With reference to FIG.\",\n \"1C, crystal matching layer 107 is deposited on seed layer 105.The crystal matching layer may be deposited on seed layer 105 using any known and suitable PVD or CVD method.\",\n \"Because, substrate 101 is selected due to its CTE qualities in relation to III-N film 111, there may exist lattice constant mismatch between substrate 101 and III-N film 111.In particular, the lattice mismatch can be extremely different, and may be greater than the 13% typically sought for heteroepitaxy.\",\n \"Embodiments of the invention allow for independently matching the CTE of substrate 101 and III-N film 111 without regard to the lattice parameter of substrate 101 of multilayer structure 100.The crystal matching layer 107 includes, in part one or more metal layers that accommodate and/or eliminate the lattice constant mismatch between substrate 101 and III-N film 111.The thickness of crystal matching layer 107 ranges between 5 nm and 1000 nm.\",\n \"In one embodiment, the crystal matching layer includes, in part two or more constituent elements, for example two constituents includes, in part a first chemical element and a second chemical element to form a constituent element alloy.\",\n \"The constituent elements may have similar crystal structures at room temperature, such as an HCP structure.\",\n \"In addition to crystal structures, the constituent elements may have similar chemical properties.\",\n \"In one embodiment, the first and second chemical elements may both belong to group four elements (e.g.\",\n \"titanium (Ti), zirconium (Zr), hafnium (Hf) and rutherfordium (Rf)), alloys of the group four elements, nitrides of the group four elements, and the alloys further alloyed with the elements of tantalum (Ta), boron (B), silicon (Si), and the crystal matching layer 107 is capped with the nucleation layer 109.The constituent element alloy may include a third chemical element or more elements which have similar crystal structures and similar chemical properties.\",\n \"The different chemical elements and the proportions of those chemical elements that make up the constituent element alloy(s) of crystal matching layer 107 may be modified to substantially match the lattice constant of III-N film 111.According one embodiment, ranges for substantial match for heteroepitaxy to mimic homo-epitaxy and do not form crystal misfit and dislocation defects is within the range of +/−1-3% of the value of the III-N film layer's lattice constant (layer 111).\",\n \"The process of selecting and proportion these chemical elements is further described in U.S. patent application Ser.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"8,956,952 and U.S. patent application Ser.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"14/106,657.By utilizing crystal matching layer 107, potential residual stress, along with point and extended defects such as crystal misfit and threading dislocation, may all together be lowered or completely removed which might otherwise occur in III-N film 111 as a result of the difference in the lattice constants between substrate 101 and III-N film 111.Substantially matching the lattice constants (i.e.\",\n \"+/−1-3%) of crystal matching layer 107 and III-N film 111 aids in the growth of the highest crystalline quality III-N film.\",\n \"In another embodiment, the crystal matching layer 107 may comprise of a glassy carbon, graphene carbon, graphitic carbon, or pyrolyzed carbon, diamond carbon, and diamond-like coatings that has been purposefully “peppered” with point defects throughout the surface of the film.\",\n \"The term “graphitic crystal matching layer” and like terms refers to an embodiment where crystal matching layer 107 comprises may comprise of a glassy carbon, graphene carbon, graphitic carbon, or pyrolyzed carbon, diamond carbon, and diamond-like coatings that has been purposefully “peppered” with point defects throughout the surface of the film.\",\n \"The graphitic crystal matching layer 107 is comprised of >2 carbon layers (e.g.\",\n \"2, 3, 4, 5), wherein the point defects are introduced in the topmost layer of carbon atoms.\",\n \"A point defect is created by a displacing an atom from its equilibrium lattice position.\",\n \"In one embodiment, graphitic crystal matching layer 107 is initially grown on low cost metal such as copper metal, or SiC wafer, or SiC coating on Si wafer, forming graphene from the decomposition of a methane or acetylene gas, or other carbon containing gas using a vapor phase deposition.\",\n \"The carbon grows as graphene sheets, 1 to 5 carbon layers thick, and can be mechanically released using a thermal anneal tape or direct wafer to wafer contact transfer method, and subsequently transferred by direct application to seed layer 105 (or any other suitable layer.)\",\n \"Once the graphitic crystal matching layer 107 is transferred to multilayer structure 100 the tape or the carrier substrate of the graphitic crystal matching layer 107 is released by reheating to temperatures above 250 C and cooling down to room temperature.\",\n \"In a second embodiment, a positive photoresist (PR) is spun directly onto seed layer 105 and then annealed at temperatures >1000C in inert gas annealing chamber or under high vacuum, resulting in benzene rings in the PR to form hexagonal graphene or graphitic carbon as the volatile organic compounds are evaporated from the PR.\",\n \"Thus the PR becomes graphitic or graphene and acts as the graphitic crystal matching layer.\",\n \"The ability to use graphene comes about due to the satisfied sp2 bonds associated with graphene, which in turn does not provide chemically reactive sites for traditional epitaxial growth that rely on covalent bonding out of the plane of the film on the graphene.\",\n \"Instead, the first layer of atoms from nucleation layer 109 is attracted to the outermost layer of atoms from graphitic crystal matching layer 107 owing to the point defects, otherwise uniform film formation would not arise without the point defect strategy.\",\n \"State another way, without point defects in graphitic crystal matching layer 107 subsequent layers cannot be uniformly grown on graphitic crystal matching layer 107.This means no electrons transfer and no significant lattice mismatch can form, with III-N film 111 if one can nucleate the III-N film 111 (e.g.\",\n \"AlGaN, GaN, InGaN) on the graphene, the only bonds of significance that determine strain are the cohesive ones within the III-N film 111 itself.\",\n \"Stated another way, the graphene or graphitic crystal matching layer 107 interface with substrate 101 consists of van der Waals bonds only, which allows for completely relaxed growth of III-N film 111 at its unstrained lattice parameters, producing a compliant interface.\",\n \"Furthermore, graphene allows for the growth of high quality III-N films since III-N film 111 does not initiate with strain.\",\n \"Because of the lack of strain there is no buildup as the film grows to a given thickness as is traditionally the case with heteroepitaxy of dissimilar materials.\",\n \"The cause for a film to form defects is the buildup of strain leading to stress which is released by forming extended defects after a critical thickness is reached.\",\n \"By utilizing van der Waals nucleation, defects which are typically generated due to this strain have no driving force to form.\",\n \"In other words, when using a graphene or graphitic crystal with sp2 bonding within the plane and no out of plane bonds for the crystal matching layer 107, requiring the addition of point defects by plasma exposure or other energetic bombardment prior to growth of nucleation layer 109, III-N film 111 film grows unstrained to underlying substrate 101 which paves the way for very high structural and crystalline quality film to grow with its equilibrium lattice constants.\",\n \"In one embodiment, crystals in the range of 3.1 Angstroms to 4.5 Angstroms can grow “relaxed” and without mismatch, as they are accommodated to float via van der Waal interaction.\",\n \"In another embodiment, the graphitic crystal matching layer 107 is a thermal conductive layer in the range of 1000 to 2000 Watts/meter*Kelvin (W/m*k), enabling heat to be removed from this layer that is in in the range 20× to 40× more thermally conductive than the substrates or the GaN itself.\",\n \"Thus, for example, the graphitic crystal matching layer 107 would allow a transistor that operates at 250 C to run at 100 C for example.\",\n \"Typical conductivity of polycrsytalline AlN is about 150-180 W/mK, Si and GaN are approximately 50 W/mK.\",\n \"Thus, the graphitic crystal matching layer 107 operation as a heat sink would be a big advantage over traditional heat sinks in the semiconductor field.\",\n \"Now with reference to FIG.\",\n \"1D, nucleation layer 109 is deposited on the crystal matching layer 107.The nucleation layer 109 may be deposited by any suitable PVD or CVD process.\",\n \"The nucleation layer provides a surface that is chemically and physically compatible with III-N film 111.Nucleation layer 109 also provides a suitable growth environment (i.e.\",\n \"chemistry, crystal polarity, and symmetry) for growing III-N film 111.In some embodiments, nucleation layer 109 includes, in part a nitride film (e.g.\",\n \"aluminum nitride (AlN)).\",\n \"In one embodiment, nucleation layer 109 is deposited in the range of 1.0 nm to 200 nm and is pseudomorphically grown to maintain the lattice of the crystal matching layer 107.The nucleation layer 109 may be pseudomorphically (with the same lattice parameter of crystal matching layer 107) grown aluminum nitride (AlN), aluminum gallium nitride (AlGaN), gallium nitride (GaN), indium gallium nitride (InGaN).\",\n \"In one embodiment, the nucleation layer 109 has the same lattice parameter as the crystal matching layer 107.With reference to FIG.\",\n \"1E, III-N film 111 is deposited on the nucleation layer 109.The III-N film may be epitaxial grown by any suitable PVD or CVD process.\",\n \"In one embodiment, the III-N film 111 is a semiconductor compound and a member of the solid solution gallium nitride (GaN) and its alloys with aluminum (Al), indium (In), boron (B), including and not limited to: aluminum nitride (AlN), aluminum gallium nitride (AlGaN), gallium nitride (GaN), indium nitride (InN), indium gallium nitride (InGaN), and boron nitride (BN).\",\n \"A novel concept presented by the embodiments of the present invention is that by removing lattice mismatch and CTE mismatch independently using multilayer structure 100, for the first time there is no upper limit to the thickness of the III-N film 111 that can be grown.\",\n \"In an alternate embodiment III-N film 111 is deposited on the nucleation layer 109 or directly upon the crystal matching layer 107 by hydride Vapour Phase Epitaxy (HVPE).\",\n \"The use of HVPE for the epitaxial growth of the III-N semiconductor allows for the III-N semiconductor to grow cost effective high crystalline quality (thick) films.\",\n \"Typically, HVPE films can be grown from 10 microns to 1 mm in 1-3 hours, whereas the limitation in grow rates for conventional MOCVD limits grow to <10 microns, takes 10-20 hours to grow.\",\n \"In one embodiment, multilayer structure 100 includes the following layers: poly ALN substrate with a diameter of 200 mm and a thickness of 825 micron (101), spin on glass such as SiO2 with a thickness of 750 nm (103), tantalum seed layer with a thickness of 10 nm (105), ZrTi with a thickness of 1000 nm (107), AlN with a thickness of 200 nm (109), and device layers of GaN with a thickness of 1 micron to 50 micron (111).\",\n \"In another embodiment, multilayer structure includes the following layers: polycrystalline AlN ceramic substrate with a diameter of 200 nm and a thickness of 825 um (101), SiO2 layer with a thickness of 750 nm (103), graphene seed layer with a thickness of >2 atomic layers (107), AlN layer with a thickness of >10 nm (109), and a device layers of GaN with a thickness of 1 micron to 50 micron (111).\",\n \"Many modifications and other example embodiments set forth herein will bring to mind to the reader knowledgeable in the technical field to which these example pertain to having the benefit of the teachings presented in the foregoing descriptions and the associated drawings.\",\n \"Therefore, it is to be understood that the embodiments are not to be limited to the specific ones disclosed and that modifications and other embodiments are intended to be included within the scope of the claims.\",\n \"Moreover, although the foregoing descriptions and the associated drawings describe example embodiments in the context of certain example combinations of elements and/or functions, it should be appreciated that different combinations of elements and/or functions may be provided by alternative embodiments without departing from the scope of the appended claims.\",\n \"In this regard, for example, different combinations of elements and/or functions other than those explicitly described above are also contemplated as may be set forth in some of the appended claims.\"\n ]\n]"},"source":{"kind":"string","value":"Patent_15876048"}}},{"rowIdx":4495064,"cells":{"text":{"kind":"list like","value":[["SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR FINGERPRINTING DATASETS","Systems and methods for the matching of datasets, such as input audio segments, with known datasets in a database are disclosed.","In an illustrative embodiment, the use of the presently disclosed systems and methods is described in conjunction with recognizing known network message recordings encountered during an outbound telephone call.","The methodologies include creation of a ternary fingerprint bitmap to make the comparison process more efficient.","Also disclosed are automated methodologies for creating the database of known datasets from a larger collection of datasets."],["1.A method for matching an audio stream comprising the steps of: a. generating a collection of ternary acoustic fingerprint bitmaps; b. subdividing each ternary acoustic fingerprint bitmap into a plurality of segments; c. obtaining a hash key from each segment; and d. aggregating obtained hash keys from the ternary acoustic fingerprint bitmaps into a lookup table.","2.The method of claim 1, wherein said ternary acoustic fingerprint bitmap is generated for an audio object to detect.","3.The method of claim 1, wherein the generating of step (a) further comprises the step of generating a number of ternary values per frame of audio.","4.The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of segments are equal in length.","5.The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of segments comprises four equal segments.","6.The method of claim 1, wherein the hash key of step (c) is obtained by extracting a number of ternary values from ternary values of a number of frames from each segment.","7.The method of claim 6, wherein the number of frames of each segment evenly divides the number of ternary values.","8.The method of claim 7, wherein said number of ternary values is 128.9.The method of claim 1 further comprising the steps of: e. generating a number of bit vectors from a number of input audio frames; f. combining the bit vectors into a binary hash key; g. comparing the binary hash key from step (f) against all obtained hash keys in the lookup table.","h. identifying audio fingerprints corresponding to matching hash keys, wherein, if a match is not found, repeating the method from step (e).","10.The method of claim 9, wherein the binary hash key comprises a number of bits.","11.The method of claim 10, wherein the number of input audio frames evenly divides the number of bits.","12.The method of claim 11, wherein the number of bits is 128.13.The method of claim 9, wherein said comparing of step (g) is performed by computing a masked Hamming distance.","14.The method of claim 13, wherein said computing is parallelized and optimized with at least one of: Single-Instruction-Multiple Data Instructions and population count instruction.","15.The method of claim 13, wherein said hash keys in the lookup table match with a low masked Hamming distance.","16.The method of claim 9, wherein step (h) further comprises the steps of: a. performing a first match with a first criteria; b. identifying fingerprints matching said first criteria as candidate matches; c. performing a second match on said candidate matches with a second criteria; and d. declaring candidate matches meeting the second criteria a match.","17.The method of claim 16, wherein the first criteria and the second criteria are derived from a bit error rate.","18.The method of claim 17, wherein at least one of: said first criteria comprises a lower number of standard deviations and said second criteria comprises a higher number of standard deviations.","19.The method of claim 18, wherein at least one of: said lower number is 3 and said higher number is 9.20.-29.","(canceled)"],[" BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSED EMBODIMENTS The background of the present disclosure and the illustrative embodiments disclosed herein are described in the context of identifying known audio recordings encountered during an outbound telephone call, for example during a call placed from a contact center.","However, the present invention has applicability to the identification of any segment of audio or an image (as used herein, the term “image” is intended to encompass both still and moving images), regardless of the type or source of the audio or image, and regardless of in what circumstances the audio or image is encountered.","Furthermore, the present invention also has applicability to the identification of any segment of data such as, for example, data obtained from any type of sensor.","Therefore, as used herein, the term “dataset” shall encompass a collection of any type of data, whether comprising audio, image, or other type of data.","In a classic contact center scenario, outbound calls are made either automatically (by a class of devices known as “automated dialers” or “autodialers”) or manually.","A number of human “agents” are available to join into calls that are determined to reach a live person at the called end.","In this way, efficiencies are obtained by not having agents involved in a call until it is determined that there is a live person at the called end with whom the agent may speak.","The use of automated equipment to monitor the telephone line during the outbound call is referred to as call progress analysis (CPA).","CPA is a class of algorithms that operate on audio and network signaling during call setup.","The goal of CPA is to determine the nature of the callee, or the outcome of call setup to an external network (traditional public switched telephone network or Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP)).","Specifically, when a call or session is being established, the caller or initiator must determine whether it was answered by a live speaker, if the line is busy, etc.","When the caller is an automated application, such as an automated dialer or message broadcasting system, CPA algorithms are used to perform the classification automatically.","CPA is used to interpret so-called call-progress tones, such as ring back and busy, that are delivered by the telephone network to the calling entity.","Traditional CPA is performed using low- and high-pass frequency discriminators together with energy measurements over time to qualify in-band signaling tones.","Another method for classifying audio on an outbound call is known as Voice Activity Detection (VAD), which is a class of audio processing algorithms that identify where speech is present in an audio stream.","The detected speech may originate from any source, including a live speaker or a prerecorded message.","Modern VAD algorithms use spectral analysis to distinguish the utterance of a primary speaker from background noise.","A subclass of CPA algorithms that extract speaking patterns using VAD, and determine whether the patterns originate from a live speaker or a prerecorded message, is known as Answering Machine Detection (AMD).","By identifying calls that do not connect to a live speaker, an accurate AMD algorithm can significantly increase throughput of an automated dialer.","However, false positives from AMD lead to silent or abandoned calls, causing revenue loss for the contact center, and negative impressions amongst the public.","The quality of an AMD algorithm is a function of the accuracy and response time, and some regions of the world (notably the U.S. and U.K.) impose strict legal requirements on both.","AMD is not an exact science, and the optimal approach is an open problem.","To achieve acceptable accuracy, speed, and flexibility, AMD algorithms use a combination of heuristics and statistical models such as neural networks to classify an utterance as live or pre-recorded.","Although many commercial AMD systems available on the market report high accuracy rates in the marketing literature (e.g., 95% or more), there is no independent auditor for these figures, and the actual accuracy rate is typically much lower in practice (e.g., 80% or less), as reflected by continued widespread complaints.","A general ban has been proposed by some consumer advocacy groups, and some contact centers simply cannot use AMD because of its limitations.","A relatively new science of audio identification is known as Acoustic Fingerprinting, in which a system generates a “fingerprint” of a candidate audio stream, and compares it against a database of known fingerprints, analogous to human fingerprinting used in forensics.","In this context, a “fingerprint” is a condensed digest of an audio stream that can quickly establish perceptual equality with other audio streams.","A database of known fingerprints may associate known fingerprints with meta-data such as “title”, “artist”, etc.","The past ten years have seen a rapidly growing scientific and industrial interest in fingerprinting technology for audio and images.","Applications include identifying songs and advertisements, media library management, and copyright compliance.","Various acoustic fingerprinting algorithm classes have been proposed, and the most prevalent today are those based on either “landmarks” or “bitmaps”.","Landmark-based algorithms extract discrete features from an audio stream called “landmarks”, such as spectral peaks, sudden changes in tone, pitch, loudness, etc.","The optimal choice of landmark is an open question guided mostly by heuristics.","The acoustic fingerprint is stored as a sequence of data structures that describe each landmark.","At runtime, landmarks extracted from a candidate audio stream are compared to a database of fingerprints based on a distance metric.","Bitmap-based algorithms analyze an audio stream as a sequence of frames, and use a filter bank to quantize each frame into a bit vector of size N, where N is typically chosen for convenience as the number of bits in a C-style integer, e.g.","Nϵ {8, 16, 32, or 64}.","A popular and well-studied example is known as the “Haitsma-Kalker algorithm”, which computes a binary bitmap using a filter that compares short-term differences in both time and frequency.","The Haitsma-Kalker Algorithm has been well-studied in the literature.","It's inventors, Jaap Haitsma and Ton Kalker, have published a report of use of the Haitsma-Kalker Algorithm and the comparison of binary acoustic fingerprint bitmaps to identify three (3) second recordings of songs from a database of millions of songs (Haitsma and Kalker, “A Highly Robust Audio Fingerprinting System,” Journal of New Music Research, Vol.","32, No.","2 (2003), pp.","211-221).","The complete acoustic fingerprint is stored as a sequence of bit vectors, or a bitmap.","As illustrated in FIG.","1A-C , there are shown three images of an audio stream containing a message from a telephone network saying “This number has been disconnected”.","FIG.","1A shows the original audio wave signal, with 1.5 seconds of audio sampled at 8000 KHz.","FIG.","1B shows a spectrogram of the original audio input signal, with dark regions indicating high energy at a particular frequency.","FIG.","1C shows a binary acoustic fingerprint bitmap created using the Haitsma-Kalker algorithm, with height N=16.The height is determined by the number of bits computed at each frame, and the width is determined by the number of frames in the audio stream.","At runtime, the bitmap computed from a candidate audio stream is compared to a database of bitmaps based on the number of non-matching bits, also known as the Hamming distance.","The use of bitmap matching and the process of acoustic fingerprinting is a powerful emerging tool in the science of audio recognition; however, it is computationally intense and requires several seconds of sampled audio to make a match in many cases.","This delay makes it not well suited for use in call progress analysis.","Accordingly, there remains a need for faster and more accurate systems and methods for identifying audio, both in the general case and during an outbound call attempt."],[" SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSED EMBODIMENTS Systems and methods for the matching of datasets, such as input audio segments, with known datasets in a database are disclosed.","In an illustrative embodiment, the use of the presently disclosed systems and methods is described in conjunction with recognizing known network message recordings encountered during an outbound telephone call.","The methodologies include creation of a ternary fingerprint bitmap to make the comparison process more efficient.","Also disclosed are automated methodologies for creating the database of known datasets from a larger collection of datasets.","In one embodiment, a method for matching an audio stream is disclosed, the method comprising the steps of: a) generating a collection of ternary acoustic fingerprint bitmaps; b) subdividing each ternary acoustic fingerprint bitmap into a plurality of segments; c) obtaining a hash key from each segment; and d) aggregating obtained hash keys from the ternary acoustic fingerprint bitmaps into a lookup table.","In another embodiment, a method for extracting fingerprints for common recordings is disclosed, the method comprising the steps of: a) identifying segments of interest from a dataset of recordings by a means of classification; b) generating fingerprint candidates for said identified segments; c) adding said fingerprint candidates to an acoustic fingerprint database; d) repeating steps (a) and (b) to process the recordings in the dataset using the fingerprint database containing said fingerprint candidates added in step (c); and e) removing fingerprint candidates from the database that were not detected a specified number of times.","In a further embodiment, a method for extracting fingerprints for common data is disclosed, the method comprising the steps of: a) identifying subsets of interest from a dataset by means of classification; b) generating fingerprint candidates for said subsets; c) adding said fingerprint candidates to a database; d) repeating steps (a) and (b) to process the dataset using the database in step (c) containing the additions of fingerprint candidates; and e) removing fingerprint candidates from the database that do not meet a specified criteria.","Other embodiments are also disclosed."],["CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS The present application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser.","No.","13/432,838, filed on Mar.","28, 2012, now allowed, and titled SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR FINGERPRINTING DATASETS.","The disclosure of the prior application is considered part of and is incorporated by reference in the disclosure of this application.","TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE DISCLOSED EMBODIMENTS The present invention generally relates to identifying known datasets, such as audio signals and, more particularly, to systems and methods for fingerprinting datasets.","BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSED EMBODIMENTS The background of the present disclosure and the illustrative embodiments disclosed herein are described in the context of identifying known audio recordings encountered during an outbound telephone call, for example during a call placed from a contact center.","However, the present invention has applicability to the identification of any segment of audio or an image (as used herein, the term “image” is intended to encompass both still and moving images), regardless of the type or source of the audio or image, and regardless of in what circumstances the audio or image is encountered.","Furthermore, the present invention also has applicability to the identification of any segment of data such as, for example, data obtained from any type of sensor.","Therefore, as used herein, the term “dataset” shall encompass a collection of any type of data, whether comprising audio, image, or other type of data.","In a classic contact center scenario, outbound calls are made either automatically (by a class of devices known as “automated dialers” or “autodialers”) or manually.","A number of human “agents” are available to join into calls that are determined to reach a live person at the called end.","In this way, efficiencies are obtained by not having agents involved in a call until it is determined that there is a live person at the called end with whom the agent may speak.","The use of automated equipment to monitor the telephone line during the outbound call is referred to as call progress analysis (CPA).","CPA is a class of algorithms that operate on audio and network signaling during call setup.","The goal of CPA is to determine the nature of the callee, or the outcome of call setup to an external network (traditional public switched telephone network or Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP)).","Specifically, when a call or session is being established, the caller or initiator must determine whether it was answered by a live speaker, if the line is busy, etc.","When the caller is an automated application, such as an automated dialer or message broadcasting system, CPA algorithms are used to perform the classification automatically.","CPA is used to interpret so-called call-progress tones, such as ring back and busy, that are delivered by the telephone network to the calling entity.","Traditional CPA is performed using low- and high-pass frequency discriminators together with energy measurements over time to qualify in-band signaling tones.","Another method for classifying audio on an outbound call is known as Voice Activity Detection (VAD), which is a class of audio processing algorithms that identify where speech is present in an audio stream.","The detected speech may originate from any source, including a live speaker or a prerecorded message.","Modern VAD algorithms use spectral analysis to distinguish the utterance of a primary speaker from background noise.","A subclass of CPA algorithms that extract speaking patterns using VAD, and determine whether the patterns originate from a live speaker or a prerecorded message, is known as Answering Machine Detection (AMD).","By identifying calls that do not connect to a live speaker, an accurate AMD algorithm can significantly increase throughput of an automated dialer.","However, false positives from AMD lead to silent or abandoned calls, causing revenue loss for the contact center, and negative impressions amongst the public.","The quality of an AMD algorithm is a function of the accuracy and response time, and some regions of the world (notably the U.S. and U.K.) impose strict legal requirements on both.","AMD is not an exact science, and the optimal approach is an open problem.","To achieve acceptable accuracy, speed, and flexibility, AMD algorithms use a combination of heuristics and statistical models such as neural networks to classify an utterance as live or pre-recorded.","Although many commercial AMD systems available on the market report high accuracy rates in the marketing literature (e.g., 95% or more), there is no independent auditor for these figures, and the actual accuracy rate is typically much lower in practice (e.g., 80% or less), as reflected by continued widespread complaints.","A general ban has been proposed by some consumer advocacy groups, and some contact centers simply cannot use AMD because of its limitations.","A relatively new science of audio identification is known as Acoustic Fingerprinting, in which a system generates a “fingerprint” of a candidate audio stream, and compares it against a database of known fingerprints, analogous to human fingerprinting used in forensics.","In this context, a “fingerprint” is a condensed digest of an audio stream that can quickly establish perceptual equality with other audio streams.","A database of known fingerprints may associate known fingerprints with meta-data such as “title”, “artist”, etc.","The past ten years have seen a rapidly growing scientific and industrial interest in fingerprinting technology for audio and images.","Applications include identifying songs and advertisements, media library management, and copyright compliance.","Various acoustic fingerprinting algorithm classes have been proposed, and the most prevalent today are those based on either “landmarks” or “bitmaps”.","Landmark-based algorithms extract discrete features from an audio stream called “landmarks”, such as spectral peaks, sudden changes in tone, pitch, loudness, etc.","The optimal choice of landmark is an open question guided mostly by heuristics.","The acoustic fingerprint is stored as a sequence of data structures that describe each landmark.","At runtime, landmarks extracted from a candidate audio stream are compared to a database of fingerprints based on a distance metric.","Bitmap-based algorithms analyze an audio stream as a sequence of frames, and use a filter bank to quantize each frame into a bit vector of size N, where N is typically chosen for convenience as the number of bits in a C-style integer, e.g.","Nϵ {8, 16, 32, or 64}.","A popular and well-studied example is known as the “Haitsma-Kalker algorithm”, which computes a binary bitmap using a filter that compares short-term differences in both time and frequency.","The Haitsma-Kalker Algorithm has been well-studied in the literature.","It's inventors, Jaap Haitsma and Ton Kalker, have published a report of use of the Haitsma-Kalker Algorithm and the comparison of binary acoustic fingerprint bitmaps to identify three (3) second recordings of songs from a database of millions of songs (Haitsma and Kalker, “A Highly Robust Audio Fingerprinting System,” Journal of New Music Research, Vol.","32, No.","2 (2003), pp.","211-221).","The complete acoustic fingerprint is stored as a sequence of bit vectors, or a bitmap.","As illustrated in FIG.","1A-C, there are shown three images of an audio stream containing a message from a telephone network saying “This number has been disconnected”.","FIG.","1A shows the original audio wave signal, with 1.5 seconds of audio sampled at 8000 KHz.","FIG.","1B shows a spectrogram of the original audio input signal, with dark regions indicating high energy at a particular frequency.","FIG.","1C shows a binary acoustic fingerprint bitmap created using the Haitsma-Kalker algorithm, with height N=16.The height is determined by the number of bits computed at each frame, and the width is determined by the number of frames in the audio stream.","At runtime, the bitmap computed from a candidate audio stream is compared to a database of bitmaps based on the number of non-matching bits, also known as the Hamming distance.","The use of bitmap matching and the process of acoustic fingerprinting is a powerful emerging tool in the science of audio recognition; however, it is computationally intense and requires several seconds of sampled audio to make a match in many cases.","This delay makes it not well suited for use in call progress analysis.","Accordingly, there remains a need for faster and more accurate systems and methods for identifying audio, both in the general case and during an outbound call attempt.","SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSED EMBODIMENTS Systems and methods for the matching of datasets, such as input audio segments, with known datasets in a database are disclosed.","In an illustrative embodiment, the use of the presently disclosed systems and methods is described in conjunction with recognizing known network message recordings encountered during an outbound telephone call.","The methodologies include creation of a ternary fingerprint bitmap to make the comparison process more efficient.","Also disclosed are automated methodologies for creating the database of known datasets from a larger collection of datasets.","In one embodiment, a method for matching an audio stream is disclosed, the method comprising the steps of: a) generating a collection of ternary acoustic fingerprint bitmaps; b) subdividing each ternary acoustic fingerprint bitmap into a plurality of segments; c) obtaining a hash key from each segment; and d) aggregating obtained hash keys from the ternary acoustic fingerprint bitmaps into a lookup table.","In another embodiment, a method for extracting fingerprints for common recordings is disclosed, the method comprising the steps of: a) identifying segments of interest from a dataset of recordings by a means of classification; b) generating fingerprint candidates for said identified segments; c) adding said fingerprint candidates to an acoustic fingerprint database; d) repeating steps (a) and (b) to process the recordings in the dataset using the fingerprint database containing said fingerprint candidates added in step (c); and e) removing fingerprint candidates from the database that were not detected a specified number of times.","In a further embodiment, a method for extracting fingerprints for common data is disclosed, the method comprising the steps of: a) identifying subsets of interest from a dataset by means of classification; b) generating fingerprint candidates for said subsets; c) adding said fingerprint candidates to a database; d) repeating steps (a) and (b) to process the dataset using the database in step (c) containing the additions of fingerprint candidates; and e) removing fingerprint candidates from the database that do not meet a specified criteria.","Other embodiments are also disclosed.","BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIGS.","1A-C are an audio wave, spectrogram and binary acoustic fingerprint bitmap, respectively.","FIG.","2 is a schematic flow diagram of one embodiment of a method for building an acoustic fingerprint; FIG.","3A is a graph of amplitude vs. time for a set of exemplary sliding windows used in a transformation according to one embodiment; FIG.","3B is a spectrogram of an audio sample; FIG.","4 is a schematic representation of the Mel scale; FIG.","5 is a graphical representation of the Haitsma-Kalker Algorithm; FIG.","6 is a schematic flow diagram illustrating a method for creating ternary bitmaps according to one embodiment; FIG.","7 is a schematic graphical representation of the creation of a ternary bitmap from a binary bitmap according to one embodiment; FIG.","8 is a schematic flow diagram of the creation of a hash key from a ternary bitmap according to one embodiment; FIG.","9 is a graphical representation of the process of FIG.","7; FIG.","10 is a schematic flow diagram of a matching procedure using hash keys according to one embodiment; and FIG.","11 is a schematic flow diagram of a method for extracting fingerprints for common recordings from large audio datasets according to one embodiment.","DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DISCLOSED EMBODIMENTS For the purposes of promoting an understanding of the principles of the invention, reference will now be made to the embodiment illustrated in the drawings, and specific language will be used to describe that embodiment.","It will nevertheless be understood that no limitation of the scope of the invention is intended.","Alterations and modifications in the illustrated systems and methods, and further applications of the principles of the invention as illustrated therein, as would normally occur to one skilled in the art to which the invention relates are contemplated, are desired to be protected.","Such alternative embodiments require certain adaptations to the embodiments discussed herein that would be obvious to those skilled in the art.","Although the various embodiments disclosed herein will be described in the context of identifying known recordings encountered during an outbound telephone call, for example during a call placed from a contact center, the present invention has applicability to the identification of any segment of audio, image, or other type of data, regardless of the type or source of the audio, image, or other type of data, and regardless of in what circumstances the audio, image, or other type of data is encountered.","Additionally, the present invention has applicability to the recognition of any type of dataset having two or more dimensions.","The predominant reliance on the recognition of audio recordings herein is simply for convenience of description.","The Use of Acoustic Fingerprinting in a Call Progress Analysis System.","Call Progress Analysis may be improved by using a system that augments conventional AMD with an acoustic fingerprinting system to identify specific call progress events of interest including, but not limited to: a.","Telephone network messages (e.g., “We're sorry”; “The number or code you have dialed is incorrect”) b. Voicemail greetings shared by multiple subscribers (e.g., “Hello, the party you have dialed”) c. Colored tones, jingles, chimes d. Ringback tones containing music or speech (e.g., “Please hold while your call is completed”) e. Call screeners f. Privacy managers (e.g., “You have reached a number that does not accept solicitations”) g. Interactive Voice Response (IVR) prompts These are collectively referred to herein as “network messages.” All such network messages share the common trait that the same audio is used by the network in certain situations for calls placed to multiple called parties.","Therefore, a dialing program should expect to encounter these network messages in the future, and identifying them as such will help the call progress analysis software determine that a live speaker has not been reached.","It is desired that the call progress analysis software exhibit the following characteristics: 1.Efficient (low use of CPU and memory) 2.Fast (low latency and delay) 3.Robust (low rate of false negatives) 4.Accurate (low rate of false positives) 5.Scalable (low lookup cost) 6.Repeatable (low learning curve) In one embodiment, during the real-time progress of an outbound call, the CPA system processes the audio stream using both a conventional AMD algorithm and an acoustic fingerprinting system.","As the audio proceeds, the acoustic fingerprinting system identifies whether there is a likely match in the database of acoustic fingerprints of known network messages.","If so, any output from the AMD algorithm is preempted: instead, the CPA system reports specific call progress events based on the matched acoustic fingerprint.","For the general case where the acoustic fingerprint system finds no matches in the database, the conventional AMD algorithm is used to detect a greeting, and report the event of either a live speaker or an answering machine.","All events are interpreted by the user of the CPA system to choose an appropriate response, such as whether to proceed or terminate the call, dispatch to an agent, adjust the dialer plan, etc.","In other embodiments, the acoustic fingerprinting system is used without an additional CPA mechanism.","FIG.","2 schematically illustrates one embodiment of a method for building an acoustic fingerprint.","In order to build an acoustic fingerprint, either of a known audio segment or of a candidate audio segment from a current telephone call, a time varying spectral representation of the signal (referred to herein as a “spectrogram”) is created (as indicated at step 100) using any desired transform, such as Discrete Fourier Transform (DFT), Discrete Cosine Transform (DCT), wavelet transform, or even just a set of filter banks, to name just four non-limiting examples.","At each frame, the power spectrum in frequency space is computed.","For example, FIG.","3A illustrates amplitude vs. time for the sliding windows used in a Fast Fourier Transform (FFT, a particularly efficient algorithm to implement Discrete Fourier Transform) of an audio sample using the following parameters: Sample rate: 8 kHz Frame duration: 30 milliseconds Step size: 20 milliseconds Overlap: ⅓ FFT size: 256 A sample spectrogram of an audio sample using this technique is illustrated in FIG.","3B.","The next step is to create a binary acoustic fingerprint bitmap, as indicated at step 102.The power spectrogram may be used as is, or it may be optionally transformed in order to condense the data.","Any transformation technique that will condense the data may be used.","To give just one non-limiting example, the Haitsma-Kalker Algorithm may be used, where a sequence of frames are created and are combined to build the acoustic fingerprint bitmap.","A filter bank can be used to quantize each frame into a bit vector of size N, where N may be chosen for convenience as the number of bits in a C-style integer (8, 16, 32 or 64).","In one embodiment, a Mel-scale filter bank is used to transform the power spectrum data into Mel space with (N+1) bands, as indicated at step 104.The Mel scale is a perceptual scale of pitches judged by listeners to be equal in distance from one another, as illustrated in FIG.","4.From the sequence of (N+1)-band spectrums in Mel space, a sequence of N-bit binary fingerprint frame values based on band energy differences over successive frames is computed at step 106.In one embodiment, this is done using the Haitsma-Kalker Algorithm as follows: F ( n , m ) = { 1 if E ( n , m ) - E ( n , m + 1 ) - ( E ( n - 1 , m ) - E ( n - 1 , m + 1 ) ) > 0 0 if E ( n , m ) - E ( n , m + 1 ) - ( E ( n - 1 , m ) - E ( n - 1 , m + 1 ) ) ≤ 0 where: E(n,m) is the energy of frequency band m of frame n, and F(n,m) is the mth bit of fingerprint frame n This is illustrated schematically in FIG.","5.Thus, the acoustic fingerprint is built up as a vector of N-bit integers, one integer per frame.","FIG.","1C illustrates an exemplary 16-bit binary acoustic fingerprint bitmap.","For use during call progress analysis, a database is maintained that contains binary acoustic fingerprint bitmaps for known network messages.","In one embodiment, during the real-time progress of an outbound call, the CPA system processes the audio stream using both a conventional AMD algorithm and an acoustic fingerprinting system.","As the audio proceeds, the acoustic fingerprinting system creates binary acoustic fingerprint bitmaps of the incoming audio and compares those bitmaps to known network message bitmaps stored in a database (step 108).","The CPA system identifies whether there is a match in the database of binary bitmaps (step 110), indicating that the outbound call has resulted in receipt of a known network message instead of a live speaker (step 112).","If so, any output from the AMD algorithm is preempted: instead, the CPA system reports specific call progress events based on the matched acoustic fingerprint.","For the general case where the acoustic fingerprint system finds no matches in the database, the conventional AMD algorithm is used to detect a greeting, and report the event of either a live speaker or an answering machine (step 114).","All events are interpreted by the user of the CPA system to choose an appropriate response, such as whether to proceed or terminate the call, dispatch to an agent, adjust the dialer plan, etc.","In other embodiments, the binary acoustic fingerprinting bitmap matching system is used without an additional CPA mechanism.","The Haitsma-Kalker Algorithm has been well-studied in the literature.","In Haitsma and Kalker's published report of use of the Haitsma-Kalker Algorithm and the comparison of binary acoustic fingerprint bitmaps to identify three (3) second recordings of songs from a database of millions of songs (Haitsma and Kalker, “A Highly Robust Audio Fingerprinting System,” Journal of New Music Research, Vol.","32, No.","2 (2003), pp.","211-221).","Their system required a large frame size, large overlap/small step size, and large fingerprints in order to achieve good results.","The parameters they used were: Sample rate: 5 kHz Frame duration: 370 milliseconds Step size: 10 milliseconds Overlap: 31/32 FFT size: 2048 The Haitsma-Kalker algorithm computes a binary acoustic fingerprint bitmap with a relatively low Signal-to-Noise ratio, with bits highly sensitive to noise and windowing artifacts.","To achieve an acoustic fingerprinting system with acceptably high accuracy and low false positive rate typically requires a relatively long segment of audio (˜3 seconds) with large frame size (370 ms) and large overlap between frames (31/32, or about 97%).","Such a system is computationally intensive and requires a relatively large audio sample to make reliable comparisons, both of which are undesirable in many audio matching scenarios.","The present inventors have observed that many bits in a binary acoustic fingerprint bitmap are sensitive to noise and artifacts resulting from the transform into the spectral representation (windowing), especially where the energy of the signal is relatively small.","A proposed solution is to mask out bits of little value due to their sensitivity to noise and windowing artifacts, and compute the error rate of the bitmap comparisons using only the bits that are in the mask (i.e., the bits that are not masked out).","Ternary Bitmap Acoustic Fingerprint Using Mask Bits to Obtain High Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR) To improve the bitmap matching speed without sacrificing accuracy, one embodiment of the present invention makes the following modification to any acoustic fingerprinting algorithm that generates a binary bitmap.","In the training stage where the database of known network message bitmaps is created, the methodology of FIG.","6 may be implemented.","At step 200, the binary acoustic fingerprint bitmap is created for the audio segment using the same process described hereinabove with respect to FIG.","2.At step 202, in the illustrated embodiment the first sample is deleted from the audio segment (although other segment modification schemes may be employed, as discussed below), and at step 204 another binary acoustic fingerprint bitmap is created for the modified audio segment using the same process described hereinabove with respect to FIG.","2.Steps 202-204 are repeated X times (step 206), where X is the number of samples in each frame used by the acoustic fingerprinting process of FIG.","2.This process will generate X binary acoustic fingerprint bitmaps of the audio segment.","The X binary acoustic fingerprint bitmaps are combined into a ternary bitmap at step 208 as follows.","If a bit is 0 in all X binary bitmaps, set the bit in the ternary bitmap to 0 If a bit is 1 in all X binary bitmaps, set the bit in the ternary bitmap to 1 Otherwise, set the bit of the ternary bitmap to * (“Don't Care”) The “Don't Care” bits change in the successive binary acoustic fingerprint bitmaps because they are sensitive to framing, noise, compression, and other effects that introduce signal distortion.","It will be appreciated from the above description that the “Don't Care” bits may be defined in other ways, such as a predetermined percentage of bit values changing across the bitmaps, etc.","If the ternary bitmap is used for bitmap comparison (step 210) and the “Don't Care” bits are ignored during the comparison process, the “Don't care” bits mask out these regions in frequency and time of the original binary acoustic fingerprint bitmap that introduce signal distortion.","FIG.","7 illustrates an example comparison between a binary bitmap and its associated ternary bitmap.","It will also be appreciated from the above description that the input signal can be artificially degraded before computing the acoustic fingerprint by adding noise or other artifacts commonly introduced by the communication channel in order to make the acoustic fingerprint and mask more sensitive.","At runtime, these “Don't Care” bits are excluded from the evaluated “masked Hamming distance” between the candidate audio stream and the database of known fingerprints.","Use of the ternary bitmap mask eliminates false negatives due to framing misalignment between the input candidate audio stream and the recordings in the database.","By excluding the bits most sensitive to windowing and noise, the ternary fingerprint system is more robust than its binary counterpart, and achieves comparable accuracy and false positive rate with much fewer bits.","It will be appreciated that the above steps create many fingerprints of the same signal, with the analysis window shifted by a fraction of the frame size, and those fingerprints are then used to identify which parts of the fingerprint change.","Therefore, in step 202 the analysis window may be shifted by any fraction of the frame size, rather than the illustrated single-sample shift.","It will additionally be appreciated that the acoustic fingerprint and ternary bitmap (mask) may be represented in ways other than as vectors of vectors where each element is a bit with a value of zero or one, but instead more generally as vectors of vectors where each element comprises numeric scores and weights (and quantized into multi-bit representations).","For example, a method for creating a weighted compressed representation of a dataset may comprise the steps of a) computing a compressed representation of the dataset; b) deleting a first number of elements from the dataset to create a modified dataset; c) computing another compressed representation of the modified dataset; d) repeating steps (b) and (c) a plurality of times to create a plurality of compressed representations; and e) combining the plurality of compressed representations into a weighted compressed representation, where each weight in the weighted compressed representation is computed as a function of the elements in the plurality of compressed representations.","In some embodiments, the compressed representation is a two-dimensional vector of first numbers.","In some embodiments the first numbers are each represented with a first number of bits, where in the first number of bits may be one bit in some embodiments, and greater than one bit in other embodiments.","In other embodiments, the weighted compressed representation is a two-dimensional vector of second numbers.","In some embodiments the second numbers are each represented with a second number of bits.","In some embodiments, the function computes each said weight as correlation coefficient of the elements in the plurality of compressed representations.","In some embodiments, the correlation coefficient is computed as follows: 1) if an element is below a first predetermined threshold in a first predetermined number of the plurality of compressed representations, set the correlation coefficient to a first value; 2) if an element is above a second predetermined threshold in a second predetermined number of the plurality of compressed representations, set the correlation coefficient to a second value; 3) otherwise set the correlation coefficient to a third value.","For example, in one embodiment, the first value is +1, the second value is −1, and the third value is 0 (zero).","Those skilled in the art will recognize from the present disclosure that the correlation coefficient can be any value between −1 and +1 (or any other desired number range).","In the present embodiment, the values correspond to the ternary bitmap discussed herein, where a set bit is +1, a cleared bit is −1 and a Don't Care bit is 0.The thresholds can be set to any desired level.","For example, the first predetermined threshold may be 1 (one) and the second predetermined threshold may be 0 (zero) in one embodiment.","When computing the correlation coefficient in one embodiment, first predetermined number comprises all of the plurality of compressed representations and the second predetermined number comprises all of the plurality of compressed representations.","The methodology of FIG.","6 can be compared to the Haitsma-Kalker algorithm binary acoustic fingerprint bitmap comparison approach of FIG.","2, which computes a binary acoustic fingerprint bitmap with a relatively low Signal-to-Noise ratio, with bits highly sensitive to noise and windowing artifacts.","To achieve a fingerprinting system with acceptably high accuracy and low false positive rate using this approach typically requires a relatively long segment of audio (˜3 seconds) with large frame size (370 ms) and large overlap between frames (31/32, or about 97%).","By comparison, the ternary acoustic fingerprint bitmap methodology disclosed herein, such as that illustrated in FIG.","6, can obtain comparable matching accuracy and precision much more efficiently, with a short segment of low-bandwidth audio (˜0.25 seconds at 8 kHz), using a small frame size of 30 ms and a small frame overlap of 33%.","Not only does this achieve matching in approximately 1/12th the amount of time, it is much less computationally intensive and works well with low quality audio samples.","Real-Time Matching of Acoustic Fingerprints in a Database with Minimal Delay Using Exhaustive Search Most existing acoustic fingerprinting systems are not well adapted for real-time applications because they require a large segment of a source audio stream to achieve a valid match.","The requirement imposes a time delay of several seconds from the beginning of the matched segment before a matching fingerprint can be confirmed.","However, to use fingerprinting in real-time in tandem with other signal processing algorithms such as conventional AMD, the fingerprinting system must identify whether a match is likely within a fraction of a second.","To achieve minimal delay, the present inventors propose an approach using an optimized exhaustive search to match an audio stream in real-time against a database on the order of thousands of fingerprints.","As shown in FIGS.","8 and 9, during preprocessing a collection of ternary acoustic fingerprint bitmaps, one for each audio object to detect, with N ternary values per frame, is generated (step 300).","For each fingerprint, the ternary bitmap is subdivided into a plurality of equal segments (step 302).","In one embodiment, the ternary bitmap is subdivided into four equal segments as shown in FIG.","9.From each segment, a hash key is obtained (step 304) by extracting the ternary values from 128/N frames of the subdivided fingerprint, for a total of 128 ternary values in each hash key (i.e., a 128-bit ternary hash key).","It will be appreciated that the hash key may have fewer or a greater number of values.","All of the hash keys thus obtained from the ternary acoustic fingerprint bitmaps are then aggregated into a single lookup table (step 306).","The selection of hash keys from various segments of the acoustic fingerprint allows a match to be made even if the candidate audio stream is an interrupted recording and the beginning of the recording is not received.","For example, if using this methodology for identifying samples of music, the person wishing to identify a song may not have (and most likely did not) start recording a sample of the song to be identified until sometime after the song started playing.","Use of hash keys from different segments of the acoustic fingerprint allows the system to still make a match between the candidate audio stream and the acoustic fingerprints in the database.","FIG.","10 illustrates one embodiment of a matching procedure that may be used at runtime after the lookup table of hash keys has been assembled.","For each new frame of the input audio stream, a binary bitmap acoustic fingerprinting algorithm is used to generate a new bit vector of length N (step 400).","The bit vectors from the previous 128/N frames of the input audio stream are combined into a 128-bit binary hash key for lookup (step 402).","The current 128-bit binary hash key of the input audio stream is compared against all of the ternary hash keys in the lookup table by computing the masked Hamming distance (step 404).","On modern microprocessors, this calculation can easily be parallelized and optimized with Single-Instruction-Multiple-Data instructions (such as the SSE or AVX SIMD instruction set extensions to the Intel x86 microprocessor architecture) and/or the “population count” instruction.","If any hash keys in the lookup table match (step 406) with a sufficiently low masked Hamming distance, the audio fingerprint corresponding to the hash key is identified as a “candidate” (step 408).","The threshold bit error rate (BER) for establishing a candidate may be based on a relatively low value of σcandidate (e.g., 3 standard deviations, although other thresholds may be used).","If the overall BER for a candidate exceeds a relatively large value of σnotify, (e.g., 9 standard deviations, although other thresholds may be used) (step 410) this candidate is determined to be a match (step 412).","If no match has been determined, the process returns to step 400 where the next frame is used to generate a new bit vector of length N. By continuing to analyze subsequent frames, the process is able to resolve all candidates as a match or non-match, based upon where the masked Hamming distance falls with respect to the thresholds.","Method for Extracting Fingerprints for Common Recordings from Large Audio Collections As will be appreciated from the above description, systems and methods are provided for matching an audio sample to a database of known audio recordings.","The systems and methods described above are computationally efficient and are able to identify a match with an acoustic fingerprint in a database, but a problem remains in how to efficiently identify the audio recordings that will be represented by acoustic fingerprints in the database.","The methodology described herein below for doing so is discussed in the context of a telephonic contact center; however, those skilled in the art will recognize from the present disclosure that the methodology may be applied to compiling fingerprint databases relating to any type of source audio, images, or other types of data.","A sizable campaign from a contact center may generate thousands of digital recordings of outbound calls each day.","From this recording collection, the objective is to extract all audio segments containing call progress events of interest, in order to assist CPA in future call campaigns.","For example, many calls in a campaign are dialed to numbers on the same network or sub-network, which plays an identical recorded greeting for each subscriber.","In the absence of an automated data driven technique, the large volumes of data must be listened to by a human subject, to identify candidate segments from which acoustic fingerprints may be extracted.","The present inventors propose an offline process to automatically identify common acoustic recordings in a large collection of recordings, so they may be detected in future call campaigns to improve the accuracy of CPA.","The process used for automated identification of fingerprints in our invention is illustrated schematically in FIG.","11.At step 500, the CPA system, combined with AMD and acoustic fingerprinting (if the database already contains acoustic fingerprints for some known recordings), is used to classify all audio recordings in the collection based on events detected therein.","For all audio recordings classified as a live speaker or answering machine using conventional AMD, the endpoints of the audio segments that do not comprise silence, background noise, or simple tones are identified at step 502.For example, audio segments containing speaking patterns, music, non-speech signals, etc.","are identified at step 502.At step 504, a ternary acoustic fingerprint bitmap is generated for all identified segments using the methodology described hereinabove (it will be appreciated that a binary acoustic fingerprint bitmap can be used instead of the ternary bitmap).","These new acoustic fingerprints are added to the acoustic fingerprint database at step 506.All of the audio recordings in the collection are then re-processed through the CPA/AMD system using the newly-augmented ternary acoustic fingerprint database at step 508.At step 510, the system identifies the augmented fingerprints that are not unique and were detected multiple times (i.e., a recording in the collection being processed matched multiple ones of the augmented acoustic fingerprints, indicating that these are acoustic fingerprints of recordings that were encountered multiple times in the collection).","Any acoustic fingerprints discovered multiple times are likely candidates for a call progress event of interest, and are therefore left in the acoustic fingerprint database at step 512 for use in future CPA tasks.","All of the other augmented fingerprints (i.e., those new acoustic fingerprints that were not detected multiple times) are removed from the database at step 514, since they represent unique audio segments of vocal utterances, and therefore cannot be determined to be recorded network messages.","In this way, an automated system may be used to look through a large collection of recordings (or images or other data) and extract therefrom fingerprints of recordings that were encountered multiple times.","This methodology allows the acoustic fingerprint database to be built automatically and continuously updated to account for new network messages that may be brought on line by the various telephone companies.","As can be seen from the above description, the various embodiments allow for the matching of input audio segments with known audio segments in a database.","The audio segments may originate from any source and contain any type of audio, such as speech, tones, music, or any other audio that is desired to be recognized.","In an illustrative embodiment, the use of the presently disclosed systems and methods was described in conjunction with recognizing known network message recordings encountered during an outbound telephone call.","However, those skilled in the art will recognize that the disclosed systems and methods will find application in recognition of any type of two- or more-dimensional dataset, such as any form of audio, image, or other type of data.","While the organization of steps, software blocks, data and data structures have been illustrated as clearly delineated, a person skilled in the art will appreciate that the delineation between steps, blocks and data is somewhat arbitrary.","Numerous other arrangements of steps, software blocks and data are possible.","Finally, it will be understood that the invention is not limited to the embodiments described herein which are merely illustrative of several embodiments for carrying out the invention, and which are susceptible to modification of form, arrangement of parts, steps, details and order of operation.","The invention, rather, is intended to encompass all such modifications within its spirit and scope, as defined by the claims."]],"string":"[\n [\n \"SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR FINGERPRINTING DATASETS\",\n \"Systems and methods for the matching of datasets, such as input audio segments, with known datasets in a database are disclosed.\",\n \"In an illustrative embodiment, the use of the presently disclosed systems and methods is described in conjunction with recognizing known network message recordings encountered during an outbound telephone call.\",\n \"The methodologies include creation of a ternary fingerprint bitmap to make the comparison process more efficient.\",\n \"Also disclosed are automated methodologies for creating the database of known datasets from a larger collection of datasets.\"\n ],\n [\n \"1.A method for matching an audio stream comprising the steps of: a. generating a collection of ternary acoustic fingerprint bitmaps; b. subdividing each ternary acoustic fingerprint bitmap into a plurality of segments; c. obtaining a hash key from each segment; and d. aggregating obtained hash keys from the ternary acoustic fingerprint bitmaps into a lookup table.\",\n \"2.The method of claim 1, wherein said ternary acoustic fingerprint bitmap is generated for an audio object to detect.\",\n \"3.The method of claim 1, wherein the generating of step (a) further comprises the step of generating a number of ternary values per frame of audio.\",\n \"4.The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of segments are equal in length.\",\n \"5.The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of segments comprises four equal segments.\",\n \"6.The method of claim 1, wherein the hash key of step (c) is obtained by extracting a number of ternary values from ternary values of a number of frames from each segment.\",\n \"7.The method of claim 6, wherein the number of frames of each segment evenly divides the number of ternary values.\",\n \"8.The method of claim 7, wherein said number of ternary values is 128.9.The method of claim 1 further comprising the steps of: e. generating a number of bit vectors from a number of input audio frames; f. combining the bit vectors into a binary hash key; g. comparing the binary hash key from step (f) against all obtained hash keys in the lookup table.\",\n \"h. identifying audio fingerprints corresponding to matching hash keys, wherein, if a match is not found, repeating the method from step (e).\",\n \"10.The method of claim 9, wherein the binary hash key comprises a number of bits.\",\n \"11.The method of claim 10, wherein the number of input audio frames evenly divides the number of bits.\",\n \"12.The method of claim 11, wherein the number of bits is 128.13.The method of claim 9, wherein said comparing of step (g) is performed by computing a masked Hamming distance.\",\n \"14.The method of claim 13, wherein said computing is parallelized and optimized with at least one of: Single-Instruction-Multiple Data Instructions and population count instruction.\",\n \"15.The method of claim 13, wherein said hash keys in the lookup table match with a low masked Hamming distance.\",\n \"16.The method of claim 9, wherein step (h) further comprises the steps of: a. performing a first match with a first criteria; b. identifying fingerprints matching said first criteria as candidate matches; c. performing a second match on said candidate matches with a second criteria; and d. declaring candidate matches meeting the second criteria a match.\",\n \"17.The method of claim 16, wherein the first criteria and the second criteria are derived from a bit error rate.\",\n \"18.The method of claim 17, wherein at least one of: said first criteria comprises a lower number of standard deviations and said second criteria comprises a higher number of standard deviations.\",\n \"19.The method of claim 18, wherein at least one of: said lower number is 3 and said higher number is 9.20.-29.\",\n \"(canceled)\"\n ],\n [\n \" BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSED EMBODIMENTS The background of the present disclosure and the illustrative embodiments disclosed herein are described in the context of identifying known audio recordings encountered during an outbound telephone call, for example during a call placed from a contact center.\",\n \"However, the present invention has applicability to the identification of any segment of audio or an image (as used herein, the term “image” is intended to encompass both still and moving images), regardless of the type or source of the audio or image, and regardless of in what circumstances the audio or image is encountered.\",\n \"Furthermore, the present invention also has applicability to the identification of any segment of data such as, for example, data obtained from any type of sensor.\",\n \"Therefore, as used herein, the term “dataset” shall encompass a collection of any type of data, whether comprising audio, image, or other type of data.\",\n \"In a classic contact center scenario, outbound calls are made either automatically (by a class of devices known as “automated dialers” or “autodialers”) or manually.\",\n \"A number of human “agents” are available to join into calls that are determined to reach a live person at the called end.\",\n \"In this way, efficiencies are obtained by not having agents involved in a call until it is determined that there is a live person at the called end with whom the agent may speak.\",\n \"The use of automated equipment to monitor the telephone line during the outbound call is referred to as call progress analysis (CPA).\",\n \"CPA is a class of algorithms that operate on audio and network signaling during call setup.\",\n \"The goal of CPA is to determine the nature of the callee, or the outcome of call setup to an external network (traditional public switched telephone network or Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP)).\",\n \"Specifically, when a call or session is being established, the caller or initiator must determine whether it was answered by a live speaker, if the line is busy, etc.\",\n \"When the caller is an automated application, such as an automated dialer or message broadcasting system, CPA algorithms are used to perform the classification automatically.\",\n \"CPA is used to interpret so-called call-progress tones, such as ring back and busy, that are delivered by the telephone network to the calling entity.\",\n \"Traditional CPA is performed using low- and high-pass frequency discriminators together with energy measurements over time to qualify in-band signaling tones.\",\n \"Another method for classifying audio on an outbound call is known as Voice Activity Detection (VAD), which is a class of audio processing algorithms that identify where speech is present in an audio stream.\",\n \"The detected speech may originate from any source, including a live speaker or a prerecorded message.\",\n \"Modern VAD algorithms use spectral analysis to distinguish the utterance of a primary speaker from background noise.\",\n \"A subclass of CPA algorithms that extract speaking patterns using VAD, and determine whether the patterns originate from a live speaker or a prerecorded message, is known as Answering Machine Detection (AMD).\",\n \"By identifying calls that do not connect to a live speaker, an accurate AMD algorithm can significantly increase throughput of an automated dialer.\",\n \"However, false positives from AMD lead to silent or abandoned calls, causing revenue loss for the contact center, and negative impressions amongst the public.\",\n \"The quality of an AMD algorithm is a function of the accuracy and response time, and some regions of the world (notably the U.S. and U.K.) impose strict legal requirements on both.\",\n \"AMD is not an exact science, and the optimal approach is an open problem.\",\n \"To achieve acceptable accuracy, speed, and flexibility, AMD algorithms use a combination of heuristics and statistical models such as neural networks to classify an utterance as live or pre-recorded.\",\n \"Although many commercial AMD systems available on the market report high accuracy rates in the marketing literature (e.g., 95% or more), there is no independent auditor for these figures, and the actual accuracy rate is typically much lower in practice (e.g., 80% or less), as reflected by continued widespread complaints.\",\n \"A general ban has been proposed by some consumer advocacy groups, and some contact centers simply cannot use AMD because of its limitations.\",\n \"A relatively new science of audio identification is known as Acoustic Fingerprinting, in which a system generates a “fingerprint” of a candidate audio stream, and compares it against a database of known fingerprints, analogous to human fingerprinting used in forensics.\",\n \"In this context, a “fingerprint” is a condensed digest of an audio stream that can quickly establish perceptual equality with other audio streams.\",\n \"A database of known fingerprints may associate known fingerprints with meta-data such as “title”, “artist”, etc.\",\n \"The past ten years have seen a rapidly growing scientific and industrial interest in fingerprinting technology for audio and images.\",\n \"Applications include identifying songs and advertisements, media library management, and copyright compliance.\",\n \"Various acoustic fingerprinting algorithm classes have been proposed, and the most prevalent today are those based on either “landmarks” or “bitmaps”.\",\n \"Landmark-based algorithms extract discrete features from an audio stream called “landmarks”, such as spectral peaks, sudden changes in tone, pitch, loudness, etc.\",\n \"The optimal choice of landmark is an open question guided mostly by heuristics.\",\n \"The acoustic fingerprint is stored as a sequence of data structures that describe each landmark.\",\n \"At runtime, landmarks extracted from a candidate audio stream are compared to a database of fingerprints based on a distance metric.\",\n \"Bitmap-based algorithms analyze an audio stream as a sequence of frames, and use a filter bank to quantize each frame into a bit vector of size N, where N is typically chosen for convenience as the number of bits in a C-style integer, e.g.\",\n \"Nϵ {8, 16, 32, or 64}.\",\n \"A popular and well-studied example is known as the “Haitsma-Kalker algorithm”, which computes a binary bitmap using a filter that compares short-term differences in both time and frequency.\",\n \"The Haitsma-Kalker Algorithm has been well-studied in the literature.\",\n \"It's inventors, Jaap Haitsma and Ton Kalker, have published a report of use of the Haitsma-Kalker Algorithm and the comparison of binary acoustic fingerprint bitmaps to identify three (3) second recordings of songs from a database of millions of songs (Haitsma and Kalker, “A Highly Robust Audio Fingerprinting System,” Journal of New Music Research, Vol.\",\n \"32, No.\",\n \"2 (2003), pp.\",\n \"211-221).\",\n \"The complete acoustic fingerprint is stored as a sequence of bit vectors, or a bitmap.\",\n \"As illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"1A-C , there are shown three images of an audio stream containing a message from a telephone network saying “This number has been disconnected”.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"1A shows the original audio wave signal, with 1.5 seconds of audio sampled at 8000 KHz.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"1B shows a spectrogram of the original audio input signal, with dark regions indicating high energy at a particular frequency.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"1C shows a binary acoustic fingerprint bitmap created using the Haitsma-Kalker algorithm, with height N=16.The height is determined by the number of bits computed at each frame, and the width is determined by the number of frames in the audio stream.\",\n \"At runtime, the bitmap computed from a candidate audio stream is compared to a database of bitmaps based on the number of non-matching bits, also known as the Hamming distance.\",\n \"The use of bitmap matching and the process of acoustic fingerprinting is a powerful emerging tool in the science of audio recognition; however, it is computationally intense and requires several seconds of sampled audio to make a match in many cases.\",\n \"This delay makes it not well suited for use in call progress analysis.\",\n \"Accordingly, there remains a need for faster and more accurate systems and methods for identifying audio, both in the general case and during an outbound call attempt.\"\n ],\n [\n \" SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSED EMBODIMENTS Systems and methods for the matching of datasets, such as input audio segments, with known datasets in a database are disclosed.\",\n \"In an illustrative embodiment, the use of the presently disclosed systems and methods is described in conjunction with recognizing known network message recordings encountered during an outbound telephone call.\",\n \"The methodologies include creation of a ternary fingerprint bitmap to make the comparison process more efficient.\",\n \"Also disclosed are automated methodologies for creating the database of known datasets from a larger collection of datasets.\",\n \"In one embodiment, a method for matching an audio stream is disclosed, the method comprising the steps of: a) generating a collection of ternary acoustic fingerprint bitmaps; b) subdividing each ternary acoustic fingerprint bitmap into a plurality of segments; c) obtaining a hash key from each segment; and d) aggregating obtained hash keys from the ternary acoustic fingerprint bitmaps into a lookup table.\",\n \"In another embodiment, a method for extracting fingerprints for common recordings is disclosed, the method comprising the steps of: a) identifying segments of interest from a dataset of recordings by a means of classification; b) generating fingerprint candidates for said identified segments; c) adding said fingerprint candidates to an acoustic fingerprint database; d) repeating steps (a) and (b) to process the recordings in the dataset using the fingerprint database containing said fingerprint candidates added in step (c); and e) removing fingerprint candidates from the database that were not detected a specified number of times.\",\n \"In a further embodiment, a method for extracting fingerprints for common data is disclosed, the method comprising the steps of: a) identifying subsets of interest from a dataset by means of classification; b) generating fingerprint candidates for said subsets; c) adding said fingerprint candidates to a database; d) repeating steps (a) and (b) to process the dataset using the database in step (c) containing the additions of fingerprint candidates; and e) removing fingerprint candidates from the database that do not meet a specified criteria.\",\n \"Other embodiments are also disclosed.\"\n ],\n [\n \"CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS The present application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"13/432,838, filed on Mar.\",\n \"28, 2012, now allowed, and titled SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR FINGERPRINTING DATASETS.\",\n \"The disclosure of the prior application is considered part of and is incorporated by reference in the disclosure of this application.\",\n \"TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE DISCLOSED EMBODIMENTS The present invention generally relates to identifying known datasets, such as audio signals and, more particularly, to systems and methods for fingerprinting datasets.\",\n \"BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSED EMBODIMENTS The background of the present disclosure and the illustrative embodiments disclosed herein are described in the context of identifying known audio recordings encountered during an outbound telephone call, for example during a call placed from a contact center.\",\n \"However, the present invention has applicability to the identification of any segment of audio or an image (as used herein, the term “image” is intended to encompass both still and moving images), regardless of the type or source of the audio or image, and regardless of in what circumstances the audio or image is encountered.\",\n \"Furthermore, the present invention also has applicability to the identification of any segment of data such as, for example, data obtained from any type of sensor.\",\n \"Therefore, as used herein, the term “dataset” shall encompass a collection of any type of data, whether comprising audio, image, or other type of data.\",\n \"In a classic contact center scenario, outbound calls are made either automatically (by a class of devices known as “automated dialers” or “autodialers”) or manually.\",\n \"A number of human “agents” are available to join into calls that are determined to reach a live person at the called end.\",\n \"In this way, efficiencies are obtained by not having agents involved in a call until it is determined that there is a live person at the called end with whom the agent may speak.\",\n \"The use of automated equipment to monitor the telephone line during the outbound call is referred to as call progress analysis (CPA).\",\n \"CPA is a class of algorithms that operate on audio and network signaling during call setup.\",\n \"The goal of CPA is to determine the nature of the callee, or the outcome of call setup to an external network (traditional public switched telephone network or Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP)).\",\n \"Specifically, when a call or session is being established, the caller or initiator must determine whether it was answered by a live speaker, if the line is busy, etc.\",\n \"When the caller is an automated application, such as an automated dialer or message broadcasting system, CPA algorithms are used to perform the classification automatically.\",\n \"CPA is used to interpret so-called call-progress tones, such as ring back and busy, that are delivered by the telephone network to the calling entity.\",\n \"Traditional CPA is performed using low- and high-pass frequency discriminators together with energy measurements over time to qualify in-band signaling tones.\",\n \"Another method for classifying audio on an outbound call is known as Voice Activity Detection (VAD), which is a class of audio processing algorithms that identify where speech is present in an audio stream.\",\n \"The detected speech may originate from any source, including a live speaker or a prerecorded message.\",\n \"Modern VAD algorithms use spectral analysis to distinguish the utterance of a primary speaker from background noise.\",\n \"A subclass of CPA algorithms that extract speaking patterns using VAD, and determine whether the patterns originate from a live speaker or a prerecorded message, is known as Answering Machine Detection (AMD).\",\n \"By identifying calls that do not connect to a live speaker, an accurate AMD algorithm can significantly increase throughput of an automated dialer.\",\n \"However, false positives from AMD lead to silent or abandoned calls, causing revenue loss for the contact center, and negative impressions amongst the public.\",\n \"The quality of an AMD algorithm is a function of the accuracy and response time, and some regions of the world (notably the U.S. and U.K.) impose strict legal requirements on both.\",\n \"AMD is not an exact science, and the optimal approach is an open problem.\",\n \"To achieve acceptable accuracy, speed, and flexibility, AMD algorithms use a combination of heuristics and statistical models such as neural networks to classify an utterance as live or pre-recorded.\",\n \"Although many commercial AMD systems available on the market report high accuracy rates in the marketing literature (e.g., 95% or more), there is no independent auditor for these figures, and the actual accuracy rate is typically much lower in practice (e.g., 80% or less), as reflected by continued widespread complaints.\",\n \"A general ban has been proposed by some consumer advocacy groups, and some contact centers simply cannot use AMD because of its limitations.\",\n \"A relatively new science of audio identification is known as Acoustic Fingerprinting, in which a system generates a “fingerprint” of a candidate audio stream, and compares it against a database of known fingerprints, analogous to human fingerprinting used in forensics.\",\n \"In this context, a “fingerprint” is a condensed digest of an audio stream that can quickly establish perceptual equality with other audio streams.\",\n \"A database of known fingerprints may associate known fingerprints with meta-data such as “title”, “artist”, etc.\",\n \"The past ten years have seen a rapidly growing scientific and industrial interest in fingerprinting technology for audio and images.\",\n \"Applications include identifying songs and advertisements, media library management, and copyright compliance.\",\n \"Various acoustic fingerprinting algorithm classes have been proposed, and the most prevalent today are those based on either “landmarks” or “bitmaps”.\",\n \"Landmark-based algorithms extract discrete features from an audio stream called “landmarks”, such as spectral peaks, sudden changes in tone, pitch, loudness, etc.\",\n \"The optimal choice of landmark is an open question guided mostly by heuristics.\",\n \"The acoustic fingerprint is stored as a sequence of data structures that describe each landmark.\",\n \"At runtime, landmarks extracted from a candidate audio stream are compared to a database of fingerprints based on a distance metric.\",\n \"Bitmap-based algorithms analyze an audio stream as a sequence of frames, and use a filter bank to quantize each frame into a bit vector of size N, where N is typically chosen for convenience as the number of bits in a C-style integer, e.g.\",\n \"Nϵ {8, 16, 32, or 64}.\",\n \"A popular and well-studied example is known as the “Haitsma-Kalker algorithm”, which computes a binary bitmap using a filter that compares short-term differences in both time and frequency.\",\n \"The Haitsma-Kalker Algorithm has been well-studied in the literature.\",\n \"It's inventors, Jaap Haitsma and Ton Kalker, have published a report of use of the Haitsma-Kalker Algorithm and the comparison of binary acoustic fingerprint bitmaps to identify three (3) second recordings of songs from a database of millions of songs (Haitsma and Kalker, “A Highly Robust Audio Fingerprinting System,” Journal of New Music Research, Vol.\",\n \"32, No.\",\n \"2 (2003), pp.\",\n \"211-221).\",\n \"The complete acoustic fingerprint is stored as a sequence of bit vectors, or a bitmap.\",\n \"As illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"1A-C, there are shown three images of an audio stream containing a message from a telephone network saying “This number has been disconnected”.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"1A shows the original audio wave signal, with 1.5 seconds of audio sampled at 8000 KHz.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"1B shows a spectrogram of the original audio input signal, with dark regions indicating high energy at a particular frequency.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"1C shows a binary acoustic fingerprint bitmap created using the Haitsma-Kalker algorithm, with height N=16.The height is determined by the number of bits computed at each frame, and the width is determined by the number of frames in the audio stream.\",\n \"At runtime, the bitmap computed from a candidate audio stream is compared to a database of bitmaps based on the number of non-matching bits, also known as the Hamming distance.\",\n \"The use of bitmap matching and the process of acoustic fingerprinting is a powerful emerging tool in the science of audio recognition; however, it is computationally intense and requires several seconds of sampled audio to make a match in many cases.\",\n \"This delay makes it not well suited for use in call progress analysis.\",\n \"Accordingly, there remains a need for faster and more accurate systems and methods for identifying audio, both in the general case and during an outbound call attempt.\",\n \"SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSED EMBODIMENTS Systems and methods for the matching of datasets, such as input audio segments, with known datasets in a database are disclosed.\",\n \"In an illustrative embodiment, the use of the presently disclosed systems and methods is described in conjunction with recognizing known network message recordings encountered during an outbound telephone call.\",\n \"The methodologies include creation of a ternary fingerprint bitmap to make the comparison process more efficient.\",\n \"Also disclosed are automated methodologies for creating the database of known datasets from a larger collection of datasets.\",\n \"In one embodiment, a method for matching an audio stream is disclosed, the method comprising the steps of: a) generating a collection of ternary acoustic fingerprint bitmaps; b) subdividing each ternary acoustic fingerprint bitmap into a plurality of segments; c) obtaining a hash key from each segment; and d) aggregating obtained hash keys from the ternary acoustic fingerprint bitmaps into a lookup table.\",\n \"In another embodiment, a method for extracting fingerprints for common recordings is disclosed, the method comprising the steps of: a) identifying segments of interest from a dataset of recordings by a means of classification; b) generating fingerprint candidates for said identified segments; c) adding said fingerprint candidates to an acoustic fingerprint database; d) repeating steps (a) and (b) to process the recordings in the dataset using the fingerprint database containing said fingerprint candidates added in step (c); and e) removing fingerprint candidates from the database that were not detected a specified number of times.\",\n \"In a further embodiment, a method for extracting fingerprints for common data is disclosed, the method comprising the steps of: a) identifying subsets of interest from a dataset by means of classification; b) generating fingerprint candidates for said subsets; c) adding said fingerprint candidates to a database; d) repeating steps (a) and (b) to process the dataset using the database in step (c) containing the additions of fingerprint candidates; and e) removing fingerprint candidates from the database that do not meet a specified criteria.\",\n \"Other embodiments are also disclosed.\",\n \"BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIGS.\",\n \"1A-C are an audio wave, spectrogram and binary acoustic fingerprint bitmap, respectively.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"2 is a schematic flow diagram of one embodiment of a method for building an acoustic fingerprint; FIG.\",\n \"3A is a graph of amplitude vs. time for a set of exemplary sliding windows used in a transformation according to one embodiment; FIG.\",\n \"3B is a spectrogram of an audio sample; FIG.\",\n \"4 is a schematic representation of the Mel scale; FIG.\",\n \"5 is a graphical representation of the Haitsma-Kalker Algorithm; FIG.\",\n \"6 is a schematic flow diagram illustrating a method for creating ternary bitmaps according to one embodiment; FIG.\",\n \"7 is a schematic graphical representation of the creation of a ternary bitmap from a binary bitmap according to one embodiment; FIG.\",\n \"8 is a schematic flow diagram of the creation of a hash key from a ternary bitmap according to one embodiment; FIG.\",\n \"9 is a graphical representation of the process of FIG.\",\n \"7; FIG.\",\n \"10 is a schematic flow diagram of a matching procedure using hash keys according to one embodiment; and FIG.\",\n \"11 is a schematic flow diagram of a method for extracting fingerprints for common recordings from large audio datasets according to one embodiment.\",\n \"DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DISCLOSED EMBODIMENTS For the purposes of promoting an understanding of the principles of the invention, reference will now be made to the embodiment illustrated in the drawings, and specific language will be used to describe that embodiment.\",\n \"It will nevertheless be understood that no limitation of the scope of the invention is intended.\",\n \"Alterations and modifications in the illustrated systems and methods, and further applications of the principles of the invention as illustrated therein, as would normally occur to one skilled in the art to which the invention relates are contemplated, are desired to be protected.\",\n \"Such alternative embodiments require certain adaptations to the embodiments discussed herein that would be obvious to those skilled in the art.\",\n \"Although the various embodiments disclosed herein will be described in the context of identifying known recordings encountered during an outbound telephone call, for example during a call placed from a contact center, the present invention has applicability to the identification of any segment of audio, image, or other type of data, regardless of the type or source of the audio, image, or other type of data, and regardless of in what circumstances the audio, image, or other type of data is encountered.\",\n \"Additionally, the present invention has applicability to the recognition of any type of dataset having two or more dimensions.\",\n \"The predominant reliance on the recognition of audio recordings herein is simply for convenience of description.\",\n \"The Use of Acoustic Fingerprinting in a Call Progress Analysis System.\",\n \"Call Progress Analysis may be improved by using a system that augments conventional AMD with an acoustic fingerprinting system to identify specific call progress events of interest including, but not limited to: a.\",\n \"Telephone network messages (e.g., “We're sorry”; “The number or code you have dialed is incorrect”) b. Voicemail greetings shared by multiple subscribers (e.g., “Hello, the party you have dialed”) c. Colored tones, jingles, chimes d. Ringback tones containing music or speech (e.g., “Please hold while your call is completed”) e. Call screeners f. Privacy managers (e.g., “You have reached a number that does not accept solicitations”) g. Interactive Voice Response (IVR) prompts These are collectively referred to herein as “network messages.” All such network messages share the common trait that the same audio is used by the network in certain situations for calls placed to multiple called parties.\",\n \"Therefore, a dialing program should expect to encounter these network messages in the future, and identifying them as such will help the call progress analysis software determine that a live speaker has not been reached.\",\n \"It is desired that the call progress analysis software exhibit the following characteristics: 1.Efficient (low use of CPU and memory) 2.Fast (low latency and delay) 3.Robust (low rate of false negatives) 4.Accurate (low rate of false positives) 5.Scalable (low lookup cost) 6.Repeatable (low learning curve) In one embodiment, during the real-time progress of an outbound call, the CPA system processes the audio stream using both a conventional AMD algorithm and an acoustic fingerprinting system.\",\n \"As the audio proceeds, the acoustic fingerprinting system identifies whether there is a likely match in the database of acoustic fingerprints of known network messages.\",\n \"If so, any output from the AMD algorithm is preempted: instead, the CPA system reports specific call progress events based on the matched acoustic fingerprint.\",\n \"For the general case where the acoustic fingerprint system finds no matches in the database, the conventional AMD algorithm is used to detect a greeting, and report the event of either a live speaker or an answering machine.\",\n \"All events are interpreted by the user of the CPA system to choose an appropriate response, such as whether to proceed or terminate the call, dispatch to an agent, adjust the dialer plan, etc.\",\n \"In other embodiments, the acoustic fingerprinting system is used without an additional CPA mechanism.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"2 schematically illustrates one embodiment of a method for building an acoustic fingerprint.\",\n \"In order to build an acoustic fingerprint, either of a known audio segment or of a candidate audio segment from a current telephone call, a time varying spectral representation of the signal (referred to herein as a “spectrogram”) is created (as indicated at step 100) using any desired transform, such as Discrete Fourier Transform (DFT), Discrete Cosine Transform (DCT), wavelet transform, or even just a set of filter banks, to name just four non-limiting examples.\",\n \"At each frame, the power spectrum in frequency space is computed.\",\n \"For example, FIG.\",\n \"3A illustrates amplitude vs. time for the sliding windows used in a Fast Fourier Transform (FFT, a particularly efficient algorithm to implement Discrete Fourier Transform) of an audio sample using the following parameters: Sample rate: 8 kHz Frame duration: 30 milliseconds Step size: 20 milliseconds Overlap: ⅓ FFT size: 256 A sample spectrogram of an audio sample using this technique is illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"3B.\",\n \"The next step is to create a binary acoustic fingerprint bitmap, as indicated at step 102.The power spectrogram may be used as is, or it may be optionally transformed in order to condense the data.\",\n \"Any transformation technique that will condense the data may be used.\",\n \"To give just one non-limiting example, the Haitsma-Kalker Algorithm may be used, where a sequence of frames are created and are combined to build the acoustic fingerprint bitmap.\",\n \"A filter bank can be used to quantize each frame into a bit vector of size N, where N may be chosen for convenience as the number of bits in a C-style integer (8, 16, 32 or 64).\",\n \"In one embodiment, a Mel-scale filter bank is used to transform the power spectrum data into Mel space with (N+1) bands, as indicated at step 104.The Mel scale is a perceptual scale of pitches judged by listeners to be equal in distance from one another, as illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"4.From the sequence of (N+1)-band spectrums in Mel space, a sequence of N-bit binary fingerprint frame values based on band energy differences over successive frames is computed at step 106.In one embodiment, this is done using the Haitsma-Kalker Algorithm as follows: F ( n , m ) = { 1 if E ( n , m ) - E ( n , m + 1 ) - ( E ( n - 1 , m ) - E ( n - 1 , m + 1 ) ) > 0 0 if E ( n , m ) - E ( n , m + 1 ) - ( E ( n - 1 , m ) - E ( n - 1 , m + 1 ) ) ≤ 0 where: E(n,m) is the energy of frequency band m of frame n, and F(n,m) is the mth bit of fingerprint frame n This is illustrated schematically in FIG.\",\n \"5.Thus, the acoustic fingerprint is built up as a vector of N-bit integers, one integer per frame.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"1C illustrates an exemplary 16-bit binary acoustic fingerprint bitmap.\",\n \"For use during call progress analysis, a database is maintained that contains binary acoustic fingerprint bitmaps for known network messages.\",\n \"In one embodiment, during the real-time progress of an outbound call, the CPA system processes the audio stream using both a conventional AMD algorithm and an acoustic fingerprinting system.\",\n \"As the audio proceeds, the acoustic fingerprinting system creates binary acoustic fingerprint bitmaps of the incoming audio and compares those bitmaps to known network message bitmaps stored in a database (step 108).\",\n \"The CPA system identifies whether there is a match in the database of binary bitmaps (step 110), indicating that the outbound call has resulted in receipt of a known network message instead of a live speaker (step 112).\",\n \"If so, any output from the AMD algorithm is preempted: instead, the CPA system reports specific call progress events based on the matched acoustic fingerprint.\",\n \"For the general case where the acoustic fingerprint system finds no matches in the database, the conventional AMD algorithm is used to detect a greeting, and report the event of either a live speaker or an answering machine (step 114).\",\n \"All events are interpreted by the user of the CPA system to choose an appropriate response, such as whether to proceed or terminate the call, dispatch to an agent, adjust the dialer plan, etc.\",\n \"In other embodiments, the binary acoustic fingerprinting bitmap matching system is used without an additional CPA mechanism.\",\n \"The Haitsma-Kalker Algorithm has been well-studied in the literature.\",\n \"In Haitsma and Kalker's published report of use of the Haitsma-Kalker Algorithm and the comparison of binary acoustic fingerprint bitmaps to identify three (3) second recordings of songs from a database of millions of songs (Haitsma and Kalker, “A Highly Robust Audio Fingerprinting System,” Journal of New Music Research, Vol.\",\n \"32, No.\",\n \"2 (2003), pp.\",\n \"211-221).\",\n \"Their system required a large frame size, large overlap/small step size, and large fingerprints in order to achieve good results.\",\n \"The parameters they used were: Sample rate: 5 kHz Frame duration: 370 milliseconds Step size: 10 milliseconds Overlap: 31/32 FFT size: 2048 The Haitsma-Kalker algorithm computes a binary acoustic fingerprint bitmap with a relatively low Signal-to-Noise ratio, with bits highly sensitive to noise and windowing artifacts.\",\n \"To achieve an acoustic fingerprinting system with acceptably high accuracy and low false positive rate typically requires a relatively long segment of audio (˜3 seconds) with large frame size (370 ms) and large overlap between frames (31/32, or about 97%).\",\n \"Such a system is computationally intensive and requires a relatively large audio sample to make reliable comparisons, both of which are undesirable in many audio matching scenarios.\",\n \"The present inventors have observed that many bits in a binary acoustic fingerprint bitmap are sensitive to noise and artifacts resulting from the transform into the spectral representation (windowing), especially where the energy of the signal is relatively small.\",\n \"A proposed solution is to mask out bits of little value due to their sensitivity to noise and windowing artifacts, and compute the error rate of the bitmap comparisons using only the bits that are in the mask (i.e., the bits that are not masked out).\",\n \"Ternary Bitmap Acoustic Fingerprint Using Mask Bits to Obtain High Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR) To improve the bitmap matching speed without sacrificing accuracy, one embodiment of the present invention makes the following modification to any acoustic fingerprinting algorithm that generates a binary bitmap.\",\n \"In the training stage where the database of known network message bitmaps is created, the methodology of FIG.\",\n \"6 may be implemented.\",\n \"At step 200, the binary acoustic fingerprint bitmap is created for the audio segment using the same process described hereinabove with respect to FIG.\",\n \"2.At step 202, in the illustrated embodiment the first sample is deleted from the audio segment (although other segment modification schemes may be employed, as discussed below), and at step 204 another binary acoustic fingerprint bitmap is created for the modified audio segment using the same process described hereinabove with respect to FIG.\",\n \"2.Steps 202-204 are repeated X times (step 206), where X is the number of samples in each frame used by the acoustic fingerprinting process of FIG.\",\n \"2.This process will generate X binary acoustic fingerprint bitmaps of the audio segment.\",\n \"The X binary acoustic fingerprint bitmaps are combined into a ternary bitmap at step 208 as follows.\",\n \"If a bit is 0 in all X binary bitmaps, set the bit in the ternary bitmap to 0 If a bit is 1 in all X binary bitmaps, set the bit in the ternary bitmap to 1 Otherwise, set the bit of the ternary bitmap to * (“Don't Care”) The “Don't Care” bits change in the successive binary acoustic fingerprint bitmaps because they are sensitive to framing, noise, compression, and other effects that introduce signal distortion.\",\n \"It will be appreciated from the above description that the “Don't Care” bits may be defined in other ways, such as a predetermined percentage of bit values changing across the bitmaps, etc.\",\n \"If the ternary bitmap is used for bitmap comparison (step 210) and the “Don't Care” bits are ignored during the comparison process, the “Don't care” bits mask out these regions in frequency and time of the original binary acoustic fingerprint bitmap that introduce signal distortion.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"7 illustrates an example comparison between a binary bitmap and its associated ternary bitmap.\",\n \"It will also be appreciated from the above description that the input signal can be artificially degraded before computing the acoustic fingerprint by adding noise or other artifacts commonly introduced by the communication channel in order to make the acoustic fingerprint and mask more sensitive.\",\n \"At runtime, these “Don't Care” bits are excluded from the evaluated “masked Hamming distance” between the candidate audio stream and the database of known fingerprints.\",\n \"Use of the ternary bitmap mask eliminates false negatives due to framing misalignment between the input candidate audio stream and the recordings in the database.\",\n \"By excluding the bits most sensitive to windowing and noise, the ternary fingerprint system is more robust than its binary counterpart, and achieves comparable accuracy and false positive rate with much fewer bits.\",\n \"It will be appreciated that the above steps create many fingerprints of the same signal, with the analysis window shifted by a fraction of the frame size, and those fingerprints are then used to identify which parts of the fingerprint change.\",\n \"Therefore, in step 202 the analysis window may be shifted by any fraction of the frame size, rather than the illustrated single-sample shift.\",\n \"It will additionally be appreciated that the acoustic fingerprint and ternary bitmap (mask) may be represented in ways other than as vectors of vectors where each element is a bit with a value of zero or one, but instead more generally as vectors of vectors where each element comprises numeric scores and weights (and quantized into multi-bit representations).\",\n \"For example, a method for creating a weighted compressed representation of a dataset may comprise the steps of a) computing a compressed representation of the dataset; b) deleting a first number of elements from the dataset to create a modified dataset; c) computing another compressed representation of the modified dataset; d) repeating steps (b) and (c) a plurality of times to create a plurality of compressed representations; and e) combining the plurality of compressed representations into a weighted compressed representation, where each weight in the weighted compressed representation is computed as a function of the elements in the plurality of compressed representations.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the compressed representation is a two-dimensional vector of first numbers.\",\n \"In some embodiments the first numbers are each represented with a first number of bits, where in the first number of bits may be one bit in some embodiments, and greater than one bit in other embodiments.\",\n \"In other embodiments, the weighted compressed representation is a two-dimensional vector of second numbers.\",\n \"In some embodiments the second numbers are each represented with a second number of bits.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the function computes each said weight as correlation coefficient of the elements in the plurality of compressed representations.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the correlation coefficient is computed as follows: 1) if an element is below a first predetermined threshold in a first predetermined number of the plurality of compressed representations, set the correlation coefficient to a first value; 2) if an element is above a second predetermined threshold in a second predetermined number of the plurality of compressed representations, set the correlation coefficient to a second value; 3) otherwise set the correlation coefficient to a third value.\",\n \"For example, in one embodiment, the first value is +1, the second value is −1, and the third value is 0 (zero).\",\n \"Those skilled in the art will recognize from the present disclosure that the correlation coefficient can be any value between −1 and +1 (or any other desired number range).\",\n \"In the present embodiment, the values correspond to the ternary bitmap discussed herein, where a set bit is +1, a cleared bit is −1 and a Don't Care bit is 0.The thresholds can be set to any desired level.\",\n \"For example, the first predetermined threshold may be 1 (one) and the second predetermined threshold may be 0 (zero) in one embodiment.\",\n \"When computing the correlation coefficient in one embodiment, first predetermined number comprises all of the plurality of compressed representations and the second predetermined number comprises all of the plurality of compressed representations.\",\n \"The methodology of FIG.\",\n \"6 can be compared to the Haitsma-Kalker algorithm binary acoustic fingerprint bitmap comparison approach of FIG.\",\n \"2, which computes a binary acoustic fingerprint bitmap with a relatively low Signal-to-Noise ratio, with bits highly sensitive to noise and windowing artifacts.\",\n \"To achieve a fingerprinting system with acceptably high accuracy and low false positive rate using this approach typically requires a relatively long segment of audio (˜3 seconds) with large frame size (370 ms) and large overlap between frames (31/32, or about 97%).\",\n \"By comparison, the ternary acoustic fingerprint bitmap methodology disclosed herein, such as that illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"6, can obtain comparable matching accuracy and precision much more efficiently, with a short segment of low-bandwidth audio (˜0.25 seconds at 8 kHz), using a small frame size of 30 ms and a small frame overlap of 33%.\",\n \"Not only does this achieve matching in approximately 1/12th the amount of time, it is much less computationally intensive and works well with low quality audio samples.\",\n \"Real-Time Matching of Acoustic Fingerprints in a Database with Minimal Delay Using Exhaustive Search Most existing acoustic fingerprinting systems are not well adapted for real-time applications because they require a large segment of a source audio stream to achieve a valid match.\",\n \"The requirement imposes a time delay of several seconds from the beginning of the matched segment before a matching fingerprint can be confirmed.\",\n \"However, to use fingerprinting in real-time in tandem with other signal processing algorithms such as conventional AMD, the fingerprinting system must identify whether a match is likely within a fraction of a second.\",\n \"To achieve minimal delay, the present inventors propose an approach using an optimized exhaustive search to match an audio stream in real-time against a database on the order of thousands of fingerprints.\",\n \"As shown in FIGS.\",\n \"8 and 9, during preprocessing a collection of ternary acoustic fingerprint bitmaps, one for each audio object to detect, with N ternary values per frame, is generated (step 300).\",\n \"For each fingerprint, the ternary bitmap is subdivided into a plurality of equal segments (step 302).\",\n \"In one embodiment, the ternary bitmap is subdivided into four equal segments as shown in FIG.\",\n \"9.From each segment, a hash key is obtained (step 304) by extracting the ternary values from 128/N frames of the subdivided fingerprint, for a total of 128 ternary values in each hash key (i.e., a 128-bit ternary hash key).\",\n \"It will be appreciated that the hash key may have fewer or a greater number of values.\",\n \"All of the hash keys thus obtained from the ternary acoustic fingerprint bitmaps are then aggregated into a single lookup table (step 306).\",\n \"The selection of hash keys from various segments of the acoustic fingerprint allows a match to be made even if the candidate audio stream is an interrupted recording and the beginning of the recording is not received.\",\n \"For example, if using this methodology for identifying samples of music, the person wishing to identify a song may not have (and most likely did not) start recording a sample of the song to be identified until sometime after the song started playing.\",\n \"Use of hash keys from different segments of the acoustic fingerprint allows the system to still make a match between the candidate audio stream and the acoustic fingerprints in the database.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"10 illustrates one embodiment of a matching procedure that may be used at runtime after the lookup table of hash keys has been assembled.\",\n \"For each new frame of the input audio stream, a binary bitmap acoustic fingerprinting algorithm is used to generate a new bit vector of length N (step 400).\",\n \"The bit vectors from the previous 128/N frames of the input audio stream are combined into a 128-bit binary hash key for lookup (step 402).\",\n \"The current 128-bit binary hash key of the input audio stream is compared against all of the ternary hash keys in the lookup table by computing the masked Hamming distance (step 404).\",\n \"On modern microprocessors, this calculation can easily be parallelized and optimized with Single-Instruction-Multiple-Data instructions (such as the SSE or AVX SIMD instruction set extensions to the Intel x86 microprocessor architecture) and/or the “population count” instruction.\",\n \"If any hash keys in the lookup table match (step 406) with a sufficiently low masked Hamming distance, the audio fingerprint corresponding to the hash key is identified as a “candidate” (step 408).\",\n \"The threshold bit error rate (BER) for establishing a candidate may be based on a relatively low value of σcandidate (e.g., 3 standard deviations, although other thresholds may be used).\",\n \"If the overall BER for a candidate exceeds a relatively large value of σnotify, (e.g., 9 standard deviations, although other thresholds may be used) (step 410) this candidate is determined to be a match (step 412).\",\n \"If no match has been determined, the process returns to step 400 where the next frame is used to generate a new bit vector of length N. By continuing to analyze subsequent frames, the process is able to resolve all candidates as a match or non-match, based upon where the masked Hamming distance falls with respect to the thresholds.\",\n \"Method for Extracting Fingerprints for Common Recordings from Large Audio Collections As will be appreciated from the above description, systems and methods are provided for matching an audio sample to a database of known audio recordings.\",\n \"The systems and methods described above are computationally efficient and are able to identify a match with an acoustic fingerprint in a database, but a problem remains in how to efficiently identify the audio recordings that will be represented by acoustic fingerprints in the database.\",\n \"The methodology described herein below for doing so is discussed in the context of a telephonic contact center; however, those skilled in the art will recognize from the present disclosure that the methodology may be applied to compiling fingerprint databases relating to any type of source audio, images, or other types of data.\",\n \"A sizable campaign from a contact center may generate thousands of digital recordings of outbound calls each day.\",\n \"From this recording collection, the objective is to extract all audio segments containing call progress events of interest, in order to assist CPA in future call campaigns.\",\n \"For example, many calls in a campaign are dialed to numbers on the same network or sub-network, which plays an identical recorded greeting for each subscriber.\",\n \"In the absence of an automated data driven technique, the large volumes of data must be listened to by a human subject, to identify candidate segments from which acoustic fingerprints may be extracted.\",\n \"The present inventors propose an offline process to automatically identify common acoustic recordings in a large collection of recordings, so they may be detected in future call campaigns to improve the accuracy of CPA.\",\n \"The process used for automated identification of fingerprints in our invention is illustrated schematically in FIG.\",\n \"11.At step 500, the CPA system, combined with AMD and acoustic fingerprinting (if the database already contains acoustic fingerprints for some known recordings), is used to classify all audio recordings in the collection based on events detected therein.\",\n \"For all audio recordings classified as a live speaker or answering machine using conventional AMD, the endpoints of the audio segments that do not comprise silence, background noise, or simple tones are identified at step 502.For example, audio segments containing speaking patterns, music, non-speech signals, etc.\",\n \"are identified at step 502.At step 504, a ternary acoustic fingerprint bitmap is generated for all identified segments using the methodology described hereinabove (it will be appreciated that a binary acoustic fingerprint bitmap can be used instead of the ternary bitmap).\",\n \"These new acoustic fingerprints are added to the acoustic fingerprint database at step 506.All of the audio recordings in the collection are then re-processed through the CPA/AMD system using the newly-augmented ternary acoustic fingerprint database at step 508.At step 510, the system identifies the augmented fingerprints that are not unique and were detected multiple times (i.e., a recording in the collection being processed matched multiple ones of the augmented acoustic fingerprints, indicating that these are acoustic fingerprints of recordings that were encountered multiple times in the collection).\",\n \"Any acoustic fingerprints discovered multiple times are likely candidates for a call progress event of interest, and are therefore left in the acoustic fingerprint database at step 512 for use in future CPA tasks.\",\n \"All of the other augmented fingerprints (i.e., those new acoustic fingerprints that were not detected multiple times) are removed from the database at step 514, since they represent unique audio segments of vocal utterances, and therefore cannot be determined to be recorded network messages.\",\n \"In this way, an automated system may be used to look through a large collection of recordings (or images or other data) and extract therefrom fingerprints of recordings that were encountered multiple times.\",\n \"This methodology allows the acoustic fingerprint database to be built automatically and continuously updated to account for new network messages that may be brought on line by the various telephone companies.\",\n \"As can be seen from the above description, the various embodiments allow for the matching of input audio segments with known audio segments in a database.\",\n \"The audio segments may originate from any source and contain any type of audio, such as speech, tones, music, or any other audio that is desired to be recognized.\",\n \"In an illustrative embodiment, the use of the presently disclosed systems and methods was described in conjunction with recognizing known network message recordings encountered during an outbound telephone call.\",\n \"However, those skilled in the art will recognize that the disclosed systems and methods will find application in recognition of any type of two- or more-dimensional dataset, such as any form of audio, image, or other type of data.\",\n \"While the organization of steps, software blocks, data and data structures have been illustrated as clearly delineated, a person skilled in the art will appreciate that the delineation between steps, blocks and data is somewhat arbitrary.\",\n \"Numerous other arrangements of steps, software blocks and data are possible.\",\n \"Finally, it will be understood that the invention is not limited to the embodiments described herein which are merely illustrative of several embodiments for carrying out the invention, and which are susceptible to modification of form, arrangement of parts, steps, details and order of operation.\",\n \"The invention, rather, is intended to encompass all such modifications within its spirit and scope, as defined by the claims.\"\n ]\n]"},"source":{"kind":"string","value":"Patent_15876050"}}},{"rowIdx":4495065,"cells":{"text":{"kind":"list like","value":[["TRUST METRICS ON SHARED COMPUTERS","Particular embodiments of a verification authority associated with a web service may receive a request to access the web service.","The request may comprise data uniquely identifying a client device.","The request may have been received from a shared device, wherein the shared device is configured for use by a plurality of users.","The verification authority may access a social graph of a user associated with the client device to determine whether one or more social-networking users have previously accessed the shared device.","The verification authority may then transmit to the client device information indicating which of the social-networking users have previously accessed the shared device."],["1.A method comprising: by a verification authority associated with a web service, receiving a request to access the web service, wherein the request comprises data uniquely identifying a client device, wherein the request was received from a shared device, and wherein the shared device is configured for use by a plurality of users; by the verification authority, accessing a social graph of a user associated with the client device to determine whether one or more social-networking users have previously accessed the shared device; and by the verification authority, transmitting to the client device information indicating which of the social-networking users have previously accessed the shared device.","2.The method of claim 1, further comprising: determining whether an account on a social-networking system for each of the social-networking users had been compromised subsequent to accessing the shared device; and displaying on the display a trust-based metric indicating a number of the social-networking users whose account was compromised subsequent to accessing the shared device.","3.The method of claim 2, wherein the trust-based metric comprises data from an extended social graph of the user associated with the client device, wherein the extended social graph comprises users not directly connected to the user associated with the client device.","4.The method of claim 2, further comprising: determining whether the account had been compromised based on whether a password of the account has been reset within a pre-determined period of time subsequent to accessing shared device.","5.The method of claim 1, wherein the information indicating the social-networking users that accessed the shared device comprises an image of each of the social-networking users that previously accessed the shared device.","6.The method of claim 1, wherein the shared device is registered with the verification authority.","7.The method of claim 1, wherein the data uniquely identifying the client device comprises a digital credential transmitted by the client device, the digital credential uniquely identifying the client device.","8.The method of claim 1, wherein the request to access the web service comprises a request to access the web service by transmitting data through the shared device.","9.The method of claim 1, further comprising establishing the verification authority associated with the web service.","10.One or more computer-readable non-transitory storage media embodying software that is operable when executed by one or more processors to: establish a verification authority associated with a web service; by the verification authority, receive a request to access the web service, wherein the request comprises data uniquely identifying a client device, wherein the request was received from a shared device, and wherein the shared device is configured for use by a plurality of users; by the verification authority, access a social graph of a user associated with the client device to determine whether one or more social-networking users have previously accessed the shared device; and by the verification authority, transmit to the client device information indicating which of the social-networking users have previously accessed the shared device.","11.The media of claim 10, further comprising software that is operable when executed by the one or more processors to: determine whether an account on a social-networking system for each of the social-networking users had been compromised subsequent to accessing the shared device; and display on the display a trust-based metric indicating a number of the social-networking users whose account was compromised subsequent to accessing the shared device.","12.The media of claim 11, wherein the trust-based metric comprises data from an extended social graph of the user associated with the client device, wherein the extended social graph comprises users not directly connected to the user associated with the client device.","13.The media of claim 11, further comprising software that is operable when executed by the one or more processors to: determine whether the account had been compromised based on whether a password of the account has been reset within a pre-determined period of time subsequent to accessing shared device.","14.The media of claim 10, wherein the information indicating the social-networking users that accessed the shared device comprises an image of each of the social-networking users that previously accessed the shared device.","15.The media of claim 10, wherein the shared device is registered with the verification authority.","16.The media of claim 10, wherein the data uniquely identifying the client device comprises a digital credential transmitted by the client device, the digital credential uniquely identifying the client device.","17.The media of claim 10, wherein the request to access the web service comprises a request to access the web service by transmitting data through the shared device.","18.A system of a verification authority, comprising: one or more processors; and a memory coupled to the processors comprising instructions executable by the processors, the processors being operable when executing the instructions to: receive a request to access the web service, wherein the request comprises data uniquely identifying a client device, wherein the request was received from a shared device, and wherein the shared device is configured for use by a plurality of users; access a social graph of a user associated with the client device to determine whether one or more social-networking users have previously accessed the shared device; and transmit to the client device information indicating which of the social-networking users have previously accessed the shared device.","19.The system of claim 18, the processors being further operable when executing the instructions to: determine whether an account on a social-networking system for each of the social-networking users had been compromised subsequent to accessing the shared device; and display on the display a trust-based metric indicating a number of the social-networking users whose account was compromised subsequent to accessing the shared device.","20.The system of claim 19, wherein the trust-based metric comprises data from an extended social graph of the user associated with the client device, wherein the extended social graph comprises users not directly connected to the user associated with the client device."],[" BACKGROUND A mobile electronic device, such as a smartphone, tablet device, laptop computer, etc., has general computing capabilities.","The mobile electronic device may execute one or more applications such as for example, communications through short-message service (SMS), communications through multimedia-messaging service (MMS), accessing e-mail, accessing Internet content, communications through a short-range wireless (e.g.","infrared or BLUETOOTH), business applications, gaming, or photography using a camera integrated into the mobile electronic device.","A smartphone is a particular class of mobile electronic device with telephony capabilities provided through a radio-frequency (RF) communication link whilst moving within a geographic area.","The smartphone may have a touch sensor integrated with a display screen, where the touch sensor detects touch inputs and the display screen displays content.","The smartphone connects to a cellular network for access to the public telephone network and Internet content."],[" BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG.","1 illustrates example interactions for an example mobile-device-based trust computing system.","FIG.","2 illustrates an example method for mobile-device-based trust computing.","FIG.","3 illustrates an example method for determining a trust metric for a shared devices by a verification authority.","FIG.","4 illustrates an example method for presenting a trust metric for a shared device on a mobile device.","FIG.","5 illustrates an example social-networking system.","FIG.","6 illustrates an example mobile device.","FIG.","7 illustrates example internal components of an example mobile device.","detailed-description description=\"Detailed Description\" end=\"lead\"?"],["PRIORITY This application is a continuation under 35 U.S.C.","§ 120 of U.S. patent application Ser.","No.","14/754,590, filed 29 Jun.","2015, which is a continuation under 35 U.S.C.","§ 120 of U.S. patent application Ser.","No.","14/498,677, filed 26 Sep. 2014, which is a continuation under 35 U.S.C.","§ 120 of U.S. patent application Ser.","No.","13/541,244, filed 3 Jul.","2012, all of which are incorporated by reference.","TECHNICAL FIELD This disclosure generally relates to shared computing resources.","BACKGROUND A mobile electronic device, such as a smartphone, tablet device, laptop computer, etc., has general computing capabilities.","The mobile electronic device may execute one or more applications such as for example, communications through short-message service (SMS), communications through multimedia-messaging service (MMS), accessing e-mail, accessing Internet content, communications through a short-range wireless (e.g.","infrared or BLUETOOTH), business applications, gaming, or photography using a camera integrated into the mobile electronic device.","A smartphone is a particular class of mobile electronic device with telephony capabilities provided through a radio-frequency (RF) communication link whilst moving within a geographic area.","The smartphone may have a touch sensor integrated with a display screen, where the touch sensor detects touch inputs and the display screen displays content.","The smartphone connects to a cellular network for access to the public telephone network and Internet content.","BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG.","1 illustrates example interactions for an example mobile-device-based trust computing system.","FIG.","2 illustrates an example method for mobile-device-based trust computing.","FIG.","3 illustrates an example method for determining a trust metric for a shared devices by a verification authority.","FIG.","4 illustrates an example method for presenting a trust metric for a shared device on a mobile device.","FIG.","5 illustrates an example social-networking system.","FIG.","6 illustrates an example mobile device.","FIG.","7 illustrates example internal components of an example mobile device.","DESCRIPTION OF EXAMPLE EMBODIMENTS FIG.","1 illustrates example interactions for an example mobile-device-based trust computing system.","In the example of FIG.","1, the example mobile-device-based trust computing system includes mobile device 10, shared device 4, and verification authority 31.In particular embodiments, mobile device 10 is associated with a particular user.","In particular embodiments, verification authority 31 may perform an authentication procedure allowing a user to access shared device 4 or the system that includes verification authority 31 through shared device 4.As an example and not by way of limitation, verification authority 31 is a social-networking system and access to shared device 4 is controlled by a webpage hosted by the social-networking system.","In particular embodiments, the user may perform an authentication procedure to access a service hosted by verification authority 31 through shared device 4 using mobile device 10.Herein, reference to a verification authority may encompass both the authentication component and the Internet entity providing a service to the user such as for example a social-networking system, a financial institution, or a web portal, where appropriate.","Alternatively, where appropriate, reference to a verification authority may encompass authentication component, but not the Internet entity hosting the authentication component.","As part of the trust-based authentication procedure, the user may receive authentication data associated with shared device 4, as illustrated by interaction 60 in FIG.","1.In particular embodiments, an application (“app”) on mobile device 10 obtains the authentication data from shared device 4.As an example and not by way of limitation, the application on mobile device 10 may capture an image of a quick-response (QR) code presented on a display of shared device 4 and transmit authentication data encoded in the QR code to verification authority 31.As another example, the application executed on mobile device 10 may receive the authentication data from shared device 4 through a wireless protocol, such as for example, BLUETOOTH or WI-FI.","As another example, the display of shared device 4 may present the authentication data, e.g.","an alphanumeric verification code, that is manually input into mobile device 10 for transmission to verification authority 31.In particular embodiments, the authentication data from shared device 4 originates from verification authority 31 and is provided to the application on mobile device 10 through shared device 4.In particular embodiments, verification authority 31 may authenticate mobile device 10, shared device 4, or any combination of shared device 4 and mobile devices 10 through the access data transmitted by the application on mobile device 10, as illustrated by interaction 62 in FIG.","1.In particular embodiments, the access data transmitted to verification authority 31 includes a digital credential associated with mobile device 10 and the authentication data associated with shared device 4 that function as a signed digital certificate.","As an example and not by way of limitation, the digital credential may include an authentication cookie installed on mobile device 10 when initially accessing verification authority 31 through mobile device 10.The authentication cookie uniquely identifies mobile device 10 or the user to verification authority 31.In particular embodiments, verification authority 31 authenticates the access data, that includes authentication data associated with shared device 4 and the digital credential associated with mobile device 10, transmitted by the application on mobile device 10.Verification authority 31 may compare the access data with verification data associated with shared device 4 and mobile device 10 stored on verification authority 31.As an example and not by way of limitation, the authentication manager of a social-networking system may act as the verification authority 31 and may compare the authentication data associated with shared device 4 and transmitted by mobile device 10 with the verification data stored on the social-networking system.","As another example, the social-networking system may compare information in the authentication cookie transmitted by mobile device 10 with the verification data stored on the social-networking system.","Verification authority 31 may transmit a signed digital certificate to shared device 4 in response to authenticating the access data, as illustrated by interaction 64 of FIG.","1.The user of mobile device 10 is allowed to access shared device 4 in response to shared device 4 receiving the signed digital certificate from verification authority 31.Access to shared device 4 is achieved without providing information of the user to shared device 4.In particular embodiments, shared device 4 is a computer located at a publically accessible location such as for example, an Internet café or a public library.","In other particular embodiments, shared device 4 is a wireless router of a publically accessible WI-FI hotspot.","In particular embodiments, shared device 4 in turn may sign the digital certificate signed by verification authority 31 and transmit the digital certificate signed by both shared device 4 and verification authority 31 to the application of mobile device 10 for an additional level of assurance, as illustrated by interaction 66 of FIG.","1.In particular embodiments, based on authentication of the user on shared device 4 through mobile device 10, verification authority 31 may restore the last saved state associated with the user on a service hosted by verification authority 31 on shared device 4.As an example and not by way of limitation, verification authority 31 may restore a last saved state of a web browser executed on shared device 4.In particular embodiments, verification authority 31 may establish a trust metric for mobile device 10 or shared device 4.System-state or configuration information of mobile device 10 may be transmitted to verification authority 31.As an example and not by way of limitation, mobile device 10 may include a trusted-platform module (TPM) that provides system-state information detailing the configuration of mobile device 10 and including data that indicates which applications are installed on mobile device 10.Moreover, verification authority 31 may access an application store, such as for example GOOGLE PLAY or APP STORE, to obtain a unique signature for each application installed on mobile device 10 according to the system-state data.","In particular embodiments, the system-state information of mobile device 10 may be used to provide a trust metric for mobile device 10.As an example and not by way of limitation, the authentication manager of social-networking system 30 may compare the information provided by the TPM of mobile device 10 with the unique signatures of the applications installed on mobile device 10.In particular embodiments, a discrepancy between the system-state information and the signatures of the applications installed on mobile device 10 may indicate mobile device 10 has been compromised.","A compromised mobile device 10 may be denied access to a service hosted by verification authority 31 or to shared device 4.In particular embodiments, shared device 4 is registered with verification authority 31.In particular embodiments, verification authority 31 may scan shared device 4 to detect the presence of viruses or malware on shared device 4.Moreover, verification authority 31 may determine the configuration of shared device 4 including such as for example, the installed software and the versions of the software, operating system, or security patches, that are installed on shared device 4.In particular embodiments, verification authority 31 may collect statistics on the effectiveness of different anti-virus software by tracking the anti-virus software installed on shared device 4 and other devices registered with verification authority 31 and the number of viruses or malware found on those devices.","Verification authority 31 may provide a trust-based metric on mobile device 10 of the user indicating the “trustworthiness” of shared device 4.In particular embodiments, prior to accessing shared device 4, a social-networking system acting as a verification authority 31 may access the social graph and action store to determine if other users in the social graph of the user of mobile device 10 have previously accessed shared device 4.As described below, the social graph stores connections each user has with other users of a social-networking system and the action store stores actions that have been performed by the users of the social-networking system.","In particular embodiments, verification authority 31 may transmit one or more names and/or images of other users of the social graph (e.g.","as a “facepile”) who have previously accessed shared device 10.In particular embodiments, verification authority 31 may present a trust-based metric for shared device 4 based on the number of other users in the social graph of the user who have previously accessed shared device 4 and subsequently had their account on a service hosted by verification authority 31 compromised.","As described below, the social graph of the user may include information of connections the user has with other users of an online service.","In particular embodiments, the social graph may also include information of second-order connections, thereby forming a non-extended or extended social graph based at least in part on whether the other users or nodes have direct or indirect connection respectively with the user.","In particular embodiments, the trust-based metric may include data from the extended social graph of the user to include users who are not directly connected to the user of mobile device 10.As an example and not by way of limitation, data from the extended social graph in cases where the amount of data available from the non-extended social graph is too small to generate a meaningful trust-based metric.","As an example and not by way of limitation, verification authority 31 may determine an account is compromised based on whether the user reset their account password subsequent to accessing shared device 10 within a pre-determined period of time.","In particular embodiments, the names and/or images of users in the social graph and the trust-based metric may be displayed on the display of mobile device 10 and the user may decide whether to proceed with accessing shared device 4.Although this disclosure describes a particular trust-based metric that includes particular elements, this disclosure contemplates a trust-based metric that includes any suitable elements, such as for example numerical or graphical data, or a natural language message.","As an example and not by way of limitation, verification authority 31 may present a message stating “13 of your friends have used this machine without issue.” As another example, verification authority 31 may provide a pie chart indicating a number of users in the social graph that had an issue with their account subsequent to accessing shared device 4 out of the total number of users in the social graph that accessed shared device 4.FIG.","2 illustrates an example method for mobile-device-based trust computing.","The method may start at step 100, where a verification authority receives access data from an application on a mobile device of a user.","The access data may include authentication data associated with a shared device and a digital credential associated with the mobile device.","At step 102, the verification authority authenticates the access data based on a comparison of the access data with verification data stored by the verification authority.","In particular embodiments, the digital credential associated with the mobile device may be an authentication cookie installed on the mobile device.","In other particular embodiments, the authentication data associated with the shared device is encoded in a QR code generated by the verification authority and displayed on a display of the shared device.","At step 104, the verification authority signs and transmits the signed digital certificate to the shared device in response to the authentication, at which point the method may end.","The signed digital certificate provides the user access to the shared device.","Although this disclosure describes and illustrates particular steps of the method of FIG.","2 as occurring in a particular order, this disclosure contemplates any suitable steps of the method of FIG.","2 occurring in any suitable order.","Moreover, although this disclosure describes and illustrates particular components carrying out particular steps of the method of FIG.","2, this disclosure contemplates any suitable combination of any suitable components carrying out any suitable steps of the method of FIG.","2.FIG.","3 illustrates an example method for determining a trust metric for a shared device by a verification authority.","The method may start at step 150, where a verification authority receives data uniquely identifying a particular user to the verification authority and a request to access a shared device.","As described above, the shared device is configured for use by multiple users.","At step 152, the verification authority accesses a social graph of the particular user to determine whether one or more users in the social graph have previously accessed the shared device.","At step 154, the verification authority transmits information indicating which of the users in the social graph have previously accessed the shared device on a display of the mobile device, at which point the method may end.","In particular embodiments, the information transmitted by the verification authority may be one or more names and/or images of other users of the social graph who have previously accessed shared device.","Although this disclosure describes and illustrates particular steps of the method of FIG.","3 as occurring in a particular order, this disclosure contemplates any suitable steps of the method of FIG.","3 occurring in any suitable order.","Moreover, although this disclosure describes and illustrates particular components carrying out particular steps of the method of FIG.","3, this disclosure contemplates any suitable combination of any suitable components carrying out any suitable steps of the method of FIG.","3.FIG.","4 illustrates an example method for presenting on a mobile device trust-based information for a particular shared device.","The method may start at step 200, where an application on a mobile device of a particular user transmits data uniquely identifying the particular user to a verification authority and a request to access a shared device.","In particular embodiments, the shared device is located at an Internet café or a public library.","At step 202, the application on the mobile device presents on a display information from the verification authority indicating which users in a social graph of the particular user have previously accessed the shared device, at which point the method may end.","As described above, the verification authority may access the social graph of the particular user to determine whether the users in the social graph have previously accessed the shared device.","In particular embodiments, the trust-based metric may indicate a number of the users in the social graph that had an account compromised subsequent to accessing the shared device.","Although this disclosure describes and illustrates particular steps of the method of FIG.","4 as occurring in a particular order, this disclosure contemplates any suitable steps of the method of FIG.","4 occurring in any suitable order.","Moreover, although this disclosure describes and illustrates particular components carrying out particular steps of the method of FIG.","4, this disclosure contemplates any suitable combination of any suitable components carrying out any suitable steps of the method of FIG.","4.FIG.","5 illustrates an example social-networking system.","In particular embodiments, authentication manager 42 in conjunction with one or more external applications 46A-B or platform applications 50A-B of social-networking system 30 may act as the verification authority 31 described above.","In other particular embodiments, the verification authority may access data stored in social graph 36 and action store 38.In the example of FIG.","5, a social-networking system 30 and an external server 32 are coupled through a network 34.Network 34 generally represents a network or collection of networks (such as for example the Internet, a corporate intranet, a virtual private network (VPN), a local-area network (LAN), a wireless local-area network (WLAN), a cellular network, a wide-area network (WAN), a metropolitan-area network (MAN), or a combination of two or more such networks) over which social-networking system 30 or external server 32 may communicate with shared device 4 and mobile device 10.A user may interact with social-networking system 30 using shared device 4 in conjunction with mobile device 10.Shared device 4 and mobile device 10 may communicate with social-networking system 30 via an application such as a web browser or native application executed on processor of shared device 4 and mobile device 10.As an example and not by way of limitation, interactions between shared device 10 and social-networking system 30 may include viewing profiles of other users of social-networking system 30, contributing and interacting with media items, joining groups, listing and confirming attendance at events, checking in at locations, liking certain pages, creating pages, and performing other tasks that facilitate social interaction.","In particular embodiments, shared device 4 may be a publically accessible computing resource, such as for example a shared computer at an Internet café or public library, and mobile device 10 may be a smartphone, as described above.","In other particular embodiments, shared device 4 may be a virtualized computing resource or a WI-FI or other wireless access point in addition to or instead of a shared computer.","Although this disclosure describes and illustrates particular interactions between particular devices and the example social-networking system, this disclosure contemplates any suitable interactions between any suitable devices and any suitable system.","Social-networking system 30 includes components used to store information about users and objects represented in the social networking environment and relationships among the users and objects.","The social-networking system 30 may include components enabling interactions with shared device 4 or mobile device 10, as described below.","Components of social-networking system 30 may be hosted on one or more servers.","This disclosure contemplates any suitable servers, such as servers that are internal to social-networking system 30 or external servers 32.As an example and not by way of limitation, one or more servers may each include one or more advertising servers, applications servers, catalog servers, communications servers, database servers, exchange servers, fax servers, file servers, game servers, home servers, mail servers, message servers, news servers, name or domain-name servers (DNS), print servers, proxy servers, sound servers, standalone servers, web servers, or web-feed servers.","In particular embodiments, a server includes hardware, software, or both for providing the functionality of the server.","As an example and not by way of limitation, a server that operates as a web server may be capable of hosting websites containing web pages or elements of web pages and include appropriate hardware, software, or both for doing so.","In particular embodiments, a web server may host Hyper Text Markup Language (HTML) or other suitable files or dynamically create or constitute files for web pages on request.","In response to a Hyper Text Transfer Protocol (HTTP) or other request from shared device 4 or mobile device 10, the web server may communicate one or more such files to mobile device 10.As another example, a server that operates as a database server may be capable of providing an interface for interacting with one or more data stores (such as, for example, action store 38 described below).","Where appropriate, a server may include one or more servers; be unitary or distributed; span multiple locations; span multiple machines; span multiple datacenters; or reside in a cloud, which may include one or more cloud components in one or more networks.","A social graph 36 of social-networking system 30 stores the connections each user has with other users of social-networking system 30.In particular embodiments, social graph 36 may also store second-order connections.","The connections may thus be direct or indirect.","As an example and not by way of limitation, if user A is a first-order connection of user B but not of user C, and B is a first-order connection of C, then C is a second-order connection of A on social graph 36.An action store 38 stores actions that have been performed by the users of social-networking system 30, along with an indication of the time associated with those actions and references to any objects related to the actions.","Action store 38 may store statistics for specified categories of actions.","As an example and not by way of limitation, for a given user, action store 38 may contain a number of stories posted in 30 days by a user, a number of photos posted by the user in 30 days, or a number of distinct users that received comments of the user within the past 30 days.","For a given connection between two users, user A and user B, action store 38 may contain actions such as the number of profile page views from user A to user B, the number of photo page views from user A to user B, and the number of times user A and user B were tagged in the same photo, and these actions may be associated with a timestamp or may be filtered by a cutoff (e.g., 24 hours, 90 days, etc.).","The actions recorded in action store 38 may be farmed actions, which are performed by a user in response to the social-networking system 30 providing suggested choices of actions to the user.","A predictor module 40 is responsible for computing a set predictor functions that predict whether a user will perform a set of corresponding actions.","Each predictor function may be representative of a user's interest in a particular action associated with the predictor function.","The historical activity of a user may be used as a signal of a user's future interest in the same activity.","In particular embodiments, the predictor function is generated using a machine-learned algorithm, that is trained using a user's historical activity associated with an action.","Predictor module 40 thus provides a predictor function for each of a set of actions, where a predictor function may take as an input the a user's historical activity and then outputs a measure of the likelihood that the user will engage in the corresponding activity.","An authentication manager 42 may allow users to log into social-networking system 30 from mobile device 10 or shared device 4 through an application supporting social-networking system 30.An application programming interface (API) 44 works in conjunction with authentication manager 40 to validate users via external applications 46A-B stored on external server 32.In particular embodiments, authentication manager 42 in conjunction with API 44 may periodically verify account information of the user.","An affinity module 48 provides a measure of affinity based on input data about the user from the social-networking system 30 using the predictor functions.","Various processes may request a measure of affinity from affinity module 48.As an example and not by way of limitation, the processes may include basic social-networking system functionality, such as for example newsfeed algorithms, advertising-targeting algorithms, or friend-suggestion algorithms.","Other processes that request measures of affinity may be executed by one or more platform applications 50A-B, which are applications that operate within the social-networking system 30 but may be provided by third parties other than an operator of the social-networking system 30.Platform applications 50A-B may include social games, messaging services, or any suitable application that uses the social platform provided by social-networking system 30.In particular embodiments, the processes requesting a measure of affinity for a user may include one or more external applications 46A-B executed on external server 32.External applications 46A-B may interact with the social-networking system 30 via API 44.External applications 46A-B can perform various operations supported by the API 44, such as enabling users to send each other messages or SMS messages through social-networking system 30 or showing advertisements routed through social-networking system 30.Herein, reference to SMS messages encompasses messages in text and other forms of content, such as for example, images or links to web content.","Although this disclosure describes and illustrates a particular social-networking system having a particular configuration of particular components, this disclosure contemplates a social-networking system having any suitable configuration of any suitable components.","FIG.","6 illustrates an example mobile device.","This disclosure contemplates mobile device 10 taking any suitable physical form.","As example and not by way of limitation, mobile device 10 may be a single-board computer system (SBC) (such as, for example, a computer-on-module (COM) or system-on-module (SOM)), a laptop or notebook computer system, a mobile telephone, a smartphone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a tablet computer system, or a combination of two or more of these.","In particular embodiments, mobile device 10 may have a touch screen 12 as an input component.","In the example of FIG.","5, touch screen 12 is incorporated on a front surface of mobile device 10.In the case of capacitive touch sensors, there may be two types of electrodes: transmitting and receiving.","These electrodes may be connected to a controller designed to drive the transmitting electrodes with electrical pulses and measure the changes in capacitance from the receiving electrodes caused by a touch or proximity input.","In the example of FIG.","6, one or more antennae 14A-B may be incorporated into one or more sides of mobile device 10.Antennae 14A-B are components that convert electric current into radio waves, and vice versa.","During transmission of signals, a transmitter applies an oscillating radio frequency (RF) electric current to terminals of antenna 14A-B, and antenna 14A-B radiates the energy of the applied the current as electromagnetic (EM) waves.","During reception of signals, antennae 14A-B convert the power of an incoming EM wave into a voltage at the terminals of antennae 14A-B.","The voltage may be transmitted to a receiver for amplification.","FIG.","7 illustrates example internal components of an example mobile device.","Where appropriate, one or more mobile devices 10 may perform without substantial spatial or temporal limitation one or more steps of one or more methods described or illustrated herein.","As an example and not by way of limitation, one or more mobile devices 10 may perform in real time or in batch mode one or more steps of one or more methods described or illustrated herein.","In particular embodiments, one or more mobile devices 10 performs one or more steps of one or more methods described or illustrated herein.","In particular embodiments, one or more mobile devices 10 provides functionality described or illustrated herein.","In particular embodiments, software running on one or more mobile devices 10 performs one or more steps of one or more methods described or illustrated herein or provides functionality described or illustrated herein.","Particular embodiments include one or more portions of one or more mobile devices 10.In particular embodiments, mobile device 10 includes a processor 16, memory 18, storage 22, an input/output (I/O) interface 24, a communication component 20, and a bus 26.Although this disclosure describes and illustrates a particular mobile device having a particular number of particular components in a particular arrangement, this disclosure contemplates any suitable mobile device having any suitable number of any suitable components in any suitable arrangement.","In particular embodiments, processor 16 includes hardware for executing instructions, such as those making up a computer program or application.","As an example and not by way of limitation, to execute instructions, processor 16 may retrieve (or fetch) the instructions from an internal register, an internal cache, memory 18, or storage 22; decode and execute them; and then write one or more results to an internal register, an internal cache, memory 18, or storage 22.In particular embodiments, processor 16 may include one or more internal caches for data, instructions, or addresses.","This disclosure contemplates processor 16 including any suitable number of any suitable internal caches, where appropriate.","As an example and not by way of limitation, processor 16 may include one or more instruction caches, one or more data caches, and one or more translation lookaside buffers (TLBs).","Instructions in the instruction caches may be copies of instructions in memory 18 or storage 22, and the instruction caches may speed up retrieval of those instructions by processor 16.Data in the data caches may be copies of data in memory 18 or storage 22 for instructions executing at processor 16 to operate on; the results of previous instructions executed at processor 16 for access by subsequent instructions executing at processor 16 or for writing to memory 18 or storage 22; or other suitable data.","The data caches may speed up read or write operations by processor 16.The TLBs may speed up virtual-address translation for processor 16.In particular embodiments, processor 16 may include one or more internal registers for data, instructions, or addresses.","This disclosure contemplates a processor 16 including any suitable number of any suitable internal registers, where appropriate.","Where appropriate, processor 16 may include one or more arithmetic logic units (ALUs); be a multi-core processor; or include one or more processors.","Although this disclosure describes and illustrates a particular processor, this disclosure contemplates any suitable processor.","In particular embodiments, software executed by processor 16 may include an operating system (OS).","The OS may include a kernel or any number of device drivers corresponding to one or more hardware components of mobile device 10.As an example and not by limitation, if mobile device 10 is a smartphone, then the OS may be a mobile operating system, such as for example, WINDOWS Phone, ANDROID, SYMBIAN, IOS, or BADA.","In particular embodiments, one or more software applications may be executed on mobile device 10.In particular embodiments, the applications may be native applications installed and residing on mobile device 10.As an example and not by way of limitation, an application (e.g.","GOOGLE MAPS) may display a map on a touch screen, search for addresses and businesses, or provide directions to a geographic location; a second application may provide remote access to email; a third application (i.e.","a web browser) may enable the device user to browse and search the Internet; a fourth application may control a camera to take photos or record videos; and a fifth application may allow the device user to receive and initiate voice-over Internet Protocol (VoIP) or cellular network calls.","The software applications may have a user interface (UI) and may implement one or more specific functionalities.","The software applications may include one or more software modules implementing the specific functionalities.","The executable code of the software applications may be stored in memory 18 or storage 22 of mobile device 10.In particular embodiments, memory 18 includes main memory for storing instructions for processor 16 to execute or data for processor 16 to operate on.","As an example and not by way of limitation, mobile device 10 may load instructions from storage 22 or another source (such as, for example, another mobile device 10) to memory 18.Processor 16 may then load the instructions from memory 18 to an internal register or internal cache.","To execute the instructions, processor 16 may retrieve the instructions from the internal register or internal cache and decode them.","During or after execution of the instructions, processor 16 may write one or more results (which may be intermediate or final results) to the internal register or internal cache.","Processor 16 may then write one or more of those results to memory 18.In particular embodiments, processor 16 executes only instructions in one or more internal registers or internal caches or in memory 18 (as opposed to storage 22 or elsewhere) and operates only on data in one or more internal registers or internal caches or in memory 18 (as opposed to storage 22 or elsewhere).","One or more memory buses (which may each include an address bus and a data bus) may couple processor 16 to memory 18.Bus 26 may include one or more memory buses, as described below.","In particular embodiments, one or more memory management units (MMUs) reside between processor 16 and memory 18 and facilitate accesses to memory 18 requested by processor 16.In particular embodiments, memory 18 includes random-access memory (RAM).","This RAM may be volatile memory, where appropriate Where appropriate, this RAM may be dynamic RAM (DRAM) or static RAM (SRAM).","Moreover, where appropriate, this RAM may be single-ported or multi-ported RAM.","This disclosure contemplates any suitable RAM.","Memory 18 may include one or more memories, where appropriate.","Although this disclosure describes and illustrates particular memory, this disclosure contemplates any suitable memory.","In particular embodiments, storage 22 includes mass storage for data or instructions.","As an example and not by way of limitation, storage 22 may include a hard-disk drive (HDD), a floppy disk drive, flash memory, or a combination of two or more of these.","Storage 22 may include removable or non-removable (or fixed) media, where appropriate.","Storage 22 may be internal or external to mobile device 10, where appropriate.","In particular embodiments, storage 22 is non-volatile, solid-state memory.","In particular embodiments, storage 22 includes read-only memory (ROM).","Where appropriate, this ROM may be mask-programmed ROM, programmable ROM (PROM), erasable PROM (EPROM), electrically erasable PROM (EEPROM), electrically alterable ROM (EAROM), or flash memory or a combination of two or more of these.","This disclosure contemplates mass storage 22 taking any suitable physical form.","Storage 22 may include one or more storage control units facilitating communication between processor 16 and storage 22, where appropriate.","Where appropriate, storage 22 may include one or more storages 22.Although this disclosure describes and illustrates particular storage, this disclosure contemplates any suitable storage.","In particular embodiments, I/O interface 24 includes hardware, software, or both providing one or more interfaces for communication between mobile device 10 and one or more I/O devices.","Mobile device 10 may include one or more of these I/O devices, where appropriate.","One or more of these I/O devices may enable communication between a user and mobile device 10.As an example and not by way of limitation, an I/O device may include a keyboard, keypad, one or more sensors, touch screen, microphone, monitor, mouse, printer, scanner, speaker, digital still camera, stylus, trackball, video camera, another suitable I/O device or a combination of two or more of these.","This disclosure contemplates any suitable I/O devices and any suitable I/O interfaces 24 for them.","Where appropriate, I/O interface 24 may include one or more device or software drivers enabling processor 16 to drive one or more of these I/O devices.","I/O interface 24 may include one or more I/O interfaces 24, where appropriate.","Although this disclosure describes and illustrates a particular I/O interface, this disclosure contemplates any suitable I/O interface.","In particular embodiments, communication component 20 includes hardware, software, or both providing one or more interfaces for communication (such as, for example, packet-based communication) between mobile device 10 and one or more other mobile devices 10 or one or more networks.","As an example and not by way of limitation, communication component 20 may include a network interface controller (NIC) or network adapter for communicating with an Ethernet or other wire-based network or a wireless NIC (WNIC), wireless adapter for communicating with a wireless network, such as for example a WI-FI network or modem for communicating with a cellular network, such third generation mobile telecommunications (3G), or Long Term Evolution (LTE) network.","This disclosure contemplates any suitable network and any suitable communication component 20 for it.","As an example and not by way of limitation, mobile device 10 may communicate with an ad hoc network, a personal area network (PAN), a LAN, a WAN, a MAN, or one or more portions of the Internet or a combination of two or more of these.","One or more portions of one or more of these networks may be wired or wireless.","As another example, mobile device 10 may communicate with a wireless PAN (WPAN) (such as, for example, a BLUETOOTH WPAN), a WI-FI network, a WI-MAX network, a cellular telephone network (such as, for example, a Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), 3G, or LTE network), or other suitable wireless network or a combination of two or more of these.","Mobile device 10 may include any suitable communication component for any of these networks, where appropriate.","Communication component 20 may include one or more communication components, where appropriate.","Although this disclosure describes and illustrates a particular communication component, this disclosure contemplates any suitable communication component.","In particular embodiments, bus 26 includes hardware, software, or both coupling components of mobile device 10 to each other.","As an example and not by way of limitation, bus 26 may include a graphics bus, an Enhanced Industry Standard Architecture (EISA) bus, a front-side bus (FSB), a HYPERTRANSPORT (HT) interconnect, an Industry Standard Architecture (ISA) bus, an INFINIBAND interconnect, a low-pin-count (LPC) bus, a memory bus, a Micro Channel Architecture (MCA) bus, a serial advanced technology attachment (SATA) bus, a Video Electronics Standards Association local (VLB) bus, or another suitable bus or a combination of two or more of these.","Bus 26 may include one or more buses 26, where appropriate.","Although this disclosure describes and illustrates a particular bus, this disclosure contemplates any suitable bus or interconnect.","Herein, a computer-readable non-transitory storage medium or media may include one or more semiconductor-based or other integrated circuits (ICs) (such, as for example, field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) or application-specific ICs (ASICs)), hard disk drives (HDDs), hybrid hard drives (HHDs), optical discs, optical disc drives (ODDs), magneto-optical discs, magneto-optical drives, floppy diskettes, floppy disk drives (FDDs), magnetic tapes, solid-state drives (SSDs), RAM-drives, SECURE DIGITAL cards or drives, any other suitable computer-readable non-transitory storage media, or any suitable combination of two or more of these, where appropriate.","A computer-readable non-transitory storage medium may be volatile, non-volatile, or a combination of volatile and non-volatile, where appropriate.","Herein, “or” is inclusive and not exclusive, unless expressly indicated otherwise or indicated otherwise by context.","Therefore, herein, “A or B” means “A, B, or both,” unless expressly indicated otherwise or indicated otherwise by context.","Moreover, “and” is both joint and several, unless expressly indicated otherwise or indicated otherwise by context.","Therefore, herein, “A and B” means “A and B, jointly or severally,” unless expressly indicated otherwise or indicated otherwise by context.","This disclosure encompasses all changes, substitutions, variations, alterations, and modifications to the example embodiments herein that a person having ordinary skill in the art would comprehend.","Moreover, although this disclosure describes and illustrates respective embodiments herein as including particular components, elements, functions, operations, or steps, any of these embodiments may include any combination or permutation of any of the components, elements, functions, operations, or steps described or illustrated anywhere herein that a person having ordinary skill in the art would comprehend.","Furthermore, reference in the appended claims to an apparatus or system or a component of an apparatus or system being adapted to, arranged to, capable of, configured to, enabled to, operable to, or operative to perform a particular function encompasses that apparatus, system, component, whether or not it or that particular function is activated, turned on, or unlocked, as long as that apparatus, system, or component is so adapted, arranged, capable, configured, enabled, operable, or operative."]],"string":"[\n [\n \"TRUST METRICS ON SHARED COMPUTERS\",\n \"Particular embodiments of a verification authority associated with a web service may receive a request to access the web service.\",\n \"The request may comprise data uniquely identifying a client device.\",\n \"The request may have been received from a shared device, wherein the shared device is configured for use by a plurality of users.\",\n \"The verification authority may access a social graph of a user associated with the client device to determine whether one or more social-networking users have previously accessed the shared device.\",\n \"The verification authority may then transmit to the client device information indicating which of the social-networking users have previously accessed the shared device.\"\n ],\n [\n \"1.A method comprising: by a verification authority associated with a web service, receiving a request to access the web service, wherein the request comprises data uniquely identifying a client device, wherein the request was received from a shared device, and wherein the shared device is configured for use by a plurality of users; by the verification authority, accessing a social graph of a user associated with the client device to determine whether one or more social-networking users have previously accessed the shared device; and by the verification authority, transmitting to the client device information indicating which of the social-networking users have previously accessed the shared device.\",\n \"2.The method of claim 1, further comprising: determining whether an account on a social-networking system for each of the social-networking users had been compromised subsequent to accessing the shared device; and displaying on the display a trust-based metric indicating a number of the social-networking users whose account was compromised subsequent to accessing the shared device.\",\n \"3.The method of claim 2, wherein the trust-based metric comprises data from an extended social graph of the user associated with the client device, wherein the extended social graph comprises users not directly connected to the user associated with the client device.\",\n \"4.The method of claim 2, further comprising: determining whether the account had been compromised based on whether a password of the account has been reset within a pre-determined period of time subsequent to accessing shared device.\",\n \"5.The method of claim 1, wherein the information indicating the social-networking users that accessed the shared device comprises an image of each of the social-networking users that previously accessed the shared device.\",\n \"6.The method of claim 1, wherein the shared device is registered with the verification authority.\",\n \"7.The method of claim 1, wherein the data uniquely identifying the client device comprises a digital credential transmitted by the client device, the digital credential uniquely identifying the client device.\",\n \"8.The method of claim 1, wherein the request to access the web service comprises a request to access the web service by transmitting data through the shared device.\",\n \"9.The method of claim 1, further comprising establishing the verification authority associated with the web service.\",\n \"10.One or more computer-readable non-transitory storage media embodying software that is operable when executed by one or more processors to: establish a verification authority associated with a web service; by the verification authority, receive a request to access the web service, wherein the request comprises data uniquely identifying a client device, wherein the request was received from a shared device, and wherein the shared device is configured for use by a plurality of users; by the verification authority, access a social graph of a user associated with the client device to determine whether one or more social-networking users have previously accessed the shared device; and by the verification authority, transmit to the client device information indicating which of the social-networking users have previously accessed the shared device.\",\n \"11.The media of claim 10, further comprising software that is operable when executed by the one or more processors to: determine whether an account on a social-networking system for each of the social-networking users had been compromised subsequent to accessing the shared device; and display on the display a trust-based metric indicating a number of the social-networking users whose account was compromised subsequent to accessing the shared device.\",\n \"12.The media of claim 11, wherein the trust-based metric comprises data from an extended social graph of the user associated with the client device, wherein the extended social graph comprises users not directly connected to the user associated with the client device.\",\n \"13.The media of claim 11, further comprising software that is operable when executed by the one or more processors to: determine whether the account had been compromised based on whether a password of the account has been reset within a pre-determined period of time subsequent to accessing shared device.\",\n \"14.The media of claim 10, wherein the information indicating the social-networking users that accessed the shared device comprises an image of each of the social-networking users that previously accessed the shared device.\",\n \"15.The media of claim 10, wherein the shared device is registered with the verification authority.\",\n \"16.The media of claim 10, wherein the data uniquely identifying the client device comprises a digital credential transmitted by the client device, the digital credential uniquely identifying the client device.\",\n \"17.The media of claim 10, wherein the request to access the web service comprises a request to access the web service by transmitting data through the shared device.\",\n \"18.A system of a verification authority, comprising: one or more processors; and a memory coupled to the processors comprising instructions executable by the processors, the processors being operable when executing the instructions to: receive a request to access the web service, wherein the request comprises data uniquely identifying a client device, wherein the request was received from a shared device, and wherein the shared device is configured for use by a plurality of users; access a social graph of a user associated with the client device to determine whether one or more social-networking users have previously accessed the shared device; and transmit to the client device information indicating which of the social-networking users have previously accessed the shared device.\",\n \"19.The system of claim 18, the processors being further operable when executing the instructions to: determine whether an account on a social-networking system for each of the social-networking users had been compromised subsequent to accessing the shared device; and display on the display a trust-based metric indicating a number of the social-networking users whose account was compromised subsequent to accessing the shared device.\",\n \"20.The system of claim 19, wherein the trust-based metric comprises data from an extended social graph of the user associated with the client device, wherein the extended social graph comprises users not directly connected to the user associated with the client device.\"\n ],\n [\n \" BACKGROUND A mobile electronic device, such as a smartphone, tablet device, laptop computer, etc., has general computing capabilities.\",\n \"The mobile electronic device may execute one or more applications such as for example, communications through short-message service (SMS), communications through multimedia-messaging service (MMS), accessing e-mail, accessing Internet content, communications through a short-range wireless (e.g.\",\n \"infrared or BLUETOOTH), business applications, gaming, or photography using a camera integrated into the mobile electronic device.\",\n \"A smartphone is a particular class of mobile electronic device with telephony capabilities provided through a radio-frequency (RF) communication link whilst moving within a geographic area.\",\n \"The smartphone may have a touch sensor integrated with a display screen, where the touch sensor detects touch inputs and the display screen displays content.\",\n \"The smartphone connects to a cellular network for access to the public telephone network and Internet content.\"\n ],\n [\n \" BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG.\",\n \"1 illustrates example interactions for an example mobile-device-based trust computing system.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"2 illustrates an example method for mobile-device-based trust computing.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"3 illustrates an example method for determining a trust metric for a shared devices by a verification authority.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"4 illustrates an example method for presenting a trust metric for a shared device on a mobile device.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"5 illustrates an example social-networking system.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"6 illustrates an example mobile device.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"7 illustrates example internal components of an example mobile device.\",\n \"detailed-description description=\\\"Detailed Description\\\" end=\\\"lead\\\"?\"\n ],\n [\n \"PRIORITY This application is a continuation under 35 U.S.C.\",\n \"§ 120 of U.S. patent application Ser.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"14/754,590, filed 29 Jun.\",\n \"2015, which is a continuation under 35 U.S.C.\",\n \"§ 120 of U.S. patent application Ser.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"14/498,677, filed 26 Sep. 2014, which is a continuation under 35 U.S.C.\",\n \"§ 120 of U.S. patent application Ser.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"13/541,244, filed 3 Jul.\",\n \"2012, all of which are incorporated by reference.\",\n \"TECHNICAL FIELD This disclosure generally relates to shared computing resources.\",\n \"BACKGROUND A mobile electronic device, such as a smartphone, tablet device, laptop computer, etc., has general computing capabilities.\",\n \"The mobile electronic device may execute one or more applications such as for example, communications through short-message service (SMS), communications through multimedia-messaging service (MMS), accessing e-mail, accessing Internet content, communications through a short-range wireless (e.g.\",\n \"infrared or BLUETOOTH), business applications, gaming, or photography using a camera integrated into the mobile electronic device.\",\n \"A smartphone is a particular class of mobile electronic device with telephony capabilities provided through a radio-frequency (RF) communication link whilst moving within a geographic area.\",\n \"The smartphone may have a touch sensor integrated with a display screen, where the touch sensor detects touch inputs and the display screen displays content.\",\n \"The smartphone connects to a cellular network for access to the public telephone network and Internet content.\",\n \"BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG.\",\n \"1 illustrates example interactions for an example mobile-device-based trust computing system.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"2 illustrates an example method for mobile-device-based trust computing.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"3 illustrates an example method for determining a trust metric for a shared devices by a verification authority.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"4 illustrates an example method for presenting a trust metric for a shared device on a mobile device.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"5 illustrates an example social-networking system.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"6 illustrates an example mobile device.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"7 illustrates example internal components of an example mobile device.\",\n \"DESCRIPTION OF EXAMPLE EMBODIMENTS FIG.\",\n \"1 illustrates example interactions for an example mobile-device-based trust computing system.\",\n \"In the example of FIG.\",\n \"1, the example mobile-device-based trust computing system includes mobile device 10, shared device 4, and verification authority 31.In particular embodiments, mobile device 10 is associated with a particular user.\",\n \"In particular embodiments, verification authority 31 may perform an authentication procedure allowing a user to access shared device 4 or the system that includes verification authority 31 through shared device 4.As an example and not by way of limitation, verification authority 31 is a social-networking system and access to shared device 4 is controlled by a webpage hosted by the social-networking system.\",\n \"In particular embodiments, the user may perform an authentication procedure to access a service hosted by verification authority 31 through shared device 4 using mobile device 10.Herein, reference to a verification authority may encompass both the authentication component and the Internet entity providing a service to the user such as for example a social-networking system, a financial institution, or a web portal, where appropriate.\",\n \"Alternatively, where appropriate, reference to a verification authority may encompass authentication component, but not the Internet entity hosting the authentication component.\",\n \"As part of the trust-based authentication procedure, the user may receive authentication data associated with shared device 4, as illustrated by interaction 60 in FIG.\",\n \"1.In particular embodiments, an application (“app”) on mobile device 10 obtains the authentication data from shared device 4.As an example and not by way of limitation, the application on mobile device 10 may capture an image of a quick-response (QR) code presented on a display of shared device 4 and transmit authentication data encoded in the QR code to verification authority 31.As another example, the application executed on mobile device 10 may receive the authentication data from shared device 4 through a wireless protocol, such as for example, BLUETOOTH or WI-FI.\",\n \"As another example, the display of shared device 4 may present the authentication data, e.g.\",\n \"an alphanumeric verification code, that is manually input into mobile device 10 for transmission to verification authority 31.In particular embodiments, the authentication data from shared device 4 originates from verification authority 31 and is provided to the application on mobile device 10 through shared device 4.In particular embodiments, verification authority 31 may authenticate mobile device 10, shared device 4, or any combination of shared device 4 and mobile devices 10 through the access data transmitted by the application on mobile device 10, as illustrated by interaction 62 in FIG.\",\n \"1.In particular embodiments, the access data transmitted to verification authority 31 includes a digital credential associated with mobile device 10 and the authentication data associated with shared device 4 that function as a signed digital certificate.\",\n \"As an example and not by way of limitation, the digital credential may include an authentication cookie installed on mobile device 10 when initially accessing verification authority 31 through mobile device 10.The authentication cookie uniquely identifies mobile device 10 or the user to verification authority 31.In particular embodiments, verification authority 31 authenticates the access data, that includes authentication data associated with shared device 4 and the digital credential associated with mobile device 10, transmitted by the application on mobile device 10.Verification authority 31 may compare the access data with verification data associated with shared device 4 and mobile device 10 stored on verification authority 31.As an example and not by way of limitation, the authentication manager of a social-networking system may act as the verification authority 31 and may compare the authentication data associated with shared device 4 and transmitted by mobile device 10 with the verification data stored on the social-networking system.\",\n \"As another example, the social-networking system may compare information in the authentication cookie transmitted by mobile device 10 with the verification data stored on the social-networking system.\",\n \"Verification authority 31 may transmit a signed digital certificate to shared device 4 in response to authenticating the access data, as illustrated by interaction 64 of FIG.\",\n \"1.The user of mobile device 10 is allowed to access shared device 4 in response to shared device 4 receiving the signed digital certificate from verification authority 31.Access to shared device 4 is achieved without providing information of the user to shared device 4.In particular embodiments, shared device 4 is a computer located at a publically accessible location such as for example, an Internet café or a public library.\",\n \"In other particular embodiments, shared device 4 is a wireless router of a publically accessible WI-FI hotspot.\",\n \"In particular embodiments, shared device 4 in turn may sign the digital certificate signed by verification authority 31 and transmit the digital certificate signed by both shared device 4 and verification authority 31 to the application of mobile device 10 for an additional level of assurance, as illustrated by interaction 66 of FIG.\",\n \"1.In particular embodiments, based on authentication of the user on shared device 4 through mobile device 10, verification authority 31 may restore the last saved state associated with the user on a service hosted by verification authority 31 on shared device 4.As an example and not by way of limitation, verification authority 31 may restore a last saved state of a web browser executed on shared device 4.In particular embodiments, verification authority 31 may establish a trust metric for mobile device 10 or shared device 4.System-state or configuration information of mobile device 10 may be transmitted to verification authority 31.As an example and not by way of limitation, mobile device 10 may include a trusted-platform module (TPM) that provides system-state information detailing the configuration of mobile device 10 and including data that indicates which applications are installed on mobile device 10.Moreover, verification authority 31 may access an application store, such as for example GOOGLE PLAY or APP STORE, to obtain a unique signature for each application installed on mobile device 10 according to the system-state data.\",\n \"In particular embodiments, the system-state information of mobile device 10 may be used to provide a trust metric for mobile device 10.As an example and not by way of limitation, the authentication manager of social-networking system 30 may compare the information provided by the TPM of mobile device 10 with the unique signatures of the applications installed on mobile device 10.In particular embodiments, a discrepancy between the system-state information and the signatures of the applications installed on mobile device 10 may indicate mobile device 10 has been compromised.\",\n \"A compromised mobile device 10 may be denied access to a service hosted by verification authority 31 or to shared device 4.In particular embodiments, shared device 4 is registered with verification authority 31.In particular embodiments, verification authority 31 may scan shared device 4 to detect the presence of viruses or malware on shared device 4.Moreover, verification authority 31 may determine the configuration of shared device 4 including such as for example, the installed software and the versions of the software, operating system, or security patches, that are installed on shared device 4.In particular embodiments, verification authority 31 may collect statistics on the effectiveness of different anti-virus software by tracking the anti-virus software installed on shared device 4 and other devices registered with verification authority 31 and the number of viruses or malware found on those devices.\",\n \"Verification authority 31 may provide a trust-based metric on mobile device 10 of the user indicating the “trustworthiness” of shared device 4.In particular embodiments, prior to accessing shared device 4, a social-networking system acting as a verification authority 31 may access the social graph and action store to determine if other users in the social graph of the user of mobile device 10 have previously accessed shared device 4.As described below, the social graph stores connections each user has with other users of a social-networking system and the action store stores actions that have been performed by the users of the social-networking system.\",\n \"In particular embodiments, verification authority 31 may transmit one or more names and/or images of other users of the social graph (e.g.\",\n \"as a “facepile”) who have previously accessed shared device 10.In particular embodiments, verification authority 31 may present a trust-based metric for shared device 4 based on the number of other users in the social graph of the user who have previously accessed shared device 4 and subsequently had their account on a service hosted by verification authority 31 compromised.\",\n \"As described below, the social graph of the user may include information of connections the user has with other users of an online service.\",\n \"In particular embodiments, the social graph may also include information of second-order connections, thereby forming a non-extended or extended social graph based at least in part on whether the other users or nodes have direct or indirect connection respectively with the user.\",\n \"In particular embodiments, the trust-based metric may include data from the extended social graph of the user to include users who are not directly connected to the user of mobile device 10.As an example and not by way of limitation, data from the extended social graph in cases where the amount of data available from the non-extended social graph is too small to generate a meaningful trust-based metric.\",\n \"As an example and not by way of limitation, verification authority 31 may determine an account is compromised based on whether the user reset their account password subsequent to accessing shared device 10 within a pre-determined period of time.\",\n \"In particular embodiments, the names and/or images of users in the social graph and the trust-based metric may be displayed on the display of mobile device 10 and the user may decide whether to proceed with accessing shared device 4.Although this disclosure describes a particular trust-based metric that includes particular elements, this disclosure contemplates a trust-based metric that includes any suitable elements, such as for example numerical or graphical data, or a natural language message.\",\n \"As an example and not by way of limitation, verification authority 31 may present a message stating “13 of your friends have used this machine without issue.” As another example, verification authority 31 may provide a pie chart indicating a number of users in the social graph that had an issue with their account subsequent to accessing shared device 4 out of the total number of users in the social graph that accessed shared device 4.FIG.\",\n \"2 illustrates an example method for mobile-device-based trust computing.\",\n \"The method may start at step 100, where a verification authority receives access data from an application on a mobile device of a user.\",\n \"The access data may include authentication data associated with a shared device and a digital credential associated with the mobile device.\",\n \"At step 102, the verification authority authenticates the access data based on a comparison of the access data with verification data stored by the verification authority.\",\n \"In particular embodiments, the digital credential associated with the mobile device may be an authentication cookie installed on the mobile device.\",\n \"In other particular embodiments, the authentication data associated with the shared device is encoded in a QR code generated by the verification authority and displayed on a display of the shared device.\",\n \"At step 104, the verification authority signs and transmits the signed digital certificate to the shared device in response to the authentication, at which point the method may end.\",\n \"The signed digital certificate provides the user access to the shared device.\",\n \"Although this disclosure describes and illustrates particular steps of the method of FIG.\",\n \"2 as occurring in a particular order, this disclosure contemplates any suitable steps of the method of FIG.\",\n \"2 occurring in any suitable order.\",\n \"Moreover, although this disclosure describes and illustrates particular components carrying out particular steps of the method of FIG.\",\n \"2, this disclosure contemplates any suitable combination of any suitable components carrying out any suitable steps of the method of FIG.\",\n \"2.FIG.\",\n \"3 illustrates an example method for determining a trust metric for a shared device by a verification authority.\",\n \"The method may start at step 150, where a verification authority receives data uniquely identifying a particular user to the verification authority and a request to access a shared device.\",\n \"As described above, the shared device is configured for use by multiple users.\",\n \"At step 152, the verification authority accesses a social graph of the particular user to determine whether one or more users in the social graph have previously accessed the shared device.\",\n \"At step 154, the verification authority transmits information indicating which of the users in the social graph have previously accessed the shared device on a display of the mobile device, at which point the method may end.\",\n \"In particular embodiments, the information transmitted by the verification authority may be one or more names and/or images of other users of the social graph who have previously accessed shared device.\",\n \"Although this disclosure describes and illustrates particular steps of the method of FIG.\",\n \"3 as occurring in a particular order, this disclosure contemplates any suitable steps of the method of FIG.\",\n \"3 occurring in any suitable order.\",\n \"Moreover, although this disclosure describes and illustrates particular components carrying out particular steps of the method of FIG.\",\n \"3, this disclosure contemplates any suitable combination of any suitable components carrying out any suitable steps of the method of FIG.\",\n \"3.FIG.\",\n \"4 illustrates an example method for presenting on a mobile device trust-based information for a particular shared device.\",\n \"The method may start at step 200, where an application on a mobile device of a particular user transmits data uniquely identifying the particular user to a verification authority and a request to access a shared device.\",\n \"In particular embodiments, the shared device is located at an Internet café or a public library.\",\n \"At step 202, the application on the mobile device presents on a display information from the verification authority indicating which users in a social graph of the particular user have previously accessed the shared device, at which point the method may end.\",\n \"As described above, the verification authority may access the social graph of the particular user to determine whether the users in the social graph have previously accessed the shared device.\",\n \"In particular embodiments, the trust-based metric may indicate a number of the users in the social graph that had an account compromised subsequent to accessing the shared device.\",\n \"Although this disclosure describes and illustrates particular steps of the method of FIG.\",\n \"4 as occurring in a particular order, this disclosure contemplates any suitable steps of the method of FIG.\",\n \"4 occurring in any suitable order.\",\n \"Moreover, although this disclosure describes and illustrates particular components carrying out particular steps of the method of FIG.\",\n \"4, this disclosure contemplates any suitable combination of any suitable components carrying out any suitable steps of the method of FIG.\",\n \"4.FIG.\",\n \"5 illustrates an example social-networking system.\",\n \"In particular embodiments, authentication manager 42 in conjunction with one or more external applications 46A-B or platform applications 50A-B of social-networking system 30 may act as the verification authority 31 described above.\",\n \"In other particular embodiments, the verification authority may access data stored in social graph 36 and action store 38.In the example of FIG.\",\n \"5, a social-networking system 30 and an external server 32 are coupled through a network 34.Network 34 generally represents a network or collection of networks (such as for example the Internet, a corporate intranet, a virtual private network (VPN), a local-area network (LAN), a wireless local-area network (WLAN), a cellular network, a wide-area network (WAN), a metropolitan-area network (MAN), or a combination of two or more such networks) over which social-networking system 30 or external server 32 may communicate with shared device 4 and mobile device 10.A user may interact with social-networking system 30 using shared device 4 in conjunction with mobile device 10.Shared device 4 and mobile device 10 may communicate with social-networking system 30 via an application such as a web browser or native application executed on processor of shared device 4 and mobile device 10.As an example and not by way of limitation, interactions between shared device 10 and social-networking system 30 may include viewing profiles of other users of social-networking system 30, contributing and interacting with media items, joining groups, listing and confirming attendance at events, checking in at locations, liking certain pages, creating pages, and performing other tasks that facilitate social interaction.\",\n \"In particular embodiments, shared device 4 may be a publically accessible computing resource, such as for example a shared computer at an Internet café or public library, and mobile device 10 may be a smartphone, as described above.\",\n \"In other particular embodiments, shared device 4 may be a virtualized computing resource or a WI-FI or other wireless access point in addition to or instead of a shared computer.\",\n \"Although this disclosure describes and illustrates particular interactions between particular devices and the example social-networking system, this disclosure contemplates any suitable interactions between any suitable devices and any suitable system.\",\n \"Social-networking system 30 includes components used to store information about users and objects represented in the social networking environment and relationships among the users and objects.\",\n \"The social-networking system 30 may include components enabling interactions with shared device 4 or mobile device 10, as described below.\",\n \"Components of social-networking system 30 may be hosted on one or more servers.\",\n \"This disclosure contemplates any suitable servers, such as servers that are internal to social-networking system 30 or external servers 32.As an example and not by way of limitation, one or more servers may each include one or more advertising servers, applications servers, catalog servers, communications servers, database servers, exchange servers, fax servers, file servers, game servers, home servers, mail servers, message servers, news servers, name or domain-name servers (DNS), print servers, proxy servers, sound servers, standalone servers, web servers, or web-feed servers.\",\n \"In particular embodiments, a server includes hardware, software, or both for providing the functionality of the server.\",\n \"As an example and not by way of limitation, a server that operates as a web server may be capable of hosting websites containing web pages or elements of web pages and include appropriate hardware, software, or both for doing so.\",\n \"In particular embodiments, a web server may host Hyper Text Markup Language (HTML) or other suitable files or dynamically create or constitute files for web pages on request.\",\n \"In response to a Hyper Text Transfer Protocol (HTTP) or other request from shared device 4 or mobile device 10, the web server may communicate one or more such files to mobile device 10.As another example, a server that operates as a database server may be capable of providing an interface for interacting with one or more data stores (such as, for example, action store 38 described below).\",\n \"Where appropriate, a server may include one or more servers; be unitary or distributed; span multiple locations; span multiple machines; span multiple datacenters; or reside in a cloud, which may include one or more cloud components in one or more networks.\",\n \"A social graph 36 of social-networking system 30 stores the connections each user has with other users of social-networking system 30.In particular embodiments, social graph 36 may also store second-order connections.\",\n \"The connections may thus be direct or indirect.\",\n \"As an example and not by way of limitation, if user A is a first-order connection of user B but not of user C, and B is a first-order connection of C, then C is a second-order connection of A on social graph 36.An action store 38 stores actions that have been performed by the users of social-networking system 30, along with an indication of the time associated with those actions and references to any objects related to the actions.\",\n \"Action store 38 may store statistics for specified categories of actions.\",\n \"As an example and not by way of limitation, for a given user, action store 38 may contain a number of stories posted in 30 days by a user, a number of photos posted by the user in 30 days, or a number of distinct users that received comments of the user within the past 30 days.\",\n \"For a given connection between two users, user A and user B, action store 38 may contain actions such as the number of profile page views from user A to user B, the number of photo page views from user A to user B, and the number of times user A and user B were tagged in the same photo, and these actions may be associated with a timestamp or may be filtered by a cutoff (e.g., 24 hours, 90 days, etc.).\",\n \"The actions recorded in action store 38 may be farmed actions, which are performed by a user in response to the social-networking system 30 providing suggested choices of actions to the user.\",\n \"A predictor module 40 is responsible for computing a set predictor functions that predict whether a user will perform a set of corresponding actions.\",\n \"Each predictor function may be representative of a user's interest in a particular action associated with the predictor function.\",\n \"The historical activity of a user may be used as a signal of a user's future interest in the same activity.\",\n \"In particular embodiments, the predictor function is generated using a machine-learned algorithm, that is trained using a user's historical activity associated with an action.\",\n \"Predictor module 40 thus provides a predictor function for each of a set of actions, where a predictor function may take as an input the a user's historical activity and then outputs a measure of the likelihood that the user will engage in the corresponding activity.\",\n \"An authentication manager 42 may allow users to log into social-networking system 30 from mobile device 10 or shared device 4 through an application supporting social-networking system 30.An application programming interface (API) 44 works in conjunction with authentication manager 40 to validate users via external applications 46A-B stored on external server 32.In particular embodiments, authentication manager 42 in conjunction with API 44 may periodically verify account information of the user.\",\n \"An affinity module 48 provides a measure of affinity based on input data about the user from the social-networking system 30 using the predictor functions.\",\n \"Various processes may request a measure of affinity from affinity module 48.As an example and not by way of limitation, the processes may include basic social-networking system functionality, such as for example newsfeed algorithms, advertising-targeting algorithms, or friend-suggestion algorithms.\",\n \"Other processes that request measures of affinity may be executed by one or more platform applications 50A-B, which are applications that operate within the social-networking system 30 but may be provided by third parties other than an operator of the social-networking system 30.Platform applications 50A-B may include social games, messaging services, or any suitable application that uses the social platform provided by social-networking system 30.In particular embodiments, the processes requesting a measure of affinity for a user may include one or more external applications 46A-B executed on external server 32.External applications 46A-B may interact with the social-networking system 30 via API 44.External applications 46A-B can perform various operations supported by the API 44, such as enabling users to send each other messages or SMS messages through social-networking system 30 or showing advertisements routed through social-networking system 30.Herein, reference to SMS messages encompasses messages in text and other forms of content, such as for example, images or links to web content.\",\n \"Although this disclosure describes and illustrates a particular social-networking system having a particular configuration of particular components, this disclosure contemplates a social-networking system having any suitable configuration of any suitable components.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"6 illustrates an example mobile device.\",\n \"This disclosure contemplates mobile device 10 taking any suitable physical form.\",\n \"As example and not by way of limitation, mobile device 10 may be a single-board computer system (SBC) (such as, for example, a computer-on-module (COM) or system-on-module (SOM)), a laptop or notebook computer system, a mobile telephone, a smartphone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a tablet computer system, or a combination of two or more of these.\",\n \"In particular embodiments, mobile device 10 may have a touch screen 12 as an input component.\",\n \"In the example of FIG.\",\n \"5, touch screen 12 is incorporated on a front surface of mobile device 10.In the case of capacitive touch sensors, there may be two types of electrodes: transmitting and receiving.\",\n \"These electrodes may be connected to a controller designed to drive the transmitting electrodes with electrical pulses and measure the changes in capacitance from the receiving electrodes caused by a touch or proximity input.\",\n \"In the example of FIG.\",\n \"6, one or more antennae 14A-B may be incorporated into one or more sides of mobile device 10.Antennae 14A-B are components that convert electric current into radio waves, and vice versa.\",\n \"During transmission of signals, a transmitter applies an oscillating radio frequency (RF) electric current to terminals of antenna 14A-B, and antenna 14A-B radiates the energy of the applied the current as electromagnetic (EM) waves.\",\n \"During reception of signals, antennae 14A-B convert the power of an incoming EM wave into a voltage at the terminals of antennae 14A-B.\",\n \"The voltage may be transmitted to a receiver for amplification.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"7 illustrates example internal components of an example mobile device.\",\n \"Where appropriate, one or more mobile devices 10 may perform without substantial spatial or temporal limitation one or more steps of one or more methods described or illustrated herein.\",\n \"As an example and not by way of limitation, one or more mobile devices 10 may perform in real time or in batch mode one or more steps of one or more methods described or illustrated herein.\",\n \"In particular embodiments, one or more mobile devices 10 performs one or more steps of one or more methods described or illustrated herein.\",\n \"In particular embodiments, one or more mobile devices 10 provides functionality described or illustrated herein.\",\n \"In particular embodiments, software running on one or more mobile devices 10 performs one or more steps of one or more methods described or illustrated herein or provides functionality described or illustrated herein.\",\n \"Particular embodiments include one or more portions of one or more mobile devices 10.In particular embodiments, mobile device 10 includes a processor 16, memory 18, storage 22, an input/output (I/O) interface 24, a communication component 20, and a bus 26.Although this disclosure describes and illustrates a particular mobile device having a particular number of particular components in a particular arrangement, this disclosure contemplates any suitable mobile device having any suitable number of any suitable components in any suitable arrangement.\",\n \"In particular embodiments, processor 16 includes hardware for executing instructions, such as those making up a computer program or application.\",\n \"As an example and not by way of limitation, to execute instructions, processor 16 may retrieve (or fetch) the instructions from an internal register, an internal cache, memory 18, or storage 22; decode and execute them; and then write one or more results to an internal register, an internal cache, memory 18, or storage 22.In particular embodiments, processor 16 may include one or more internal caches for data, instructions, or addresses.\",\n \"This disclosure contemplates processor 16 including any suitable number of any suitable internal caches, where appropriate.\",\n \"As an example and not by way of limitation, processor 16 may include one or more instruction caches, one or more data caches, and one or more translation lookaside buffers (TLBs).\",\n \"Instructions in the instruction caches may be copies of instructions in memory 18 or storage 22, and the instruction caches may speed up retrieval of those instructions by processor 16.Data in the data caches may be copies of data in memory 18 or storage 22 for instructions executing at processor 16 to operate on; the results of previous instructions executed at processor 16 for access by subsequent instructions executing at processor 16 or for writing to memory 18 or storage 22; or other suitable data.\",\n \"The data caches may speed up read or write operations by processor 16.The TLBs may speed up virtual-address translation for processor 16.In particular embodiments, processor 16 may include one or more internal registers for data, instructions, or addresses.\",\n \"This disclosure contemplates a processor 16 including any suitable number of any suitable internal registers, where appropriate.\",\n \"Where appropriate, processor 16 may include one or more arithmetic logic units (ALUs); be a multi-core processor; or include one or more processors.\",\n \"Although this disclosure describes and illustrates a particular processor, this disclosure contemplates any suitable processor.\",\n \"In particular embodiments, software executed by processor 16 may include an operating system (OS).\",\n \"The OS may include a kernel or any number of device drivers corresponding to one or more hardware components of mobile device 10.As an example and not by limitation, if mobile device 10 is a smartphone, then the OS may be a mobile operating system, such as for example, WINDOWS Phone, ANDROID, SYMBIAN, IOS, or BADA.\",\n \"In particular embodiments, one or more software applications may be executed on mobile device 10.In particular embodiments, the applications may be native applications installed and residing on mobile device 10.As an example and not by way of limitation, an application (e.g.\",\n \"GOOGLE MAPS) may display a map on a touch screen, search for addresses and businesses, or provide directions to a geographic location; a second application may provide remote access to email; a third application (i.e.\",\n \"a web browser) may enable the device user to browse and search the Internet; a fourth application may control a camera to take photos or record videos; and a fifth application may allow the device user to receive and initiate voice-over Internet Protocol (VoIP) or cellular network calls.\",\n \"The software applications may have a user interface (UI) and may implement one or more specific functionalities.\",\n \"The software applications may include one or more software modules implementing the specific functionalities.\",\n \"The executable code of the software applications may be stored in memory 18 or storage 22 of mobile device 10.In particular embodiments, memory 18 includes main memory for storing instructions for processor 16 to execute or data for processor 16 to operate on.\",\n \"As an example and not by way of limitation, mobile device 10 may load instructions from storage 22 or another source (such as, for example, another mobile device 10) to memory 18.Processor 16 may then load the instructions from memory 18 to an internal register or internal cache.\",\n \"To execute the instructions, processor 16 may retrieve the instructions from the internal register or internal cache and decode them.\",\n \"During or after execution of the instructions, processor 16 may write one or more results (which may be intermediate or final results) to the internal register or internal cache.\",\n \"Processor 16 may then write one or more of those results to memory 18.In particular embodiments, processor 16 executes only instructions in one or more internal registers or internal caches or in memory 18 (as opposed to storage 22 or elsewhere) and operates only on data in one or more internal registers or internal caches or in memory 18 (as opposed to storage 22 or elsewhere).\",\n \"One or more memory buses (which may each include an address bus and a data bus) may couple processor 16 to memory 18.Bus 26 may include one or more memory buses, as described below.\",\n \"In particular embodiments, one or more memory management units (MMUs) reside between processor 16 and memory 18 and facilitate accesses to memory 18 requested by processor 16.In particular embodiments, memory 18 includes random-access memory (RAM).\",\n \"This RAM may be volatile memory, where appropriate Where appropriate, this RAM may be dynamic RAM (DRAM) or static RAM (SRAM).\",\n \"Moreover, where appropriate, this RAM may be single-ported or multi-ported RAM.\",\n \"This disclosure contemplates any suitable RAM.\",\n \"Memory 18 may include one or more memories, where appropriate.\",\n \"Although this disclosure describes and illustrates particular memory, this disclosure contemplates any suitable memory.\",\n \"In particular embodiments, storage 22 includes mass storage for data or instructions.\",\n \"As an example and not by way of limitation, storage 22 may include a hard-disk drive (HDD), a floppy disk drive, flash memory, or a combination of two or more of these.\",\n \"Storage 22 may include removable or non-removable (or fixed) media, where appropriate.\",\n \"Storage 22 may be internal or external to mobile device 10, where appropriate.\",\n \"In particular embodiments, storage 22 is non-volatile, solid-state memory.\",\n \"In particular embodiments, storage 22 includes read-only memory (ROM).\",\n \"Where appropriate, this ROM may be mask-programmed ROM, programmable ROM (PROM), erasable PROM (EPROM), electrically erasable PROM (EEPROM), electrically alterable ROM (EAROM), or flash memory or a combination of two or more of these.\",\n \"This disclosure contemplates mass storage 22 taking any suitable physical form.\",\n \"Storage 22 may include one or more storage control units facilitating communication between processor 16 and storage 22, where appropriate.\",\n \"Where appropriate, storage 22 may include one or more storages 22.Although this disclosure describes and illustrates particular storage, this disclosure contemplates any suitable storage.\",\n \"In particular embodiments, I/O interface 24 includes hardware, software, or both providing one or more interfaces for communication between mobile device 10 and one or more I/O devices.\",\n \"Mobile device 10 may include one or more of these I/O devices, where appropriate.\",\n \"One or more of these I/O devices may enable communication between a user and mobile device 10.As an example and not by way of limitation, an I/O device may include a keyboard, keypad, one or more sensors, touch screen, microphone, monitor, mouse, printer, scanner, speaker, digital still camera, stylus, trackball, video camera, another suitable I/O device or a combination of two or more of these.\",\n \"This disclosure contemplates any suitable I/O devices and any suitable I/O interfaces 24 for them.\",\n \"Where appropriate, I/O interface 24 may include one or more device or software drivers enabling processor 16 to drive one or more of these I/O devices.\",\n \"I/O interface 24 may include one or more I/O interfaces 24, where appropriate.\",\n \"Although this disclosure describes and illustrates a particular I/O interface, this disclosure contemplates any suitable I/O interface.\",\n \"In particular embodiments, communication component 20 includes hardware, software, or both providing one or more interfaces for communication (such as, for example, packet-based communication) between mobile device 10 and one or more other mobile devices 10 or one or more networks.\",\n \"As an example and not by way of limitation, communication component 20 may include a network interface controller (NIC) or network adapter for communicating with an Ethernet or other wire-based network or a wireless NIC (WNIC), wireless adapter for communicating with a wireless network, such as for example a WI-FI network or modem for communicating with a cellular network, such third generation mobile telecommunications (3G), or Long Term Evolution (LTE) network.\",\n \"This disclosure contemplates any suitable network and any suitable communication component 20 for it.\",\n \"As an example and not by way of limitation, mobile device 10 may communicate with an ad hoc network, a personal area network (PAN), a LAN, a WAN, a MAN, or one or more portions of the Internet or a combination of two or more of these.\",\n \"One or more portions of one or more of these networks may be wired or wireless.\",\n \"As another example, mobile device 10 may communicate with a wireless PAN (WPAN) (such as, for example, a BLUETOOTH WPAN), a WI-FI network, a WI-MAX network, a cellular telephone network (such as, for example, a Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), 3G, or LTE network), or other suitable wireless network or a combination of two or more of these.\",\n \"Mobile device 10 may include any suitable communication component for any of these networks, where appropriate.\",\n \"Communication component 20 may include one or more communication components, where appropriate.\",\n \"Although this disclosure describes and illustrates a particular communication component, this disclosure contemplates any suitable communication component.\",\n \"In particular embodiments, bus 26 includes hardware, software, or both coupling components of mobile device 10 to each other.\",\n \"As an example and not by way of limitation, bus 26 may include a graphics bus, an Enhanced Industry Standard Architecture (EISA) bus, a front-side bus (FSB), a HYPERTRANSPORT (HT) interconnect, an Industry Standard Architecture (ISA) bus, an INFINIBAND interconnect, a low-pin-count (LPC) bus, a memory bus, a Micro Channel Architecture (MCA) bus, a serial advanced technology attachment (SATA) bus, a Video Electronics Standards Association local (VLB) bus, or another suitable bus or a combination of two or more of these.\",\n \"Bus 26 may include one or more buses 26, where appropriate.\",\n \"Although this disclosure describes and illustrates a particular bus, this disclosure contemplates any suitable bus or interconnect.\",\n \"Herein, a computer-readable non-transitory storage medium or media may include one or more semiconductor-based or other integrated circuits (ICs) (such, as for example, field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) or application-specific ICs (ASICs)), hard disk drives (HDDs), hybrid hard drives (HHDs), optical discs, optical disc drives (ODDs), magneto-optical discs, magneto-optical drives, floppy diskettes, floppy disk drives (FDDs), magnetic tapes, solid-state drives (SSDs), RAM-drives, SECURE DIGITAL cards or drives, any other suitable computer-readable non-transitory storage media, or any suitable combination of two or more of these, where appropriate.\",\n \"A computer-readable non-transitory storage medium may be volatile, non-volatile, or a combination of volatile and non-volatile, where appropriate.\",\n \"Herein, “or” is inclusive and not exclusive, unless expressly indicated otherwise or indicated otherwise by context.\",\n \"Therefore, herein, “A or B” means “A, B, or both,” unless expressly indicated otherwise or indicated otherwise by context.\",\n \"Moreover, “and” is both joint and several, unless expressly indicated otherwise or indicated otherwise by context.\",\n \"Therefore, herein, “A and B” means “A and B, jointly or severally,” unless expressly indicated otherwise or indicated otherwise by context.\",\n \"This disclosure encompasses all changes, substitutions, variations, alterations, and modifications to the example embodiments herein that a person having ordinary skill in the art would comprehend.\",\n \"Moreover, although this disclosure describes and illustrates respective embodiments herein as including particular components, elements, functions, operations, or steps, any of these embodiments may include any combination or permutation of any of the components, elements, functions, operations, or steps described or illustrated anywhere herein that a person having ordinary skill in the art would comprehend.\",\n \"Furthermore, reference in the appended claims to an apparatus or system or a component of an apparatus or system being adapted to, arranged to, capable of, configured to, enabled to, operable to, or operative to perform a particular function encompasses that apparatus, system, component, whether or not it or that particular function is activated, turned on, or unlocked, as long as that apparatus, system, or component is so adapted, arranged, capable, configured, enabled, operable, or operative.\"\n ]\n]"},"source":{"kind":"string","value":"Patent_15876055"}}},{"rowIdx":4495066,"cells":{"text":{"kind":"list like","value":[["DISPLAY DEVICE","A display device is configured to show an image inside a vehicle, and mounted inside the vehicle as an internal component.","The display device has a light source configured to emit light, and a light guide element configured to guide incident light from the light source.","The light guide element includes an emission surface configured to output incident light, and a plurality of light focusing portions configured to change the path of the incident light toward the emission surface, causing the light output to converge toward a convergence point or convergence line outside the light guide element or to radiate from a convergence point or convergence line outside the light guide element and thereby form an image outside the light guide element."],["1.A display device configured to show an image inside a vehicle, and mounted inside the vehicle as an internal component, the display device comprising: a light source configured to emit light; and a light guide element configured to guide incident light from the light source, wherein the light guide element comprises: an emission surface configured to output incident light, and a plurality of light focusing portions configured to change the path of the incident light toward the emission surface, causing the light output to converge toward a convergence point or convergence line outside the light guide element or to radiate from a convergence point or convergence line outside the light guide element and thereby form an image outside the light guide element.","2.The display device according to claim 1, wherein the light focusing portions are configured to form an image on a virtual plane oblique or orthogonal to the emission surface.","3.The display device according to claim 1, wherein the light guide element is arranged at the upper part of a dashboard with the emission surface oriented upward, and wherein the light focusing portions are configured to form an image above the dashboard.","4.The display device according to claim 1, wherein the light guide element is configured for arrangement on a window surface of the vehicle with the emission surface oriented toward inside the vehicle.","5.The display device according to claim 1, wherein the light guide element is configured for arrangement on an internal component of the vehicle including at least one of a glove box, a center console, an arm rest, a door trim, a container trim, and a front seat.","6.The display device according to claim 1, wherein the light focusing portions are configured to form an image at a position visible from a driver seat.","7.The display device according to claim 1, wherein the light focusing portions are configured to form an image at a position visible from a seat behind the driver seat.","8.The display device according to claim 1, wherein the light focusing portions are configured to form an image for presentation of an image representing at least one of a vehicle state, a vehicle ridership state, and a vehicle operation state.","9.A display device mounted in a conveyance and configured to show an image inside the conveyance; the display device comprising: a light source configured to emit light; and a light guide element configured to guide incident light from the light source, wherein the light guide element comprises: an emission surface configured to output incident light, and a plurality of light focusing portions configured to change the path of the incident light toward the emission surface, causing the light output to converge toward a convergence point or convergence line outside the light guide element or to radiate from a convergence point or convergence line outside the light guide element and thereby form an image outside the light guide element.","10.The display device according to claim 2, wherein the light guide element is arranged at the upper part of a dashboard with the emission surface oriented upward, and wherein the light focusing portions are configured to form an image above the dashboard.","11.The display device according to claim 2, wherein the light guide element is configured for arrangement on a window surface of the vehicle with the emission surface oriented toward inside the vehicle.","12.The display device according to claim 2, wherein the light guide element is configured for arrangement on an internal component of the vehicle including at least one of a glove box, a center console, an arm rest, a door trim, a container trim, and a front seat.","13.The display device according to claim 2, wherein the light focusing portions are configured to form an image at a position visible from a driver seat.","14.The display device according to claim 3, wherein the light focusing portions are configured to form an image at a position visible from a driver seat.","15.The display device according to claim 4, wherein the light focusing portions are configured to form an image at a position visible from a driver seat.","16.The display device according to claim 5, wherein the light focusing portions are configured to form an image at a position visible from a driver seat.","17.The display device according to claim 2, wherein the light focusing portions are configured to form an image at a position visible from a seat behind the driver seat.","18.The display device according to claim 3, wherein the light focusing portions are configured to form an image at a position visible from a seat behind the driver seat.","19.The display device according to claim 4, wherein the light focusing portions are configured to form an image at a position visible from a seat behind the driver seat.","20.The display device according to claim 5, wherein the light focusing portions are configured to form an image at a position visible from a seat behind the driver seat."],[" BACKGROUND "],[" SUMMARY However, given the large variety of content, such as warning lights which may be presented on the instrument panel, the panel design and the individual warning lights may be given a size and a position that are hard to see.","Selecting a size and a position that improves the visibility of the warning lights, and the like may then lead to limiting the design of the panel.","However, limits to designing the panel remain despite providing the vehicle display device described in Japanese Patent Publication No.","2006-214757 with a multifunction display unit capable of presenting details and providing a warning display unit that lists all the plurality of warning indicators that may be presented thereon individually.","One or more embodiments of the present invention provides a display device as an internal component, the display device equipped with a light guide element capable of changing an optical path to form an image externally which improves flexibility in designing other components in an instrument panel and the like and improves visibility.","A display device according to one or more embodiments of the present invention is configured to show an image inside a vehicle, and is mounted inside the vehicle as an internal component.","The display device includes a light source configured to emit light; and a light guide element configured to guide incident light from the light source; the light guide element including: an emission surface configured to output incident light; and a plurality of light focusing portions configured to change the path of the incident light toward the emission surface, causing the light output to converge toward a convergence point or convergence line outside the light guide element or to radiate from a convergence point or convergence line outside the light guide element and thereby form an image outside the light guide element.","In the display device described herein the light focusing portions are configured to form an image on a virtual plane oblique or orthogonal to the emission surface.","In the display device described herein the light guide element is arranged at the upper part of a dashboard with the emission surface oriented upward; and the light focusing portions form an image above the dashboard.","In the display device described herein the light guide element is configured for arrangement on a window surface of the vehicle with the emission surface oriented toward inside the vehicle.","In the display device described herein the light guide element is configured for arrangement on an internal component of the vehicle including at least one of a glove box, a center console, an arm rest, a door trim, a container trim, and a front seat.","In the display device described herein the light focusing portions are configured to form an image at a position visible from a driver seat.","In the display device described herein the light focusing portions are configured to form an image at a position visible from a driver seat behind the driver seat.","In the display device described herein the light focusing portions are configured to form an image for presentation of an image representing at least one of the vehicle state, a vehicle ridership state, and a vehicle operation state.","A display device described herein may be mounted in a conveyance and configured to show an image inside the conveyance; and includes: a light source configured to emit light; and a light guide element configured to guide incident light from the light source; the light guide element including: an emission surface configured to output incident light; and a plurality of light focusing portions configured to change the path of the incident light toward the emission surface, causing the light output to converge toward a convergence point or convergence line outside the light guide element or to radiate from a convergence point or convergence line outside the light guide element and thereby form an image outside the light guide element.","The display device described herein is capable of presenting an image formed inside a conveyance such as a passenger vehicle."],["BACKGROUND Field The present invention relates to a display device for displaying an image that serves as an internal component of a conveyance such as an automobile.","Related Art A variety of warning lights may be included in a panel (instrument panel) arranged inside a vehicle such as a passenger car to provide notifications on the vehicle state.","The content of the warnings provided by an arrangement of warning lights tend to be shown in small hard-to-see areas regardless of the importance of the information to be presented.","For instance, Japanese Patent Publication No.","2006-214757 discloses a vehicle display device provided with a warning display unit and multifunction display unit; the warning display unit lists all the plurality of warning indicators that may be presented thereon individually, while the multifunction display unit can present details for a plurality of warnings.","The vehicle display device shows the relevant warning indicator on the warning display unit when showing the details of the warning on the multifunction display unit.","SUMMARY However, given the large variety of content, such as warning lights which may be presented on the instrument panel, the panel design and the individual warning lights may be given a size and a position that are hard to see.","Selecting a size and a position that improves the visibility of the warning lights, and the like may then lead to limiting the design of the panel.","However, limits to designing the panel remain despite providing the vehicle display device described in Japanese Patent Publication No.","2006-214757 with a multifunction display unit capable of presenting details and providing a warning display unit that lists all the plurality of warning indicators that may be presented thereon individually.","One or more embodiments of the present invention provides a display device as an internal component, the display device equipped with a light guide element capable of changing an optical path to form an image externally which improves flexibility in designing other components in an instrument panel and the like and improves visibility.","A display device according to one or more embodiments of the present invention is configured to show an image inside a vehicle, and is mounted inside the vehicle as an internal component.","The display device includes a light source configured to emit light; and a light guide element configured to guide incident light from the light source; the light guide element including: an emission surface configured to output incident light; and a plurality of light focusing portions configured to change the path of the incident light toward the emission surface, causing the light output to converge toward a convergence point or convergence line outside the light guide element or to radiate from a convergence point or convergence line outside the light guide element and thereby form an image outside the light guide element.","In the display device described herein the light focusing portions are configured to form an image on a virtual plane oblique or orthogonal to the emission surface.","In the display device described herein the light guide element is arranged at the upper part of a dashboard with the emission surface oriented upward; and the light focusing portions form an image above the dashboard.","In the display device described herein the light guide element is configured for arrangement on a window surface of the vehicle with the emission surface oriented toward inside the vehicle.","In the display device described herein the light guide element is configured for arrangement on an internal component of the vehicle including at least one of a glove box, a center console, an arm rest, a door trim, a container trim, and a front seat.","In the display device described herein the light focusing portions are configured to form an image at a position visible from a driver seat.","In the display device described herein the light focusing portions are configured to form an image at a position visible from a driver seat behind the driver seat.","In the display device described herein the light focusing portions are configured to form an image for presentation of an image representing at least one of the vehicle state, a vehicle ridership state, and a vehicle operation state.","A display device described herein may be mounted in a conveyance and configured to show an image inside the conveyance; and includes: a light source configured to emit light; and a light guide element configured to guide incident light from the light source; the light guide element including: an emission surface configured to output incident light; and a plurality of light focusing portions configured to change the path of the incident light toward the emission surface, causing the light output to converge toward a convergence point or convergence line outside the light guide element or to radiate from a convergence point or convergence line outside the light guide element and thereby form an image outside the light guide element.","The display device described herein is capable of presenting an image formed inside a conveyance such as a passenger vehicle.","Effects Embodiments of the present invention are provided as internal components and include a light source and a light guide element, and the light guide element uses incident light entering therein from the light source to form an image externally.","Hereby, the display device can thereby show display content such as various warning lights and the like outside the device, and for instance, in a space above a dashboard.","Accordingly, the display device exhibits superior benefits such as, allowing other internal components to be designed without, for instance, being adversely limited by the instrument panel design and reducing constraints on the design of other components while providing better visibility.","BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG.","1 is for describing a display device according to embodiments of the present invention and schematically illustrates the display device along with an image formed in a space; FIG.","2 is a conceptual diagram outlining a cross section of the display device according to embodiments of the present invention and an optical path; FIG.","3 is a conceptual diagram outlining a cross section of the display device according to embodiments of the present invention and an optical path; FIG.","4 is a schematic view illustrating around the driver seat in a vehicle provided with a display device according to the first embodiment of the present invention mounted therein as an internal component; FIG.","5 is a schematic cross-sectional view illustrating around the drivers seat and includes a driver in a vehicle provided with a display device according to the first embodiment of the present invention mounted therein as an internal component; FIG.","6A and FIG.","6B are schematic diagrams for describing the relationship between an emission surface of the display device according to the first embodiment of the present invention and an image; FIG.","7 is a schematic view illustrating near the drivers seat in a vehicle cabin provided with a display device according to a second embodiment of the present invention mounted therein as an internal component; FIG.","8 is a schematic cross-sectional view illustrating around the driver seat and includes a driver in a vehicle provided with a display device according to the second embodiment of the present invention mounted therein as an internal component; and FIG.","9 is a schematic view illustrating near the rear passenger seat in a vehicle cabin provided with a display device according to a third embodiment of the present invention mounted therein as an internal component.","DETAILED DESCRIPTION Embodiments of the present invention are described in detail with reference to the drawings.","Note that the following working example is merely an embodiment of the present invention and in no way limits the technical character of the present invention.","The display device according to embodiments of the present invention focuses light in a space inside a conveyance, e.g., vehicle such as a passenger car, and produces an image therein.","First, the principle of producing an image in a space is described.","FIG.","1 is for describing a display device according to embodiments of the present invention and schematically illustrates the display device along with an image farmed in a space.","Note that the drawings are provided as outlines or schematic views to facilitate a simple and easy-to-understand description.","There are also cases where the drawings referenced in the description contain elements that are not drawn to scale in terms of the horizontal and vertical proportions or the spaces between components.","The light emitting device 1 is provided with a light source 10 that emits light and a light guide plate 11 (light guide element) that guides the incident light from the light source 10.The light source 10 may be configured using a light emitting element such as an LED with the light emitted from the light source 10 entering the light guide plate 11.The light guide plate 11 may be formed from a flexible thin-film material or curable sheet into a rectangular panel-like shape using a transparent resin having a high refractive index such as a polycarbonate (PC) resin or poly methyl methacrylate (PMMA) resin, or using an inorganic material such as glass.","Here “panel like” indicates an object that is shorter (thinner) in the thickness direction (Z axis direction) than in the planar direction spreading out in two dimensions (XY plane) orthogonal to the thickness direction.","That is, while the light guide plate 11 is a rectangular parallelepiped, the length thereof in the thickness direction (Z axis direction) is less than the length in a plane spreading out in two dimensions and formed by the longitudinal direction (X axis direction) and the transverse direction (Y axis direction).","The light source 10 is installed at one end surface in the longitudinal direction of the light guide plate 11.That is, one of the surfaces making up the short side of the rectangle in the thickness direction is the incidence end surface 12 where light emitted from the light source 10 enters.","The light guide plate 11 causes light entering therein from the incidence end surface to spread out in planar form.","The panel-like light guide plate 11 includes an emission surface 13 configured to emit incident light entering from the light source 10 and a rear surface 14 relative to and across from the emission surface 13.In the description that follows, the rectangular coordinate system, and in particular the right-handed system of x axis, y axis, and z axis is used as necessary.","The X axis is the transverse direction of the light guide plate 11, i.e., the direction along the short side of the rectangle.","The Y axis is the longitudinal direction of the light guide plate 11, i.e., the direction along the long side of the rectangle, where the direction from the incidence end surface 12 toward the end surface facing the incidence end is the positive direction.","The Z axis is the thickness direction of the light guide plate 11, where the direction from the rear surface 14 to the emission surface 13 is the positive direction.","The light guide plate 11 may be used in a non-planar way, e.g., may be bent for use.","In this case, the surface including the main portion of the emission surface 13 or a neighboring surface may be used as a reference for the X axis, Y axis, and Z axis.","A plurality of light focusing portions 15 is formed on the rear surface 14 of the light guide plate 11; the light focusing portions 15 are represented as light focusing portions 15a, 15b, 15c, .",".",".","in the drawings.","The light focusing portions 15 are situated along the progressive path of incident light entering from the incidence end surface; that is, the light focusing portions 15 adjust the optical path of the incident light toward the emission surface 13.Here, the light focusing portions 15 are illustrated as optical surfaces formed inside the light guide plate 11, and in this particular case, as reflection surfaces 150 (FIG.","2: 150x, 150y; and FIG.","3: 150x1, 150x2, 150x3) that reflect incident light entering from the incidence end surface 12.Oblique notches may be cut into the rear surface 14 with the inclined surfaces serving as the reflection surfaces 150.The reflection surfaces 150 of the light focusing portions 15 are formed as substantially continuous in the X axis direction.","More specifically, the plurality of light focusing portions 15a, 15a, .",".",".","fall along a line 16a, and the plurality of light focusing portions 15b, 15b, .",".",".","fall along a line 16b.","The plurality of light focusing portions 15c, 15d, .",".",".",", 15g fall along lines 16c, 16d, .",".",".",", line 16g respectively in the same manner.","Here the lines 16 (lines 16a, 16b, .",".",".",", 16g)are virtual straight lines extending substantially parallel to the X axis on the rear surface 14.Any given light focusing portion 15, 15, .",".",".","is formed as substantially continuous along a straight line 16 that is substantially parallel to the X axis direction.","The incident light entering the light guide plate 11 is guided toward the light focusing portions 15, 15, .",".",".","lined up along the X axis direction.","The light focusing portions 15 include components such as the reflection surfaces 150 for changing the optical path.","The reflection surface 150 in a light focusing portion 15 changes the path of incident light causing the light to exit from the emission surface 13 and substantially converge at convergence point P corresponding to the light focusing portion 15.FIG.","1 depicts a portion of the light focusing portions 15, namely, light focusing portions 15a, 15b, .",".",".",", 15g; more specifically, FIG.","1 depicts the plurality of light rays with paths changed by each of the light focusing portions 15a, 15b, .",".",".",", 15g converging at convergence points Pa, Pb, .",".",".",", Pg respectively.","Each of the light focusing portions 15 cause the light rays to converge at convergence points P to form an image, thus forming an image 17.More specifically, the plurality of light focusing portions 15 on any of the lines 16a, 16b, .",".",".","may correspond to a convergence point P in the image 17.The plurality of light focusing portions 15 in any given line 16 may change the optical path of the light rays emanating from the positions of the light focusing portions 15 when light reflects from the optical surfaces, e.g., from the reflection surfaces 150; hereby the light rays exit from the emission surface 13 and converge at a convergence point P. Therefore, the wavefront of light from the plurality of light focusing portions 15 becomes a wavefront that appears to radiate from the convergence point P. For example, the plurality of light focusing portions 15a on the line 16a corresponds to a convergence point Pa in the image 17.The light focusing portions 15a change the optical path of the light rays guided toward the plurality of light focusing portions 15a on the line 16a, and thus the light rays exit from the emission surface 13 and converge at the convergence point Pa. Light reflected by the plurality of light focusing portions 15 along other lines 16 converges identically at convergence points P. Thus, any desired light focusing portion 15 can provide a wavefront of light so that light appears to radiate from the corresponding convergence point P. The convergence points P correspond to mutually different light focusing portions 15.A grouping of a plurality of convergence points P that correspond to each of the light focusing portions 15 produces a recognizable image 17 in a space.","The display device 1 thus projects the image 17 as a three-dimensional image in a space.","The image 17 depicted in FIG.","1 is drawn as a three-dimensional image with lines; the lines used to draw the image 17 are produced by grouping a plurality of convergence points P corresponding to each of the light focusing portions 15.The display device 1 forms an image with light exiting from the emission surface 13 to produce the image 17 as a spectroscopic image.","The image 17 is a spectroscopic image that may be recognized in a space by an observer.","Note that in this specification, the term spectroscopic image refers to an image 17 that appears to be at a location that is different from the emission surface 13 external to the display device 1.The term spectroscopic image is not limited to a three-dimensional image and includes a two-dimensional image perceived at a location separate from the efficient surface 13 of the display device 1, for instance.","In other words the term “spectroscopic image” does not refer only to an image perceived as having a solid shape, but also includes the image 17 in two-dimensional form perceived at a different location than on emission surface 13 of the display device 1 and represents an image 17 that appears to be protruding from the light guide plate 11 of the display device 1.The light guided by the light guide plate 11 is oriented in a direction connecting locations in the light guide plate 11 and the light source 10 while not including a spread component orthogonal to a direction connecting locations in the light guide plate 11 and the light source 10.The light focusing portions 15 may be provided at locations separated from the light source 10; in this case, the light guided by the light guide plate 11 is oriented generally towards the Y axis direction from the location at which the light focusing portion is provided but does not spread in the X axis direction.","Therefore, light from the light focusing portion 15 substantially converges onto a single convergence point P in a plane parallel to the XZ plane that includes the convergence point P. When light entering the light focusing portions 15 spread in the Z axis direction, the light from the light focusing portions 15 converge on a convergence line along the Y axis in a space containing the convergence point P. However, the description of the embodiment focuses on the convergence of light in the XZ plane to facilitate understanding of the embodiment and describes the same as light from the light focusing portions 15 converging on the convergence points P. FIGS.","2 and 3 are conceptual diagrams outlining a cross section of the display device according to embodiments of the present invention and an optical path; FIG.","2 illustrates a cross-section parallel to the YZ plane, and FIG.","3 also illustrates the image 17 viewed by an observer of a cross-section parallel to the XZ plane.","FIG.","2 and FIG.","3 illustrates not only the emission surface 13 of the light guide plate 11 (i.e., the positive Z axis direction), but also provides an example of the image 17 representing an arrow that also spreads at the rear surface 14 (negative Z axis direction).","In the examples illustrated in FIG.","2 and FIG.","3, the image 17, which represents an arrow, appears with the front portion of the arrow protruding from the emission surface 13 and the rear portion of the arrow protruding from the rear surface 14.As illustrated in FIG.","2, the light source 10 is installed at the incidence end surface 12 of the light guide plate 11, and the incidence end surface 12 and the emission surface 13 are substantially orthogonal.","Additionally, the rear surface 14 faces the emission surface 13, and the rear surface 14 is also substantially orthogonal to the incidence end surface 12.The rear surface 14 is a flat surface substantially parallel to the emission surface 13 and is provided with inclined surfaces that form the reflection surfaces 150 (150x, 150y) of the light focusing portions 15.The flat rear surface 14 along with the emission surface 13 directs the incident light entering the light guide plate 12 from the incidence end surface 11 via total internal reflection therebetween and function to spread the light in the light guide plate 11 in planar form.","The inclined reflection surfaces 150 of the light focusing portions 15 reflect the incident light entering the light guide plate 11 to thereby adjust the optical path of the light toward the emission surface 13.That is, the light emitted from the light source 10 and entering the light guide plate 11 from the incidence and surface 12 is repeatedly totally reflected between the emission surface 13 and the rear surface 14 within the light guide plate 11 and propagates therethrough in planar form.","On arriving at a reflection surface 150 formed in the light focusing portion 15, the light propagating through the light guide plate 11 is reflected by the reflection surface 150 and exits to the outside from the emission surface 13.As illustrated in FIG.","2 and FIG.","3, the plurality of light focusing portions 15x(light focusing portions 15x1, 15x2, 15x3, .",".",". )","located on a line 16 include reflection surfaces 150x1, 150x2, 150x3, .",".",".",", respectively.","The reflection surfaces 150x1, 150x2, 150x3, .",".",".","corresponding to the plurality of light focusing portions 15x located along the line 16 reflect light toward the emission surface 13 in a direction converging at a convergence point P1 near the emission surface 13.A plurality of light focusing portions 15y (light focusing portions 15y1,15y2, 15y3, .",".",". )","is located on another line 16 and also include reflection surfaces 150y1, 150y2, 150y3, .",".",".",", respectively.","The reflection surfaces 150y1, 150y2, 150y3 corresponding to the plurality of light focusing portions 15y located along the other line 16 reflect light toward the emission surface 13 toward a direction where the light radiates from a convergence point P2 near the rear surface 14.Therefore, the incline of the reflection surface 150y2 of the light focusing portion 15y2 and the reflection surface 150y3 of the light focusing portion 15y3 (written in parenthesis in FIG.","3) are the opposite direction in FIG.","3 and are inclined toward the end surface of the light guide plate 11.The reflection surfaces 150x (e.g., the reflection surfaces 150x1, 150x2, 150x3, .",".",". )","each reflects light from the light source 10 in a direction along a line connecting a point on each of the reflection surfaces 150x and the convergence point P1.The light rays reflected from the reflection surfaces 150x converge at the convergence point P1.Thus, the plurality of reflection surfaces 150x in corresponding light focusing portions 15x reflects incident light entering from the light source 10 in a direction along a line connecting a point on each of the reflection surfaces 150x and the convergence point P1.Therefore, the display device 1 can supply light from the convergence point P1 oriented toward any of the positions in a range from a position V2 through a position V1 and up to position V3.A convergence point P1 of this kind produces the image 17 which appears to protrude from near the emission surface 13.The reflection surfaces 150y (e.g., the reflection surfaces 150y1, 150y2, 150y3, .",".",". )","each reflects incident light entering from the light source 10 in a direction along a line connecting a point on each of the reflection surfaces 150y and the convergence point P2.The light rays reflected from the reflection surfaces 150y may be extended in a direction opposite the direction the light rays travel, in which case the extension line from the light rays converge at the convergence point P2.Thus, the plurality of reflection surfaces 150y in corresponding light focusing portions 15y reflects incident light entering from the light source 10 in a direction along a line connecting a point on each of the reflection surfaces 150y and the convergence point P2.Therefore, the display device 1 can supply light from the convergence point P2 oriented toward any of the positions in a range from a position V2 through a position V1 and up to position V3.A convergence point P2 of this kind produces the image 17 which appears to protrude from the opposite side of emission surface 13 (i.e., near the rear surface 14).","As above described, the light guide plate 11 includes a plurality of light focusing portions 15 having mutually different convergence points P, where a grouping of a plurality of convergence point P including a convergence point P1 and a convergence point P2 produces an image 17 that serves as a stereoscopic image.","That is, the light guide plate 11 is provided with a plurality of light focusing portions 15 which change the path of incidence light toward an emission surface 13 causing the light output to converge toward an external convergence point or convergence line or to radiate from an external convergence point or convergence line and thereby form an image externally.","By grouping a plurality of convergence points P and convergence lines, the display device 1 can thus form an image 17 outside the light guide plate 11 that can be perceived by an observer as a stereoscopic image.","In other words, the following kinds of statements can be made.","Light emitted from a light source 10 enters a light guide plate 11, and the light guide plate 11 guides light within a plane parallel to the emission surface 13.A plurality of light focusing portions 15 is formed on the light guide plate 11; the light focusing portions 15 lengthen in a direction (i.e., the X axis direction) orthogonal to the direction (Y axis direction) in which the light guide plate guides light within a plane parallel to the emission surface 13.Each of the light focusing portions 15 includes optical surfaces where the direction of the normal line thereof projected onto a surface parallel to the emission surface varies continuously or gradually along the length direction (X axis direction) of the light focusing portions 15.The light guided by the light guide plate 11 reflects from the optical surfaces whereby the light exits as emission light from the emission surface 13 in a direction to substantially converge on a single convergence point P or convergence line in a space, or to substantially radiate from a single convergence point P or convergence line.","The convergence points P or convergence lines are mutually different for the plurality of light focusing portions 15 at different positions along the Y axis, and grouping a plurality of convergence points P or convergence lines produces an image 17 in a space.","FIG.","2 and FIG.","3 and the corresponding descriptions illustrate a stereoscopic image that appears to protrude from both the emission surface 13 and the rear surface 14; this is used to describe the basic principles behind producing a stereoscopic image.","However, as illustrated in FIG.","1 the stereoscopic image may appear to protrude from near only one surface.","The reflection surfaces 150 here serve as the light focusing portions 15.However, the light focusing portions 15 can have various forms so long as the light focusing portions 15 can change the path of incident light traveling through the light guide plate 11.For instance, the light focusing portion 16 may be formed as a cylindrical Fresnel lens, whereby the refraction effect of the refraction surface of the Fresnel lens (i.e.","the prism surface) changes the path of the incident light.","Additionally, in this case the Fresnel lens may be constituted by a plurality of parts with gaps therebetween.","The light focusing portions 15 may also be formed as a diffraction grating whereby the diffraction effect may change the path of the incident light.","Moreover, the reflection effect and the refraction effect of the prism may change the optical path of the incident light.","Additionally, the distances between all the convergence points P and emission surface 13 may be non-uniform.","In this case, the density of converging light is configured to increase as the distance from the emission surface 13 increases when forming an image 17 that spreads for instance three dimensionally, or when forming a two-dimensional image 17 that contains a plane obliquely intersecting the emission surface 13.Hereby, any blurring in the image 17 formed is substantially uniform, making it possible to create an image 17 that does not make the observer uneasy.","Furthermore, while the light emitted from the light source 10 is represented as incident light entering the light guide plate 11 from the incidence end surface 12, which is one in surface in the longitudinal direction of the light guide plate 11, the incident light is not limited thereto.","For example, the rear surface 14 may be taken as the light incidence surface and appropriately designed so that light enters the light guide plate therefrom.","First Embodiment A display device 1 thusly configured according embodiments of the present invention may be installed as an internal vehicle component; such an embodiment is described below.","FIG.","4 is a schematic view illustrating around the driver seat in a vehicle 2 provided with a display device according to the first embodiment of the present invention mounted therein as an internal component.","The vehicle 2 in FIG.","4 is a passenger vehicle.","A display device 1 according to embodiments of the present invention is mounted in the vehicle 2 and the image 17 produced by the display device 1 is projected above a dashboard 20 provided in front of both the driver seat and the passenger seat.","The projected image 17 presents various content such as the status of the vehicle 2, the status of the ridership, and the operation state of the vehicle 2.The projected image 17 presents a still image particularly for display states that are fixed.","FIG.","4 depicts images representing: the vehicle state, i.e., a brake warning indicator; a ridership state, i.e., an unbuckled seatbelt indicator showing whether the passenger seat or driver seat seatbelt is unbuckled, and the vehicle operation state, i.e., a gear position indicator (shown as “N”, FIG.","4).","These kinds of images 17 are not limited to the images illustrated in FIG.","4 and may further include images representing, for instance, a water temperature indicator, a headlamp beam direction indicator, a fog light indicator, a four-wheel drive indicator, an engine warning indicator, an oil pressure warning indicator, a battery warning indicator, a fuel level warning indicator, an ABS warning indicator, an SRS warning indicator, and direction indicators.","The gear shift position indicator is not limited to the “N” as depicted in FIG.","4 but may also include images of other gear positions “P”, “R”, “D”, “2”, “L”, and the like, or may further include an image indicating the state of an overhead light.","In FIG.","4, the image 17 is presented enclosed in a thin square frame to provide a convenient illustration.","The image 17 may in fact be shown as floating inside a square frame over a space including a rectangle represented by the square frame.","FIG.","5 is a schematic cross-sectional view illustrating around the drivers seat and includes a driver in a vehicle provided with a display device according to the first embodiment of the present invention mounted therein as an internal component; FIG.","5 schematically illustrates a cross section parallel to the YZ plane.","The display device 1 is arranged on the upper part of the dashboard 20 in the vehicle 2 so that the emission surface 13 in the light guide plate 11 is oriented upward.","The light guide plate 11 in the display device 1 may be configured from a flexible transparent panel; the incidence end surface 12 at the end portion of the light guide plate 11 near the light source 10 or the opposite end may be bent and embedded in the dashboard 20.The light focusing portions 15 are formed in the flat middle section of the light guide plate 11; this flat middle section serves as the emission surface 13, and the emission surface 13 is oriented upward.","The light source 10 is embedded in the dashboard 20 with the incidence end surface 12 attached thereto; the light source 10 is connected to a control device (not shown) in the vehicle 2 and emits light as appropriate on the basis of control from the control device.","The light focusing portions 15 in the light guide plate 11 are configured to form images only upward.","That is the light focusing portions 15 form an image above the dashboard 20 where it is embedded so that various planar images such as an image representing the position of the gearshift is formed along a virtual plane oblique or orthogonal to the emission surface 13.FIG.","6A and FIG.","6B are schematic diagrams for describing the relationship between an emission surface of the display device according to the first embodiment of the present invention and an image.","FIG.","6A is a schematic view illustrating the relationship between the emission surface 13 of the light guide plate 11 in the display device 1 and the image 17 that is formed; FIG.","6B is a schematic side view.","In FIG.","6A and FIG.","6B, the virtual plane created by the emission surface 13 and the image 17 slants at an angle θ.","The image 17 is formed in a flat plane substantially orthogonal to the direction of an observer, i.e., the driver's gaze, and the image 17 is readily visible to the driver.","Note that depending on the positioning of the light guide plate 11, the image 17 may be formed such that the angle θ is a right angle; that is the light guide plate 11 may be positioned so that the emission surface and the virtual plane are orthogonal.","In addition, not all the images 17 need to be formed oriented toward the driver.","For instance, the image of an unbuckled passenger seatbelt indicator may be formed in a plane substantially orthogonal to the direction of the observer's gaze, i.e.","in the direction of a rider in the passenger seat.","The installation location of the display device 1 in general, and of the light guide plate 11 in particular is not limited to the dashboard 20 as above described.","As illustrated in FIG.","4, the display device 1 may be arranged at various locations such as the cover of the glove box 21 in front of the drivers the passenger seat or thereabouts, the center console 22 between the drivers seat and the passenger seat, an armrest (not shown), and any site on the door trim 23 that is an internal door component.","Riders in any seat such as the driver seat, the passenger seat, or the backseat can view an image 17 produced by the display device 1.A display device 1 thusly configured does not require warning lights to be arranged in the panel; therefore, this increases the flexibility in designing the panel, and in order to improve visibility of the warning lights displays allows images 17 of the appropriate size to be produced.","Additionally, light guide plates 11 may be stacked for images that do not need to be displayed simultaneously, e.g., images showing the position of the gearshift to allow each gear position to be shown by switching the display at the same position.","It is thus possible to minimize the space needed for display.","Second Embodiment FIG.","7 is a schematic view illustrating near the drivers seat in a vehicle cabin provided with a display device according to a second embodiment of the present invention mounted therein as an internal component.","In the second embodiment, the image 17 created by the display device 1 is projected in front of the driver seat near the lower part of the front windshield 24 above the dashboard 20.The formed image 17 is identical to the image describes for the first embodiment using FIG.","4; it is thus sufficient to reference the first embodiment for these configurations and so further descriptions thereof are omitted.","In FIG.","7, the image 17 is presented enclosed in a thin square frame to provide a convenient illustration.","The image 17 may in fact be shown inside a square frame presented in a space including a rectangle represented by the square frame.","FIG.","8 is a schematic cross-sectional view illustrating around the driver seat and includes a driver in a vehicle provided with a display device according to the second embodiment of the present invention mounted therein as an internal component.","FIG.","8 schematically illustrates a cross section parallel to the YZ plane.","The display device 1 is arranged on the lower part of the front windshield 24 in the vehicle 2 so that the emission surface 13 in the light guide plate 11 is oriented downward.","The light guide plate 11 in the display device 1 may be configured from a flexible transparent panel; the incidence end surface 12 at the end portion of the light guide plate 11 near the light source 10 may be bent and embedded in the dashboard 20.The light focusing portions 15 are formed in a flat section of the light guide plate 11; this flat section serves as the emission surface 13, and the emission surface 13 is oriented downward.","The light source 10 is embedded in the dashboard 20 with the incidence end surface 12 attached thereto; the light source 10 is connected to a control device (not shown) in the vehicle 2 and emits light as appropriate on the basis of control from the control device.","The light focusing portions 15 in the light guide plate 11 are configured to form images only inside the vehicle.","That is the light focusing portions 15 form an image near the lower part of the front windshield 24 (above the dashboard 20) so that various planar images such as an image representing the position of the gearshift is formed along a virtual plane oblique or orthogonal to the emission surface 13.The image 17 is formed in a flat plane substantially orthogonal to the direction of an observer, i.e., the driver's gaze, and the image 17 is readily visible to the driver.","Not all the images 17 need to be formed oriented toward the driver.","For instance, the image of an unbuckled passenger seatbelt indicator may be formed in a plane substantially orthogonal to the direction of the observer's gaze, i.e.","in the direction of a rider in the passenger seat.","Additionally, not all images 17 need to be produced inside the vehicle; all or a portion of the images may be formed outside the vehicle so long as visibility is not a problem.","A display device 1 thusly configured exhibits superior benefits, such as increasing the flexibility in designing internal components for the vehicle 2 while providing the driver with important information.","Third Embodiment FIG.","9 is a schematic view illustrating near the rear passenger seat in a vehicle cabin provided with a display device according to a third embodiment of the present invention mounted therein as an internal component.","In the third embodiment, the image 17 produced by the display device 1 is projected behind the head rest 25 of a front seat.","The image 17 may be an unbuckled seat indicator for the backseat.","For instance, the display device 1 may be installed at the rear part of the front seat head rest 25, the lower part of the seatback of the front seat 26, or the cabin ceiling whereby and image 17 is projected as depicted in FIG.","9.The display device 1 may also be arranged at various locations such as the container trip (not shown) behind the back seat, or the door trim (not shown), which is an internal component of the rear door.","The display device may be configured so that if an image 17 is produced for the rear part of the vehicle 2, then the image formed should be visible to riders in the back seat; and for example, the display device may be configured so that a driver seated in the driver seat can verify the image without looking toward the back.","More specifically, when the gearshift is placed in reverse (i.e., “R”), a display device 1 in the container trim may show an image 17 for various indicators whereby various displays are presented, e.g., to represent the state of the vehicle 2 allowing the driver to recognize various kinds of information.","The present invention is not limited to the above described embodiments and may be implemented in various other ways.","Therefore, in all respects the above embodiments are merely examples and should not be interpreted as limitations.","The scope of the present invention is delineated by the claims and not limited by the specification.","Moreover, all modifications and variations with a scope equivalent to the claims are within the scope of the present invention.","For example, the aforementioned embodiments illustrated producing images in a two-dimensional plane; however, the present invention is not limited thereto and may be developed into various forms where a three-dimensional image is produced.","The aforementioned embodiments also illustrated arranging the display device on the surface of the front windshield 24; however, the present invention is not limited thereto, and may be configured such that the display device is arranged on other window surfaces such as the rear windshield or a side window or the like.","Finally, the aforementioned embodiments depict a form that is mounted to a passenger vehicle.","However, the display device may be mounted inside various other kinds of vehicles such as a train and may produce images inside the train.","The display device may also be mounted inside other forms of conveyance besides a vehicle 2, such as in an airplane or on a ship, and produce images inside the conveyance.","REFERENCE NUMERALS 1 Display device 10 Light source 11 Light guide plate (light guide element) 12 Incidence end surface 13 Emission surface 15 (15a, 15b, .",".",".",", 15x1, .",".",".",", 15y3) Light focusing portions 17 Image P (Pa, Pb, .",".",".",", P1, P2) Convergence points 2 Vehicle 20 Dashboard 21 Glove box 22 Center console 23 Door trim 24 Front windshield 25 Head rest 26 Front seat"]],"string":"[\n [\n \"DISPLAY DEVICE\",\n \"A display device is configured to show an image inside a vehicle, and mounted inside the vehicle as an internal component.\",\n \"The display device has a light source configured to emit light, and a light guide element configured to guide incident light from the light source.\",\n \"The light guide element includes an emission surface configured to output incident light, and a plurality of light focusing portions configured to change the path of the incident light toward the emission surface, causing the light output to converge toward a convergence point or convergence line outside the light guide element or to radiate from a convergence point or convergence line outside the light guide element and thereby form an image outside the light guide element.\"\n ],\n [\n \"1.A display device configured to show an image inside a vehicle, and mounted inside the vehicle as an internal component, the display device comprising: a light source configured to emit light; and a light guide element configured to guide incident light from the light source, wherein the light guide element comprises: an emission surface configured to output incident light, and a plurality of light focusing portions configured to change the path of the incident light toward the emission surface, causing the light output to converge toward a convergence point or convergence line outside the light guide element or to radiate from a convergence point or convergence line outside the light guide element and thereby form an image outside the light guide element.\",\n \"2.The display device according to claim 1, wherein the light focusing portions are configured to form an image on a virtual plane oblique or orthogonal to the emission surface.\",\n \"3.The display device according to claim 1, wherein the light guide element is arranged at the upper part of a dashboard with the emission surface oriented upward, and wherein the light focusing portions are configured to form an image above the dashboard.\",\n \"4.The display device according to claim 1, wherein the light guide element is configured for arrangement on a window surface of the vehicle with the emission surface oriented toward inside the vehicle.\",\n \"5.The display device according to claim 1, wherein the light guide element is configured for arrangement on an internal component of the vehicle including at least one of a glove box, a center console, an arm rest, a door trim, a container trim, and a front seat.\",\n \"6.The display device according to claim 1, wherein the light focusing portions are configured to form an image at a position visible from a driver seat.\",\n \"7.The display device according to claim 1, wherein the light focusing portions are configured to form an image at a position visible from a seat behind the driver seat.\",\n \"8.The display device according to claim 1, wherein the light focusing portions are configured to form an image for presentation of an image representing at least one of a vehicle state, a vehicle ridership state, and a vehicle operation state.\",\n \"9.A display device mounted in a conveyance and configured to show an image inside the conveyance; the display device comprising: a light source configured to emit light; and a light guide element configured to guide incident light from the light source, wherein the light guide element comprises: an emission surface configured to output incident light, and a plurality of light focusing portions configured to change the path of the incident light toward the emission surface, causing the light output to converge toward a convergence point or convergence line outside the light guide element or to radiate from a convergence point or convergence line outside the light guide element and thereby form an image outside the light guide element.\",\n \"10.The display device according to claim 2, wherein the light guide element is arranged at the upper part of a dashboard with the emission surface oriented upward, and wherein the light focusing portions are configured to form an image above the dashboard.\",\n \"11.The display device according to claim 2, wherein the light guide element is configured for arrangement on a window surface of the vehicle with the emission surface oriented toward inside the vehicle.\",\n \"12.The display device according to claim 2, wherein the light guide element is configured for arrangement on an internal component of the vehicle including at least one of a glove box, a center console, an arm rest, a door trim, a container trim, and a front seat.\",\n \"13.The display device according to claim 2, wherein the light focusing portions are configured to form an image at a position visible from a driver seat.\",\n \"14.The display device according to claim 3, wherein the light focusing portions are configured to form an image at a position visible from a driver seat.\",\n \"15.The display device according to claim 4, wherein the light focusing portions are configured to form an image at a position visible from a driver seat.\",\n \"16.The display device according to claim 5, wherein the light focusing portions are configured to form an image at a position visible from a driver seat.\",\n \"17.The display device according to claim 2, wherein the light focusing portions are configured to form an image at a position visible from a seat behind the driver seat.\",\n \"18.The display device according to claim 3, wherein the light focusing portions are configured to form an image at a position visible from a seat behind the driver seat.\",\n \"19.The display device according to claim 4, wherein the light focusing portions are configured to form an image at a position visible from a seat behind the driver seat.\",\n \"20.The display device according to claim 5, wherein the light focusing portions are configured to form an image at a position visible from a seat behind the driver seat.\"\n ],\n [\n \" BACKGROUND \"\n ],\n [\n \" SUMMARY However, given the large variety of content, such as warning lights which may be presented on the instrument panel, the panel design and the individual warning lights may be given a size and a position that are hard to see.\",\n \"Selecting a size and a position that improves the visibility of the warning lights, and the like may then lead to limiting the design of the panel.\",\n \"However, limits to designing the panel remain despite providing the vehicle display device described in Japanese Patent Publication No.\",\n \"2006-214757 with a multifunction display unit capable of presenting details and providing a warning display unit that lists all the plurality of warning indicators that may be presented thereon individually.\",\n \"One or more embodiments of the present invention provides a display device as an internal component, the display device equipped with a light guide element capable of changing an optical path to form an image externally which improves flexibility in designing other components in an instrument panel and the like and improves visibility.\",\n \"A display device according to one or more embodiments of the present invention is configured to show an image inside a vehicle, and is mounted inside the vehicle as an internal component.\",\n \"The display device includes a light source configured to emit light; and a light guide element configured to guide incident light from the light source; the light guide element including: an emission surface configured to output incident light; and a plurality of light focusing portions configured to change the path of the incident light toward the emission surface, causing the light output to converge toward a convergence point or convergence line outside the light guide element or to radiate from a convergence point or convergence line outside the light guide element and thereby form an image outside the light guide element.\",\n \"In the display device described herein the light focusing portions are configured to form an image on a virtual plane oblique or orthogonal to the emission surface.\",\n \"In the display device described herein the light guide element is arranged at the upper part of a dashboard with the emission surface oriented upward; and the light focusing portions form an image above the dashboard.\",\n \"In the display device described herein the light guide element is configured for arrangement on a window surface of the vehicle with the emission surface oriented toward inside the vehicle.\",\n \"In the display device described herein the light guide element is configured for arrangement on an internal component of the vehicle including at least one of a glove box, a center console, an arm rest, a door trim, a container trim, and a front seat.\",\n \"In the display device described herein the light focusing portions are configured to form an image at a position visible from a driver seat.\",\n \"In the display device described herein the light focusing portions are configured to form an image at a position visible from a driver seat behind the driver seat.\",\n \"In the display device described herein the light focusing portions are configured to form an image for presentation of an image representing at least one of the vehicle state, a vehicle ridership state, and a vehicle operation state.\",\n \"A display device described herein may be mounted in a conveyance and configured to show an image inside the conveyance; and includes: a light source configured to emit light; and a light guide element configured to guide incident light from the light source; the light guide element including: an emission surface configured to output incident light; and a plurality of light focusing portions configured to change the path of the incident light toward the emission surface, causing the light output to converge toward a convergence point or convergence line outside the light guide element or to radiate from a convergence point or convergence line outside the light guide element and thereby form an image outside the light guide element.\",\n \"The display device described herein is capable of presenting an image formed inside a conveyance such as a passenger vehicle.\"\n ],\n [\n \"BACKGROUND Field The present invention relates to a display device for displaying an image that serves as an internal component of a conveyance such as an automobile.\",\n \"Related Art A variety of warning lights may be included in a panel (instrument panel) arranged inside a vehicle such as a passenger car to provide notifications on the vehicle state.\",\n \"The content of the warnings provided by an arrangement of warning lights tend to be shown in small hard-to-see areas regardless of the importance of the information to be presented.\",\n \"For instance, Japanese Patent Publication No.\",\n \"2006-214757 discloses a vehicle display device provided with a warning display unit and multifunction display unit; the warning display unit lists all the plurality of warning indicators that may be presented thereon individually, while the multifunction display unit can present details for a plurality of warnings.\",\n \"The vehicle display device shows the relevant warning indicator on the warning display unit when showing the details of the warning on the multifunction display unit.\",\n \"SUMMARY However, given the large variety of content, such as warning lights which may be presented on the instrument panel, the panel design and the individual warning lights may be given a size and a position that are hard to see.\",\n \"Selecting a size and a position that improves the visibility of the warning lights, and the like may then lead to limiting the design of the panel.\",\n \"However, limits to designing the panel remain despite providing the vehicle display device described in Japanese Patent Publication No.\",\n \"2006-214757 with a multifunction display unit capable of presenting details and providing a warning display unit that lists all the plurality of warning indicators that may be presented thereon individually.\",\n \"One or more embodiments of the present invention provides a display device as an internal component, the display device equipped with a light guide element capable of changing an optical path to form an image externally which improves flexibility in designing other components in an instrument panel and the like and improves visibility.\",\n \"A display device according to one or more embodiments of the present invention is configured to show an image inside a vehicle, and is mounted inside the vehicle as an internal component.\",\n \"The display device includes a light source configured to emit light; and a light guide element configured to guide incident light from the light source; the light guide element including: an emission surface configured to output incident light; and a plurality of light focusing portions configured to change the path of the incident light toward the emission surface, causing the light output to converge toward a convergence point or convergence line outside the light guide element or to radiate from a convergence point or convergence line outside the light guide element and thereby form an image outside the light guide element.\",\n \"In the display device described herein the light focusing portions are configured to form an image on a virtual plane oblique or orthogonal to the emission surface.\",\n \"In the display device described herein the light guide element is arranged at the upper part of a dashboard with the emission surface oriented upward; and the light focusing portions form an image above the dashboard.\",\n \"In the display device described herein the light guide element is configured for arrangement on a window surface of the vehicle with the emission surface oriented toward inside the vehicle.\",\n \"In the display device described herein the light guide element is configured for arrangement on an internal component of the vehicle including at least one of a glove box, a center console, an arm rest, a door trim, a container trim, and a front seat.\",\n \"In the display device described herein the light focusing portions are configured to form an image at a position visible from a driver seat.\",\n \"In the display device described herein the light focusing portions are configured to form an image at a position visible from a driver seat behind the driver seat.\",\n \"In the display device described herein the light focusing portions are configured to form an image for presentation of an image representing at least one of the vehicle state, a vehicle ridership state, and a vehicle operation state.\",\n \"A display device described herein may be mounted in a conveyance and configured to show an image inside the conveyance; and includes: a light source configured to emit light; and a light guide element configured to guide incident light from the light source; the light guide element including: an emission surface configured to output incident light; and a plurality of light focusing portions configured to change the path of the incident light toward the emission surface, causing the light output to converge toward a convergence point or convergence line outside the light guide element or to radiate from a convergence point or convergence line outside the light guide element and thereby form an image outside the light guide element.\",\n \"The display device described herein is capable of presenting an image formed inside a conveyance such as a passenger vehicle.\",\n \"Effects Embodiments of the present invention are provided as internal components and include a light source and a light guide element, and the light guide element uses incident light entering therein from the light source to form an image externally.\",\n \"Hereby, the display device can thereby show display content such as various warning lights and the like outside the device, and for instance, in a space above a dashboard.\",\n \"Accordingly, the display device exhibits superior benefits such as, allowing other internal components to be designed without, for instance, being adversely limited by the instrument panel design and reducing constraints on the design of other components while providing better visibility.\",\n \"BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG.\",\n \"1 is for describing a display device according to embodiments of the present invention and schematically illustrates the display device along with an image formed in a space; FIG.\",\n \"2 is a conceptual diagram outlining a cross section of the display device according to embodiments of the present invention and an optical path; FIG.\",\n \"3 is a conceptual diagram outlining a cross section of the display device according to embodiments of the present invention and an optical path; FIG.\",\n \"4 is a schematic view illustrating around the driver seat in a vehicle provided with a display device according to the first embodiment of the present invention mounted therein as an internal component; FIG.\",\n \"5 is a schematic cross-sectional view illustrating around the drivers seat and includes a driver in a vehicle provided with a display device according to the first embodiment of the present invention mounted therein as an internal component; FIG.\",\n \"6A and FIG.\",\n \"6B are schematic diagrams for describing the relationship between an emission surface of the display device according to the first embodiment of the present invention and an image; FIG.\",\n \"7 is a schematic view illustrating near the drivers seat in a vehicle cabin provided with a display device according to a second embodiment of the present invention mounted therein as an internal component; FIG.\",\n \"8 is a schematic cross-sectional view illustrating around the driver seat and includes a driver in a vehicle provided with a display device according to the second embodiment of the present invention mounted therein as an internal component; and FIG.\",\n \"9 is a schematic view illustrating near the rear passenger seat in a vehicle cabin provided with a display device according to a third embodiment of the present invention mounted therein as an internal component.\",\n \"DETAILED DESCRIPTION Embodiments of the present invention are described in detail with reference to the drawings.\",\n \"Note that the following working example is merely an embodiment of the present invention and in no way limits the technical character of the present invention.\",\n \"The display device according to embodiments of the present invention focuses light in a space inside a conveyance, e.g., vehicle such as a passenger car, and produces an image therein.\",\n \"First, the principle of producing an image in a space is described.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"1 is for describing a display device according to embodiments of the present invention and schematically illustrates the display device along with an image farmed in a space.\",\n \"Note that the drawings are provided as outlines or schematic views to facilitate a simple and easy-to-understand description.\",\n \"There are also cases where the drawings referenced in the description contain elements that are not drawn to scale in terms of the horizontal and vertical proportions or the spaces between components.\",\n \"The light emitting device 1 is provided with a light source 10 that emits light and a light guide plate 11 (light guide element) that guides the incident light from the light source 10.The light source 10 may be configured using a light emitting element such as an LED with the light emitted from the light source 10 entering the light guide plate 11.The light guide plate 11 may be formed from a flexible thin-film material or curable sheet into a rectangular panel-like shape using a transparent resin having a high refractive index such as a polycarbonate (PC) resin or poly methyl methacrylate (PMMA) resin, or using an inorganic material such as glass.\",\n \"Here “panel like” indicates an object that is shorter (thinner) in the thickness direction (Z axis direction) than in the planar direction spreading out in two dimensions (XY plane) orthogonal to the thickness direction.\",\n \"That is, while the light guide plate 11 is a rectangular parallelepiped, the length thereof in the thickness direction (Z axis direction) is less than the length in a plane spreading out in two dimensions and formed by the longitudinal direction (X axis direction) and the transverse direction (Y axis direction).\",\n \"The light source 10 is installed at one end surface in the longitudinal direction of the light guide plate 11.That is, one of the surfaces making up the short side of the rectangle in the thickness direction is the incidence end surface 12 where light emitted from the light source 10 enters.\",\n \"The light guide plate 11 causes light entering therein from the incidence end surface to spread out in planar form.\",\n \"The panel-like light guide plate 11 includes an emission surface 13 configured to emit incident light entering from the light source 10 and a rear surface 14 relative to and across from the emission surface 13.In the description that follows, the rectangular coordinate system, and in particular the right-handed system of x axis, y axis, and z axis is used as necessary.\",\n \"The X axis is the transverse direction of the light guide plate 11, i.e., the direction along the short side of the rectangle.\",\n \"The Y axis is the longitudinal direction of the light guide plate 11, i.e., the direction along the long side of the rectangle, where the direction from the incidence end surface 12 toward the end surface facing the incidence end is the positive direction.\",\n \"The Z axis is the thickness direction of the light guide plate 11, where the direction from the rear surface 14 to the emission surface 13 is the positive direction.\",\n \"The light guide plate 11 may be used in a non-planar way, e.g., may be bent for use.\",\n \"In this case, the surface including the main portion of the emission surface 13 or a neighboring surface may be used as a reference for the X axis, Y axis, and Z axis.\",\n \"A plurality of light focusing portions 15 is formed on the rear surface 14 of the light guide plate 11; the light focusing portions 15 are represented as light focusing portions 15a, 15b, 15c, .\",\n \".\",\n \".\",\n \"in the drawings.\",\n \"The light focusing portions 15 are situated along the progressive path of incident light entering from the incidence end surface; that is, the light focusing portions 15 adjust the optical path of the incident light toward the emission surface 13.Here, the light focusing portions 15 are illustrated as optical surfaces formed inside the light guide plate 11, and in this particular case, as reflection surfaces 150 (FIG.\",\n \"2: 150x, 150y; and FIG.\",\n \"3: 150x1, 150x2, 150x3) that reflect incident light entering from the incidence end surface 12.Oblique notches may be cut into the rear surface 14 with the inclined surfaces serving as the reflection surfaces 150.The reflection surfaces 150 of the light focusing portions 15 are formed as substantially continuous in the X axis direction.\",\n \"More specifically, the plurality of light focusing portions 15a, 15a, .\",\n \".\",\n \".\",\n \"fall along a line 16a, and the plurality of light focusing portions 15b, 15b, .\",\n \".\",\n \".\",\n \"fall along a line 16b.\",\n \"The plurality of light focusing portions 15c, 15d, .\",\n \".\",\n \".\",\n \", 15g fall along lines 16c, 16d, .\",\n \".\",\n \".\",\n \", line 16g respectively in the same manner.\",\n \"Here the lines 16 (lines 16a, 16b, .\",\n \".\",\n \".\",\n \", 16g)are virtual straight lines extending substantially parallel to the X axis on the rear surface 14.Any given light focusing portion 15, 15, .\",\n \".\",\n \".\",\n \"is formed as substantially continuous along a straight line 16 that is substantially parallel to the X axis direction.\",\n \"The incident light entering the light guide plate 11 is guided toward the light focusing portions 15, 15, .\",\n \".\",\n \".\",\n \"lined up along the X axis direction.\",\n \"The light focusing portions 15 include components such as the reflection surfaces 150 for changing the optical path.\",\n \"The reflection surface 150 in a light focusing portion 15 changes the path of incident light causing the light to exit from the emission surface 13 and substantially converge at convergence point P corresponding to the light focusing portion 15.FIG.\",\n \"1 depicts a portion of the light focusing portions 15, namely, light focusing portions 15a, 15b, .\",\n \".\",\n \".\",\n \", 15g; more specifically, FIG.\",\n \"1 depicts the plurality of light rays with paths changed by each of the light focusing portions 15a, 15b, .\",\n \".\",\n \".\",\n \", 15g converging at convergence points Pa, Pb, .\",\n \".\",\n \".\",\n \", Pg respectively.\",\n \"Each of the light focusing portions 15 cause the light rays to converge at convergence points P to form an image, thus forming an image 17.More specifically, the plurality of light focusing portions 15 on any of the lines 16a, 16b, .\",\n \".\",\n \".\",\n \"may correspond to a convergence point P in the image 17.The plurality of light focusing portions 15 in any given line 16 may change the optical path of the light rays emanating from the positions of the light focusing portions 15 when light reflects from the optical surfaces, e.g., from the reflection surfaces 150; hereby the light rays exit from the emission surface 13 and converge at a convergence point P. Therefore, the wavefront of light from the plurality of light focusing portions 15 becomes a wavefront that appears to radiate from the convergence point P. For example, the plurality of light focusing portions 15a on the line 16a corresponds to a convergence point Pa in the image 17.The light focusing portions 15a change the optical path of the light rays guided toward the plurality of light focusing portions 15a on the line 16a, and thus the light rays exit from the emission surface 13 and converge at the convergence point Pa. Light reflected by the plurality of light focusing portions 15 along other lines 16 converges identically at convergence points P. Thus, any desired light focusing portion 15 can provide a wavefront of light so that light appears to radiate from the corresponding convergence point P. The convergence points P correspond to mutually different light focusing portions 15.A grouping of a plurality of convergence points P that correspond to each of the light focusing portions 15 produces a recognizable image 17 in a space.\",\n \"The display device 1 thus projects the image 17 as a three-dimensional image in a space.\",\n \"The image 17 depicted in FIG.\",\n \"1 is drawn as a three-dimensional image with lines; the lines used to draw the image 17 are produced by grouping a plurality of convergence points P corresponding to each of the light focusing portions 15.The display device 1 forms an image with light exiting from the emission surface 13 to produce the image 17 as a spectroscopic image.\",\n \"The image 17 is a spectroscopic image that may be recognized in a space by an observer.\",\n \"Note that in this specification, the term spectroscopic image refers to an image 17 that appears to be at a location that is different from the emission surface 13 external to the display device 1.The term spectroscopic image is not limited to a three-dimensional image and includes a two-dimensional image perceived at a location separate from the efficient surface 13 of the display device 1, for instance.\",\n \"In other words the term “spectroscopic image” does not refer only to an image perceived as having a solid shape, but also includes the image 17 in two-dimensional form perceived at a different location than on emission surface 13 of the display device 1 and represents an image 17 that appears to be protruding from the light guide plate 11 of the display device 1.The light guided by the light guide plate 11 is oriented in a direction connecting locations in the light guide plate 11 and the light source 10 while not including a spread component orthogonal to a direction connecting locations in the light guide plate 11 and the light source 10.The light focusing portions 15 may be provided at locations separated from the light source 10; in this case, the light guided by the light guide plate 11 is oriented generally towards the Y axis direction from the location at which the light focusing portion is provided but does not spread in the X axis direction.\",\n \"Therefore, light from the light focusing portion 15 substantially converges onto a single convergence point P in a plane parallel to the XZ plane that includes the convergence point P. When light entering the light focusing portions 15 spread in the Z axis direction, the light from the light focusing portions 15 converge on a convergence line along the Y axis in a space containing the convergence point P. However, the description of the embodiment focuses on the convergence of light in the XZ plane to facilitate understanding of the embodiment and describes the same as light from the light focusing portions 15 converging on the convergence points P. FIGS.\",\n \"2 and 3 are conceptual diagrams outlining a cross section of the display device according to embodiments of the present invention and an optical path; FIG.\",\n \"2 illustrates a cross-section parallel to the YZ plane, and FIG.\",\n \"3 also illustrates the image 17 viewed by an observer of a cross-section parallel to the XZ plane.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"2 and FIG.\",\n \"3 illustrates not only the emission surface 13 of the light guide plate 11 (i.e., the positive Z axis direction), but also provides an example of the image 17 representing an arrow that also spreads at the rear surface 14 (negative Z axis direction).\",\n \"In the examples illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"2 and FIG.\",\n \"3, the image 17, which represents an arrow, appears with the front portion of the arrow protruding from the emission surface 13 and the rear portion of the arrow protruding from the rear surface 14.As illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"2, the light source 10 is installed at the incidence end surface 12 of the light guide plate 11, and the incidence end surface 12 and the emission surface 13 are substantially orthogonal.\",\n \"Additionally, the rear surface 14 faces the emission surface 13, and the rear surface 14 is also substantially orthogonal to the incidence end surface 12.The rear surface 14 is a flat surface substantially parallel to the emission surface 13 and is provided with inclined surfaces that form the reflection surfaces 150 (150x, 150y) of the light focusing portions 15.The flat rear surface 14 along with the emission surface 13 directs the incident light entering the light guide plate 12 from the incidence end surface 11 via total internal reflection therebetween and function to spread the light in the light guide plate 11 in planar form.\",\n \"The inclined reflection surfaces 150 of the light focusing portions 15 reflect the incident light entering the light guide plate 11 to thereby adjust the optical path of the light toward the emission surface 13.That is, the light emitted from the light source 10 and entering the light guide plate 11 from the incidence and surface 12 is repeatedly totally reflected between the emission surface 13 and the rear surface 14 within the light guide plate 11 and propagates therethrough in planar form.\",\n \"On arriving at a reflection surface 150 formed in the light focusing portion 15, the light propagating through the light guide plate 11 is reflected by the reflection surface 150 and exits to the outside from the emission surface 13.As illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"2 and FIG.\",\n \"3, the plurality of light focusing portions 15x(light focusing portions 15x1, 15x2, 15x3, .\",\n \".\",\n \". )\",\n \"located on a line 16 include reflection surfaces 150x1, 150x2, 150x3, .\",\n \".\",\n \".\",\n \", respectively.\",\n \"The reflection surfaces 150x1, 150x2, 150x3, .\",\n \".\",\n \".\",\n \"corresponding to the plurality of light focusing portions 15x located along the line 16 reflect light toward the emission surface 13 in a direction converging at a convergence point P1 near the emission surface 13.A plurality of light focusing portions 15y (light focusing portions 15y1,15y2, 15y3, .\",\n \".\",\n \". )\",\n \"is located on another line 16 and also include reflection surfaces 150y1, 150y2, 150y3, .\",\n \".\",\n \".\",\n \", respectively.\",\n \"The reflection surfaces 150y1, 150y2, 150y3 corresponding to the plurality of light focusing portions 15y located along the other line 16 reflect light toward the emission surface 13 toward a direction where the light radiates from a convergence point P2 near the rear surface 14.Therefore, the incline of the reflection surface 150y2 of the light focusing portion 15y2 and the reflection surface 150y3 of the light focusing portion 15y3 (written in parenthesis in FIG.\",\n \"3) are the opposite direction in FIG.\",\n \"3 and are inclined toward the end surface of the light guide plate 11.The reflection surfaces 150x (e.g., the reflection surfaces 150x1, 150x2, 150x3, .\",\n \".\",\n \". )\",\n \"each reflects light from the light source 10 in a direction along a line connecting a point on each of the reflection surfaces 150x and the convergence point P1.The light rays reflected from the reflection surfaces 150x converge at the convergence point P1.Thus, the plurality of reflection surfaces 150x in corresponding light focusing portions 15x reflects incident light entering from the light source 10 in a direction along a line connecting a point on each of the reflection surfaces 150x and the convergence point P1.Therefore, the display device 1 can supply light from the convergence point P1 oriented toward any of the positions in a range from a position V2 through a position V1 and up to position V3.A convergence point P1 of this kind produces the image 17 which appears to protrude from near the emission surface 13.The reflection surfaces 150y (e.g., the reflection surfaces 150y1, 150y2, 150y3, .\",\n \".\",\n \". )\",\n \"each reflects incident light entering from the light source 10 in a direction along a line connecting a point on each of the reflection surfaces 150y and the convergence point P2.The light rays reflected from the reflection surfaces 150y may be extended in a direction opposite the direction the light rays travel, in which case the extension line from the light rays converge at the convergence point P2.Thus, the plurality of reflection surfaces 150y in corresponding light focusing portions 15y reflects incident light entering from the light source 10 in a direction along a line connecting a point on each of the reflection surfaces 150y and the convergence point P2.Therefore, the display device 1 can supply light from the convergence point P2 oriented toward any of the positions in a range from a position V2 through a position V1 and up to position V3.A convergence point P2 of this kind produces the image 17 which appears to protrude from the opposite side of emission surface 13 (i.e., near the rear surface 14).\",\n \"As above described, the light guide plate 11 includes a plurality of light focusing portions 15 having mutually different convergence points P, where a grouping of a plurality of convergence point P including a convergence point P1 and a convergence point P2 produces an image 17 that serves as a stereoscopic image.\",\n \"That is, the light guide plate 11 is provided with a plurality of light focusing portions 15 which change the path of incidence light toward an emission surface 13 causing the light output to converge toward an external convergence point or convergence line or to radiate from an external convergence point or convergence line and thereby form an image externally.\",\n \"By grouping a plurality of convergence points P and convergence lines, the display device 1 can thus form an image 17 outside the light guide plate 11 that can be perceived by an observer as a stereoscopic image.\",\n \"In other words, the following kinds of statements can be made.\",\n \"Light emitted from a light source 10 enters a light guide plate 11, and the light guide plate 11 guides light within a plane parallel to the emission surface 13.A plurality of light focusing portions 15 is formed on the light guide plate 11; the light focusing portions 15 lengthen in a direction (i.e., the X axis direction) orthogonal to the direction (Y axis direction) in which the light guide plate guides light within a plane parallel to the emission surface 13.Each of the light focusing portions 15 includes optical surfaces where the direction of the normal line thereof projected onto a surface parallel to the emission surface varies continuously or gradually along the length direction (X axis direction) of the light focusing portions 15.The light guided by the light guide plate 11 reflects from the optical surfaces whereby the light exits as emission light from the emission surface 13 in a direction to substantially converge on a single convergence point P or convergence line in a space, or to substantially radiate from a single convergence point P or convergence line.\",\n \"The convergence points P or convergence lines are mutually different for the plurality of light focusing portions 15 at different positions along the Y axis, and grouping a plurality of convergence points P or convergence lines produces an image 17 in a space.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"2 and FIG.\",\n \"3 and the corresponding descriptions illustrate a stereoscopic image that appears to protrude from both the emission surface 13 and the rear surface 14; this is used to describe the basic principles behind producing a stereoscopic image.\",\n \"However, as illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"1 the stereoscopic image may appear to protrude from near only one surface.\",\n \"The reflection surfaces 150 here serve as the light focusing portions 15.However, the light focusing portions 15 can have various forms so long as the light focusing portions 15 can change the path of incident light traveling through the light guide plate 11.For instance, the light focusing portion 16 may be formed as a cylindrical Fresnel lens, whereby the refraction effect of the refraction surface of the Fresnel lens (i.e.\",\n \"the prism surface) changes the path of the incident light.\",\n \"Additionally, in this case the Fresnel lens may be constituted by a plurality of parts with gaps therebetween.\",\n \"The light focusing portions 15 may also be formed as a diffraction grating whereby the diffraction effect may change the path of the incident light.\",\n \"Moreover, the reflection effect and the refraction effect of the prism may change the optical path of the incident light.\",\n \"Additionally, the distances between all the convergence points P and emission surface 13 may be non-uniform.\",\n \"In this case, the density of converging light is configured to increase as the distance from the emission surface 13 increases when forming an image 17 that spreads for instance three dimensionally, or when forming a two-dimensional image 17 that contains a plane obliquely intersecting the emission surface 13.Hereby, any blurring in the image 17 formed is substantially uniform, making it possible to create an image 17 that does not make the observer uneasy.\",\n \"Furthermore, while the light emitted from the light source 10 is represented as incident light entering the light guide plate 11 from the incidence end surface 12, which is one in surface in the longitudinal direction of the light guide plate 11, the incident light is not limited thereto.\",\n \"For example, the rear surface 14 may be taken as the light incidence surface and appropriately designed so that light enters the light guide plate therefrom.\",\n \"First Embodiment A display device 1 thusly configured according embodiments of the present invention may be installed as an internal vehicle component; such an embodiment is described below.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"4 is a schematic view illustrating around the driver seat in a vehicle 2 provided with a display device according to the first embodiment of the present invention mounted therein as an internal component.\",\n \"The vehicle 2 in FIG.\",\n \"4 is a passenger vehicle.\",\n \"A display device 1 according to embodiments of the present invention is mounted in the vehicle 2 and the image 17 produced by the display device 1 is projected above a dashboard 20 provided in front of both the driver seat and the passenger seat.\",\n \"The projected image 17 presents various content such as the status of the vehicle 2, the status of the ridership, and the operation state of the vehicle 2.The projected image 17 presents a still image particularly for display states that are fixed.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"4 depicts images representing: the vehicle state, i.e., a brake warning indicator; a ridership state, i.e., an unbuckled seatbelt indicator showing whether the passenger seat or driver seat seatbelt is unbuckled, and the vehicle operation state, i.e., a gear position indicator (shown as “N”, FIG.\",\n \"4).\",\n \"These kinds of images 17 are not limited to the images illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"4 and may further include images representing, for instance, a water temperature indicator, a headlamp beam direction indicator, a fog light indicator, a four-wheel drive indicator, an engine warning indicator, an oil pressure warning indicator, a battery warning indicator, a fuel level warning indicator, an ABS warning indicator, an SRS warning indicator, and direction indicators.\",\n \"The gear shift position indicator is not limited to the “N” as depicted in FIG.\",\n \"4 but may also include images of other gear positions “P”, “R”, “D”, “2”, “L”, and the like, or may further include an image indicating the state of an overhead light.\",\n \"In FIG.\",\n \"4, the image 17 is presented enclosed in a thin square frame to provide a convenient illustration.\",\n \"The image 17 may in fact be shown as floating inside a square frame over a space including a rectangle represented by the square frame.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"5 is a schematic cross-sectional view illustrating around the drivers seat and includes a driver in a vehicle provided with a display device according to the first embodiment of the present invention mounted therein as an internal component; FIG.\",\n \"5 schematically illustrates a cross section parallel to the YZ plane.\",\n \"The display device 1 is arranged on the upper part of the dashboard 20 in the vehicle 2 so that the emission surface 13 in the light guide plate 11 is oriented upward.\",\n \"The light guide plate 11 in the display device 1 may be configured from a flexible transparent panel; the incidence end surface 12 at the end portion of the light guide plate 11 near the light source 10 or the opposite end may be bent and embedded in the dashboard 20.The light focusing portions 15 are formed in the flat middle section of the light guide plate 11; this flat middle section serves as the emission surface 13, and the emission surface 13 is oriented upward.\",\n \"The light source 10 is embedded in the dashboard 20 with the incidence end surface 12 attached thereto; the light source 10 is connected to a control device (not shown) in the vehicle 2 and emits light as appropriate on the basis of control from the control device.\",\n \"The light focusing portions 15 in the light guide plate 11 are configured to form images only upward.\",\n \"That is the light focusing portions 15 form an image above the dashboard 20 where it is embedded so that various planar images such as an image representing the position of the gearshift is formed along a virtual plane oblique or orthogonal to the emission surface 13.FIG.\",\n \"6A and FIG.\",\n \"6B are schematic diagrams for describing the relationship between an emission surface of the display device according to the first embodiment of the present invention and an image.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"6A is a schematic view illustrating the relationship between the emission surface 13 of the light guide plate 11 in the display device 1 and the image 17 that is formed; FIG.\",\n \"6B is a schematic side view.\",\n \"In FIG.\",\n \"6A and FIG.\",\n \"6B, the virtual plane created by the emission surface 13 and the image 17 slants at an angle θ.\",\n \"The image 17 is formed in a flat plane substantially orthogonal to the direction of an observer, i.e., the driver's gaze, and the image 17 is readily visible to the driver.\",\n \"Note that depending on the positioning of the light guide plate 11, the image 17 may be formed such that the angle θ is a right angle; that is the light guide plate 11 may be positioned so that the emission surface and the virtual plane are orthogonal.\",\n \"In addition, not all the images 17 need to be formed oriented toward the driver.\",\n \"For instance, the image of an unbuckled passenger seatbelt indicator may be formed in a plane substantially orthogonal to the direction of the observer's gaze, i.e.\",\n \"in the direction of a rider in the passenger seat.\",\n \"The installation location of the display device 1 in general, and of the light guide plate 11 in particular is not limited to the dashboard 20 as above described.\",\n \"As illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"4, the display device 1 may be arranged at various locations such as the cover of the glove box 21 in front of the drivers the passenger seat or thereabouts, the center console 22 between the drivers seat and the passenger seat, an armrest (not shown), and any site on the door trim 23 that is an internal door component.\",\n \"Riders in any seat such as the driver seat, the passenger seat, or the backseat can view an image 17 produced by the display device 1.A display device 1 thusly configured does not require warning lights to be arranged in the panel; therefore, this increases the flexibility in designing the panel, and in order to improve visibility of the warning lights displays allows images 17 of the appropriate size to be produced.\",\n \"Additionally, light guide plates 11 may be stacked for images that do not need to be displayed simultaneously, e.g., images showing the position of the gearshift to allow each gear position to be shown by switching the display at the same position.\",\n \"It is thus possible to minimize the space needed for display.\",\n \"Second Embodiment FIG.\",\n \"7 is a schematic view illustrating near the drivers seat in a vehicle cabin provided with a display device according to a second embodiment of the present invention mounted therein as an internal component.\",\n \"In the second embodiment, the image 17 created by the display device 1 is projected in front of the driver seat near the lower part of the front windshield 24 above the dashboard 20.The formed image 17 is identical to the image describes for the first embodiment using FIG.\",\n \"4; it is thus sufficient to reference the first embodiment for these configurations and so further descriptions thereof are omitted.\",\n \"In FIG.\",\n \"7, the image 17 is presented enclosed in a thin square frame to provide a convenient illustration.\",\n \"The image 17 may in fact be shown inside a square frame presented in a space including a rectangle represented by the square frame.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"8 is a schematic cross-sectional view illustrating around the driver seat and includes a driver in a vehicle provided with a display device according to the second embodiment of the present invention mounted therein as an internal component.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"8 schematically illustrates a cross section parallel to the YZ plane.\",\n \"The display device 1 is arranged on the lower part of the front windshield 24 in the vehicle 2 so that the emission surface 13 in the light guide plate 11 is oriented downward.\",\n \"The light guide plate 11 in the display device 1 may be configured from a flexible transparent panel; the incidence end surface 12 at the end portion of the light guide plate 11 near the light source 10 may be bent and embedded in the dashboard 20.The light focusing portions 15 are formed in a flat section of the light guide plate 11; this flat section serves as the emission surface 13, and the emission surface 13 is oriented downward.\",\n \"The light source 10 is embedded in the dashboard 20 with the incidence end surface 12 attached thereto; the light source 10 is connected to a control device (not shown) in the vehicle 2 and emits light as appropriate on the basis of control from the control device.\",\n \"The light focusing portions 15 in the light guide plate 11 are configured to form images only inside the vehicle.\",\n \"That is the light focusing portions 15 form an image near the lower part of the front windshield 24 (above the dashboard 20) so that various planar images such as an image representing the position of the gearshift is formed along a virtual plane oblique or orthogonal to the emission surface 13.The image 17 is formed in a flat plane substantially orthogonal to the direction of an observer, i.e., the driver's gaze, and the image 17 is readily visible to the driver.\",\n \"Not all the images 17 need to be formed oriented toward the driver.\",\n \"For instance, the image of an unbuckled passenger seatbelt indicator may be formed in a plane substantially orthogonal to the direction of the observer's gaze, i.e.\",\n \"in the direction of a rider in the passenger seat.\",\n \"Additionally, not all images 17 need to be produced inside the vehicle; all or a portion of the images may be formed outside the vehicle so long as visibility is not a problem.\",\n \"A display device 1 thusly configured exhibits superior benefits, such as increasing the flexibility in designing internal components for the vehicle 2 while providing the driver with important information.\",\n \"Third Embodiment FIG.\",\n \"9 is a schematic view illustrating near the rear passenger seat in a vehicle cabin provided with a display device according to a third embodiment of the present invention mounted therein as an internal component.\",\n \"In the third embodiment, the image 17 produced by the display device 1 is projected behind the head rest 25 of a front seat.\",\n \"The image 17 may be an unbuckled seat indicator for the backseat.\",\n \"For instance, the display device 1 may be installed at the rear part of the front seat head rest 25, the lower part of the seatback of the front seat 26, or the cabin ceiling whereby and image 17 is projected as depicted in FIG.\",\n \"9.The display device 1 may also be arranged at various locations such as the container trip (not shown) behind the back seat, or the door trim (not shown), which is an internal component of the rear door.\",\n \"The display device may be configured so that if an image 17 is produced for the rear part of the vehicle 2, then the image formed should be visible to riders in the back seat; and for example, the display device may be configured so that a driver seated in the driver seat can verify the image without looking toward the back.\",\n \"More specifically, when the gearshift is placed in reverse (i.e., “R”), a display device 1 in the container trim may show an image 17 for various indicators whereby various displays are presented, e.g., to represent the state of the vehicle 2 allowing the driver to recognize various kinds of information.\",\n \"The present invention is not limited to the above described embodiments and may be implemented in various other ways.\",\n \"Therefore, in all respects the above embodiments are merely examples and should not be interpreted as limitations.\",\n \"The scope of the present invention is delineated by the claims and not limited by the specification.\",\n \"Moreover, all modifications and variations with a scope equivalent to the claims are within the scope of the present invention.\",\n \"For example, the aforementioned embodiments illustrated producing images in a two-dimensional plane; however, the present invention is not limited thereto and may be developed into various forms where a three-dimensional image is produced.\",\n \"The aforementioned embodiments also illustrated arranging the display device on the surface of the front windshield 24; however, the present invention is not limited thereto, and may be configured such that the display device is arranged on other window surfaces such as the rear windshield or a side window or the like.\",\n \"Finally, the aforementioned embodiments depict a form that is mounted to a passenger vehicle.\",\n \"However, the display device may be mounted inside various other kinds of vehicles such as a train and may produce images inside the train.\",\n \"The display device may also be mounted inside other forms of conveyance besides a vehicle 2, such as in an airplane or on a ship, and produce images inside the conveyance.\",\n \"REFERENCE NUMERALS 1 Display device 10 Light source 11 Light guide plate (light guide element) 12 Incidence end surface 13 Emission surface 15 (15a, 15b, .\",\n \".\",\n \".\",\n \", 15x1, .\",\n \".\",\n \".\",\n \", 15y3) Light focusing portions 17 Image P (Pa, Pb, .\",\n \".\",\n \".\",\n \", P1, P2) Convergence points 2 Vehicle 20 Dashboard 21 Glove box 22 Center console 23 Door trim 24 Front windshield 25 Head rest 26 Front seat\"\n ]\n]"},"source":{"kind":"string","value":"Patent_15876056"}}},{"rowIdx":4495067,"cells":{"text":{"kind":"list like","value":[["APPLICATION SPECIFIC INTEGRATED CIRCUIT LINK","Systems and methods for application specific integrated circuit design using Chronos links are disclosed.","A Chronos Link is an ASIC on-chip and off-chip interconnect communication protocol that allows interfaces to transmit and receive information.","The protocol may utilize messages or signals to indicate the availability and/or readiness of information to be exchanged between a producer and a consumer allowing the communication to be placed on hold and to be resumed seamlessly.","A method includes inserting gaskets and channel repeaters connected to interfaces of multiple intellectual property (IP) blocks in order to replace traditional links with Chronos Links; performing simplified floorplanning; performing simplified placement; performing simplified clock tree synthesis (CTS) and routing; and performing simplified timing closure."],["1.A system for communicating between intellectual property blocks, the system comprising: a communication channel communicatively coupled between a first intellectual property block and a second intellectual property block for transmission of data between the first and second intellectual property blocks; a slave controller communicatively coupled between the first intellectual property block and the communication channel, the slave controller comprising: a slave synchronizer circuit configured to receive a first asynchronous signal from the communication channel and transform the received first asynchronous signal into a synchronous domain for controlling the transmission of data according to a first protocol of the first intellectual property block, and a slave digital logic circuit configured to create a first control signal and, using digital logic, regulate the transmission of data into the communication channel; and a master controller communicatively coupled between the communication channel and the second intellectual property block, the master controller comprising: a master synchronizer configured to receive a second asynchronous signal from the communication channel and transform the received second asynchronous signal into the synchronous domain for controlling the transmission of data according to a second protocol of the second intellectual property block, and a master digital logic circuit configured to create a second control signal and, using digital logic, regulate the transmission of data out from the communication channel.","2.The system of claim 1, wherein the communication channel is configured to encode data using delay insensitive coding and transmit data using a quasi-delay insensitive logic circuit and a clock-less temporal compression ratio.","3.The system of claim 1, wherein the communication channel is configured to translate a traditional handshake communication protocol into a compressed delay insensitive communication protocol where the original control signals are not propagated to the channel but embedded into the data itself.","4.The system of claim 2, wherein the communication channel is a point-to-point communication channel.","5.The system of claim 2, wherein the communication channel communicatively couples the first intellectual property block to a plurality of intellectual property blocks comprising the second intellectual property block, wherein the master controller comprises a plurality of master controllers, each master controller communicatively coupled between the communication channel and a different intellectual property block of the plurality of intellectual property blocks.","6.The system of claim 2, wherein the communication channel communicatively couples the second intellectual property block to a plurality of intellectual property blocks comprising the first intellectual property block, wherein the slave controller comprises a plurality of slave controllers, each slave controller communicatively coupled between the communication channel and a different intellectual property block of the plurality of intellectual property blocks.","7.The system of claim 2, wherein the communication channel communicatively couples a plurality of first intellectual property blocks to a plurality of second intellectual property blocks, wherein the master controller comprises a plurality of master controllers, each master controller communicatively coupled between the communication channel and a different second intellectual property block of the plurality of second intellectual property blocks, and the slave controller comprises a plurality of slave controllers, each slave controller communicatively coupled between the communication channel and a different first intellectual property block of the plurality of first intellectual property blocks.","8.The system of claim 1, wherein the delay insensitive coding comprises analog signals.","9.The system of claim 1, wherein the first intellectual property block is a producer block and the second intellectual property block is a consumer block, wherein data is transmitted from the producer block to the consumer block.","10.The system of claim 1, wherein the first and second intellectual property blocks are disposed on a common application specific integrated circuit chip.","11.The system of claim 1, wherein at least one of the slave and the master synchronizer comprises a flip-flop circuit communicatively coupled to the digital logic circuit and configured to transmit the transformed first or second asynchronous signal to the digital logic circuit.","12.The system of claim 1, wherein at least one of the slave and the master synchronizer comprises a mutex circuit communicatively coupled to a flip-flop circuit, the mutex circuit configured to receive the asynchronous signal and the flip-flop circuit configured to transmit the transformed first or second asynchronous signal to the digital logic circuit.","13.A system for communicating between intellectual property blocks, the system comprising: a communication channel communicatively coupled between a first intellectual property block and a second intellectual property block for transmission of register information between the first and second intellectual property blocks, the register information comprising data for configuring a mode of operation of the second intellectual property block; a register controller communicatively coupled between the second intellectual property block and the communication channel, the register controller comprising: a synchronizer circuit configured to receive an asynchronous signal from the communication channel and transform the received asynchronous signal into a synchronous domain, and a digital logic circuit configured to create a control signal comprising the data for configuring a mode of operation and transmit the control signal over the communication channel using digital logic.","14.The system of claim 13, wherein the communication channel is configured to encode data using delay insensitive coding and transmit data using a quasi-delay insensitive logic circuit and a clock-less temporal compression ratio.","15.The system of claim 13, wherein the communication channel is configured to translate a traditional handshake communication protocol into a compressed delay insensitive communication protocol where the original control signals are not propagated to the channel but embedded into the data itself.","16.The system of claim 14, wherein the communication channel is a point to point communication channel.","17.The system of claim 14, wherein the communication channel communicatively couples the first intellectual property block to a plurality of intellectual property blocks comprising the second intellectual property block, wherein the register controller comprises a plurality of register controllers, each register controller communicatively coupled between the communication channel and a different intellectual property block of the plurality of intellectual property blocks.","18.The system of claim 17, wherein the communication channel communicatively couples a plurality of first intellectual property blocks to the plurality of intellectual property blocks.","19.The system of claim 14, wherein the communication channel communicatively couples a plurality of intellectual property blocks to the second intellectual property block, the plurality of intellectual property blocks comprising the first intellectual property block.","20.The system of claim 13, wherein the delay insensitive coding comprises analog signals.","21.The system of claim 13, wherein the synchronizer comprises a mutex circuit communicatively coupled to a flip-flop circuit, the mutex circuit configured to receive the asynchronous signal and the flip-flop circuit configured to transmit the transformed asynchronous signal to the digital logic circuit.","22.A system for communicating between intellectual property blocks, the system comprising: a communication channel communicatively coupled between a first intellectual property block and a second intellectual property block for transmission of data between the first and second intellectual property blocks; a controller communicatively coupled to the communication channel, the controller configured to: receive an asynchronous signal from the communication channel, transform the received asynchronous signal into a synchronous domain and control the transmission of data according to a protocol of the second intellectual property block."],[" BACKGROUND "],[" SUMMARY Apparatuses and methods for ASIC interconnect design are provided.","A Chronos Link is an ASIC on-chip and off-chip interconnect communication protocol that allows two IP blocks to transmit and receive information.","The Chronos Link protocol may utilize messages or signals to indicate the availability and/or readiness of information to be exchanged between a producer device and a consumer device allowing the communication to be placed on hold and to be resumed seamlessly.","The Chronos Link stands out by relying on a reduced set of timing assumptions and is robustness against delay variations.","To do so, the Chronos Link transmits data using delay insensitive (DI) codes and quasi-delay-insensitive (QDI) logic, making the communication insensitive to all wire and gate delay variations.","Also, a unique characteristic of a Chronos Link, when compared to related solutions, is the fact that the Chronos Link uses temporal compression in its internal paths to reduce the overheads of QDI logic and efficiently transmit data.","In fact, data can be compressed by different ratios, which can be any rational number (as long as a technology specific maximum frequency restriction is respected).","Chronos Link protocol agnostic capability allows for direct replacement of many commonly used ASIC communication protocol such as AMBA AXI, CoreConnect, IPBus, OCP, Hyper Transport, Quick Path, etc.","or it can be tailored to a fully custom implementation.","Other features and advantages of the present inventive concept should be apparent from the following description which illustrates by way of example aspects of the present inventive concept."],["RELATED APPLICATION INFORMATION This present application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser.","15/344,420, entitled “Application specific integrated circuit link, filed on Nov. 4, 2016, which claims the benefit of priority under 35 U.S.C.","119(e) to Provisional Patent Application Ser.","No.","62/372,221, entitled “Application Specific Integrated Circuit Point-To-Multi-Point Interconnect,” filed Aug. 8, 2016 and claims the benefit of priority under 35 U.S.C.","119(e) to Provisional Patent Application Ser.","No.","62/251,000, entitled “Application Specific Integrated Circuit Point-To-Multi-Point Interconnect,” filed Nov. 4, 2015, and claims the benefit of priority under 35 U.S.C.","119(e) to Provisional Patent Application Ser.","No.","62/372,217, entitled “Application Specific Integrated Circuit Point-to-Point Interconnect,” filed Aug. 8, 2016 and claims the benefit of priority under 35 U.S.C.","119(e) to Provisional Patent Application Ser.","No.","62/250,998, entitled “Application Specific Integrated Circuit Point-to-Point Interconnect,” filed Nov. 4, 2015, all of which are incorporated herein by reference as if set forth in full.","BACKGROUND 1.Technical Field The various embodiments described herein are related to application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), and more particularly to the design of various ASICs.","2.Related Art Continuing advances in semiconductor device fabrication technology have yielded a steady decline in the size of process nodes.","For example, 22 nanometer (nm) process nodes were introduced in 2012 but were quickly succeeded by 14 nm fin field-effect transistors (FinFETs) in 2014 while 5 nm process nodes are projected for 2020.The decrease in process node size allows a growing number of intellectual property (IP) cores or IP blocks to be placed on a single ASIC chip.","That is, modern ASIC designs often spread numerous process nodes across a comparatively large silicon die, and include combinations of IP blocks and logic functions.","At the same time, modern technology also requires increased connectivity and large data transfers between various IP blocks.","In addition, modern ASIC chips frequently include multiple clock domains in order to leverage multi-core implementations.","Thus, one or more clock signals may need to be distributed across the chip in a manner that minimizes clock skew.","For instance, the edge of the clock signal received at a logic block located near a clock source should be aligned with those received at more distant logic blocks.","To simplify data exchange among heterogeneous IPs, data is exchanged using a shared communication protocol (i.e.","AMBA-AXI) which make use of Master and Slave interfaces.","Conventionally, a balanced clock signal distribution (i.e., timing closure) is achieved by inserting buffers.","For example, pursuant to a traditional ASIC design flow, after floor planning and placing various IP blocks, a clock tree (i.e., a clock distribution network) may be synthesized and buffers may be added along the signal path from a clock source to various IP blocks according to the clock tree.","In fact, timing closure for a clock signal that is distributed over a large and complex ASIC design typically requires the strategic placement of numerous buffers.","Moreover, the distribution of a clock signal is also highly susceptible to both systematic and random variations.","In particular, proper timing closure must account for the effects of on-chip variations that arise as a result of different process, voltage, and temperature (PVTs) and operation modes, which would otherwise introduce additional clock skews.","As such, the most laborious and time consuming aspect of conventional ASIC design tends to be clock alignment.","Clock tree synthesis and timing closure generally require significant manual intervention.","In addition, the mechanisms (i.e., buffers) used to balance the clock across an ASIC chip generally consume a majority of the power in any conventional ASIC design.","If the distance between to IPs is too long for guaranteeing timing closure, one or more Protocol Pipeline Stage (i.e.","AMBA Register Slice) is inserted between them to relax timing between the two IP ports, complicating even more top level clock routing and balancing, and significantly increasing the used area.","Therefore, what is needed are an apparatus and method that overcome these significant problems found in the aforementioned conventional approach to modern ASIC design.","SUMMARY Apparatuses and methods for ASIC interconnect design are provided.","A Chronos Link is an ASIC on-chip and off-chip interconnect communication protocol that allows two IP blocks to transmit and receive information.","The Chronos Link protocol may utilize messages or signals to indicate the availability and/or readiness of information to be exchanged between a producer device and a consumer device allowing the communication to be placed on hold and to be resumed seamlessly.","The Chronos Link stands out by relying on a reduced set of timing assumptions and is robustness against delay variations.","To do so, the Chronos Link transmits data using delay insensitive (DI) codes and quasi-delay-insensitive (QDI) logic, making the communication insensitive to all wire and gate delay variations.","Also, a unique characteristic of a Chronos Link, when compared to related solutions, is the fact that the Chronos Link uses temporal compression in its internal paths to reduce the overheads of QDI logic and efficiently transmit data.","In fact, data can be compressed by different ratios, which can be any rational number (as long as a technology specific maximum frequency restriction is respected).","Chronos Link protocol agnostic capability allows for direct replacement of many commonly used ASIC communication protocol such as AMBA AXI, CoreConnect, IPBus, OCP, Hyper Transport, Quick Path, etc.","or it can be tailored to a fully custom implementation.","Other features and advantages of the present inventive concept should be apparent from the following description which illustrates by way of example aspects of the present inventive concept.","BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The above and other aspects and features of the present inventive concept will be more apparent by describing example embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: FIG.","1 is a top level block diagram of a generic ASIC design; FIG.","2 illustrates a generic Advanced Microcontroller Bus Architecture (AMBA) with Advanced eXtensible Interface (AXI), known as AMBA-AXI, (composed of 5 AMBA-AXI Channels: Address Write (AW), Write (W), Write Response (B), Address Read (AR) and Read (R)); FIG.","3A details the AMBA AXI Write channel and its control signals; FIG.","3B illustrates an exemplary implementation of the AMBA AXI Write channel with Chronos Link (a combination of a Chronos Channel plus a Chronos Controller Slave and a Chronos Controller Master) according to various embodiments; FIG.","4A is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary embodiment of a generic Chronos Channel implementation; FIG.","4B shows an exemplary Chronos Channel using Join or Merge blocks; FIG.","4C shows an exemplary Chronos Channel using Fork or Steer blocks; and FIG.","4D shows an exemplary Chronos Channel using Join, Merge, Fork and Steer blocks.","FIG.","5A illustrates an exemplary embodiment of the Chronos Slave Controller; FIG.","5B illustrates an exemplary embodiment of the Chronos Master Controller; FIG.","5C illustrate an exemplary embodiment of the Chronos Register Controller; FIG.","6A illustrates an exemplary implementation of a standard register to register interface; FIG.","6B illustrates an exemplary implementation of a register interface with Chronos Link (a combination of a Chronos Channel plus a Chronos Register Controller) according to various embodiments; FIG.","7 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of a Mutex element; FIG.","8A illustrates an exemplary embodiment of a synchronizer; FIG.","8B illustrates exemplary Mutex waveforms ; FIG.","9A illustrates an exemplary embodiment of a Chronos Slave Controller state flow diagram of a burst mode machine; FIG.","9B illustrates an exemplary embodiment of a Chronos Master Controller state flow diagram of a burst mode machine; FIG.","10A shows an exemplary embodiment of an AXI producer channel handshake protocol in which two auxiliary signals (ValidM and ReadyM), are used to implement the handshake protocol; FIG.","10B shows an exemplary embodiment of an AXI consumer channel handshake protocol in which two auxiliary signals (ValidS and ReadyS), are used to implement the handshake protocol; and FIG.","11 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary wired or wireless system according to various embodiments.","DETAILED DESCRIPTION While certain embodiments are described, these embodiments are presented by way of example only, and are not intended to limit the scope of protection.","The methods and systems described herein may be embodied in a variety of other forms.","Furthermore, various omissions, substitutions, and changes in the form of the example methods and systems described herein may be made without departing from the scope of protection.","FIG.","1 is a chart illustrating an example of top level block diagram 100 for a generic ASIC design.","The diagram of FIG.","1 shows data communication between various IP blocks including, for example, but not limited to, Two Central Processing Units (CPU) blocks 151, and 152, a Random Access Memory (RAM) block 153, a Read Only Memory (ROM) block 154, a General Purpose IO (GPIO) block 155, a Universal Asynchronous Receiver-Transmitter (UART) block 156, a Universal Serial Bus (USB) block 157, a Bluetooth block 158, an Ethernet PHY block 159 and an AXI Crossbar block 160; through a specific protocol bus interconnect (i. e. AMBA-AXI interconnect with its 5 communication channels).","In this diagram each IP has one or more Master or Slave bus interconnect ports to perform the data communication tasks.","FIG.","2 shows the detail of a AMBA-AXI interconnect between a Master (block 211) and a Slave (block 212) port.","In the diagram of FIG.","2 the five independent channels (Write-Address (AW-CHANNEL in FIG.","1), Write-Data (W-CHANNEL in FIG.","1), Write-Response (B-CHANNEL in FIG.","1), Read-Address (AR-CHANNEL in FIG.","1), and Read-Data (R-CHANNEL in FIG.","1)) with their payloads and control signals (e.g., AWREADY and AWVALID, for example as shown in FIG.","2) can be seen.","FIG.","3A illustrates details for one AMBA-AXI channel (Write-Data) where a Master port (310) transfers data to a Slave Port (311).","FIG.","3B illustrates an exemplary implementation of a Chronos Link (360) to perform the same data exchange as the AMBA-AXI channel of FIG.","1 between the Master port (310) and the Slave port (311).","FIG.","10A shows an exemplary embodiment of an AXI producer channel handshake protocol in which two auxiliary signals (ValidM and ReadyM), are used to implement the handshake protocol.","The ValidM signal generated by the producer indicates validity of the data, while the ReadyM signal received by the producer indicates the readiness of the consumer to accept new data.","Only when both signals are asserted can the data be successfully transferred into the channel.","In a Chronos-Link, the data is compressed and converted in a delay insensitive code.","In one embodiment, a Chronos Slave Controller generates the ReadyM signal and transmits it to the producer based on receiving a Full signal from the Chronos Channel.","FIG.","10B shows an exemplary embodiment of an AXI consumer channel handshake protocol in which two auxiliary signals (ValidS and ReadyS), are used to implement the handshake protocol.","The ValidS signal received by the consumer indicates validity of the data, while the ReadyS signal generated by the consumer indicates the readiness of the consumer to accept new data.","Only when both signals are asserted can the data be successfully extracted from the channel.","In a Chronos-Link, the data coming from the Chronos Channel is de-compressed and converted back to its original format.","In one embodiment, a Chronos Master Controller, takes care of generating the ValidS signal and transmitting it to the consumer based on receiving an Empty signal from the Chronos Channel.","A Chronos Link is an ASIC on-chip and off-chip interconnect communication protocol that allows two IP blocks to transmit and receive information.","The Chronos Link protocol may utilize messages or signals to indicate the availability and/or readiness of information to be exchanged between a producer device and a consumer device allowing the communication to be placed on hold and to be resumed seamlessly.","The Chronos Link stands out by relying on a reduced set of timing assumptions and is robustness against delay variations.","To do so, the Chronos Link transmits data using delay insensitive (DI) codes and quasi-delay-insensitive (QDI) logic, making the communication insensitive to all wire and gate delay variations.","Also, a unique characteristic of a Chronos Link, when compared to related solutions, is the fact that the Chronos Link uses temporal compression in its internal paths to reduce the overheads of QDI logic and efficiently transmit data.","In fact, data can be compressed by different ratios, which can be any rational number (as long as a technology specific maximum frequency restriction is respected).","Chronos Link protocol agnostic capability allows for direct replacement of many commonly used ASIC communication protocol such as AMBA AXI, CoreConnect, IPBus, OCP, Hyper Transport, Quick Path, etc.","or it can be tailored to a fully custom implementation.","In one embodiment a Chronos Link (360) is composed of a Chronos Channel (361) fully disclosed in a separate utility patent application (patent application Ser.","No.","15/344,416) plus a Chronos Slave Controller (362), communicating directly to the original Master Port 310 and a Chronos Master Controller (363) to connect to the original Slave Port 311.A Chronos Link brings all the advantage of Chronos Channels to a communication protocol, allowing independent clock references for Master and Slave IPs, PVT tolerance, simplified floorplan, enhanced yield, and data time compression (with potential for minimize routing).","FIG.","4A is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary embodiment of a generic Chronos Channel 400 according to various embodiments.","A Chronos Channel is an ASIC Interconnect that allows transmitter blocks to send data to receiver blocks.","It stands out by relying on a reduced set of timing assumptions and is robust against delay variations.","To do so, Chronos Channels transmit data using delay insensitive (DI) codes and quasi-delay-insensitive (QDI) logic.","In this way, Chronos Channels are insensitive to all wire and gate delay variations, but for those belonging to a few specific forking logic paths called isochronic forks.","Also, a unique characteristic of a Chronos Channel, when compared to related solutions, is the fact that it uses temporal compression in its internal paths to reduce overheads of QDI logic and efficiently transmit data.","In fact, data can be compressed by different ratios, which can be any rational number (as long as a technology specific maximum frequency restriction is respected).","In this way, a Chronos Channel is defined by the combination of a DI code (and related handshake protocol), a temporal compression ratio and the hardware required to encode, decode, compress, decompress and transmit data.","DI codes are a specific family of encoding schemes where no codeword can be contained in another codeword.","This allows a receiver to perceive the transmission of a codeword unambiguously.","Such a characteristic eliminates the need for a control signal that identifies the validity of a data channel, and its respective timing assumptions (as in synchronous or bundled-data asynchronous design), as the validity of the data channel is encoded in the data itself.","Also, note that, usually, DI codes are employed in digital applications, which means that their code words are typically defined using a set of binary values.","However, in a Chronos Channel, signals do not need to be digital and codewords can be represented using sets with more than 2 values, provided that data is still encoded using a DI code.","In other words, the data in a Chronos Channel can be composed of analog signals, as long as no codeword is contained in another codeword.","Such characteristic allows a more flexible usage of Chronos Channels.","Another aspect of DI codes is that, to allow data transmission, they are usually coupled to a handshake protocol, which is usually 4- or 2-phases.","Referring to FIG.","4A, in various embodiments, a Chronos Channel may serve as a connection 400 between a n-bit wide data bus running at a frequency determined by a clockA frequency and a second p-bit wide data bus running at a frequency determined by a clockB frequency.","According to one exemplary embodiment, the connection 400 may include a transmitter 410 (i.e., a synchronous to asynchronous gasket) and a receiver 420 (i.e., an asynchronous to synchronous gasket).","In various embodiments, data “n” from a first block (not shown) and a clock signal “clockA” may enter the transmitter 410 and the output (i.e., asynchronous data) from the transmitter 410 may travel through a timing independent channel composed of a “i+1” rows of “h+1”-number of parallel repeaters 430.The asynchronous data from the transmitter 410 is then input into the receiver 420 that is associated with the second block (not shown).","The output of the receiver 420 includes data “p” that is input into the second block.","The transmitter 410 also produces an asynchronous signal (labeled “full”) to indicate when the pipeline is full.","The Receiver 420 also produces an asynchronous signal (labeled “empty”) to indicate when the pipeline is empty.","Advantageously, the timing independent channel composed of the repeaters 430 is self-regulating and process independent.","As such, in various embodiments, the timing independent channel between the first block and the second block may be established by a handshake procedure without any need to perform complex timing closure.","In some embodiments, the timing independent channel between the transmitter 410 and the receiver 420 may include one or more repeaters 430.The repeaters 430 may improve signal strength and throughput in the asynchronous pipeline between the transmitter 410 and the receiver 420.Alternately, the transmitter 410 and the receiver 420 may have a direct connection, i.e., without any repeaters 430.The transmitter 410 also includes “j” encoders (Enc) 411; a “j/i” temporal compressor (TC) 412.The receiver 420 includes a “i/q” temporal decompressor (TD) 422, and “q” decoders (Dec) 421.FIG.","4B shows a block diagram of an exemplary Chronos Channel using Join or Merge blocks in a multi-point-to-point connection 430 according to various embodiments.","Referring to FIG.","4B, in various embodiments, a multi-point-to-point connection 430 may serve as a connection between two producer IP blocks and a third consumer IP block.","The producer IPs are connected to respective inputs of TXs 431 and 432 (and subsequently to inputs of two repeaters RP0 and RP1 in this example), thereby generating two independent paths in the Chronos Channel.","These paths can then be combined using a flow control block 433, which can be (but are not limited to) a merge, a join or a select component, depending of the control flow requirements.","For example, a merge component combines the information of both paths into a single output path, while a select or a join component can arbitrate between paths using some control mechanism.","The output of the control flow block 433 will be propagated to the inputs of an RX block 434 via a third repeater RP2 in this example.","Note that repeaters RP0, RP1 and RP2 can be added in any point between TXs 431 and 432 and RX 434, including before and after the flow control block 433.FIG.","4C shows a block diagram of an exemplary Chronos Channel using Fork or Steer blocks in a point-to-multi-point connection 440 according to various embodiments.","Referring to FIG.","4C, in various embodiments, the point-to-multi-point connection 440 may serve as a connection between a producer IP block and two consumer IP blocks.","The producer IP is connected to an input of TX 441 (and a repeater RP0 in this example) and the generated path in the Chronos Channel can be divided using a flow control block 442, which can be (but is not limited to) a fork or a steer component, depending on the flow control requirements.","For example, a fork component sends the same input information to both output paths, while a steer component can arbitrate to send different input information to each of the output paths using some control mechanism.","The outputs of the control flow block 442 are propagated to inputs of RX blocks 443 and 444.Note that repeaters RP0, RP1 and RP2 can be added in any point between the TX 441 and the RXs 443 and 444, including before and after the flow control block 442.FIG.","4D shows a block diagram of an exemplary Chronos Channel using Join, Merge, Fork and Steer blocks illustrating a multi-point-to-multi-point connection 450 according to various embodiments.","Referring to FIG.","4D, in various embodiments, the multi-point-to-multi-point connection 450 may serve as a connection between a set of producer IP blocks and a set of consumer IP blocks.","Each producer IP block is connected to one of j TXs 451 (TX0, TX1 to TXj), each which generates an independent path in the Chronos Channel.","These independent paths can then be combined using different combinations of TX-side flow control blocks 452 and any number of repeaters (RP0 to RPh) to implement a specific functionality.","The combined paths are received at a RX-side set of flow control blocks 453 and forwarded via repeaters (RP0, RP1 to RPq in this example) to q RXs 454 (RX0, RX1 to RXq).","In the end of each path in the Chronos Channel, the RXs 454 are interfaced with the consumer IPs.","Note that between the TXs 452 and the RXs 454 (RX0, RX1 to RXq), different combinations of flow control blocks 452 and 453 and repeaters can be employed, to fulfil functional and performance requirements.","Any of the Chronos Channel connections 400, 420, 430 and 450 may be used as the Chronos Channel 361 described above in reference to FIG.","3B.","FIG.","5A is a block diagram illustrating a Chronos Slave Controller 500 according to various embodiments.","The Chronos Slave Controller 500 may be used in various embodiments as the Chronos Slave Controller 362 described above in reference to FIG.","3B.","The most important element in the controller 500 is the synchronizer 510 which is responsible for the synchronization of the asynchronous signals coming from the Chronos Channel 361 (FIG.","3B) in asynchronous domain (in particular full) to the synchronous domain.","Depending on Medium Time Between Failures (MTBF) requirement the physical implementation of the synchronizer can change.","An exemplary embodiment of the circuit is represented in FIG.","5A 510 composed of a Mutex (511) followed by a Flip-Flop (512).","Other embodiments can be implemented such as replacing the Mutex with a second Flip-Flop, or a composition of a “n” number of alternating latches, and or combinations of the above elements, trading latency performance for MTBF performance.","As can be seen in FIG.","3B, the addition of the Chronos Slave Controller 500 as the Chronos Slave Controller 362 allows a Master Interface 310 to properly interact with the Chronos Channel 361 as if it was communicating with a standard synchronous Slave Interface.","FIG.","5B is a block diagram illustrating a Chronos Master Controller 550 according to various embodiments.","The Chronos Master Controller 550 may be used in various embodiments as the Chronos Slave Controller 363 described above in reference to FIG.","3B.","The most important element in the controller 550 is a synchronizer 560 which is responsible for the synchronization of the asynchronous signals coming from the Chronos Channel 361 in asynchronous domain (in particular empty) to the synchronous domain.","Depending on Medium Time Between Failures (MTBF) requirement the physical implementation of the synchronizer can change.","An exemplary embodiment of a synchronizer circuit 560 is represented in FIG.","5B.","The synchronizer circuit 560 comprises a Mutex (561) followed by a Flip-Flop (562).","Other embodiments can be implemented such as replacing the Mutex 561 with a second Flip-Flop 562, or alternatively a “n” number of alternating latches, and or combinations of the above elements, trading latency performance for MTBF performance.","As can be seen in FIG.","3B, addition of the Chronos Master Controller 550 as the Chronos Master Controller 363 allows the Slave Interface 311 to properly interact with the Chronos Channel 361 as if it was communicating with a standard synchronous Master Interface.","FIG.","7 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of a block diagram of a Mutex (701).","The Mutex (701) is commonly composed of two main elements: Latch (711) and Metastability Filter (712).","The Mutex 701 has the characteristics of eliminating metastable levels at its output, or in other words, if either setup-time or hold-time are violated its outputs resolves to a valid logic level; the propagation delay of the outputs can be unbounded when this happens.","An exemplary implementation of a Mutex is shown in 720.Only one of a G1 and G2 output can reach a “high” logic level at any one time (never both).","If R1 and R2 inputs transition high in close proximity, metastability can result.","The metastability filter 712 keeps both outputs (G1 and G2) at a “low” logic level until metastability resolves.","Table 730 shows an example of a True table of the Mutex 701.FIG.","8a shows an exemplary implementation of a synchronizer (800) used within a Chronos Master Controller, a Chronos Slave Controller and a Chronos Register Controller.","It is composed of a Mutex (810), with a pin R2 driven by an inverted version of a clock signal, where the output (mid) of the Mutex (810) is transferred to a Flip-Flop (811).","The Mutex (810) receiving the inverted clock signal at the R2 pin produces an output (mid) which guarantees at least half a clock cycle of setup time for the Flip-Flop 811.Furthermore, because of the behavior of the Mutex 810, the mid signal presented to the Flip-Flop is always level correct, reducing even further the MTBF of the synchronizer as a whole, compared to the standard 2 Flip-Flop solution.","FIG.","8b shows exemplary waveforms (850) of the synchronizer described above.","FIG.","9A illustrates an exemplary embodiment of a Chronos Slave Controller state flow diagram of a burst mode machine.","FIG.","9A shows a burst mode specification of the behavior of the exemplary Chronos Slave Controller presented in FIG.","5A.","As FIG.","9A shows, at reset, the circuit will set its “ready” output to 1, its “ctrl” output to 0 and enter state S0.At this state, the connected producer IP has no data for the Chronos Channel to consume and the Chronos Channel is not full.","In this way, at every clock cycle (“clk” at 1), the Chronos Slave Controller can keep its outputs at reset state, to indicate to the producer IP that it is ready to receive data (“ready” at 1) and to signal to the Chronos Channel that it should not consume any data available in its inputs (“ctrl” at 0).","Note that, at reset, the inputs of the controller are expected to be both 0.Also, note that every transition in the outputs of the controller happen during clock transitions (“clk” at 1) because the IP connected to it is synchronous input (and share the same clock signal of the controller) and the Chronos Channel consumes data from a synchronous bus (the output of the producer IP).","Therefore, data validity of this bus is signaled by a clocked signal.","From S0, the circuit will set “ctrl” to 1 and switch to state S1 if a rising edge is detected in its “valid” input, meaning that the producer IP has new data to be consumed.","At S1, the system is in a state where the producer IP has new data to be consumed and the Chronos Channel is not full.","Therefore, at every rising edge of the clock signal (“clk” at 1), the controller will write 1 in both its outputs, to indicate to the producer IP that it is ready to receive data (“ready” at 1) and to signal to the Chronos Channel that it should consume the data available in its inputs (“ctrl” at 1).","From S1, the controller can: (i) go back to S0 if the producer IP signals that it has no new data to be consumed (“valid” switches back to 0); (ii) switch to S2 if the Chronos Channel becomes full (“full” switches to 1); or (iii) stay at S1 if neither of the aforementioned conditions are true (in this case a burst transmission is still taking place).","At S2, the producer IP has new data to be consumed but the Chronos Channel is full and cannot receive it.","Therefore, at every clock cycle (“clk” at 1), the controller will set both its outputs to 0, to indicate to the producer IP that it is not ready to receive data (“ready” at 0) and to signal to the Chronos Channel that it should not consume any data available in its inputs (“ctrl” at 0), to avoid overwriting previous data consumed by it.","From S2, the controller can: (i) go back to S1 if the Chronos Channel frees space for more data (switching “full” back to 0); (ii) switch to S3 if the producer IP signals that it has no new data to be consumed (“valid” switches to 0); or (iii) stay at S2 if neither of the aforementioned conditions are true.","At S3, the producer IP has no new data and the Chronos Channel is full.","Hence, at every clock cycle (“clk” at 1), the controller will set both its outputs to 0, to indicate to the producer IP that it is not ready to receive data (“ready” at 0) and to signal to the Chronos Channel that it should not consume any data available in its inputs (“ctrl” at 0), to avoid overwriting previous data consumed by it.","From S2, the controller can: (i) go back to S2 if the producer IP signals that it has new data to be consumed (“valid” switches back to 1); (ii) switch to S0 if the Chronos Channel frees space for more data (switching “full” to 0); or (iii) stay at S3 if neither of the aforementioned conditions are true.","FIG.","9B illustrates an exemplary embodiment of a Chronos Master Controller state flow diagram of a burst mode machine.","FIG.","9B shows a burst mode specification of the behavior of the Chronos Master Controller presented in FIG.","5B.","As FIG.","9B shows, at reset, the circuit will set its “valid” output to 0, its “ctrl” output to 1 and enter state S0.At this state, the connected Chronos Channel is empty and there is no data for the consumer IP to consume.","At every clock cycle (“clk” at 1), the Chronos Slave Controller will keep its valid output at reset state, to indicate to the consumer IP that there is no data for it to consume (“valid” at 0).","Note that, at reset, the “empty” input of the controller is expected to be at 1 and the “ready” input is expected to be at 0.Also note that every transition in the output of the controller connected to the consumer IP happen during clock transitions because the consumer IP is synchronous (and shares the same clock signal of the controller).","However, transitions in the output that feed the Chronos Channel are not controlled by the clock signal because the data generated by it is asynchronous.","From S0, the controller can: (i) switch to S1 if the Chronos Channel has new data to be consumed (“empty” switches to 0); (ii) switch to S3 if the consumer IP becomes ready to receive new data (“ready” switches to 1); or (iii) stay at S0 if neither of the aforementioned conditions are true.","At S1, the system is in a state where the Chronos Channel has new data to be consumed but the consumer IP cannot receive it.","Therefore, at every rising edge of the clock signal (“clk” at 1), the controller will write 1 in its “valid” output, to indicate to the consumer IP that new data is available.","Note that while switching from S0 to S1 or S2 to S1, the controller will switch its “ctrl” output to 0, to signal to the Chronos Channel that the data in its output was not consumed (as “ready” is at 0) and avoid it to be overwritten.","The value of “ctrl” will stay at 0 until the controller switch to S1.From S1, the controller can: (i) switch to S2 if the consumer IP becomes ready to receive new data (“ready” switches to 1); or (ii) stay at S1.At S2, the system is in a state where the Chronos Channel has new data to be consumed and the consumer IP is ready to receive it.","Therefore, at every rising edge of the clock signal (“clk” at 1), the controller will write 1 in its “valid” output, to indicate to the consumer IP that new data is available.","Also, while switching from S2 to S1, the controller will switch its “ctrl” output to 1, to signal to the Chronos Channel that the data in its output will be consumed in the next clock cycle (as “ready” is at 1), so that it can generate new data.","Note that the value of “ctrl” will stay at 1 until the controller switch to S1.From S2, the controller can: (i) switch back to S1 if the consumer IP stops being ready to receive new data (“ready” switches to 0); (ii) switch to S3 if the Chronos Channel becomes empty and no new data is available for the consumer IP to receive (“empty” switches to 1); or (iii) stay at S2 if neither of the aforementioned conditions are true (in this case a burst is taking place).","At S3, the system is in a state where the consumer IP is ready to receive data, but the Chronos Channel has no new data in its outputs.","Therefore, at every rising edge of the clock signal (“clk” at 1), the controller will write 0 in its “valid” output, to indicate to the consumer IP that there is no new data available.","Note that, while switching from S0 to S3, the controller will switch its “ctrl” output to 1, to signal to the Chronos Channel that its can generate new data in its output as soon as it is ready, because the consumer IP is ready to receive (as “ready” is at 1).","Note that the value of “ctrl” will stay at 1 until the controller switch to S1.From S3, the controller can: (i) switch back to S2 if the Chronos Channel becomes not empty and has new data for the consumer IP to receive (“empty” switches to 0); (ii) switch to S0 if the consumer IP stops being ready to receive new data (“ready” switches to 0); or (iii) stay at S3 if neither of the aforementioned conditions are true.","In various embodiments, sets of Chronos Links between different IP blocks allow timing independent channels to be established between IP blocks in the ASIC design 100, for example.","For example, in reference to FIG.","1, a first set of five timing independent channel links may be established between the CPU block 151 and the AXI-Crossbar 160 using five different Chronos Links.","In various embodiments, the first timing independent channel may be a part of a point-to-point connection between the CPU block 151 and the AXI-Crossbar 160 (labeled “intc1” in FIG.","1).","Eight other sets of timing independent channel links, each containing five different Chronos Links may be established between the CPU block 152 and the AXI-Crossbar 160 (see “intc2”), the RAM block 153 and the AXI-Crossbar 160 (see “intc3”), the ROM block 154 and the AXI-Crossbar 160 (see “intc4”), the GPIO block 155 and the AXI-Crossbar 160 (see “intc5”), the UART block 156 and the AXI-Crossbar 160 (see “intc6”), the USB block 157 and the AXI-Crossbar 160 (see “intc7”), the Bluetooth block 158 and the AXI-Crossbar 160 (see “intc8”), and the Ethernet PHY block 159 and the AXI-Crossbar 160 (see “intc9”), each using five independent Chronos Links as highlighted for the “intc1” connection for the CPU block 151 in FIG.","1.According to one exemplary embodiment, timing closure for the ASIC design 100 may be accomplished with simplified, top level checks.","That is, testing each individual IP block in the ASIC design 100 across all corners (i.e., PVT corners) obviates any complex timing margin evaluation for the ASIC design 100 as a whole.","As illustrated in FIG.","3B, introduction of a Chronos Link 360 (Chronos Channel 361+Chronos Slave Controller 362+Chronos Master Controller 363) has the unique characteristic to completely decouple the Master Interface 211 (FIG.","2) from the Slave Interface 212 (FIG.","2) in terms of both frequency and phase of operation as well as data bus width.","The combination of a timing insensitive channel (e.g., a Chronos Channel) and proper handling of the communication protocol (i.e.","AMBA-AXI) allows for isochronous, mesochronous, plesiochronous and asynchronous communication between the IP blocks without data corruption and/or data losses.","Furthermore, the availability of linear compression within the Chronos Channel enables the possibility of connecting IP blocks even with different data width (as long as they operate on the same protocol).","Chronos link 360 includes linear compression capability that allows for easier routing in the ASIC design 100 between IP blocks by lowering the total numbers of wires connecting the different IP blocks.","As a result of lowering the total number of wires, manufacturing wire failure yield is also improved.","Power efficiency is also boosted by allowing the various IP blocks to send and receive short bursts of data independently from each other (Master Interface can potentially send a quick burst of data and power down, while the Slave Interface on the other side is still in power down state) due to the intrinsic memory characteristic of the Chronos Channel, and the handling of the communication protocol by the Chronos slave and master controllers 362 and 363.FIG.","6A illustrates an exemplary implementation of a standard register to register interface 600 commonly used in ASIC design to dynamically change IP configuration settings for different modes of operation.","The register configuration usually does not require a complete handshake.","The register interface 600 includes a transmit register 610 linked to a receive register 620 via a channel.","FIG.","6B illustrates an exemplary implementation of a register interface 650 with Chronos Link (a combination of a Chronos Channel plus a Chronos Register Controller) according to various embodiments.","FIG.","6B shows an implementation of a Chronos Link (651) to perform the same configuration register exchange between the TX Register (610) and the RX Register (620).","In one embodiment a Chronos Link (651) composed of a Chronos Channel (361) fully disclosed in a separate utility patent (Attorney Docket Number 123666-001UT1) plus a Chronos Register Controller (652).","A Chronos Link links the transmit register 610 and the receive register 620 and brings all the advantages of Chronos Channels to a communication protocol, allowing independent clock references for Master and Slave IP blocks, PVT tolerance, simplified floorplan, enhanced yield, data time compression (with potential for minimize routing).","FIG.","5C is a block diagram illustrating a Chronos Register Controller 570 according to various embodiments.","The most important element in the controller is the synchronizer 560 which is responsible for the synchronization of the asynchronous signals coming from the TX register 610 via Chronos Channel 361 in the asynchronous domain (in particular empty) and being transformed to the synchronous domain of the RX register 620.Depending on Medium Time Between Failures (MTBF) requirement the physical implementation of the synchronizer 560 can change.","An exemplary embodiment of the circuit is represented in FIG.","5C 570 composed of a Mutex (561) followed by a Flip-Flop (562).","Other embodiments can be implemented such as replacing the Mutex with a second Flip-Flop, or a composition of a “n” number of alternating latches, and or a combinations of the above elements, trading latency performance for MTBF performance.","FIG.","11 is a block diagram illustrating a wired or wireless system 750 according to various embodiments that may utilize the systems and various types of links and channels described above in reference to the other Figures.","In various embodiments, the system 750 may be a conventional personal computer, computer server, personal digital assistant, smart phone, tablet computer, or any other processor enabled device that is capable of wired or wireless data communication.","A person having ordinary skill in the art can appreciate that other computer systems and/or architectures may be used without departing from the scope of the present inventive concept.","The system 750 preferably includes one or more processors, such as processor 760.Additional processors may be provided, such as an auxiliary processor to manage input/output, an auxiliary processor to perform floating point mathematical operations, a special-purpose microprocessor having an architecture suitable for fast execution of signal processing algorithms (e.g., digital signal processor), a slave processor subordinate to the main processing system (e.g., back-end processor), an additional microprocessor or controller for dual or multiple processor systems, or a coprocessor.","Such auxiliary processors may be discrete processors or may be integrated with the processor 760.The processor 760 is preferably connected to a communication bus 755.The communication bus 755 may include a data channel for facilitating information transfer between storage and other peripheral components of the system 750.The communication bus 755 further may provide a set of signals used for communication with the processor 760, including a data bus, address bus, and control bus (not shown).","The communication bus 755 may comprise any standard or non-standard bus architecture such as, for example, bus architectures compliant with industry standard architecture (“ISA”), extended industry standard architecture (“EISA”), Micro Channel Architecture (“MCA”), peripheral component interconnect (“PCI”) local bus, or standards promulgated by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (“IEEE”) including IEEE 488 general-purpose interface bus (“GPIB”), IEEE 696/S-100, and the like.","The system 750 preferably includes a main memory 765 and may also include a secondary memory 770.The main memory 765 provides storage of instructions and data for programs executing on the processor 760.The main memory 765 is typically semiconductor-based memory such as dynamic random access memory (“DRAM”) and/or static random access memory (“SRAM”).","Other semiconductor-based memory types include, for example, synchronous dynamic random access memory (“SDRAM”), Rambus dynamic random access memory (“RDRAM”), ferroelectric random access memory (“FRAM”), and the like, including read only memory (“ROM”).","The secondary memory 770 may optionally include an internal memory 775 and/or a removable medium 780, for example a floppy disk drive, a magnetic tape drive, a compact disc (“CD”) drive, a digital versatile disc (“DVD”) drive, etc.","The removable medium 780 is read from and/or written to in a well-known manner.","Removable medium 780 may be, for example, a floppy disk, magnetic tape, CD, DVD, SD card, etc.","The removable medium 780 is a non-transitory computer readable medium having stored thereon computer executable code (i.e., software) and/or data.","The computer software or data stored on the removable medium 780 is read into the system 750 for execution by the processor 760.In alternative embodiments, secondary memory 770 may include other similar means for allowing computer programs or other data or instructions to be loaded into the system 750.Such means may include, for example, an external medium 795 and a communication interface 790.Examples of external medium 795 may include an external hard disk drive or an external optical drive, or and external magneto-optical drive.","Other examples of secondary memory 770 may include semiconductor-based memory such as programmable read-only memory (“PROM”), erasable programmable read-only memory (“EPROM”), electrically erasable read-only memory (“EEPROM”), or flash memory (block oriented memory similar to EEPROM).","Also included are a removable medium 580 and a communication interface 790, which allow software and data to be transferred from an external medium 795 to the system 750.The system 750 may also include an input/output (“I/O”) interface 785.The I/O interface 785 facilitates input from and output to external devices.","For example the I/O interface 785 may receive input from a keyboard or mouse and may provide output to a display.","The I/O interface 785 is capable of facilitating input from and output to various alternative types of human interface and machine interface devices alike.","The communication interface 790 allows software and data to be transferred between system 750 and external devices (e.g.","printers), networks, or information sources.","For example, computer software or executable code may be transferred to system 750 from a network server via communication interface 790.Examples of communication interface 790 include, for example, but not limited to, a modem, a network interface card (“NIC”), a wireless data card, a communications port, a PCMCIA slot and card, an infrared interface, and an IEEE 1394 fire-wire.","The communication interface 790 preferably implements industry promulgated protocol standards, such as Ethernet IEEE 802 standards, Fiber Channel, digital subscriber line (“DSL”), asynchronous digital subscriber line (“ADSL”), frame relay, asynchronous transfer mode (“ATM”), integrated digital services network (“ISDN”), personal communications services (“PCS”), transmission control protocol/Internet protocol (“TCP/IP”), serial line Internet protocol/point to point protocol (“SLIP/PPP”), and so on, but may also implement customized or non-standard interface protocols as well.","Software and data transferred via the communication interface 790 are generally in the form of electrical communication signals 605.In one exemplary embodiment, these electrical communication signals 605 are provided to the communication interface 790 via a communication channel 635.In one embodiment, the communication channel 635 may be a wired or wireless network, or any variety of other communication links.","The communication channel 635 carries the electrical communication signals 605 and can be implemented using a variety of wired or wireless communication means including wire or cable, fiber optics, conventional phone line, cellular phone link, wireless data communication link, radio frequency (“RF”) link, or infrared link, just to name a few.","Computer executable code (i.e., computer programs or software) is stored in the main memory 765 and/or the secondary memory 770.Computer programs can also be received via communication interface 590 and stored in the main memory 765 and/or the secondary memory 770.Such computer programs, when executed, enable the system 550 to perform the various functions of the present invention as previously described.","In this description, the term “computer readable medium” is used to refer to any non-transitory computer readable storage media used to provide computer executable code (e.g., software and computer programs) to the system 750.Examples of these media include the main memory 765, the secondary memory 770 (including the internal memory 775, the removable medium 780, and the external medium 795), and any peripheral device communicatively coupled with the communication interface 790 (including a network information server or other network device).","These non-transitory computer readable mediums are means for providing executable code, programming instructions, and software to the system 750.In one embodiment implemented using software, the software may be stored on a computer readable medium and loaded into the system 750 by way of the removable medium 780, the I/O interface 785, or the communication interface 790.In such an embodiment, the software is loaded into the system 750 in the form of electrical communication signals 605.The software, when executed by the processor 760, preferably causes the processor 760 to perform the inventive features and functions previously described herein.","The system 750 also includes optional wireless communication components that facilitate wireless communication over a voice and over a data network.","The wireless communication components comprise an antenna system 655, a radio system 645 and a baseband system 625.In the system 750, radio frequency (“RF”) signals are transmitted and received over the air by the antenna system 655 under the management of the radio system 645.In one embodiment, the antenna system 655 may comprise one or more antennae and one or more multiplexors (not shown) that perform a switching function to provide the antenna system 655 with transmit and receive signal paths.","In the receive path, received RF signals can be coupled from a multiplexor to a low noise amplifier (not shown) that amplifies the received RF signal and sends the amplified signal to the radio system 645.In alternative embodiments, the radio system 645 may comprise one or more radios that are configured to communicate over various frequencies.","In one embodiment, the radio system 645 may combine a demodulator (not shown) and modulator (not shown) in one integrated circuit (“IC”).","The demodulator and modulator can also be separate components.","In the incoming path, the demodulator strips away the RF carrier signal leaving a baseband receive audio signal, which is sent from the radio system 645 to the baseband system 625.If the received signal contains audio information, then baseband system 625 decodes the signal and converts it to an analog signal.","Then the signal is amplified and sent to a speaker.","The baseband system 625may also also receive analog audio signals from a microphone.","These analog audio signals are converted to digital signals and encoded by the baseband system 625.The baseband system 625 also codes the digital signals for transmission and generates a baseband transmit audio signal that is routed to the modulator portion of the radio system 645.The modulator mixes the baseband transmit audio signal with an RF carrier signal generating an RF transmit signal that is routed to the antenna system 655 and may pass through a power amplifier (not shown).","The power amplifier amplifies the RF transmit signal and routes it to the antenna system 655 where the signal is switched to the antenna port for transmission.","The baseband system 625 may also be communicatively coupled with the processor 760.The processor 760 has access to main memory 765 and/or secondary memory 770.The processor 760 is preferably configured to execute instructions (i.e., computer programs or software) that can be stored in the main memory 765 or the secondary memory 770.Computer programs can also be received from the baseband system 625 and stored in the main memory 765 or in secondary memory 770, or executed upon receipt.","Such computer programs, when executed, enable the system 750 to perform the various functions of the present invention as previously described.","For example, the main memory 765 may include various software modules (not shown) that are executable by processor 760.The accompanying claims and their equivalents are intended to cover such forms or modifications as would fall within the scope and spirit of the protection.","For example, the example apparatuses, methods, and systems disclosed herein can be applied wireless communication devices incorporating HF and/or UHF RFID reader capabilities.","The various components illustrated in the figures may be implemented as, for example, but not limited to, software and/or firmware on a processor, ASIC/FPGA/DSP, or dedicated hardware.","Also, the features and attributes of the specific example embodiments disclosed above may be combined in different ways to form additional embodiments, all of which fall within the scope of the present disclosure.","The foregoing method descriptions and the process flow diagrams are provided merely as illustrative examples and are not intended to require or imply that the steps of the various embodiments must be performed in the order presented.","As will be appreciated by one of skill in the art the order of steps in the foregoing embodiments may be performed in any order.","Words such as “thereafter,” “then,” “next,” etc.","are not intended to limit the order of the steps; these words are simply used to guide the reader through the description of the methods.","Further, any reference to claim elements in the singular, for example, using the articles “a,” “an” or “the” is not to be construed as limiting the element to the singular.","The various illustrative logical blocks, modules, circuits, and algorithm steps described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein may be implemented as electronic hardware, computer software, or combinations of both.","To clearly illustrate this interchangeability of hardware and software, various illustrative components, blocks, modules, circuits, and steps have been described above generally in terms of their functionality.","Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware or software depends upon the particular application and design constraints imposed on the overall system.","Skilled artisans may implement the described functionality in varying ways for each particular application, but such implementation decisions should not be interpreted as causing a departure from the scope of the present invention.","The hardware used to implement the various illustrative logics, logical blocks, modules, and circuits described in connection with the aspects disclosed herein may be implemented or performed with a general purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein.","A general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but, in the alternative, the processor may be any conventional processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine.","A processor may also be implemented as a combination of receiver devices, e.g., a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other such configuration.","Alternatively, some steps or methods may be performed by circuitry that is specific to a given function.","In one or more exemplary aspects, the functions described may be implemented in hardware, software, firmware, or any combination thereof.","If implemented in software, the functions may be stored as one or more instructions or code on a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium or non-transitory processor-readable storage medium.","The steps of a method or algorithm disclosed herein may be embodied in processor-executable instructions that may reside on a non-transitory computer-readable or processor-readable storage medium.","Non-transitory computer-readable or processor-readable storage media may be any storage media that may be accessed by a computer or a processor.","By way of example but not limitation, such non-transitory computer-readable or processor-readable storage media may include RAM, ROM, EEPROM, FLASH memory, CD-ROM or other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium that may be used to store desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and that may be accessed by a computer.","Disk and disc, as used herein, includes compact disc (CD), laser disc, optical disc, digital versatile disc (DVD), floppy disk, and Blu-ray disc where disks usually reproduce data magnetically, while discs reproduce data optically with lasers.","Combinations of the above are also included within the scope of non-transitory computer-readable and processor-readable media.","Additionally, the operations of a method or algorithm may reside as one or any combination or set of codes and/or instructions on a non-transitory processor-readable storage medium and/or computer-readable storage medium, which may be incorporated into a computer program product.","Although the present disclosure provides certain example embodiments and applications, other embodiments that are apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art, including embodiments which do not provide all of the features and advantages set forth herein, are also within the scope of this disclosure.","Accordingly, the scope of the present disclosure is intended to be defined only by reference to the appended claims."]],"string":"[\n [\n \"APPLICATION SPECIFIC INTEGRATED CIRCUIT LINK\",\n \"Systems and methods for application specific integrated circuit design using Chronos links are disclosed.\",\n \"A Chronos Link is an ASIC on-chip and off-chip interconnect communication protocol that allows interfaces to transmit and receive information.\",\n \"The protocol may utilize messages or signals to indicate the availability and/or readiness of information to be exchanged between a producer and a consumer allowing the communication to be placed on hold and to be resumed seamlessly.\",\n \"A method includes inserting gaskets and channel repeaters connected to interfaces of multiple intellectual property (IP) blocks in order to replace traditional links with Chronos Links; performing simplified floorplanning; performing simplified placement; performing simplified clock tree synthesis (CTS) and routing; and performing simplified timing closure.\"\n ],\n [\n \"1.A system for communicating between intellectual property blocks, the system comprising: a communication channel communicatively coupled between a first intellectual property block and a second intellectual property block for transmission of data between the first and second intellectual property blocks; a slave controller communicatively coupled between the first intellectual property block and the communication channel, the slave controller comprising: a slave synchronizer circuit configured to receive a first asynchronous signal from the communication channel and transform the received first asynchronous signal into a synchronous domain for controlling the transmission of data according to a first protocol of the first intellectual property block, and a slave digital logic circuit configured to create a first control signal and, using digital logic, regulate the transmission of data into the communication channel; and a master controller communicatively coupled between the communication channel and the second intellectual property block, the master controller comprising: a master synchronizer configured to receive a second asynchronous signal from the communication channel and transform the received second asynchronous signal into the synchronous domain for controlling the transmission of data according to a second protocol of the second intellectual property block, and a master digital logic circuit configured to create a second control signal and, using digital logic, regulate the transmission of data out from the communication channel.\",\n \"2.The system of claim 1, wherein the communication channel is configured to encode data using delay insensitive coding and transmit data using a quasi-delay insensitive logic circuit and a clock-less temporal compression ratio.\",\n \"3.The system of claim 1, wherein the communication channel is configured to translate a traditional handshake communication protocol into a compressed delay insensitive communication protocol where the original control signals are not propagated to the channel but embedded into the data itself.\",\n \"4.The system of claim 2, wherein the communication channel is a point-to-point communication channel.\",\n \"5.The system of claim 2, wherein the communication channel communicatively couples the first intellectual property block to a plurality of intellectual property blocks comprising the second intellectual property block, wherein the master controller comprises a plurality of master controllers, each master controller communicatively coupled between the communication channel and a different intellectual property block of the plurality of intellectual property blocks.\",\n \"6.The system of claim 2, wherein the communication channel communicatively couples the second intellectual property block to a plurality of intellectual property blocks comprising the first intellectual property block, wherein the slave controller comprises a plurality of slave controllers, each slave controller communicatively coupled between the communication channel and a different intellectual property block of the plurality of intellectual property blocks.\",\n \"7.The system of claim 2, wherein the communication channel communicatively couples a plurality of first intellectual property blocks to a plurality of second intellectual property blocks, wherein the master controller comprises a plurality of master controllers, each master controller communicatively coupled between the communication channel and a different second intellectual property block of the plurality of second intellectual property blocks, and the slave controller comprises a plurality of slave controllers, each slave controller communicatively coupled between the communication channel and a different first intellectual property block of the plurality of first intellectual property blocks.\",\n \"8.The system of claim 1, wherein the delay insensitive coding comprises analog signals.\",\n \"9.The system of claim 1, wherein the first intellectual property block is a producer block and the second intellectual property block is a consumer block, wherein data is transmitted from the producer block to the consumer block.\",\n \"10.The system of claim 1, wherein the first and second intellectual property blocks are disposed on a common application specific integrated circuit chip.\",\n \"11.The system of claim 1, wherein at least one of the slave and the master synchronizer comprises a flip-flop circuit communicatively coupled to the digital logic circuit and configured to transmit the transformed first or second asynchronous signal to the digital logic circuit.\",\n \"12.The system of claim 1, wherein at least one of the slave and the master synchronizer comprises a mutex circuit communicatively coupled to a flip-flop circuit, the mutex circuit configured to receive the asynchronous signal and the flip-flop circuit configured to transmit the transformed first or second asynchronous signal to the digital logic circuit.\",\n \"13.A system for communicating between intellectual property blocks, the system comprising: a communication channel communicatively coupled between a first intellectual property block and a second intellectual property block for transmission of register information between the first and second intellectual property blocks, the register information comprising data for configuring a mode of operation of the second intellectual property block; a register controller communicatively coupled between the second intellectual property block and the communication channel, the register controller comprising: a synchronizer circuit configured to receive an asynchronous signal from the communication channel and transform the received asynchronous signal into a synchronous domain, and a digital logic circuit configured to create a control signal comprising the data for configuring a mode of operation and transmit the control signal over the communication channel using digital logic.\",\n \"14.The system of claim 13, wherein the communication channel is configured to encode data using delay insensitive coding and transmit data using a quasi-delay insensitive logic circuit and a clock-less temporal compression ratio.\",\n \"15.The system of claim 13, wherein the communication channel is configured to translate a traditional handshake communication protocol into a compressed delay insensitive communication protocol where the original control signals are not propagated to the channel but embedded into the data itself.\",\n \"16.The system of claim 14, wherein the communication channel is a point to point communication channel.\",\n \"17.The system of claim 14, wherein the communication channel communicatively couples the first intellectual property block to a plurality of intellectual property blocks comprising the second intellectual property block, wherein the register controller comprises a plurality of register controllers, each register controller communicatively coupled between the communication channel and a different intellectual property block of the plurality of intellectual property blocks.\",\n \"18.The system of claim 17, wherein the communication channel communicatively couples a plurality of first intellectual property blocks to the plurality of intellectual property blocks.\",\n \"19.The system of claim 14, wherein the communication channel communicatively couples a plurality of intellectual property blocks to the second intellectual property block, the plurality of intellectual property blocks comprising the first intellectual property block.\",\n \"20.The system of claim 13, wherein the delay insensitive coding comprises analog signals.\",\n \"21.The system of claim 13, wherein the synchronizer comprises a mutex circuit communicatively coupled to a flip-flop circuit, the mutex circuit configured to receive the asynchronous signal and the flip-flop circuit configured to transmit the transformed asynchronous signal to the digital logic circuit.\",\n \"22.A system for communicating between intellectual property blocks, the system comprising: a communication channel communicatively coupled between a first intellectual property block and a second intellectual property block for transmission of data between the first and second intellectual property blocks; a controller communicatively coupled to the communication channel, the controller configured to: receive an asynchronous signal from the communication channel, transform the received asynchronous signal into a synchronous domain and control the transmission of data according to a protocol of the second intellectual property block.\"\n ],\n [\n \" BACKGROUND \"\n ],\n [\n \" SUMMARY Apparatuses and methods for ASIC interconnect design are provided.\",\n \"A Chronos Link is an ASIC on-chip and off-chip interconnect communication protocol that allows two IP blocks to transmit and receive information.\",\n \"The Chronos Link protocol may utilize messages or signals to indicate the availability and/or readiness of information to be exchanged between a producer device and a consumer device allowing the communication to be placed on hold and to be resumed seamlessly.\",\n \"The Chronos Link stands out by relying on a reduced set of timing assumptions and is robustness against delay variations.\",\n \"To do so, the Chronos Link transmits data using delay insensitive (DI) codes and quasi-delay-insensitive (QDI) logic, making the communication insensitive to all wire and gate delay variations.\",\n \"Also, a unique characteristic of a Chronos Link, when compared to related solutions, is the fact that the Chronos Link uses temporal compression in its internal paths to reduce the overheads of QDI logic and efficiently transmit data.\",\n \"In fact, data can be compressed by different ratios, which can be any rational number (as long as a technology specific maximum frequency restriction is respected).\",\n \"Chronos Link protocol agnostic capability allows for direct replacement of many commonly used ASIC communication protocol such as AMBA AXI, CoreConnect, IPBus, OCP, Hyper Transport, Quick Path, etc.\",\n \"or it can be tailored to a fully custom implementation.\",\n \"Other features and advantages of the present inventive concept should be apparent from the following description which illustrates by way of example aspects of the present inventive concept.\"\n ],\n [\n \"RELATED APPLICATION INFORMATION This present application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser.\",\n \"15/344,420, entitled “Application specific integrated circuit link, filed on Nov. 4, 2016, which claims the benefit of priority under 35 U.S.C.\",\n \"119(e) to Provisional Patent Application Ser.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"62/372,221, entitled “Application Specific Integrated Circuit Point-To-Multi-Point Interconnect,” filed Aug. 8, 2016 and claims the benefit of priority under 35 U.S.C.\",\n \"119(e) to Provisional Patent Application Ser.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"62/251,000, entitled “Application Specific Integrated Circuit Point-To-Multi-Point Interconnect,” filed Nov. 4, 2015, and claims the benefit of priority under 35 U.S.C.\",\n \"119(e) to Provisional Patent Application Ser.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"62/372,217, entitled “Application Specific Integrated Circuit Point-to-Point Interconnect,” filed Aug. 8, 2016 and claims the benefit of priority under 35 U.S.C.\",\n \"119(e) to Provisional Patent Application Ser.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"62/250,998, entitled “Application Specific Integrated Circuit Point-to-Point Interconnect,” filed Nov. 4, 2015, all of which are incorporated herein by reference as if set forth in full.\",\n \"BACKGROUND 1.Technical Field The various embodiments described herein are related to application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), and more particularly to the design of various ASICs.\",\n \"2.Related Art Continuing advances in semiconductor device fabrication technology have yielded a steady decline in the size of process nodes.\",\n \"For example, 22 nanometer (nm) process nodes were introduced in 2012 but were quickly succeeded by 14 nm fin field-effect transistors (FinFETs) in 2014 while 5 nm process nodes are projected for 2020.The decrease in process node size allows a growing number of intellectual property (IP) cores or IP blocks to be placed on a single ASIC chip.\",\n \"That is, modern ASIC designs often spread numerous process nodes across a comparatively large silicon die, and include combinations of IP blocks and logic functions.\",\n \"At the same time, modern technology also requires increased connectivity and large data transfers between various IP blocks.\",\n \"In addition, modern ASIC chips frequently include multiple clock domains in order to leverage multi-core implementations.\",\n \"Thus, one or more clock signals may need to be distributed across the chip in a manner that minimizes clock skew.\",\n \"For instance, the edge of the clock signal received at a logic block located near a clock source should be aligned with those received at more distant logic blocks.\",\n \"To simplify data exchange among heterogeneous IPs, data is exchanged using a shared communication protocol (i.e.\",\n \"AMBA-AXI) which make use of Master and Slave interfaces.\",\n \"Conventionally, a balanced clock signal distribution (i.e., timing closure) is achieved by inserting buffers.\",\n \"For example, pursuant to a traditional ASIC design flow, after floor planning and placing various IP blocks, a clock tree (i.e., a clock distribution network) may be synthesized and buffers may be added along the signal path from a clock source to various IP blocks according to the clock tree.\",\n \"In fact, timing closure for a clock signal that is distributed over a large and complex ASIC design typically requires the strategic placement of numerous buffers.\",\n \"Moreover, the distribution of a clock signal is also highly susceptible to both systematic and random variations.\",\n \"In particular, proper timing closure must account for the effects of on-chip variations that arise as a result of different process, voltage, and temperature (PVTs) and operation modes, which would otherwise introduce additional clock skews.\",\n \"As such, the most laborious and time consuming aspect of conventional ASIC design tends to be clock alignment.\",\n \"Clock tree synthesis and timing closure generally require significant manual intervention.\",\n \"In addition, the mechanisms (i.e., buffers) used to balance the clock across an ASIC chip generally consume a majority of the power in any conventional ASIC design.\",\n \"If the distance between to IPs is too long for guaranteeing timing closure, one or more Protocol Pipeline Stage (i.e.\",\n \"AMBA Register Slice) is inserted between them to relax timing between the two IP ports, complicating even more top level clock routing and balancing, and significantly increasing the used area.\",\n \"Therefore, what is needed are an apparatus and method that overcome these significant problems found in the aforementioned conventional approach to modern ASIC design.\",\n \"SUMMARY Apparatuses and methods for ASIC interconnect design are provided.\",\n \"A Chronos Link is an ASIC on-chip and off-chip interconnect communication protocol that allows two IP blocks to transmit and receive information.\",\n \"The Chronos Link protocol may utilize messages or signals to indicate the availability and/or readiness of information to be exchanged between a producer device and a consumer device allowing the communication to be placed on hold and to be resumed seamlessly.\",\n \"The Chronos Link stands out by relying on a reduced set of timing assumptions and is robustness against delay variations.\",\n \"To do so, the Chronos Link transmits data using delay insensitive (DI) codes and quasi-delay-insensitive (QDI) logic, making the communication insensitive to all wire and gate delay variations.\",\n \"Also, a unique characteristic of a Chronos Link, when compared to related solutions, is the fact that the Chronos Link uses temporal compression in its internal paths to reduce the overheads of QDI logic and efficiently transmit data.\",\n \"In fact, data can be compressed by different ratios, which can be any rational number (as long as a technology specific maximum frequency restriction is respected).\",\n \"Chronos Link protocol agnostic capability allows for direct replacement of many commonly used ASIC communication protocol such as AMBA AXI, CoreConnect, IPBus, OCP, Hyper Transport, Quick Path, etc.\",\n \"or it can be tailored to a fully custom implementation.\",\n \"Other features and advantages of the present inventive concept should be apparent from the following description which illustrates by way of example aspects of the present inventive concept.\",\n \"BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The above and other aspects and features of the present inventive concept will be more apparent by describing example embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: FIG.\",\n \"1 is a top level block diagram of a generic ASIC design; FIG.\",\n \"2 illustrates a generic Advanced Microcontroller Bus Architecture (AMBA) with Advanced eXtensible Interface (AXI), known as AMBA-AXI, (composed of 5 AMBA-AXI Channels: Address Write (AW), Write (W), Write Response (B), Address Read (AR) and Read (R)); FIG.\",\n \"3A details the AMBA AXI Write channel and its control signals; FIG.\",\n \"3B illustrates an exemplary implementation of the AMBA AXI Write channel with Chronos Link (a combination of a Chronos Channel plus a Chronos Controller Slave and a Chronos Controller Master) according to various embodiments; FIG.\",\n \"4A is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary embodiment of a generic Chronos Channel implementation; FIG.\",\n \"4B shows an exemplary Chronos Channel using Join or Merge blocks; FIG.\",\n \"4C shows an exemplary Chronos Channel using Fork or Steer blocks; and FIG.\",\n \"4D shows an exemplary Chronos Channel using Join, Merge, Fork and Steer blocks.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"5A illustrates an exemplary embodiment of the Chronos Slave Controller; FIG.\",\n \"5B illustrates an exemplary embodiment of the Chronos Master Controller; FIG.\",\n \"5C illustrate an exemplary embodiment of the Chronos Register Controller; FIG.\",\n \"6A illustrates an exemplary implementation of a standard register to register interface; FIG.\",\n \"6B illustrates an exemplary implementation of a register interface with Chronos Link (a combination of a Chronos Channel plus a Chronos Register Controller) according to various embodiments; FIG.\",\n \"7 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of a Mutex element; FIG.\",\n \"8A illustrates an exemplary embodiment of a synchronizer; FIG.\",\n \"8B illustrates exemplary Mutex waveforms ; FIG.\",\n \"9A illustrates an exemplary embodiment of a Chronos Slave Controller state flow diagram of a burst mode machine; FIG.\",\n \"9B illustrates an exemplary embodiment of a Chronos Master Controller state flow diagram of a burst mode machine; FIG.\",\n \"10A shows an exemplary embodiment of an AXI producer channel handshake protocol in which two auxiliary signals (ValidM and ReadyM), are used to implement the handshake protocol; FIG.\",\n \"10B shows an exemplary embodiment of an AXI consumer channel handshake protocol in which two auxiliary signals (ValidS and ReadyS), are used to implement the handshake protocol; and FIG.\",\n \"11 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary wired or wireless system according to various embodiments.\",\n \"DETAILED DESCRIPTION While certain embodiments are described, these embodiments are presented by way of example only, and are not intended to limit the scope of protection.\",\n \"The methods and systems described herein may be embodied in a variety of other forms.\",\n \"Furthermore, various omissions, substitutions, and changes in the form of the example methods and systems described herein may be made without departing from the scope of protection.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"1 is a chart illustrating an example of top level block diagram 100 for a generic ASIC design.\",\n \"The diagram of FIG.\",\n \"1 shows data communication between various IP blocks including, for example, but not limited to, Two Central Processing Units (CPU) blocks 151, and 152, a Random Access Memory (RAM) block 153, a Read Only Memory (ROM) block 154, a General Purpose IO (GPIO) block 155, a Universal Asynchronous Receiver-Transmitter (UART) block 156, a Universal Serial Bus (USB) block 157, a Bluetooth block 158, an Ethernet PHY block 159 and an AXI Crossbar block 160; through a specific protocol bus interconnect (i. e. AMBA-AXI interconnect with its 5 communication channels).\",\n \"In this diagram each IP has one or more Master or Slave bus interconnect ports to perform the data communication tasks.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"2 shows the detail of a AMBA-AXI interconnect between a Master (block 211) and a Slave (block 212) port.\",\n \"In the diagram of FIG.\",\n \"2 the five independent channels (Write-Address (AW-CHANNEL in FIG.\",\n \"1), Write-Data (W-CHANNEL in FIG.\",\n \"1), Write-Response (B-CHANNEL in FIG.\",\n \"1), Read-Address (AR-CHANNEL in FIG.\",\n \"1), and Read-Data (R-CHANNEL in FIG.\",\n \"1)) with their payloads and control signals (e.g., AWREADY and AWVALID, for example as shown in FIG.\",\n \"2) can be seen.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"3A illustrates details for one AMBA-AXI channel (Write-Data) where a Master port (310) transfers data to a Slave Port (311).\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"3B illustrates an exemplary implementation of a Chronos Link (360) to perform the same data exchange as the AMBA-AXI channel of FIG.\",\n \"1 between the Master port (310) and the Slave port (311).\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"10A shows an exemplary embodiment of an AXI producer channel handshake protocol in which two auxiliary signals (ValidM and ReadyM), are used to implement the handshake protocol.\",\n \"The ValidM signal generated by the producer indicates validity of the data, while the ReadyM signal received by the producer indicates the readiness of the consumer to accept new data.\",\n \"Only when both signals are asserted can the data be successfully transferred into the channel.\",\n \"In a Chronos-Link, the data is compressed and converted in a delay insensitive code.\",\n \"In one embodiment, a Chronos Slave Controller generates the ReadyM signal and transmits it to the producer based on receiving a Full signal from the Chronos Channel.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"10B shows an exemplary embodiment of an AXI consumer channel handshake protocol in which two auxiliary signals (ValidS and ReadyS), are used to implement the handshake protocol.\",\n \"The ValidS signal received by the consumer indicates validity of the data, while the ReadyS signal generated by the consumer indicates the readiness of the consumer to accept new data.\",\n \"Only when both signals are asserted can the data be successfully extracted from the channel.\",\n \"In a Chronos-Link, the data coming from the Chronos Channel is de-compressed and converted back to its original format.\",\n \"In one embodiment, a Chronos Master Controller, takes care of generating the ValidS signal and transmitting it to the consumer based on receiving an Empty signal from the Chronos Channel.\",\n \"A Chronos Link is an ASIC on-chip and off-chip interconnect communication protocol that allows two IP blocks to transmit and receive information.\",\n \"The Chronos Link protocol may utilize messages or signals to indicate the availability and/or readiness of information to be exchanged between a producer device and a consumer device allowing the communication to be placed on hold and to be resumed seamlessly.\",\n \"The Chronos Link stands out by relying on a reduced set of timing assumptions and is robustness against delay variations.\",\n \"To do so, the Chronos Link transmits data using delay insensitive (DI) codes and quasi-delay-insensitive (QDI) logic, making the communication insensitive to all wire and gate delay variations.\",\n \"Also, a unique characteristic of a Chronos Link, when compared to related solutions, is the fact that the Chronos Link uses temporal compression in its internal paths to reduce the overheads of QDI logic and efficiently transmit data.\",\n \"In fact, data can be compressed by different ratios, which can be any rational number (as long as a technology specific maximum frequency restriction is respected).\",\n \"Chronos Link protocol agnostic capability allows for direct replacement of many commonly used ASIC communication protocol such as AMBA AXI, CoreConnect, IPBus, OCP, Hyper Transport, Quick Path, etc.\",\n \"or it can be tailored to a fully custom implementation.\",\n \"In one embodiment a Chronos Link (360) is composed of a Chronos Channel (361) fully disclosed in a separate utility patent application (patent application Ser.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"15/344,416) plus a Chronos Slave Controller (362), communicating directly to the original Master Port 310 and a Chronos Master Controller (363) to connect to the original Slave Port 311.A Chronos Link brings all the advantage of Chronos Channels to a communication protocol, allowing independent clock references for Master and Slave IPs, PVT tolerance, simplified floorplan, enhanced yield, and data time compression (with potential for minimize routing).\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"4A is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary embodiment of a generic Chronos Channel 400 according to various embodiments.\",\n \"A Chronos Channel is an ASIC Interconnect that allows transmitter blocks to send data to receiver blocks.\",\n \"It stands out by relying on a reduced set of timing assumptions and is robust against delay variations.\",\n \"To do so, Chronos Channels transmit data using delay insensitive (DI) codes and quasi-delay-insensitive (QDI) logic.\",\n \"In this way, Chronos Channels are insensitive to all wire and gate delay variations, but for those belonging to a few specific forking logic paths called isochronic forks.\",\n \"Also, a unique characteristic of a Chronos Channel, when compared to related solutions, is the fact that it uses temporal compression in its internal paths to reduce overheads of QDI logic and efficiently transmit data.\",\n \"In fact, data can be compressed by different ratios, which can be any rational number (as long as a technology specific maximum frequency restriction is respected).\",\n \"In this way, a Chronos Channel is defined by the combination of a DI code (and related handshake protocol), a temporal compression ratio and the hardware required to encode, decode, compress, decompress and transmit data.\",\n \"DI codes are a specific family of encoding schemes where no codeword can be contained in another codeword.\",\n \"This allows a receiver to perceive the transmission of a codeword unambiguously.\",\n \"Such a characteristic eliminates the need for a control signal that identifies the validity of a data channel, and its respective timing assumptions (as in synchronous or bundled-data asynchronous design), as the validity of the data channel is encoded in the data itself.\",\n \"Also, note that, usually, DI codes are employed in digital applications, which means that their code words are typically defined using a set of binary values.\",\n \"However, in a Chronos Channel, signals do not need to be digital and codewords can be represented using sets with more than 2 values, provided that data is still encoded using a DI code.\",\n \"In other words, the data in a Chronos Channel can be composed of analog signals, as long as no codeword is contained in another codeword.\",\n \"Such characteristic allows a more flexible usage of Chronos Channels.\",\n \"Another aspect of DI codes is that, to allow data transmission, they are usually coupled to a handshake protocol, which is usually 4- or 2-phases.\",\n \"Referring to FIG.\",\n \"4A, in various embodiments, a Chronos Channel may serve as a connection 400 between a n-bit wide data bus running at a frequency determined by a clockA frequency and a second p-bit wide data bus running at a frequency determined by a clockB frequency.\",\n \"According to one exemplary embodiment, the connection 400 may include a transmitter 410 (i.e., a synchronous to asynchronous gasket) and a receiver 420 (i.e., an asynchronous to synchronous gasket).\",\n \"In various embodiments, data “n” from a first block (not shown) and a clock signal “clockA” may enter the transmitter 410 and the output (i.e., asynchronous data) from the transmitter 410 may travel through a timing independent channel composed of a “i+1” rows of “h+1”-number of parallel repeaters 430.The asynchronous data from the transmitter 410 is then input into the receiver 420 that is associated with the second block (not shown).\",\n \"The output of the receiver 420 includes data “p” that is input into the second block.\",\n \"The transmitter 410 also produces an asynchronous signal (labeled “full”) to indicate when the pipeline is full.\",\n \"The Receiver 420 also produces an asynchronous signal (labeled “empty”) to indicate when the pipeline is empty.\",\n \"Advantageously, the timing independent channel composed of the repeaters 430 is self-regulating and process independent.\",\n \"As such, in various embodiments, the timing independent channel between the first block and the second block may be established by a handshake procedure without any need to perform complex timing closure.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the timing independent channel between the transmitter 410 and the receiver 420 may include one or more repeaters 430.The repeaters 430 may improve signal strength and throughput in the asynchronous pipeline between the transmitter 410 and the receiver 420.Alternately, the transmitter 410 and the receiver 420 may have a direct connection, i.e., without any repeaters 430.The transmitter 410 also includes “j” encoders (Enc) 411; a “j/i” temporal compressor (TC) 412.The receiver 420 includes a “i/q” temporal decompressor (TD) 422, and “q” decoders (Dec) 421.FIG.\",\n \"4B shows a block diagram of an exemplary Chronos Channel using Join or Merge blocks in a multi-point-to-point connection 430 according to various embodiments.\",\n \"Referring to FIG.\",\n \"4B, in various embodiments, a multi-point-to-point connection 430 may serve as a connection between two producer IP blocks and a third consumer IP block.\",\n \"The producer IPs are connected to respective inputs of TXs 431 and 432 (and subsequently to inputs of two repeaters RP0 and RP1 in this example), thereby generating two independent paths in the Chronos Channel.\",\n \"These paths can then be combined using a flow control block 433, which can be (but are not limited to) a merge, a join or a select component, depending of the control flow requirements.\",\n \"For example, a merge component combines the information of both paths into a single output path, while a select or a join component can arbitrate between paths using some control mechanism.\",\n \"The output of the control flow block 433 will be propagated to the inputs of an RX block 434 via a third repeater RP2 in this example.\",\n \"Note that repeaters RP0, RP1 and RP2 can be added in any point between TXs 431 and 432 and RX 434, including before and after the flow control block 433.FIG.\",\n \"4C shows a block diagram of an exemplary Chronos Channel using Fork or Steer blocks in a point-to-multi-point connection 440 according to various embodiments.\",\n \"Referring to FIG.\",\n \"4C, in various embodiments, the point-to-multi-point connection 440 may serve as a connection between a producer IP block and two consumer IP blocks.\",\n \"The producer IP is connected to an input of TX 441 (and a repeater RP0 in this example) and the generated path in the Chronos Channel can be divided using a flow control block 442, which can be (but is not limited to) a fork or a steer component, depending on the flow control requirements.\",\n \"For example, a fork component sends the same input information to both output paths, while a steer component can arbitrate to send different input information to each of the output paths using some control mechanism.\",\n \"The outputs of the control flow block 442 are propagated to inputs of RX blocks 443 and 444.Note that repeaters RP0, RP1 and RP2 can be added in any point between the TX 441 and the RXs 443 and 444, including before and after the flow control block 442.FIG.\",\n \"4D shows a block diagram of an exemplary Chronos Channel using Join, Merge, Fork and Steer blocks illustrating a multi-point-to-multi-point connection 450 according to various embodiments.\",\n \"Referring to FIG.\",\n \"4D, in various embodiments, the multi-point-to-multi-point connection 450 may serve as a connection between a set of producer IP blocks and a set of consumer IP blocks.\",\n \"Each producer IP block is connected to one of j TXs 451 (TX0, TX1 to TXj), each which generates an independent path in the Chronos Channel.\",\n \"These independent paths can then be combined using different combinations of TX-side flow control blocks 452 and any number of repeaters (RP0 to RPh) to implement a specific functionality.\",\n \"The combined paths are received at a RX-side set of flow control blocks 453 and forwarded via repeaters (RP0, RP1 to RPq in this example) to q RXs 454 (RX0, RX1 to RXq).\",\n \"In the end of each path in the Chronos Channel, the RXs 454 are interfaced with the consumer IPs.\",\n \"Note that between the TXs 452 and the RXs 454 (RX0, RX1 to RXq), different combinations of flow control blocks 452 and 453 and repeaters can be employed, to fulfil functional and performance requirements.\",\n \"Any of the Chronos Channel connections 400, 420, 430 and 450 may be used as the Chronos Channel 361 described above in reference to FIG.\",\n \"3B.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"5A is a block diagram illustrating a Chronos Slave Controller 500 according to various embodiments.\",\n \"The Chronos Slave Controller 500 may be used in various embodiments as the Chronos Slave Controller 362 described above in reference to FIG.\",\n \"3B.\",\n \"The most important element in the controller 500 is the synchronizer 510 which is responsible for the synchronization of the asynchronous signals coming from the Chronos Channel 361 (FIG.\",\n \"3B) in asynchronous domain (in particular full) to the synchronous domain.\",\n \"Depending on Medium Time Between Failures (MTBF) requirement the physical implementation of the synchronizer can change.\",\n \"An exemplary embodiment of the circuit is represented in FIG.\",\n \"5A 510 composed of a Mutex (511) followed by a Flip-Flop (512).\",\n \"Other embodiments can be implemented such as replacing the Mutex with a second Flip-Flop, or a composition of a “n” number of alternating latches, and or combinations of the above elements, trading latency performance for MTBF performance.\",\n \"As can be seen in FIG.\",\n \"3B, the addition of the Chronos Slave Controller 500 as the Chronos Slave Controller 362 allows a Master Interface 310 to properly interact with the Chronos Channel 361 as if it was communicating with a standard synchronous Slave Interface.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"5B is a block diagram illustrating a Chronos Master Controller 550 according to various embodiments.\",\n \"The Chronos Master Controller 550 may be used in various embodiments as the Chronos Slave Controller 363 described above in reference to FIG.\",\n \"3B.\",\n \"The most important element in the controller 550 is a synchronizer 560 which is responsible for the synchronization of the asynchronous signals coming from the Chronos Channel 361 in asynchronous domain (in particular empty) to the synchronous domain.\",\n \"Depending on Medium Time Between Failures (MTBF) requirement the physical implementation of the synchronizer can change.\",\n \"An exemplary embodiment of a synchronizer circuit 560 is represented in FIG.\",\n \"5B.\",\n \"The synchronizer circuit 560 comprises a Mutex (561) followed by a Flip-Flop (562).\",\n \"Other embodiments can be implemented such as replacing the Mutex 561 with a second Flip-Flop 562, or alternatively a “n” number of alternating latches, and or combinations of the above elements, trading latency performance for MTBF performance.\",\n \"As can be seen in FIG.\",\n \"3B, addition of the Chronos Master Controller 550 as the Chronos Master Controller 363 allows the Slave Interface 311 to properly interact with the Chronos Channel 361 as if it was communicating with a standard synchronous Master Interface.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"7 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of a block diagram of a Mutex (701).\",\n \"The Mutex (701) is commonly composed of two main elements: Latch (711) and Metastability Filter (712).\",\n \"The Mutex 701 has the characteristics of eliminating metastable levels at its output, or in other words, if either setup-time or hold-time are violated its outputs resolves to a valid logic level; the propagation delay of the outputs can be unbounded when this happens.\",\n \"An exemplary implementation of a Mutex is shown in 720.Only one of a G1 and G2 output can reach a “high” logic level at any one time (never both).\",\n \"If R1 and R2 inputs transition high in close proximity, metastability can result.\",\n \"The metastability filter 712 keeps both outputs (G1 and G2) at a “low” logic level until metastability resolves.\",\n \"Table 730 shows an example of a True table of the Mutex 701.FIG.\",\n \"8a shows an exemplary implementation of a synchronizer (800) used within a Chronos Master Controller, a Chronos Slave Controller and a Chronos Register Controller.\",\n \"It is composed of a Mutex (810), with a pin R2 driven by an inverted version of a clock signal, where the output (mid) of the Mutex (810) is transferred to a Flip-Flop (811).\",\n \"The Mutex (810) receiving the inverted clock signal at the R2 pin produces an output (mid) which guarantees at least half a clock cycle of setup time for the Flip-Flop 811.Furthermore, because of the behavior of the Mutex 810, the mid signal presented to the Flip-Flop is always level correct, reducing even further the MTBF of the synchronizer as a whole, compared to the standard 2 Flip-Flop solution.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"8b shows exemplary waveforms (850) of the synchronizer described above.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"9A illustrates an exemplary embodiment of a Chronos Slave Controller state flow diagram of a burst mode machine.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"9A shows a burst mode specification of the behavior of the exemplary Chronos Slave Controller presented in FIG.\",\n \"5A.\",\n \"As FIG.\",\n \"9A shows, at reset, the circuit will set its “ready” output to 1, its “ctrl” output to 0 and enter state S0.At this state, the connected producer IP has no data for the Chronos Channel to consume and the Chronos Channel is not full.\",\n \"In this way, at every clock cycle (“clk” at 1), the Chronos Slave Controller can keep its outputs at reset state, to indicate to the producer IP that it is ready to receive data (“ready” at 1) and to signal to the Chronos Channel that it should not consume any data available in its inputs (“ctrl” at 0).\",\n \"Note that, at reset, the inputs of the controller are expected to be both 0.Also, note that every transition in the outputs of the controller happen during clock transitions (“clk” at 1) because the IP connected to it is synchronous input (and share the same clock signal of the controller) and the Chronos Channel consumes data from a synchronous bus (the output of the producer IP).\",\n \"Therefore, data validity of this bus is signaled by a clocked signal.\",\n \"From S0, the circuit will set “ctrl” to 1 and switch to state S1 if a rising edge is detected in its “valid” input, meaning that the producer IP has new data to be consumed.\",\n \"At S1, the system is in a state where the producer IP has new data to be consumed and the Chronos Channel is not full.\",\n \"Therefore, at every rising edge of the clock signal (“clk” at 1), the controller will write 1 in both its outputs, to indicate to the producer IP that it is ready to receive data (“ready” at 1) and to signal to the Chronos Channel that it should consume the data available in its inputs (“ctrl” at 1).\",\n \"From S1, the controller can: (i) go back to S0 if the producer IP signals that it has no new data to be consumed (“valid” switches back to 0); (ii) switch to S2 if the Chronos Channel becomes full (“full” switches to 1); or (iii) stay at S1 if neither of the aforementioned conditions are true (in this case a burst transmission is still taking place).\",\n \"At S2, the producer IP has new data to be consumed but the Chronos Channel is full and cannot receive it.\",\n \"Therefore, at every clock cycle (“clk” at 1), the controller will set both its outputs to 0, to indicate to the producer IP that it is not ready to receive data (“ready” at 0) and to signal to the Chronos Channel that it should not consume any data available in its inputs (“ctrl” at 0), to avoid overwriting previous data consumed by it.\",\n \"From S2, the controller can: (i) go back to S1 if the Chronos Channel frees space for more data (switching “full” back to 0); (ii) switch to S3 if the producer IP signals that it has no new data to be consumed (“valid” switches to 0); or (iii) stay at S2 if neither of the aforementioned conditions are true.\",\n \"At S3, the producer IP has no new data and the Chronos Channel is full.\",\n \"Hence, at every clock cycle (“clk” at 1), the controller will set both its outputs to 0, to indicate to the producer IP that it is not ready to receive data (“ready” at 0) and to signal to the Chronos Channel that it should not consume any data available in its inputs (“ctrl” at 0), to avoid overwriting previous data consumed by it.\",\n \"From S2, the controller can: (i) go back to S2 if the producer IP signals that it has new data to be consumed (“valid” switches back to 1); (ii) switch to S0 if the Chronos Channel frees space for more data (switching “full” to 0); or (iii) stay at S3 if neither of the aforementioned conditions are true.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"9B illustrates an exemplary embodiment of a Chronos Master Controller state flow diagram of a burst mode machine.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"9B shows a burst mode specification of the behavior of the Chronos Master Controller presented in FIG.\",\n \"5B.\",\n \"As FIG.\",\n \"9B shows, at reset, the circuit will set its “valid” output to 0, its “ctrl” output to 1 and enter state S0.At this state, the connected Chronos Channel is empty and there is no data for the consumer IP to consume.\",\n \"At every clock cycle (“clk” at 1), the Chronos Slave Controller will keep its valid output at reset state, to indicate to the consumer IP that there is no data for it to consume (“valid” at 0).\",\n \"Note that, at reset, the “empty” input of the controller is expected to be at 1 and the “ready” input is expected to be at 0.Also note that every transition in the output of the controller connected to the consumer IP happen during clock transitions because the consumer IP is synchronous (and shares the same clock signal of the controller).\",\n \"However, transitions in the output that feed the Chronos Channel are not controlled by the clock signal because the data generated by it is asynchronous.\",\n \"From S0, the controller can: (i) switch to S1 if the Chronos Channel has new data to be consumed (“empty” switches to 0); (ii) switch to S3 if the consumer IP becomes ready to receive new data (“ready” switches to 1); or (iii) stay at S0 if neither of the aforementioned conditions are true.\",\n \"At S1, the system is in a state where the Chronos Channel has new data to be consumed but the consumer IP cannot receive it.\",\n \"Therefore, at every rising edge of the clock signal (“clk” at 1), the controller will write 1 in its “valid” output, to indicate to the consumer IP that new data is available.\",\n \"Note that while switching from S0 to S1 or S2 to S1, the controller will switch its “ctrl” output to 0, to signal to the Chronos Channel that the data in its output was not consumed (as “ready” is at 0) and avoid it to be overwritten.\",\n \"The value of “ctrl” will stay at 0 until the controller switch to S1.From S1, the controller can: (i) switch to S2 if the consumer IP becomes ready to receive new data (“ready” switches to 1); or (ii) stay at S1.At S2, the system is in a state where the Chronos Channel has new data to be consumed and the consumer IP is ready to receive it.\",\n \"Therefore, at every rising edge of the clock signal (“clk” at 1), the controller will write 1 in its “valid” output, to indicate to the consumer IP that new data is available.\",\n \"Also, while switching from S2 to S1, the controller will switch its “ctrl” output to 1, to signal to the Chronos Channel that the data in its output will be consumed in the next clock cycle (as “ready” is at 1), so that it can generate new data.\",\n \"Note that the value of “ctrl” will stay at 1 until the controller switch to S1.From S2, the controller can: (i) switch back to S1 if the consumer IP stops being ready to receive new data (“ready” switches to 0); (ii) switch to S3 if the Chronos Channel becomes empty and no new data is available for the consumer IP to receive (“empty” switches to 1); or (iii) stay at S2 if neither of the aforementioned conditions are true (in this case a burst is taking place).\",\n \"At S3, the system is in a state where the consumer IP is ready to receive data, but the Chronos Channel has no new data in its outputs.\",\n \"Therefore, at every rising edge of the clock signal (“clk” at 1), the controller will write 0 in its “valid” output, to indicate to the consumer IP that there is no new data available.\",\n \"Note that, while switching from S0 to S3, the controller will switch its “ctrl” output to 1, to signal to the Chronos Channel that its can generate new data in its output as soon as it is ready, because the consumer IP is ready to receive (as “ready” is at 1).\",\n \"Note that the value of “ctrl” will stay at 1 until the controller switch to S1.From S3, the controller can: (i) switch back to S2 if the Chronos Channel becomes not empty and has new data for the consumer IP to receive (“empty” switches to 0); (ii) switch to S0 if the consumer IP stops being ready to receive new data (“ready” switches to 0); or (iii) stay at S3 if neither of the aforementioned conditions are true.\",\n \"In various embodiments, sets of Chronos Links between different IP blocks allow timing independent channels to be established between IP blocks in the ASIC design 100, for example.\",\n \"For example, in reference to FIG.\",\n \"1, a first set of five timing independent channel links may be established between the CPU block 151 and the AXI-Crossbar 160 using five different Chronos Links.\",\n \"In various embodiments, the first timing independent channel may be a part of a point-to-point connection between the CPU block 151 and the AXI-Crossbar 160 (labeled “intc1” in FIG.\",\n \"1).\",\n \"Eight other sets of timing independent channel links, each containing five different Chronos Links may be established between the CPU block 152 and the AXI-Crossbar 160 (see “intc2”), the RAM block 153 and the AXI-Crossbar 160 (see “intc3”), the ROM block 154 and the AXI-Crossbar 160 (see “intc4”), the GPIO block 155 and the AXI-Crossbar 160 (see “intc5”), the UART block 156 and the AXI-Crossbar 160 (see “intc6”), the USB block 157 and the AXI-Crossbar 160 (see “intc7”), the Bluetooth block 158 and the AXI-Crossbar 160 (see “intc8”), and the Ethernet PHY block 159 and the AXI-Crossbar 160 (see “intc9”), each using five independent Chronos Links as highlighted for the “intc1” connection for the CPU block 151 in FIG.\",\n \"1.According to one exemplary embodiment, timing closure for the ASIC design 100 may be accomplished with simplified, top level checks.\",\n \"That is, testing each individual IP block in the ASIC design 100 across all corners (i.e., PVT corners) obviates any complex timing margin evaluation for the ASIC design 100 as a whole.\",\n \"As illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"3B, introduction of a Chronos Link 360 (Chronos Channel 361+Chronos Slave Controller 362+Chronos Master Controller 363) has the unique characteristic to completely decouple the Master Interface 211 (FIG.\",\n \"2) from the Slave Interface 212 (FIG.\",\n \"2) in terms of both frequency and phase of operation as well as data bus width.\",\n \"The combination of a timing insensitive channel (e.g., a Chronos Channel) and proper handling of the communication protocol (i.e.\",\n \"AMBA-AXI) allows for isochronous, mesochronous, plesiochronous and asynchronous communication between the IP blocks without data corruption and/or data losses.\",\n \"Furthermore, the availability of linear compression within the Chronos Channel enables the possibility of connecting IP blocks even with different data width (as long as they operate on the same protocol).\",\n \"Chronos link 360 includes linear compression capability that allows for easier routing in the ASIC design 100 between IP blocks by lowering the total numbers of wires connecting the different IP blocks.\",\n \"As a result of lowering the total number of wires, manufacturing wire failure yield is also improved.\",\n \"Power efficiency is also boosted by allowing the various IP blocks to send and receive short bursts of data independently from each other (Master Interface can potentially send a quick burst of data and power down, while the Slave Interface on the other side is still in power down state) due to the intrinsic memory characteristic of the Chronos Channel, and the handling of the communication protocol by the Chronos slave and master controllers 362 and 363.FIG.\",\n \"6A illustrates an exemplary implementation of a standard register to register interface 600 commonly used in ASIC design to dynamically change IP configuration settings for different modes of operation.\",\n \"The register configuration usually does not require a complete handshake.\",\n \"The register interface 600 includes a transmit register 610 linked to a receive register 620 via a channel.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"6B illustrates an exemplary implementation of a register interface 650 with Chronos Link (a combination of a Chronos Channel plus a Chronos Register Controller) according to various embodiments.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"6B shows an implementation of a Chronos Link (651) to perform the same configuration register exchange between the TX Register (610) and the RX Register (620).\",\n \"In one embodiment a Chronos Link (651) composed of a Chronos Channel (361) fully disclosed in a separate utility patent (Attorney Docket Number 123666-001UT1) plus a Chronos Register Controller (652).\",\n \"A Chronos Link links the transmit register 610 and the receive register 620 and brings all the advantages of Chronos Channels to a communication protocol, allowing independent clock references for Master and Slave IP blocks, PVT tolerance, simplified floorplan, enhanced yield, data time compression (with potential for minimize routing).\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"5C is a block diagram illustrating a Chronos Register Controller 570 according to various embodiments.\",\n \"The most important element in the controller is the synchronizer 560 which is responsible for the synchronization of the asynchronous signals coming from the TX register 610 via Chronos Channel 361 in the asynchronous domain (in particular empty) and being transformed to the synchronous domain of the RX register 620.Depending on Medium Time Between Failures (MTBF) requirement the physical implementation of the synchronizer 560 can change.\",\n \"An exemplary embodiment of the circuit is represented in FIG.\",\n \"5C 570 composed of a Mutex (561) followed by a Flip-Flop (562).\",\n \"Other embodiments can be implemented such as replacing the Mutex with a second Flip-Flop, or a composition of a “n” number of alternating latches, and or a combinations of the above elements, trading latency performance for MTBF performance.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"11 is a block diagram illustrating a wired or wireless system 750 according to various embodiments that may utilize the systems and various types of links and channels described above in reference to the other Figures.\",\n \"In various embodiments, the system 750 may be a conventional personal computer, computer server, personal digital assistant, smart phone, tablet computer, or any other processor enabled device that is capable of wired or wireless data communication.\",\n \"A person having ordinary skill in the art can appreciate that other computer systems and/or architectures may be used without departing from the scope of the present inventive concept.\",\n \"The system 750 preferably includes one or more processors, such as processor 760.Additional processors may be provided, such as an auxiliary processor to manage input/output, an auxiliary processor to perform floating point mathematical operations, a special-purpose microprocessor having an architecture suitable for fast execution of signal processing algorithms (e.g., digital signal processor), a slave processor subordinate to the main processing system (e.g., back-end processor), an additional microprocessor or controller for dual or multiple processor systems, or a coprocessor.\",\n \"Such auxiliary processors may be discrete processors or may be integrated with the processor 760.The processor 760 is preferably connected to a communication bus 755.The communication bus 755 may include a data channel for facilitating information transfer between storage and other peripheral components of the system 750.The communication bus 755 further may provide a set of signals used for communication with the processor 760, including a data bus, address bus, and control bus (not shown).\",\n \"The communication bus 755 may comprise any standard or non-standard bus architecture such as, for example, bus architectures compliant with industry standard architecture (“ISA”), extended industry standard architecture (“EISA”), Micro Channel Architecture (“MCA”), peripheral component interconnect (“PCI”) local bus, or standards promulgated by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (“IEEE”) including IEEE 488 general-purpose interface bus (“GPIB”), IEEE 696/S-100, and the like.\",\n \"The system 750 preferably includes a main memory 765 and may also include a secondary memory 770.The main memory 765 provides storage of instructions and data for programs executing on the processor 760.The main memory 765 is typically semiconductor-based memory such as dynamic random access memory (“DRAM”) and/or static random access memory (“SRAM”).\",\n \"Other semiconductor-based memory types include, for example, synchronous dynamic random access memory (“SDRAM”), Rambus dynamic random access memory (“RDRAM”), ferroelectric random access memory (“FRAM”), and the like, including read only memory (“ROM”).\",\n \"The secondary memory 770 may optionally include an internal memory 775 and/or a removable medium 780, for example a floppy disk drive, a magnetic tape drive, a compact disc (“CD”) drive, a digital versatile disc (“DVD”) drive, etc.\",\n \"The removable medium 780 is read from and/or written to in a well-known manner.\",\n \"Removable medium 780 may be, for example, a floppy disk, magnetic tape, CD, DVD, SD card, etc.\",\n \"The removable medium 780 is a non-transitory computer readable medium having stored thereon computer executable code (i.e., software) and/or data.\",\n \"The computer software or data stored on the removable medium 780 is read into the system 750 for execution by the processor 760.In alternative embodiments, secondary memory 770 may include other similar means for allowing computer programs or other data or instructions to be loaded into the system 750.Such means may include, for example, an external medium 795 and a communication interface 790.Examples of external medium 795 may include an external hard disk drive or an external optical drive, or and external magneto-optical drive.\",\n \"Other examples of secondary memory 770 may include semiconductor-based memory such as programmable read-only memory (“PROM”), erasable programmable read-only memory (“EPROM”), electrically erasable read-only memory (“EEPROM”), or flash memory (block oriented memory similar to EEPROM).\",\n \"Also included are a removable medium 580 and a communication interface 790, which allow software and data to be transferred from an external medium 795 to the system 750.The system 750 may also include an input/output (“I/O”) interface 785.The I/O interface 785 facilitates input from and output to external devices.\",\n \"For example the I/O interface 785 may receive input from a keyboard or mouse and may provide output to a display.\",\n \"The I/O interface 785 is capable of facilitating input from and output to various alternative types of human interface and machine interface devices alike.\",\n \"The communication interface 790 allows software and data to be transferred between system 750 and external devices (e.g.\",\n \"printers), networks, or information sources.\",\n \"For example, computer software or executable code may be transferred to system 750 from a network server via communication interface 790.Examples of communication interface 790 include, for example, but not limited to, a modem, a network interface card (“NIC”), a wireless data card, a communications port, a PCMCIA slot and card, an infrared interface, and an IEEE 1394 fire-wire.\",\n \"The communication interface 790 preferably implements industry promulgated protocol standards, such as Ethernet IEEE 802 standards, Fiber Channel, digital subscriber line (“DSL”), asynchronous digital subscriber line (“ADSL”), frame relay, asynchronous transfer mode (“ATM”), integrated digital services network (“ISDN”), personal communications services (“PCS”), transmission control protocol/Internet protocol (“TCP/IP”), serial line Internet protocol/point to point protocol (“SLIP/PPP”), and so on, but may also implement customized or non-standard interface protocols as well.\",\n \"Software and data transferred via the communication interface 790 are generally in the form of electrical communication signals 605.In one exemplary embodiment, these electrical communication signals 605 are provided to the communication interface 790 via a communication channel 635.In one embodiment, the communication channel 635 may be a wired or wireless network, or any variety of other communication links.\",\n \"The communication channel 635 carries the electrical communication signals 605 and can be implemented using a variety of wired or wireless communication means including wire or cable, fiber optics, conventional phone line, cellular phone link, wireless data communication link, radio frequency (“RF”) link, or infrared link, just to name a few.\",\n \"Computer executable code (i.e., computer programs or software) is stored in the main memory 765 and/or the secondary memory 770.Computer programs can also be received via communication interface 590 and stored in the main memory 765 and/or the secondary memory 770.Such computer programs, when executed, enable the system 550 to perform the various functions of the present invention as previously described.\",\n \"In this description, the term “computer readable medium” is used to refer to any non-transitory computer readable storage media used to provide computer executable code (e.g., software and computer programs) to the system 750.Examples of these media include the main memory 765, the secondary memory 770 (including the internal memory 775, the removable medium 780, and the external medium 795), and any peripheral device communicatively coupled with the communication interface 790 (including a network information server or other network device).\",\n \"These non-transitory computer readable mediums are means for providing executable code, programming instructions, and software to the system 750.In one embodiment implemented using software, the software may be stored on a computer readable medium and loaded into the system 750 by way of the removable medium 780, the I/O interface 785, or the communication interface 790.In such an embodiment, the software is loaded into the system 750 in the form of electrical communication signals 605.The software, when executed by the processor 760, preferably causes the processor 760 to perform the inventive features and functions previously described herein.\",\n \"The system 750 also includes optional wireless communication components that facilitate wireless communication over a voice and over a data network.\",\n \"The wireless communication components comprise an antenna system 655, a radio system 645 and a baseband system 625.In the system 750, radio frequency (“RF”) signals are transmitted and received over the air by the antenna system 655 under the management of the radio system 645.In one embodiment, the antenna system 655 may comprise one or more antennae and one or more multiplexors (not shown) that perform a switching function to provide the antenna system 655 with transmit and receive signal paths.\",\n \"In the receive path, received RF signals can be coupled from a multiplexor to a low noise amplifier (not shown) that amplifies the received RF signal and sends the amplified signal to the radio system 645.In alternative embodiments, the radio system 645 may comprise one or more radios that are configured to communicate over various frequencies.\",\n \"In one embodiment, the radio system 645 may combine a demodulator (not shown) and modulator (not shown) in one integrated circuit (“IC”).\",\n \"The demodulator and modulator can also be separate components.\",\n \"In the incoming path, the demodulator strips away the RF carrier signal leaving a baseband receive audio signal, which is sent from the radio system 645 to the baseband system 625.If the received signal contains audio information, then baseband system 625 decodes the signal and converts it to an analog signal.\",\n \"Then the signal is amplified and sent to a speaker.\",\n \"The baseband system 625may also also receive analog audio signals from a microphone.\",\n \"These analog audio signals are converted to digital signals and encoded by the baseband system 625.The baseband system 625 also codes the digital signals for transmission and generates a baseband transmit audio signal that is routed to the modulator portion of the radio system 645.The modulator mixes the baseband transmit audio signal with an RF carrier signal generating an RF transmit signal that is routed to the antenna system 655 and may pass through a power amplifier (not shown).\",\n \"The power amplifier amplifies the RF transmit signal and routes it to the antenna system 655 where the signal is switched to the antenna port for transmission.\",\n \"The baseband system 625 may also be communicatively coupled with the processor 760.The processor 760 has access to main memory 765 and/or secondary memory 770.The processor 760 is preferably configured to execute instructions (i.e., computer programs or software) that can be stored in the main memory 765 or the secondary memory 770.Computer programs can also be received from the baseband system 625 and stored in the main memory 765 or in secondary memory 770, or executed upon receipt.\",\n \"Such computer programs, when executed, enable the system 750 to perform the various functions of the present invention as previously described.\",\n \"For example, the main memory 765 may include various software modules (not shown) that are executable by processor 760.The accompanying claims and their equivalents are intended to cover such forms or modifications as would fall within the scope and spirit of the protection.\",\n \"For example, the example apparatuses, methods, and systems disclosed herein can be applied wireless communication devices incorporating HF and/or UHF RFID reader capabilities.\",\n \"The various components illustrated in the figures may be implemented as, for example, but not limited to, software and/or firmware on a processor, ASIC/FPGA/DSP, or dedicated hardware.\",\n \"Also, the features and attributes of the specific example embodiments disclosed above may be combined in different ways to form additional embodiments, all of which fall within the scope of the present disclosure.\",\n \"The foregoing method descriptions and the process flow diagrams are provided merely as illustrative examples and are not intended to require or imply that the steps of the various embodiments must be performed in the order presented.\",\n \"As will be appreciated by one of skill in the art the order of steps in the foregoing embodiments may be performed in any order.\",\n \"Words such as “thereafter,” “then,” “next,” etc.\",\n \"are not intended to limit the order of the steps; these words are simply used to guide the reader through the description of the methods.\",\n \"Further, any reference to claim elements in the singular, for example, using the articles “a,” “an” or “the” is not to be construed as limiting the element to the singular.\",\n \"The various illustrative logical blocks, modules, circuits, and algorithm steps described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein may be implemented as electronic hardware, computer software, or combinations of both.\",\n \"To clearly illustrate this interchangeability of hardware and software, various illustrative components, blocks, modules, circuits, and steps have been described above generally in terms of their functionality.\",\n \"Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware or software depends upon the particular application and design constraints imposed on the overall system.\",\n \"Skilled artisans may implement the described functionality in varying ways for each particular application, but such implementation decisions should not be interpreted as causing a departure from the scope of the present invention.\",\n \"The hardware used to implement the various illustrative logics, logical blocks, modules, and circuits described in connection with the aspects disclosed herein may be implemented or performed with a general purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein.\",\n \"A general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but, in the alternative, the processor may be any conventional processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine.\",\n \"A processor may also be implemented as a combination of receiver devices, e.g., a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other such configuration.\",\n \"Alternatively, some steps or methods may be performed by circuitry that is specific to a given function.\",\n \"In one or more exemplary aspects, the functions described may be implemented in hardware, software, firmware, or any combination thereof.\",\n \"If implemented in software, the functions may be stored as one or more instructions or code on a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium or non-transitory processor-readable storage medium.\",\n \"The steps of a method or algorithm disclosed herein may be embodied in processor-executable instructions that may reside on a non-transitory computer-readable or processor-readable storage medium.\",\n \"Non-transitory computer-readable or processor-readable storage media may be any storage media that may be accessed by a computer or a processor.\",\n \"By way of example but not limitation, such non-transitory computer-readable or processor-readable storage media may include RAM, ROM, EEPROM, FLASH memory, CD-ROM or other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium that may be used to store desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and that may be accessed by a computer.\",\n \"Disk and disc, as used herein, includes compact disc (CD), laser disc, optical disc, digital versatile disc (DVD), floppy disk, and Blu-ray disc where disks usually reproduce data magnetically, while discs reproduce data optically with lasers.\",\n \"Combinations of the above are also included within the scope of non-transitory computer-readable and processor-readable media.\",\n \"Additionally, the operations of a method or algorithm may reside as one or any combination or set of codes and/or instructions on a non-transitory processor-readable storage medium and/or computer-readable storage medium, which may be incorporated into a computer program product.\",\n \"Although the present disclosure provides certain example embodiments and applications, other embodiments that are apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art, including embodiments which do not provide all of the features and advantages set forth herein, are also within the scope of this disclosure.\",\n \"Accordingly, the scope of the present disclosure is intended to be defined only by reference to the appended claims.\"\n ]\n]"},"source":{"kind":"string","value":"Patent_15876059"}}},{"rowIdx":4495068,"cells":{"text":{"kind":"list like","value":[["MAGNETIC SHIELD STRUCTURE","A magnetic shield structure includes a housing made of a dielectric material, and a magnetic shield body formed by metal plating.","The magnetic shield body is partially provided on at least one of an outer surface and an inner surface that form a surface of the housing made of the dielectric material."],["1.A magnetic shield structure, comprising: a housing made of a dielectric material; and a magnetic shield body formed by metal plating, wherein the magnetic shield body is partially provided on at least one of an outer surface and an inner surface that form a surface of the housing made of the dielectric material.","2.The magnetic shield structure according to claim 1, wherein the magnetic shield body is formed by the metal plating in a region facing high-frequency transmission path disposed in the housing on the inner surface and/or the outer surface of the housing, such that a characteristic impedance of the high-frequency transmission path becomes uniform.","3.The magnetic shield structure according to claim 1, wherein the magnetic shield body is formed by the metal plating and a dielectric in a region facing the high-frequency transmission path disposed in the housing on the inner surface and/or the outer surface of the housing, such that a characteristic impedance of the high-frequency transmission path becomes uniform.","4.The magnetic shield structure according to claim 1, wherein the housing is made up of a base and a case fitted to the base.","5.The magnetic shield structure according to claim 4, wherein the magnetic shield body is formed on at least a part of an outer surface of the case.","6.The magnetic shield structure according to claim 4, wherein the magnetic shield body is formed on at least a part of an inner surface of the case.","7.The magnetic shield structure according to claim 4, wherein the magnetic shield body formed on the outer surface of the case and the magnetic shield body formed on the inner surface of the case are electrically connected by the metal plating.","8.The magnetic shield structure according to claim 4, wherein the magnetic shield body is formed on at least a part of a bottom surface of the base.","9.The magnetic shield structure according to claim 4, wherein the magnetic shield body formed on the outer surface of the case and the magnetic shield body formed on the bottom surface of the base are electrically connected by the metal plating.","10.The magnetic shield structure according to claim 1, wherein the housing is made up of a plug body and a socket body connected to the plug body.","11.The magnetic shield structure according to claim 10, wherein the magnetic shield body is formed by the metal plating on at least a part of the plug body.","12.The magnetic shield structure according to claim 10, wherein the magnetic shield body is formed by the metal plating on at least a part of the socket body.","13.An electric/electronic component comprising: a magnetic shield structure, comprising: a housing made of a dielectric material; and a magnetic shield body formed by metal plating, wherein the magnetic shield body is partially provided on at least one of an outer surface and an inner surface that form a surface of the housing.","14.The magnetic shield structure according to claim 2, wherein the magnetic shield body is formed by the metal plating and a dielectric in a region facing the high-frequency transmission path disposed in the housing on the inner surface and/or the outer surface of the housing, such that a characteristic impedance of the high-frequency transmission path becomes uniform.","15.The magnetic shield structure according to claim 2, wherein the housing is made up of a base and a case fitted to the base.","16.The magnetic shield structure according to claim 3, wherein the housing is made up of a base and a case fitted to the base.","17.The magnetic shield structure according to claim 5, wherein the magnetic shield body is formed on at least a part of an inner surface of the case.","18.The magnetic shield structure according to claim 5, wherein the magnetic shield body formed on the outer surface of the case and the magnetic shield body formed on the inner surface of the case are electrically connected by the metal plating.","19.The magnetic shield structure according to claim 6, wherein the magnetic shield body formed on the outer surface of the case and the magnetic shield body formed on the inner surface of the case are electrically connected by the metal plating.","20.The magnetic shield structure according to claim 5, wherein the magnetic shield body is formed on at least a part of a bottom surface of the base."],[" BACKGROUND "],[" SUMMARY However, the high-frequency relay is made up by covering, with the metal case, the relay body formed by covering a body with a cover.","Hence the high-frequency relay requires the separate metal case, the number of parts and the number of assembling steps are large, and the productivity is low.","Further, external dimensions of the metal case and the positional relationship between the metal case and a high-frequency transmission component affect high-frequency characteristics.","For this reason, high dimensional accuracy and assembly accuracy are required in manufacturing and assembling the metal case, and the manufacturing and the assembly are thus not easy.","The metal case covers the entire exposed surface, except for the installation surface, of the relay body.","This leads to a problem in which desired high-frequency characteristics cannot be obtained due to the metal case covering an unnecessary region and a region that causes deterioration in characteristics of a transmission path structure.","In view of the above problems, an object of the present invention is to provide a magnetic shield structure having high productivity and excellent high-frequency characteristics, and easy to manufacture and assembly.","For solving the above problem, a magnetic shield structure according to the present invention is partially provided with a magnetic shield body, formed by metal plating, on at least one of an outer surface and an inner surface that form the surface of a housing made of a dielectric material.","According to the present invention, since the magnetic shield body is provided directly on the housing, it is possible to obtain a magnetic shield structure having high productivity with smaller numbers of parts and assembling steps.","Also, a magnetic shield body is formed directly in a region that requires the housing.","Hence it is possible to prevent deterioration in high-frequency characteristics based on the variations of the dimensional accuracy and the assembly accuracy in the housing.","Then, a magnetic shield body is formed only in a region that requires the housing.","Therefore, as in the conventional example, the magnetic shield body is not formed in an unnecessary region or a region that causes deterioration in characteristics of a transmission path structure.","As a result, the effect of obtaining a magnetic shield structure with excellent high-frequency characteristics is provided."],["BACKGROUND Technical Field The present invention relates to a magnetic shield structure, and particularly a magnetic shield structure formed by performing metal plating on a housing.","Related Art As an example of a magnetic shield structure, there has been a high-frequency relay that is magnetically shielded by fitting a separate metal case to a relay body and covering the entire relay body (Patent Document 1).","Patent Document 1: Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No.","2000-340084 SUMMARY However, the high-frequency relay is made up by covering, with the metal case, the relay body formed by covering a body with a cover.","Hence the high-frequency relay requires the separate metal case, the number of parts and the number of assembling steps are large, and the productivity is low.","Further, external dimensions of the metal case and the positional relationship between the metal case and a high-frequency transmission component affect high-frequency characteristics.","For this reason, high dimensional accuracy and assembly accuracy are required in manufacturing and assembling the metal case, and the manufacturing and the assembly are thus not easy.","The metal case covers the entire exposed surface, except for the installation surface, of the relay body.","This leads to a problem in which desired high-frequency characteristics cannot be obtained due to the metal case covering an unnecessary region and a region that causes deterioration in characteristics of a transmission path structure.","In view of the above problems, an object of the present invention is to provide a magnetic shield structure having high productivity and excellent high-frequency characteristics, and easy to manufacture and assembly.","For solving the above problem, a magnetic shield structure according to the present invention is partially provided with a magnetic shield body, formed by metal plating, on at least one of an outer surface and an inner surface that form the surface of a housing made of a dielectric material.","According to the present invention, since the magnetic shield body is provided directly on the housing, it is possible to obtain a magnetic shield structure having high productivity with smaller numbers of parts and assembling steps.","Also, a magnetic shield body is formed directly in a region that requires the housing.","Hence it is possible to prevent deterioration in high-frequency characteristics based on the variations of the dimensional accuracy and the assembly accuracy in the housing.","Then, a magnetic shield body is formed only in a region that requires the housing.","Therefore, as in the conventional example, the magnetic shield body is not formed in an unnecessary region or a region that causes deterioration in characteristics of a transmission path structure.","As a result, the effect of obtaining a magnetic shield structure with excellent high-frequency characteristics is provided.","BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG.","1 is a perspective view illustrating an electromagnetic relay of a first embodiment, to which a magnetic shield structure according to the present invention has been applied.","FIG.","2 is a perspective view illustrating a state where a case has been removed from the electromagnetic relay illustrated in FIG.","1.FIG.","3 is a front sectional view of the electromagnetic relay illustrated in FIG.","1.FIG.","4 is a central front sectional view of the electromagnetic relay illustrated in FIG.","1.FIG.","5 is a side sectional view of the electromagnetic relay illustrated in FIG.","1.FIG.","6 is a partially enlarged sectional view of the electromagnetic relay illustrated in FIG.","1.FIG.","7 is a perspective view of only a magnetic shield body illustrated in FIG.","1.FIG.","8 is a graph illustrating analysis results of Example and Comparative Example according to the first embodiment.","FIG.","9 is a perspective view of a case illustrating a second embodiment of a magnetic shield structure according to the present invention.","FIG.","10 is a perspective view of only a magnetic shield body provided in the case illustrated in FIG.","9.FIG.","11 is a perspective view of only the magnetic shield body located on an inner side in FIG.","10.FIG.","12 is a perspective view of the case illustrated in FIG.","9 viewed from different viewpoints.","FIG.","13 is a perspective view of only the magnetic shield body illustrated in FIG.","10 viewed from different angles.","FIG.","14 is a partially enlarged sectional view of the case illustrated in FIG.","9.FIG.","15 is a partially enlarged sectional view of only the magnetic shield body of the case illustrated in FIG.","14.FIG.","16 is a perspective view illustrating a switch according to a third embodiment, to which a magnetic shield structure according to the present invention has been applied.","FIG.","17 is a perspective view of the switch illustrated in FIG.","16, viewed from a different viewpoint.","FIG.","18 is a central front sectional view of the switch illustrated in FIG.","16.FIG.","19 is a perspective view illustrating a state where a case has been removed from the switch illustrated in FIG.","16.FIG.","20 is a perspective view illustrating a state where an operation lever is removed from FIG.","19.FIG.","21 is a perspective view illustrating a state where a base is removed from FIG.","20.FIG.","22 is a sectional perspective view of only a magnetic shield body illustrated in FIG.","16.FIG.","23 is an exploded perspective view illustrating a connector according to a fourth embodiment, to which a magnetic shield structure according to the present invention has been applied.","FIG.","24 is a sectional exploded perspective view of the connector illustrated in FIG.","23.FIG.","25 is a perspective view illustrating a state where a resin molded portion is removed from the connector illustrated in FIG.","24.FIG.","26 is a perspective view of only a magnetic shield body illustrated in FIG.","25 viewed from a different angle.","DETAILED DESCRIPTION A magnetic shield structure according to an aspect of the present invention is partially provided with a magnetic shield body, formed by metal plating, on at least one of an outer surface and an inner surface that form a surface of a housing made of a dielectric material.","According to this aspect, since the magnetic shield body is provided directly on the housing, it is possible to obtain a magnetic shield structure having high productivity with smaller numbers of parts and assembling steps.","Also, a magnetic shield body is formed directly in a region that requires the housing.","Hence it is possible to prevent deterioration in high-frequency characteristics based on the variations of the dimensional accuracy and the assembly accuracy in the housing.","Then, a magnetic shield body is formed only in a region that requires the housing.","Therefore, as in the conventional example, the magnetic shield body is not formed in an unnecessary region or a region that causes deterioration in characteristics of a transmission path structure.","As a result, the effect of obtaining a magnetic shield structure with excellent high-frequency characteristics is provided.","In the magnetic shield structure according to the aspect of the present invention, the magnetic shield body may be formed by the metal plating in a region facing high-frequency transmission path disposed in the housing on the inner surface and/or the outer surface of the housing, such that a characteristic impedance of the high-frequency transmission path becomes uniform.","According to this aspect, it is unnecessary to always provide the magnetic shield body by metal plating on the entire inner surface and/or outer surface of the housing.","Hence it is possible to save a raw material and obtain a magnetic shield structure with high productivity.","In a magnetic shield structure according to another aspect of the present invention, the magnetic shield body may be formed by the metal plating and a dielectric in a region facing the high-frequency transmission path disposed in the housing on the inner surface and/or the outer surface of the housing, such that a characteristic impedance of the high-frequency transmission path becomes uniform.","According to this aspect, it is unnecessary to always provide the magnetic shield body by metal plating and a dielectric on the entire inner surface and/or outer surface of the housing.","Hence it is possible to save a raw material and obtain a magnetic shield structure with high productivity.","In a magnetic shield structure according to another aspect of the present invention, the housing may be made up of a base and a case fitted to the base.","According to this aspect, a highly versatile magnetic shield structure can be obtained.","In a magnetic shield structure according to a new aspect of the present invention, the magnetic shield body may be formed on at least a part of an outer surface of the case Further, the magnetic shield body may be formed on at least a part of the inner surface of the case.","According to this aspect, since the magnetic shield body can be formed in a necessary region as necessary, it is possible to obtain a magnetic shield structure having more excellent high-frequency characteristics.","In a magnetic shield structure according to another aspect of the present invention, the magnetic shield body formed on the outer surface of the case and the magnetic shield body formed on the inner surface of the case may be electrically connected by the metal plating.","According to this aspect, it is possible to obtain a magnetic shield structure having more excellent high-frequency characteristics.","In a magnetic shield structure according to another aspect of the present invention, the magnetic shield body may be provided on at least a part of a bottom surface of the base.","According to this aspect, since the magnetic shield body can be formed in a necessary region as necessary, a magnetic shield structure having a wide application can be obtained.","In a magnetic shield structure according to a new aspect of the present invention, the magnetic shield body formed on the outer surface of the case and the magnetic shield body formed on the bottom surface of the base may be electrically connected by the metal plating.","According to this aspect, it is possible to connect to the ground via the magnetic shield body provided on the bottom surface of the base.","In a magnetic shield structure according to another aspect of the present invention, the housing may be made up of a plug body and a socket body connected to the plug body.","According to this aspect, a highly versatile magnetic shield structure can be obtained.","In a magnetic shield structure according to another aspect of the present invention, the magnetic shield body may be formed by the metal plating on at least a part of the plug body.","In addition, the magnetic shield body may be formed by the metal plating on at least a part of the socket body.","According to this aspect, there is an effect that a magnetic shield structure can be formed in a necessary region as necessary.","An electric/electronic component according to an aspect of the present invention includes the above magnetic shield structure.","According to this aspect, the magnetic shield structure is not limited to electromagnetic relays, switches, and connectors, and can be applied to other electric devices and electronic components having a high-frequency transmission component in a housing made of resin.","Embodiments of a magnetic shield structure according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.","1 to 25.First Embodiment In a first embodiment, as illustrated in FIGS.","1 to 7, a magnetic shield structure according to the present invention has been applied to a magnetically shielded self-holding type electromagnetic relay 10.As illustrated in FIGS.","1 and 2, the electromagnetic relay 10 rotatably supports a movable block 30 in an internal space formed by fitting a case 40 to a base 11.For convenience of description, a magnetic shield body 50 provided in the case 40 is illustrated in a dotted pattern.","As illustrated in FIGS.","2 to 6, the base 11 is formed by integrally molding an electromagnet block 20.Further, as illustrated in FIG.","2, fixed contacts 12, 14 are disposed at corner portions of the upper surface of the base 11.The fixed contacts 12, 14 are connected to fixed contact terminals 13, 15 integrally molded with the base 11, respectively.","Further, the base 11 is provided with common connection receivers 16 on opposite side edges of the upper surface of the base 11.The common connection receiver 16 is connected to a common terminal 17 integrally molded with the base 11.Note that a coil terminal 18 integrally molded with the base 11 is connected to a coil 22 of the electromagnet block 20 described later.","As illustrated in FIGS.","3 and 5, the electromagnet block 20 is formed by winding a coil 22 about an iron core 21 having a gate shape in cross section via an insulating sheet (not shown), to integrally mold the iron core 21 and the coil 22 with a spool 23.Magnetic pole portions 21a, 21b of the iron core 21 are exposed from both side edges of the upper surface of the base 11 (FIG.","4).","As illustrated in FIG.","4, the movable block 30 is formed by disposing a permanent magnet 32 having a plate shape on the lower surface of a movable iron piece 31 having a strip shape and disposing movable touch pieces 33, 33 in parallel on both sides of the movable iron piece 31 as illustrated in FIG.","2, to integrally mold the permanent magnet 32 and the movable touch pieces 33, 33.As illustrated in FIGS.","2 and 5, the movable touch piece 33 extends laterally from the side edge thereof, and has a connecting tongue piece 34 having a substantially planar T-shape.","As illustrated in FIG.","2, the connecting tongue pieces 34 protrude on the same axial center from both side end surfaces of the movable block 30.Further, as illustrated in FIG.","3, both ends of the movable touch piece 33 have a twin contact structure in which movable contacts 35, 36 are provided on the respective divided pieces divided into two areas in the width direction.","Then, as illustrated in FIG.","5, by welding and integrating the connecting tongue piece 34 of the movable block 30 to the common connection receiver 16 of the base 11, the movable block 30 is rotatably supported.","As a result, both ends 31a, 31b of the movable iron piece 31 face the magnetic pole portions 21a, 21b of the iron core 21 so as to be contactable with and separable from each other alternately.","Further, the movable contacts 35, 36 of the movable touch piece 33 face the fixed contacts 12, 14 alternately so as to be contactable and separable.","The case 40 is a resin molded product having a box shape that can be fitted to the base 11.The magnetic shield body 50 is formed on the outer peripheral surface of the case 40 by a molded interconnect devices (MID) molding method.","In the MID molding method, laser irradiation is performed on a molded article formed from a material in which a resin and a conductive material are mixed, based on a predetermined pattern, and the resin is removed.","Then, metal plating is performed on the exposed conductive material so as to form a desired circuit pattern.","A tubular magnetic shield portion 51 is also provided on the entire surface of a terminal portion 41 extending from the opening edge of the case 40 (FIG.","7).","This is for connecting to a ground of a printed circuit board (not shown) or the like.","The magnetic shield body 50 is provided based on the knowledge that high-frequency signals tend to leak if the characteristic impedance varies in the high-frequency transmission path.","Therefore, in order to reduce the leakage of the high-frequency signal, the magnetic shield body 50 is formed so as to reduce variations in the characteristic impedance in the high-frequency transmission path.","In short, instead of forming the magnetic shield body by metal plating over the entire outer peripheral surface of the case 40, a suitable magnetic shield body 50 is formed in a necessary region.","As a result, the magnetic shield body 50 constitutes, for example, a microstrip structure, a strip line structure, and a coplanar line structure.","The region where the magnetic shield body 50 is formed may be a region facing the high-frequency transmission path installed in the housing among the inner surface and/or the outer surface of a housing formed of a base and a case.","More specifically, it is preferable to arrange and form metal plating and/or dielectric so that the characteristic impedance of the high-frequency transmission path becomes uniform.","It is a matter of course that air is also considered as a dielectric.","For example, it is preferable to arrange and form the metal plating and/or the dielectric so that the characteristic impedance in each region of the high-frequency transmission path is equal to the reference value of 50 Ω.","This is because if there is a difference in characteristic impedance for each region of the high-frequency transmission path, high frequency leaks easily from the boundary of the region where the difference is present, and the high-frequency characteristics are degraded.","As the microstrip structure in this embodiment, for example, as illustrated in FIG.","6, a common terminal 17 which is a high-frequency transmission path is sandwiched between a spool 23 made of resin of an electromagnet block 20 which is a dielectric and a case 40 made of resin which is a dielectric material provided with a magnetic shield body 50.Further, as a strip line structure, for example, as illustrated in FIG.","6, a structure in which a case 40 made of resin which is a dielectric provided with a magnetic shield body 50 is disposed above a movable touch piece 33 which is a high-frequency transmission path can be mentioned.","As a coplanar line structure, for example, as illustrated in FIG.","1, between a coil terminal 18 which is a high-frequency transmission path and a magnetic shield body 50 formed on the outer peripheral surface of a case 40 made of resin which is a dielectric, a structure in which a minute gap portion is formed can be mentioned.","Similarly, the fixed contact terminals 13, 15 and the common terminal 17 constitute a coplanar line structure.","Next, a method of operating a self-holding type electromagnetic relay having the above-described configuration will be described.","For example, when no voltage is applied to the coil 22 of the electromagnet block 20 illustrated in FIG.","4, one end 31a of the movable iron piece 31 is attracted to one magnetic pole portion of the iron core 21, for example, the magnetic pole portion 21a, thereby constituting a magnetic circuit.","Therefore, the movable contact 35 of the movable touch piece 33 illustrated in FIG.","3 comes into contact with the fixed contact 12, and the movable contact 36 is separated from the fixed contact 14.When a voltage is applied to the coil 22 so as to generate a magnetic line of force in a direction canceling the magnetic lines of force of the permanent magnet 32 illustrated in FIG.","4, the other end 31b of the movable iron piece 31 illustrated in FIG.","3 is attracted to the magnetic pole portion 21b of the iron core 21 against the magnetic force of the permanent magnet 32.Hence the movable block 30 rotates about the connecting tongue piece 34 (FIG.","5).","As a result, after the movable contact 36 of the movable touch piece 33 illustrated in FIG.","3 comes into contact with the fixed contact 14, the other end 31b of the movable iron piece 31 illustrated in FIG.","4 is attracted to the magnetic pole portion 21b of the iron core 21 to form a magnetic circuit.","Subsequently, even when the application of the voltage to the coil 22 is stopped, the movable block 30 keeps its state by the magnetic force of the permanent magnet 32.Finally, a voltage in a direction opposite to the above-mentioned voltage application direction is applied to the coil 22 illustrated in FIG.","4.As a result, when the generated magnetic lines of force overcome the magnetic lines of force of the permanent magnet 32, one end 31a of the movable iron piece 31 illustrated in FIG.","4 is attracted to the magnetic pole portion 21a of the iron core 21, and the movable block 30 rotates about the connecting tongue piece 34 (FIG.","5).","For this reason, after the movable contact 35 provided at one end of the movable touch piece 33 illustrated in FIG.","3 comes into contact with the fixed contact 12, one end 31a of the movable iron piece 31 illustrated in FIG.","4 is attracted to the magnetic pole portion 21a of the iron core 21.Thereafter, the contacts are switched by repeating the same operation.","EXAMPLE The high-frequency characteristics of the electromagnetic relay provided with the magnetic shield body 50 according to the embodiment were analyzed.","The analysis result is illustrated in the graph of FIG.","8.COMPARATIVE EXAMPLE As a comparative example, there was used a case where a metal case covering the entire case was covered without forming a magnetic shield body of metal plating on the case of the same electromagnetic relay as in the first embodiment.","The other high-frequency characteristics were analyzed on the same conditions as in the first embodiment described above.","The analysis result is illustrated in the graph of FIG.","8.The high-frequency characteristics are measured by time domain reflectometry (TDR) method in FIG.","8.The TDR method refers to a method of applying a high-speed pulse or a step signal input to an object to be measured and measuring a returned reflection waveform.","From the reflection waveform, a characteristic impedance in the course of the high-frequency transmission path can be detected.","In FIG.","8, “(A) Terminal portion” indicates a characteristic impedance of only a distal region of the common terminal 17 in FIG.","2 which is surface-mounted on a printed circuit board.","“(B) Fixed contact terminal” indicates a characteristic impedance in a region from a boundary of the distal region to the common connection receiver 16 in the common terminal 17.“(C) Movable touch piece” indicates a characteristic impedance in a region from the base of the connecting tongue piece 34 of the movable touch piece 33 to the movable contact 36.“(D) Fixed contact terminal” indicates a characteristic impedance in a region from the fixed contact 14 of the fixed contact terminal 15 provided on the fixed contact terminal 15 to a boundary of a distal region surface-mounted on the printed circuit board.","“(E) Terminal portion” indicates a characteristic impedance of only a distal region of the fixed contact terminal 15 which is surface-mounted on the printed circuit board.","As is apparent from FIG.","8, it was found that the reflection waveform of the example is closer to the characteristic impedance (50 0) than the reflection waveform of the comparative example.","As a result, it was found that the variation in the characteristic impedance in the example is smaller, and the leakage of the high frequency signal is smaller, than in the comparative example.","Second Embodiment In a second embodiment, as illustrated in FIGS.","9 to 15, a magnetic shield structure according to the present invention has been applied to the case 40 of the electromagnetic relay as in the first embodiment.","A difference from the first embodiment is that a magnetic shield body 60 is also formed on the inner peripheral surface of the case 40 by the MID molding method.","Therefore, the difference from the first embodiment will be described, and the same parts will be denoted by the same reference numerals and the description thereof will be omitted.","The magnetic shield body 60 is provided at each corner portion facing the inner peripheral surface of the case 40.In particular, as illustrated in FIG.","11, the magnetic shield body 60 has a pair of arms 61 extending from both ends.","The arm 61 has a shape that surrounds both ends of the movable touch piece 33 of the first embodiment.","Further, the magnetic shield body 60 is electrically connected to the tubular magnetic shield portion 51 of the magnetic shield body 50 via a leg 62 extending downward.","According to the embodiment, as illustrated in FIGS.","14 and 15, both ends of the movable touch piece 33 are disposed so as to form a minute gap between the magnetic shield body 60 attached to the inner surface of a case made of resin which is a dielectric and its arm 61.As a result, a coplanar line structure similar to that of the first embodiment is constituted.","Therefore, according to the second embodiment, not only the magnetic shield body 50 but also the magnetic shield body 60 is provided, whereby the characteristic impedance can be easily adjusted.","For this reason, the variation in the characteristic impedance in the high-frequency transmission path is more easily reduced, and the high-frequency characteristics can be improved.","There is thus an advantage that the degree of design freedom is widened to further expand the application.","Third Embodiment In a third embodiment, as illustrated in FIGS.","16 to 22, a magnetic shield structure according to the present invention has been applied to a switch 70.The switch 70 is formed of a plate-shaped base 71, a box-shaped case 80, and an operation lever 100 assembled to the box-shaped case 80.As illustrated in FIG.","18, the plate-shaped base 71 is integrally molded with a pair of fixed contact terminals 72, 73 so that fixed contacts 74, 75 are exposed at both side edges of the upper surface.","Further, the plate-shaped base 71 has four positioning legs 76 projecting from the lower surface thereof between the fixed contact terminals 72, 73.In the plate-shaped base 71, a magnetic shield body 90 is formed on the lower surface including the positioning legs 76 by the MID molding method.","The box-shaped case 80 has a box shape capable of covering the upper surface of the plate-shaped base 71, and an operation hole 81 is formed on the ceiling surface.","In addition, the box-shaped case 80 has a magnetic shield body 91 having an annular shape and formed on its outer surface by the MID molding method.","The magnetic shield body 91 is electrically connected to the magnetic shield body 90 via a connecting portion 92.Therefore, the magnetic shield body 91 can be connected to the ground via the magnetic shield body 90 covering the positioning legs 76 of the plate-shaped base 71.As illustrated in FIG.","18, the operation lever 100 has an inverted T-shape in cross section, and a caulking projection 101 provided on the lower surface thereof is inserted and fixed into a caulking hole 108 of a movable touch piece 105.The movable touch piece 105 has a cross-sectional shape in which movable contacts 106, 107 located at both ends of the movable touch piece 105 are in contact with the fixed contacts 74, 75, respectively.","The operation lever 100 protrudes from the operation hole 81 of the box-shaped case 80 so that an operation protrusion 102 protruding from the upper surface of the operation lever 100 is operable.","Therefore, by sliding the operation protrusion 102 of the operation lever 100, the movable contacts 106, 107 come into contact with the fixed contacts 74, 75, respectively.","Even when a high frequency signal flows to the fixed contact terminal 72, the movable touch piece 105 and the fixed contact terminal 73, it is magnetically shielded by the magnetic shield bodies 90, 91.There is thus an advantage that not only leakage of high frequency signals but also entry of external signals can be prevented.","Fourth Embodiment In a fourth embodiment, as illustrated in FIGS.","22 to 25, a magnetic shield structure according to the present invention has been applied to a high-frequency connector.","The high-frequency connector includes a plug 110 and a socket 130.The plug 110 is formed by integrally molding three connecting pins 112, 113, 114 disposed side by side into a plug body 111 formed of resin serving as a dielectric.","A magnetic shield body 120 is formed on the plug body 111 by the MID molding method.","That is, in the magnetic shield body 120, an upper piece portion 121 and a lower piece portion 122 which are disposed so as to sandwich the connecting pins 112, 113, 114 from above and below, are electrically connected by a connecting portion 123.The connecting portion 123 is electrically connected to the connecting pin 114 connected to the ground.","Further, the socket 130 is formed by integrally molding three receiving pins 132, 133, 134 disposed side by side into a socket body 131 formed of resin serving as a dielectric.","In the socket body 131, a magnetic shield body 140 is formed by the MID molding method.","That is, in the magnetic shield body 140, an upper piece portion 141 and a lower piece portion 142 which are formed so as to sandwich the receiving pins 132, 133, 134 from above and below, are electrically connected by a connecting portion 143.The connecting portion 143 is electrically connected to the receiving pin 134 connected to the ground.","A magnetic shield structure according to the present invention is not limited to the electromagnetic relay, the switch, and the connector described above, and may be applied to other electric devices and electronic components having a high-frequency transmission component in a housing made of resin.","Description of Symbols 10 electromagnetic relay 11 base 12 fixed contact 13 fixed contact terminal 14 fixed contact 15 fixed contact terminal 16 common connection receiver 17 common terminal 18 coil terminal 20 electromagnet block 21 iron core 22 coil 23 spool 30 movable block 31 movable iron piece 32 permanent magnet 33 movable touch piece 40 case 41 terminal portion 50 magnetic shield body 51 tubular magnetic shield portion 60 magnetic shield body 61 arm 62 leg 70 switch 71 plate-shaped base 72 fixed contact terminal 73 fixed contact terminal 74 fixed contact 75 fixed contact 76 positioning leg 80 box-shaped case 81 operation hole 90 magnetic shield body 91 magnetic shield body 92 connecting portion 110 plug 111 plug body 120 magnetic shield body 121 upper piece portion 122 lower piece portion 123 connecting portion 130 socket 131 socket body 140 magnetic shield body 141 upper piece portion 142 lower piece portion 143 connecting portion"]],"string":"[\n [\n \"MAGNETIC SHIELD STRUCTURE\",\n \"A magnetic shield structure includes a housing made of a dielectric material, and a magnetic shield body formed by metal plating.\",\n \"The magnetic shield body is partially provided on at least one of an outer surface and an inner surface that form a surface of the housing made of the dielectric material.\"\n ],\n [\n \"1.A magnetic shield structure, comprising: a housing made of a dielectric material; and a magnetic shield body formed by metal plating, wherein the magnetic shield body is partially provided on at least one of an outer surface and an inner surface that form a surface of the housing made of the dielectric material.\",\n \"2.The magnetic shield structure according to claim 1, wherein the magnetic shield body is formed by the metal plating in a region facing high-frequency transmission path disposed in the housing on the inner surface and/or the outer surface of the housing, such that a characteristic impedance of the high-frequency transmission path becomes uniform.\",\n \"3.The magnetic shield structure according to claim 1, wherein the magnetic shield body is formed by the metal plating and a dielectric in a region facing the high-frequency transmission path disposed in the housing on the inner surface and/or the outer surface of the housing, such that a characteristic impedance of the high-frequency transmission path becomes uniform.\",\n \"4.The magnetic shield structure according to claim 1, wherein the housing is made up of a base and a case fitted to the base.\",\n \"5.The magnetic shield structure according to claim 4, wherein the magnetic shield body is formed on at least a part of an outer surface of the case.\",\n \"6.The magnetic shield structure according to claim 4, wherein the magnetic shield body is formed on at least a part of an inner surface of the case.\",\n \"7.The magnetic shield structure according to claim 4, wherein the magnetic shield body formed on the outer surface of the case and the magnetic shield body formed on the inner surface of the case are electrically connected by the metal plating.\",\n \"8.The magnetic shield structure according to claim 4, wherein the magnetic shield body is formed on at least a part of a bottom surface of the base.\",\n \"9.The magnetic shield structure according to claim 4, wherein the magnetic shield body formed on the outer surface of the case and the magnetic shield body formed on the bottom surface of the base are electrically connected by the metal plating.\",\n \"10.The magnetic shield structure according to claim 1, wherein the housing is made up of a plug body and a socket body connected to the plug body.\",\n \"11.The magnetic shield structure according to claim 10, wherein the magnetic shield body is formed by the metal plating on at least a part of the plug body.\",\n \"12.The magnetic shield structure according to claim 10, wherein the magnetic shield body is formed by the metal plating on at least a part of the socket body.\",\n \"13.An electric/electronic component comprising: a magnetic shield structure, comprising: a housing made of a dielectric material; and a magnetic shield body formed by metal plating, wherein the magnetic shield body is partially provided on at least one of an outer surface and an inner surface that form a surface of the housing.\",\n \"14.The magnetic shield structure according to claim 2, wherein the magnetic shield body is formed by the metal plating and a dielectric in a region facing the high-frequency transmission path disposed in the housing on the inner surface and/or the outer surface of the housing, such that a characteristic impedance of the high-frequency transmission path becomes uniform.\",\n \"15.The magnetic shield structure according to claim 2, wherein the housing is made up of a base and a case fitted to the base.\",\n \"16.The magnetic shield structure according to claim 3, wherein the housing is made up of a base and a case fitted to the base.\",\n \"17.The magnetic shield structure according to claim 5, wherein the magnetic shield body is formed on at least a part of an inner surface of the case.\",\n \"18.The magnetic shield structure according to claim 5, wherein the magnetic shield body formed on the outer surface of the case and the magnetic shield body formed on the inner surface of the case are electrically connected by the metal plating.\",\n \"19.The magnetic shield structure according to claim 6, wherein the magnetic shield body formed on the outer surface of the case and the magnetic shield body formed on the inner surface of the case are electrically connected by the metal plating.\",\n \"20.The magnetic shield structure according to claim 5, wherein the magnetic shield body is formed on at least a part of a bottom surface of the base.\"\n ],\n [\n \" BACKGROUND \"\n ],\n [\n \" SUMMARY However, the high-frequency relay is made up by covering, with the metal case, the relay body formed by covering a body with a cover.\",\n \"Hence the high-frequency relay requires the separate metal case, the number of parts and the number of assembling steps are large, and the productivity is low.\",\n \"Further, external dimensions of the metal case and the positional relationship between the metal case and a high-frequency transmission component affect high-frequency characteristics.\",\n \"For this reason, high dimensional accuracy and assembly accuracy are required in manufacturing and assembling the metal case, and the manufacturing and the assembly are thus not easy.\",\n \"The metal case covers the entire exposed surface, except for the installation surface, of the relay body.\",\n \"This leads to a problem in which desired high-frequency characteristics cannot be obtained due to the metal case covering an unnecessary region and a region that causes deterioration in characteristics of a transmission path structure.\",\n \"In view of the above problems, an object of the present invention is to provide a magnetic shield structure having high productivity and excellent high-frequency characteristics, and easy to manufacture and assembly.\",\n \"For solving the above problem, a magnetic shield structure according to the present invention is partially provided with a magnetic shield body, formed by metal plating, on at least one of an outer surface and an inner surface that form the surface of a housing made of a dielectric material.\",\n \"According to the present invention, since the magnetic shield body is provided directly on the housing, it is possible to obtain a magnetic shield structure having high productivity with smaller numbers of parts and assembling steps.\",\n \"Also, a magnetic shield body is formed directly in a region that requires the housing.\",\n \"Hence it is possible to prevent deterioration in high-frequency characteristics based on the variations of the dimensional accuracy and the assembly accuracy in the housing.\",\n \"Then, a magnetic shield body is formed only in a region that requires the housing.\",\n \"Therefore, as in the conventional example, the magnetic shield body is not formed in an unnecessary region or a region that causes deterioration in characteristics of a transmission path structure.\",\n \"As a result, the effect of obtaining a magnetic shield structure with excellent high-frequency characteristics is provided.\"\n ],\n [\n \"BACKGROUND Technical Field The present invention relates to a magnetic shield structure, and particularly a magnetic shield structure formed by performing metal plating on a housing.\",\n \"Related Art As an example of a magnetic shield structure, there has been a high-frequency relay that is magnetically shielded by fitting a separate metal case to a relay body and covering the entire relay body (Patent Document 1).\",\n \"Patent Document 1: Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No.\",\n \"2000-340084 SUMMARY However, the high-frequency relay is made up by covering, with the metal case, the relay body formed by covering a body with a cover.\",\n \"Hence the high-frequency relay requires the separate metal case, the number of parts and the number of assembling steps are large, and the productivity is low.\",\n \"Further, external dimensions of the metal case and the positional relationship between the metal case and a high-frequency transmission component affect high-frequency characteristics.\",\n \"For this reason, high dimensional accuracy and assembly accuracy are required in manufacturing and assembling the metal case, and the manufacturing and the assembly are thus not easy.\",\n \"The metal case covers the entire exposed surface, except for the installation surface, of the relay body.\",\n \"This leads to a problem in which desired high-frequency characteristics cannot be obtained due to the metal case covering an unnecessary region and a region that causes deterioration in characteristics of a transmission path structure.\",\n \"In view of the above problems, an object of the present invention is to provide a magnetic shield structure having high productivity and excellent high-frequency characteristics, and easy to manufacture and assembly.\",\n \"For solving the above problem, a magnetic shield structure according to the present invention is partially provided with a magnetic shield body, formed by metal plating, on at least one of an outer surface and an inner surface that form the surface of a housing made of a dielectric material.\",\n \"According to the present invention, since the magnetic shield body is provided directly on the housing, it is possible to obtain a magnetic shield structure having high productivity with smaller numbers of parts and assembling steps.\",\n \"Also, a magnetic shield body is formed directly in a region that requires the housing.\",\n \"Hence it is possible to prevent deterioration in high-frequency characteristics based on the variations of the dimensional accuracy and the assembly accuracy in the housing.\",\n \"Then, a magnetic shield body is formed only in a region that requires the housing.\",\n \"Therefore, as in the conventional example, the magnetic shield body is not formed in an unnecessary region or a region that causes deterioration in characteristics of a transmission path structure.\",\n \"As a result, the effect of obtaining a magnetic shield structure with excellent high-frequency characteristics is provided.\",\n \"BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG.\",\n \"1 is a perspective view illustrating an electromagnetic relay of a first embodiment, to which a magnetic shield structure according to the present invention has been applied.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"2 is a perspective view illustrating a state where a case has been removed from the electromagnetic relay illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"1.FIG.\",\n \"3 is a front sectional view of the electromagnetic relay illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"1.FIG.\",\n \"4 is a central front sectional view of the electromagnetic relay illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"1.FIG.\",\n \"5 is a side sectional view of the electromagnetic relay illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"1.FIG.\",\n \"6 is a partially enlarged sectional view of the electromagnetic relay illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"1.FIG.\",\n \"7 is a perspective view of only a magnetic shield body illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"1.FIG.\",\n \"8 is a graph illustrating analysis results of Example and Comparative Example according to the first embodiment.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"9 is a perspective view of a case illustrating a second embodiment of a magnetic shield structure according to the present invention.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"10 is a perspective view of only a magnetic shield body provided in the case illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"9.FIG.\",\n \"11 is a perspective view of only the magnetic shield body located on an inner side in FIG.\",\n \"10.FIG.\",\n \"12 is a perspective view of the case illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"9 viewed from different viewpoints.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"13 is a perspective view of only the magnetic shield body illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"10 viewed from different angles.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"14 is a partially enlarged sectional view of the case illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"9.FIG.\",\n \"15 is a partially enlarged sectional view of only the magnetic shield body of the case illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"14.FIG.\",\n \"16 is a perspective view illustrating a switch according to a third embodiment, to which a magnetic shield structure according to the present invention has been applied.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"17 is a perspective view of the switch illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"16, viewed from a different viewpoint.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"18 is a central front sectional view of the switch illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"16.FIG.\",\n \"19 is a perspective view illustrating a state where a case has been removed from the switch illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"16.FIG.\",\n \"20 is a perspective view illustrating a state where an operation lever is removed from FIG.\",\n \"19.FIG.\",\n \"21 is a perspective view illustrating a state where a base is removed from FIG.\",\n \"20.FIG.\",\n \"22 is a sectional perspective view of only a magnetic shield body illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"16.FIG.\",\n \"23 is an exploded perspective view illustrating a connector according to a fourth embodiment, to which a magnetic shield structure according to the present invention has been applied.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"24 is a sectional exploded perspective view of the connector illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"23.FIG.\",\n \"25 is a perspective view illustrating a state where a resin molded portion is removed from the connector illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"24.FIG.\",\n \"26 is a perspective view of only a magnetic shield body illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"25 viewed from a different angle.\",\n \"DETAILED DESCRIPTION A magnetic shield structure according to an aspect of the present invention is partially provided with a magnetic shield body, formed by metal plating, on at least one of an outer surface and an inner surface that form a surface of a housing made of a dielectric material.\",\n \"According to this aspect, since the magnetic shield body is provided directly on the housing, it is possible to obtain a magnetic shield structure having high productivity with smaller numbers of parts and assembling steps.\",\n \"Also, a magnetic shield body is formed directly in a region that requires the housing.\",\n \"Hence it is possible to prevent deterioration in high-frequency characteristics based on the variations of the dimensional accuracy and the assembly accuracy in the housing.\",\n \"Then, a magnetic shield body is formed only in a region that requires the housing.\",\n \"Therefore, as in the conventional example, the magnetic shield body is not formed in an unnecessary region or a region that causes deterioration in characteristics of a transmission path structure.\",\n \"As a result, the effect of obtaining a magnetic shield structure with excellent high-frequency characteristics is provided.\",\n \"In the magnetic shield structure according to the aspect of the present invention, the magnetic shield body may be formed by the metal plating in a region facing high-frequency transmission path disposed in the housing on the inner surface and/or the outer surface of the housing, such that a characteristic impedance of the high-frequency transmission path becomes uniform.\",\n \"According to this aspect, it is unnecessary to always provide the magnetic shield body by metal plating on the entire inner surface and/or outer surface of the housing.\",\n \"Hence it is possible to save a raw material and obtain a magnetic shield structure with high productivity.\",\n \"In a magnetic shield structure according to another aspect of the present invention, the magnetic shield body may be formed by the metal plating and a dielectric in a region facing the high-frequency transmission path disposed in the housing on the inner surface and/or the outer surface of the housing, such that a characteristic impedance of the high-frequency transmission path becomes uniform.\",\n \"According to this aspect, it is unnecessary to always provide the magnetic shield body by metal plating and a dielectric on the entire inner surface and/or outer surface of the housing.\",\n \"Hence it is possible to save a raw material and obtain a magnetic shield structure with high productivity.\",\n \"In a magnetic shield structure according to another aspect of the present invention, the housing may be made up of a base and a case fitted to the base.\",\n \"According to this aspect, a highly versatile magnetic shield structure can be obtained.\",\n \"In a magnetic shield structure according to a new aspect of the present invention, the magnetic shield body may be formed on at least a part of an outer surface of the case Further, the magnetic shield body may be formed on at least a part of the inner surface of the case.\",\n \"According to this aspect, since the magnetic shield body can be formed in a necessary region as necessary, it is possible to obtain a magnetic shield structure having more excellent high-frequency characteristics.\",\n \"In a magnetic shield structure according to another aspect of the present invention, the magnetic shield body formed on the outer surface of the case and the magnetic shield body formed on the inner surface of the case may be electrically connected by the metal plating.\",\n \"According to this aspect, it is possible to obtain a magnetic shield structure having more excellent high-frequency characteristics.\",\n \"In a magnetic shield structure according to another aspect of the present invention, the magnetic shield body may be provided on at least a part of a bottom surface of the base.\",\n \"According to this aspect, since the magnetic shield body can be formed in a necessary region as necessary, a magnetic shield structure having a wide application can be obtained.\",\n \"In a magnetic shield structure according to a new aspect of the present invention, the magnetic shield body formed on the outer surface of the case and the magnetic shield body formed on the bottom surface of the base may be electrically connected by the metal plating.\",\n \"According to this aspect, it is possible to connect to the ground via the magnetic shield body provided on the bottom surface of the base.\",\n \"In a magnetic shield structure according to another aspect of the present invention, the housing may be made up of a plug body and a socket body connected to the plug body.\",\n \"According to this aspect, a highly versatile magnetic shield structure can be obtained.\",\n \"In a magnetic shield structure according to another aspect of the present invention, the magnetic shield body may be formed by the metal plating on at least a part of the plug body.\",\n \"In addition, the magnetic shield body may be formed by the metal plating on at least a part of the socket body.\",\n \"According to this aspect, there is an effect that a magnetic shield structure can be formed in a necessary region as necessary.\",\n \"An electric/electronic component according to an aspect of the present invention includes the above magnetic shield structure.\",\n \"According to this aspect, the magnetic shield structure is not limited to electromagnetic relays, switches, and connectors, and can be applied to other electric devices and electronic components having a high-frequency transmission component in a housing made of resin.\",\n \"Embodiments of a magnetic shield structure according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.\",\n \"1 to 25.First Embodiment In a first embodiment, as illustrated in FIGS.\",\n \"1 to 7, a magnetic shield structure according to the present invention has been applied to a magnetically shielded self-holding type electromagnetic relay 10.As illustrated in FIGS.\",\n \"1 and 2, the electromagnetic relay 10 rotatably supports a movable block 30 in an internal space formed by fitting a case 40 to a base 11.For convenience of description, a magnetic shield body 50 provided in the case 40 is illustrated in a dotted pattern.\",\n \"As illustrated in FIGS.\",\n \"2 to 6, the base 11 is formed by integrally molding an electromagnet block 20.Further, as illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"2, fixed contacts 12, 14 are disposed at corner portions of the upper surface of the base 11.The fixed contacts 12, 14 are connected to fixed contact terminals 13, 15 integrally molded with the base 11, respectively.\",\n \"Further, the base 11 is provided with common connection receivers 16 on opposite side edges of the upper surface of the base 11.The common connection receiver 16 is connected to a common terminal 17 integrally molded with the base 11.Note that a coil terminal 18 integrally molded with the base 11 is connected to a coil 22 of the electromagnet block 20 described later.\",\n \"As illustrated in FIGS.\",\n \"3 and 5, the electromagnet block 20 is formed by winding a coil 22 about an iron core 21 having a gate shape in cross section via an insulating sheet (not shown), to integrally mold the iron core 21 and the coil 22 with a spool 23.Magnetic pole portions 21a, 21b of the iron core 21 are exposed from both side edges of the upper surface of the base 11 (FIG.\",\n \"4).\",\n \"As illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"4, the movable block 30 is formed by disposing a permanent magnet 32 having a plate shape on the lower surface of a movable iron piece 31 having a strip shape and disposing movable touch pieces 33, 33 in parallel on both sides of the movable iron piece 31 as illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"2, to integrally mold the permanent magnet 32 and the movable touch pieces 33, 33.As illustrated in FIGS.\",\n \"2 and 5, the movable touch piece 33 extends laterally from the side edge thereof, and has a connecting tongue piece 34 having a substantially planar T-shape.\",\n \"As illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"2, the connecting tongue pieces 34 protrude on the same axial center from both side end surfaces of the movable block 30.Further, as illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"3, both ends of the movable touch piece 33 have a twin contact structure in which movable contacts 35, 36 are provided on the respective divided pieces divided into two areas in the width direction.\",\n \"Then, as illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"5, by welding and integrating the connecting tongue piece 34 of the movable block 30 to the common connection receiver 16 of the base 11, the movable block 30 is rotatably supported.\",\n \"As a result, both ends 31a, 31b of the movable iron piece 31 face the magnetic pole portions 21a, 21b of the iron core 21 so as to be contactable with and separable from each other alternately.\",\n \"Further, the movable contacts 35, 36 of the movable touch piece 33 face the fixed contacts 12, 14 alternately so as to be contactable and separable.\",\n \"The case 40 is a resin molded product having a box shape that can be fitted to the base 11.The magnetic shield body 50 is formed on the outer peripheral surface of the case 40 by a molded interconnect devices (MID) molding method.\",\n \"In the MID molding method, laser irradiation is performed on a molded article formed from a material in which a resin and a conductive material are mixed, based on a predetermined pattern, and the resin is removed.\",\n \"Then, metal plating is performed on the exposed conductive material so as to form a desired circuit pattern.\",\n \"A tubular magnetic shield portion 51 is also provided on the entire surface of a terminal portion 41 extending from the opening edge of the case 40 (FIG.\",\n \"7).\",\n \"This is for connecting to a ground of a printed circuit board (not shown) or the like.\",\n \"The magnetic shield body 50 is provided based on the knowledge that high-frequency signals tend to leak if the characteristic impedance varies in the high-frequency transmission path.\",\n \"Therefore, in order to reduce the leakage of the high-frequency signal, the magnetic shield body 50 is formed so as to reduce variations in the characteristic impedance in the high-frequency transmission path.\",\n \"In short, instead of forming the magnetic shield body by metal plating over the entire outer peripheral surface of the case 40, a suitable magnetic shield body 50 is formed in a necessary region.\",\n \"As a result, the magnetic shield body 50 constitutes, for example, a microstrip structure, a strip line structure, and a coplanar line structure.\",\n \"The region where the magnetic shield body 50 is formed may be a region facing the high-frequency transmission path installed in the housing among the inner surface and/or the outer surface of a housing formed of a base and a case.\",\n \"More specifically, it is preferable to arrange and form metal plating and/or dielectric so that the characteristic impedance of the high-frequency transmission path becomes uniform.\",\n \"It is a matter of course that air is also considered as a dielectric.\",\n \"For example, it is preferable to arrange and form the metal plating and/or the dielectric so that the characteristic impedance in each region of the high-frequency transmission path is equal to the reference value of 50 Ω.\",\n \"This is because if there is a difference in characteristic impedance for each region of the high-frequency transmission path, high frequency leaks easily from the boundary of the region where the difference is present, and the high-frequency characteristics are degraded.\",\n \"As the microstrip structure in this embodiment, for example, as illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"6, a common terminal 17 which is a high-frequency transmission path is sandwiched between a spool 23 made of resin of an electromagnet block 20 which is a dielectric and a case 40 made of resin which is a dielectric material provided with a magnetic shield body 50.Further, as a strip line structure, for example, as illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"6, a structure in which a case 40 made of resin which is a dielectric provided with a magnetic shield body 50 is disposed above a movable touch piece 33 which is a high-frequency transmission path can be mentioned.\",\n \"As a coplanar line structure, for example, as illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"1, between a coil terminal 18 which is a high-frequency transmission path and a magnetic shield body 50 formed on the outer peripheral surface of a case 40 made of resin which is a dielectric, a structure in which a minute gap portion is formed can be mentioned.\",\n \"Similarly, the fixed contact terminals 13, 15 and the common terminal 17 constitute a coplanar line structure.\",\n \"Next, a method of operating a self-holding type electromagnetic relay having the above-described configuration will be described.\",\n \"For example, when no voltage is applied to the coil 22 of the electromagnet block 20 illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"4, one end 31a of the movable iron piece 31 is attracted to one magnetic pole portion of the iron core 21, for example, the magnetic pole portion 21a, thereby constituting a magnetic circuit.\",\n \"Therefore, the movable contact 35 of the movable touch piece 33 illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"3 comes into contact with the fixed contact 12, and the movable contact 36 is separated from the fixed contact 14.When a voltage is applied to the coil 22 so as to generate a magnetic line of force in a direction canceling the magnetic lines of force of the permanent magnet 32 illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"4, the other end 31b of the movable iron piece 31 illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"3 is attracted to the magnetic pole portion 21b of the iron core 21 against the magnetic force of the permanent magnet 32.Hence the movable block 30 rotates about the connecting tongue piece 34 (FIG.\",\n \"5).\",\n \"As a result, after the movable contact 36 of the movable touch piece 33 illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"3 comes into contact with the fixed contact 14, the other end 31b of the movable iron piece 31 illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"4 is attracted to the magnetic pole portion 21b of the iron core 21 to form a magnetic circuit.\",\n \"Subsequently, even when the application of the voltage to the coil 22 is stopped, the movable block 30 keeps its state by the magnetic force of the permanent magnet 32.Finally, a voltage in a direction opposite to the above-mentioned voltage application direction is applied to the coil 22 illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"4.As a result, when the generated magnetic lines of force overcome the magnetic lines of force of the permanent magnet 32, one end 31a of the movable iron piece 31 illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"4 is attracted to the magnetic pole portion 21a of the iron core 21, and the movable block 30 rotates about the connecting tongue piece 34 (FIG.\",\n \"5).\",\n \"For this reason, after the movable contact 35 provided at one end of the movable touch piece 33 illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"3 comes into contact with the fixed contact 12, one end 31a of the movable iron piece 31 illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"4 is attracted to the magnetic pole portion 21a of the iron core 21.Thereafter, the contacts are switched by repeating the same operation.\",\n \"EXAMPLE The high-frequency characteristics of the electromagnetic relay provided with the magnetic shield body 50 according to the embodiment were analyzed.\",\n \"The analysis result is illustrated in the graph of FIG.\",\n \"8.COMPARATIVE EXAMPLE As a comparative example, there was used a case where a metal case covering the entire case was covered without forming a magnetic shield body of metal plating on the case of the same electromagnetic relay as in the first embodiment.\",\n \"The other high-frequency characteristics were analyzed on the same conditions as in the first embodiment described above.\",\n \"The analysis result is illustrated in the graph of FIG.\",\n \"8.The high-frequency characteristics are measured by time domain reflectometry (TDR) method in FIG.\",\n \"8.The TDR method refers to a method of applying a high-speed pulse or a step signal input to an object to be measured and measuring a returned reflection waveform.\",\n \"From the reflection waveform, a characteristic impedance in the course of the high-frequency transmission path can be detected.\",\n \"In FIG.\",\n \"8, “(A) Terminal portion” indicates a characteristic impedance of only a distal region of the common terminal 17 in FIG.\",\n \"2 which is surface-mounted on a printed circuit board.\",\n \"“(B) Fixed contact terminal” indicates a characteristic impedance in a region from a boundary of the distal region to the common connection receiver 16 in the common terminal 17.“(C) Movable touch piece” indicates a characteristic impedance in a region from the base of the connecting tongue piece 34 of the movable touch piece 33 to the movable contact 36.“(D) Fixed contact terminal” indicates a characteristic impedance in a region from the fixed contact 14 of the fixed contact terminal 15 provided on the fixed contact terminal 15 to a boundary of a distal region surface-mounted on the printed circuit board.\",\n \"“(E) Terminal portion” indicates a characteristic impedance of only a distal region of the fixed contact terminal 15 which is surface-mounted on the printed circuit board.\",\n \"As is apparent from FIG.\",\n \"8, it was found that the reflection waveform of the example is closer to the characteristic impedance (50 0) than the reflection waveform of the comparative example.\",\n \"As a result, it was found that the variation in the characteristic impedance in the example is smaller, and the leakage of the high frequency signal is smaller, than in the comparative example.\",\n \"Second Embodiment In a second embodiment, as illustrated in FIGS.\",\n \"9 to 15, a magnetic shield structure according to the present invention has been applied to the case 40 of the electromagnetic relay as in the first embodiment.\",\n \"A difference from the first embodiment is that a magnetic shield body 60 is also formed on the inner peripheral surface of the case 40 by the MID molding method.\",\n \"Therefore, the difference from the first embodiment will be described, and the same parts will be denoted by the same reference numerals and the description thereof will be omitted.\",\n \"The magnetic shield body 60 is provided at each corner portion facing the inner peripheral surface of the case 40.In particular, as illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"11, the magnetic shield body 60 has a pair of arms 61 extending from both ends.\",\n \"The arm 61 has a shape that surrounds both ends of the movable touch piece 33 of the first embodiment.\",\n \"Further, the magnetic shield body 60 is electrically connected to the tubular magnetic shield portion 51 of the magnetic shield body 50 via a leg 62 extending downward.\",\n \"According to the embodiment, as illustrated in FIGS.\",\n \"14 and 15, both ends of the movable touch piece 33 are disposed so as to form a minute gap between the magnetic shield body 60 attached to the inner surface of a case made of resin which is a dielectric and its arm 61.As a result, a coplanar line structure similar to that of the first embodiment is constituted.\",\n \"Therefore, according to the second embodiment, not only the magnetic shield body 50 but also the magnetic shield body 60 is provided, whereby the characteristic impedance can be easily adjusted.\",\n \"For this reason, the variation in the characteristic impedance in the high-frequency transmission path is more easily reduced, and the high-frequency characteristics can be improved.\",\n \"There is thus an advantage that the degree of design freedom is widened to further expand the application.\",\n \"Third Embodiment In a third embodiment, as illustrated in FIGS.\",\n \"16 to 22, a magnetic shield structure according to the present invention has been applied to a switch 70.The switch 70 is formed of a plate-shaped base 71, a box-shaped case 80, and an operation lever 100 assembled to the box-shaped case 80.As illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"18, the plate-shaped base 71 is integrally molded with a pair of fixed contact terminals 72, 73 so that fixed contacts 74, 75 are exposed at both side edges of the upper surface.\",\n \"Further, the plate-shaped base 71 has four positioning legs 76 projecting from the lower surface thereof between the fixed contact terminals 72, 73.In the plate-shaped base 71, a magnetic shield body 90 is formed on the lower surface including the positioning legs 76 by the MID molding method.\",\n \"The box-shaped case 80 has a box shape capable of covering the upper surface of the plate-shaped base 71, and an operation hole 81 is formed on the ceiling surface.\",\n \"In addition, the box-shaped case 80 has a magnetic shield body 91 having an annular shape and formed on its outer surface by the MID molding method.\",\n \"The magnetic shield body 91 is electrically connected to the magnetic shield body 90 via a connecting portion 92.Therefore, the magnetic shield body 91 can be connected to the ground via the magnetic shield body 90 covering the positioning legs 76 of the plate-shaped base 71.As illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"18, the operation lever 100 has an inverted T-shape in cross section, and a caulking projection 101 provided on the lower surface thereof is inserted and fixed into a caulking hole 108 of a movable touch piece 105.The movable touch piece 105 has a cross-sectional shape in which movable contacts 106, 107 located at both ends of the movable touch piece 105 are in contact with the fixed contacts 74, 75, respectively.\",\n \"The operation lever 100 protrudes from the operation hole 81 of the box-shaped case 80 so that an operation protrusion 102 protruding from the upper surface of the operation lever 100 is operable.\",\n \"Therefore, by sliding the operation protrusion 102 of the operation lever 100, the movable contacts 106, 107 come into contact with the fixed contacts 74, 75, respectively.\",\n \"Even when a high frequency signal flows to the fixed contact terminal 72, the movable touch piece 105 and the fixed contact terminal 73, it is magnetically shielded by the magnetic shield bodies 90, 91.There is thus an advantage that not only leakage of high frequency signals but also entry of external signals can be prevented.\",\n \"Fourth Embodiment In a fourth embodiment, as illustrated in FIGS.\",\n \"22 to 25, a magnetic shield structure according to the present invention has been applied to a high-frequency connector.\",\n \"The high-frequency connector includes a plug 110 and a socket 130.The plug 110 is formed by integrally molding three connecting pins 112, 113, 114 disposed side by side into a plug body 111 formed of resin serving as a dielectric.\",\n \"A magnetic shield body 120 is formed on the plug body 111 by the MID molding method.\",\n \"That is, in the magnetic shield body 120, an upper piece portion 121 and a lower piece portion 122 which are disposed so as to sandwich the connecting pins 112, 113, 114 from above and below, are electrically connected by a connecting portion 123.The connecting portion 123 is electrically connected to the connecting pin 114 connected to the ground.\",\n \"Further, the socket 130 is formed by integrally molding three receiving pins 132, 133, 134 disposed side by side into a socket body 131 formed of resin serving as a dielectric.\",\n \"In the socket body 131, a magnetic shield body 140 is formed by the MID molding method.\",\n \"That is, in the magnetic shield body 140, an upper piece portion 141 and a lower piece portion 142 which are formed so as to sandwich the receiving pins 132, 133, 134 from above and below, are electrically connected by a connecting portion 143.The connecting portion 143 is electrically connected to the receiving pin 134 connected to the ground.\",\n \"A magnetic shield structure according to the present invention is not limited to the electromagnetic relay, the switch, and the connector described above, and may be applied to other electric devices and electronic components having a high-frequency transmission component in a housing made of resin.\",\n \"Description of Symbols 10 electromagnetic relay 11 base 12 fixed contact 13 fixed contact terminal 14 fixed contact 15 fixed contact terminal 16 common connection receiver 17 common terminal 18 coil terminal 20 electromagnet block 21 iron core 22 coil 23 spool 30 movable block 31 movable iron piece 32 permanent magnet 33 movable touch piece 40 case 41 terminal portion 50 magnetic shield body 51 tubular magnetic shield portion 60 magnetic shield body 61 arm 62 leg 70 switch 71 plate-shaped base 72 fixed contact terminal 73 fixed contact terminal 74 fixed contact 75 fixed contact 76 positioning leg 80 box-shaped case 81 operation hole 90 magnetic shield body 91 magnetic shield body 92 connecting portion 110 plug 111 plug body 120 magnetic shield body 121 upper piece portion 122 lower piece portion 123 connecting portion 130 socket 131 socket body 140 magnetic shield body 141 upper piece portion 142 lower piece portion 143 connecting portion\"\n ]\n]"},"source":{"kind":"string","value":"Patent_15876069"}}},{"rowIdx":4495069,"cells":{"text":{"kind":"list like","value":[["ELECTROMAGNETIC DEVICE AND ELECTROMAGNETIC RELAY USING SAME","An electromagnetic device includes a spool having a cylindrical body with a through hole, a secondary coil formed in a spiral shape along an outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical body and formed with a closed circuit by metal plating, and a primary coil formed of a conductive wire wound around the secondary coil via an insulating material covering the secondary coil.","An induced current, generated by applying a voltage to any one of the primary coil and the secondary coil, is allowed to flow to the other coil different from the one coil."],["1.An electromagnetic device comprising: a spool having a cylindrical body with a through hole; a secondary coil formed in a spiral shape along an outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical body and formed with a closed circuit by metal plating; and a primary coil formed of a conductive wire wound around the secondary coil via an insulating material covering the secondary coil, wherein an induced current, generated by applying a voltage to any one of the primary coil and the secondary coil, is allowed to flow to the other coil different from the one coil.","2.The electromagnetic device according to claim 1, wherein a guard portion is provided at at least one end of the cylindrical body, and wherein both ends of the secondary coil, formed on the outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical body, are electrically connected to each other by a lead wire formed by metal plating through a communication hole provided in the cylindrical body and the guard portion and an inner peripheral surface of the through hole in the cylindrical body.","3.The electromagnetic device according to claim 2, further comprising: an operation indicator lamp fixed to the guard portion and electrically connected to the secondary coil.","4.The electromagnetic device according to claim 3, wherein the operation indicator lamp is a light-emitting diode.","5.An electromagnetic relay comprising: a base; and an electromagnetic device incorporated into the base, and comprising: a spool having a cylindrical body with a through hole; a secondary coil formed in a spiral shape along an outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical body and formed with a closed circuit by metal plating; and a primary coil formed of a conductive wire wound around the secondary coil via an insulating material covering the secondary coil, wherein an induced current, generated by applying a voltage to any one of the primary coil and the secondary coil, is allowed to flow to the other coil different from the one coil.","6.The electromagnetic relay according to claim 5, wherein a movable iron piece is disposed so as to be attracted by magnetic force to a magnetic pole portion of an iron core protruding from the guard portion provided at at least one end of the cylindrical body among iron cores inserted through the through holes of the spool, the magnetic force being generated by applying a voltage to any one of the primary coil and the secondary coil, and wherein the movable iron piece is provided with a notch through which light of the operation indicator lamp is transmitted.","7.The electromagnetic relay according to claim 6, further comprising: an operation check window configured to transmit the light of the operation indicator lamp on an outer peripheral surface of a casing fitted to the base.","8.The electromagnetic relay according to claim 7, wherein the operation check window is a transparent window provided in the casing."],[" BACKGROUND "],[" SUMMARY However, the coil 112 is wound in two layers on the bobbin 113 , so that the bobbin complete body 111 becomes bulky and the device cannot be made more compact in size.","In the bobbin complete body 111 , it is necessary to wind extended wires 112 a , 112 a ′ of the coil 112 around external connection terminals 114 a , 114 a ′.","Similarly, it is necessary to wind extended wires 112 b , 112 b ′ of the coil 112 around external connection terminals 114 b , 114 b ′.","For this reason, with the bobbin complete body 111 , it takes time and effort to do connection work on the coil 112 and the productivity is thus low.","One or more embodiments of the present invention provides an electromagnetic device compact in size and with high productivity and an electromagnetic relay using the electromagnetic device.","An electromagnetic device according to one or more embodiments of the present invention is provided with: a spool having a cylindrical body with a through hole; a secondary coil formed in a spiral shape along an outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical body and formed with a closed circuit by metal plating; and a primary coil formed of a conductive wire wound around the secondary coil via an insulating material covering the secondary coil.","An induced current, generated by applying a voltage to any one of the primary coil and the secondary coil, is allowed to flow to the other coil different from the one coil.","According to one or more embodiments of the present invention, with the secondary coil formed by metal plating, an electromagnetic device more compact in size and smaller in bulk than that of the conventional example can be obtained.","Further, according to the above aspect of the present invention, there is no need to bind the extended wire of the coil to the coil terminal as in the conventional example, thus facilitating the connection work, so that an electromagnetic device with high productivity can be obtained."],["BACKGROUND Technical Field The present invention relates to an electromagnetic device, particularly an electromagnetic device incorporated into an electromagnetic relay by winding a coil twice, and an electromagnetic relay using this electromagnetic device.","Related Art As an electromagnetic device with a double-wound coil, for example, a bobbin complete body 111 has been used which is formed by winding a coil 112 in two layers around a bobbin 113, as illustrated in FIG.","8 of Patent Document 1.In FIG.","8, an electromagnetic relay in which the bobbin complete body 111 is incorporated into a base 116 is disclosed.","Patent Document 1: Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No.","H3-254035 SUMMARY However, the coil 112 is wound in two layers on the bobbin 113, so that the bobbin complete body 111 becomes bulky and the device cannot be made more compact in size.","In the bobbin complete body 111, it is necessary to wind extended wires 112a, 112a′ of the coil 112 around external connection terminals 114a, 114a′.","Similarly, it is necessary to wind extended wires 112b, 112b′ of the coil 112 around external connection terminals 114b, 114b′.","For this reason, with the bobbin complete body 111, it takes time and effort to do connection work on the coil 112 and the productivity is thus low.","One or more embodiments of the present invention provides an electromagnetic device compact in size and with high productivity and an electromagnetic relay using the electromagnetic device.","An electromagnetic device according to one or more embodiments of the present invention is provided with: a spool having a cylindrical body with a through hole; a secondary coil formed in a spiral shape along an outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical body and formed with a closed circuit by metal plating; and a primary coil formed of a conductive wire wound around the secondary coil via an insulating material covering the secondary coil.","An induced current, generated by applying a voltage to any one of the primary coil and the secondary coil, is allowed to flow to the other coil different from the one coil.","According to one or more embodiments of the present invention, with the secondary coil formed by metal plating, an electromagnetic device more compact in size and smaller in bulk than that of the conventional example can be obtained.","Further, according to the above aspect of the present invention, there is no need to bind the extended wire of the coil to the coil terminal as in the conventional example, thus facilitating the connection work, so that an electromagnetic device with high productivity can be obtained.","BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Embodiments the present invention will become apparent from the following description in conjunction with embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings.","In the drawings, FIG.","1 is a perspective view illustrating an electromagnetic relay into which an electromagnetic device according to an embodiment of the present invention has been incorporated; FIG.","2 is an exploded perspective view of the electromagnetic relay into which the electromagnetic device according to the embodiment of the present invention has been incorporated; FIG.","3 is a perspective view illustrating a state where the base has been erased from FIG.","1; FIG.","4 is a perspective view illustrating a state where a primary coil has been erased from FIG.","3; FIG.","5 is a perspective view illustrating a spool illustrated in FIG.","4; FIG.","6A is a longitudinal sectional perspective view of FIG.","5; FIG.","6B is a partially enlarged perspective view of FIG.","6A; FIG.","7A is a transverse sectional perspective view of FIG.","5 as viewed from another viewpoint; FIG.","7B is a partially enlarged perspective view of FIG.","7A; and FIG.","8 is a perspective view of an electromagnetic device of Patent Document 1.DETAILED DESCRIPTION Before continuing with the description of the present invention, the same reference numerals are provided to the same parts in the accompanying drawings.","In describing embodiments of the present invention and in describing configurations represented in the drawings, terms indicating directions such as “up”, “down”, “left”, and “right”, and other terms including those, will be used.","The purpose for using those terms is to facilitate understanding of the embodiments through the drawings.","Accordingly, those terms do not necessarily indicate directions used at the time of actually using the embodiments of the present invention.","A technical scope recited in the claims shall not be restrictively interpreted by using those terms.","A description will be given of a case where an electromagnetic device according to the embodiment of the present invention is incorporated into an electromagnetic relay according to the accompanying drawings of FIGS.","1 to 7B.","As illustrated in FIG.","2, an electromagnetic relay 10 includes a base 11, an electromagnetic device 20 installed on the base 11, a movable iron piece 40 that rotates based on excitation and demagnetization of the electromagnetic device 20, a contact mechanism 50 mounted on the base 11, a card 60 that drives the contact mechanism 50 via the movable iron piece 40, and a casing 70.For convenience of explanation, the casing 70 (see FIG.","2) is not illustrated in FIG.","1.As illustrated in FIGS.","1 and 2, the base 11 is provided with a placement space 12 for installing the electromagnetic device 20 on one side of an upper surface of the base 11.Three terminal holes (not illustrated) are provided on the other side of the upper surface of the base 11 to form the contact mechanism 50.In the placement space 12, terminal holes (not illustrated) for press-fitting coil terminals 27, 27 of the electromagnetic device 20 are provided at adjacent corner portions on the front side of the placement space 12 in FIG.","2.Further, the placement space 12 is provided with a rib 13 having a flat gate shape at the rear-side corner portion in FIG.","2.The rib 13 is provided with a press-fit groove 14 for press-fitting a yoke 32, which will be described later, into the corner portion of the inner side surface thereof.","The rib 13 has, on its facing outer side surfaces, engaging claw portions 15 for fixing a casing 70, which will be described later, onto the rib 13.As illustrated in FIG.","2, the electromagnetic device 20 includes a spool 21, a primary coil 30, an iron core 31, and the yoke 32.As illustrated in FIG.","5, the spool 21 is formed of a cylindrical body 22 and guard portions 24, 25 formed integrally at both axial ends of the cylindrical body 22.As illustrated in FIGS.","6A and 6B, the cylindrical body 22 is provided with a through hole 23 in which the iron core 31 having a T-shaped cross section can be inserted from the upper opening to prevent it from coming off.","Further, as illustrated in FIGS.","5 to 7B, a secondary coil 26 formed along the outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical body 22 is formed by the molded interconnect device (MID) molding method, for example.","The MID molding method is a method in which a molded article made of a material obtained by mixing a resin and a conductive material is irradiated with a laser in a predetermined pattern to remove the resin and then metal plating is performed on the exposed conductive material, thereby forming a desired circuit pattern.","In the embodiment, as illustrated in FIGS.","5, 7A and 7B, patterns 26a are formed at predetermined pitches in the secondary coil 26, the patterns 26a extending in a circumferential direction along the outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical body 22 and being axially parallel to each other.","Then, the patterns 26a, which are adjacent to each other vertically, are connected by a stepped auxiliary pattern 26b (FIG.","7A).","Further, as illustrated in FIG.","7B, the lower end of the secondary coil 26 is connected to a lead wire 26c (FIG.","6A) along the substantially axial direction on the inner peripheral surface of the through hole 23 of the cylindrical body 22 through a communication hole 22a provided in the cylindrical body 22, the lead wire 26c having been formed by metal plating by the MID molding method, for example.","The lead wire 26c is connected to a lead wire 26d provided on the upper surface of the guard portion 24 by metal plating by the MID molding method, for example.","The lead wire 26d is connected to a lead wire 26e (FIG.","7A) formed by metal plating on the rear surface of the guard portion 24 through a communication hole 24a (FIG.","6B) provided in the guard portion 24.The lead wire 26e is connected to the upper end of the secondary coil 26.Therefore, the secondary coil 26 forms a closed circuit.","Note that a light emitting element 33 and a resistor 34 are connected in series to the lead wire 26d formed in the guard portion 24 (FIG.","6A).","The light emitting element 33 functions as an example of an operation indicator lamp, and as a specific example, it is a light-emitting diode (LED).","In the embodiment, the light emitting element 33 and the resistor 34 are directly connected to the lead wire 26d of the guard portion 24.There is thus an advantage that the number of parts and assembling steps in the assembling process are small, the productivity is high, and the electromagnetic device 20 which is space-saving can be obtained.","Further, as illustrated in FIG.","6A, the spool 21 is provided with a recess 25a for fitting the yoke 32, which will be described later, to the guard portion 25.In addition, as illustrated in FIG.","5, the coil terminals 27, 27 are press-fitted into terminal holes 25b, 25b provided on the side end face of the guard portion 25 (FIG.","4).","An insulating film 30a is wound around the cylindrical body 22 of the spool 21 as an example of an insulating material, and a conductive wire 30b is wound around the insulating film 30a to form the primary coil 30, thus constituting the primary coil 30.A extended wire from the conductive wire 30b of the primary coil 30 is then soldered by being bound to binding portions 27a, 27a of the coil terminals 27, 27 (FIG.","3).","In the embodiment, ribs 28, 28 capable of press-fitting connection terminals (not illustrated) are formed on the guard portion 24 of the spool 21.This is because the spool 21 is used for assembling other electromagnetic relays.","The yoke 32 is a magnetic material having an L-shaped cross section, and as illustrated in FIG.","2, a support portion 32a is formed by cutting out the upper end thereof.","Further, the yoke 32 has a caulking hole 32c in a horizontal portion 32b of the yoke 32.Then, an iron core body of the iron core 31 is inserted into the through hole 23 of the cylindrical body 22 of the spool 21 around which the primary coil 30 is wound.","A one end 31a, connected to one end of the iron core body and protruding like a guard from one end of the cylindrical body 22, is fixed, for example by caulking, to the caulking hole 32c of the yoke 32.Meanwhile, the other end, connected to the other end of the iron core body and protruding like a guard from the other end of the cylindrical body 22, is taken as a magnetic pole portion 31b.","Therefore, the iron core 31 is a magnetic material (FIG.","2) having a T-shaped cross section made up of the iron core body with the one end 31a and the magnetic pole portion 31b, and the iron core body of the iron core 31 has a cross-sectional area capable of being inserted through the through hole 23 of the cylindrical body 22 of the spool 21.As illustrated in FIG.","2, the movable iron piece 40 is formed of a magnetic material bent into a substantially L-shaped cross section.","The movable iron piece 40 is rotatably supported around the support portion 32a of the yoke 32 via a hinge spring 35 fixed to the rear surface of the yoke 32, for example by caulking.","As a result, the movable iron piece 40 has a horizontal portion (plate portion) 41 which faces so as to be able to contact and separate from the magnetic pole portion 31b of the iron core 31.In the movable iron piece 40, the horizontal portion 41 is provided with a notch 42 for visually checking the light emitting element 33.In other words, the notch 42 is configured to transmit the light, emitted by the light emitting element 33, to the outside.","As illustrated in FIG.","3, the contact mechanism 50 includes a fixed contact terminal 51 to which a normally closed fixed contact 51a is fixed, for example by caulking, a movable touch piece 52 to which a movable contact 52a is fixed, for example by caulking, and a fixed contact terminal 53 to which a normally open fixed contact 53a is fixed, for example by caulking As illustrated in FIG.","1, a terminal portion 51b of the fixed contact terminal 51, a terminal portion 52b of the movable touch piece 52, and a terminal portion 53b of the fixed contact terminal 53 are press-fitted into the base 11, to form the contact mechanism 50.As a result, the movable contact 52a faces the normally closed fixed contact 51a and the normally open fixed contact 53a so as to be able to contact and separate from each other.","As illustrated in FIGS.","1 to 4, the card 60 has a recess (not illustrated) engaging with a lower end 43 of the movable iron piece 40 on one side of the facing front and rear surfaces, while the card 60 has an operating protrusion 61 projecting from the other side thereof.","Then, the card 60 engages the recess with the lower end 43 of the movable iron piece 40 assembled to the yoke 32.As a result, the operating protrusion 61 is pressure-welded to the movable touch piece 52 through a through hole 51c of the fixed contact terminal 51.The casing 70 has a box shape that can be fitted to the base 11, and an engagement hole 71 is provided in the lower side edge of each of the facing side surfaces.","The ceiling surface of the casing 70 is provided with an operation check window 72 through which the light emitting element 33 can be checked visually.","An example of the operation check window 72 is a transparent window.","That is, the operation check window 72 is disposed to face the notch 42, and is configured so as to guide the light, emitted by the light emitting element 33, to the outside through the notch 42 and the operation check window 72.Next, the operation of the electromagnetic relay 10 will be described.","First, when no voltage is applied to the primary coil 30 of the electromagnetic device 20, as illustrated in FIG.","1, no induced current is generated in the secondary coil 26, and the light emitting element 33 is not lit.","Further, the movable touch piece 52 biases the lower end 43 of the movable iron piece 40 via the card 60.The movable contact 52a is thus in contact with the normally closed fixed contact 51a.","The horizontal portion 41 of the movable iron piece 40 is separated from the magnetic pole portion 31b of the iron core 31.When a voltage is applied to the primary coil 30 for excitation, the magnetic line of force passing through the iron core 31 attracts the horizontal portion 41 of the movable iron piece 40 to the magnetic pole portion 31b of the iron core 31.Then, against the spring force of the movable touch piece 52, the movable iron piece 40 rotates around the support portion 32a of the yoke 32, and the lower end 43 of the movable iron piece 40 presses the card 60.Therefore, the operating protrusion 61 of the card 60 presses the movable touch piece 52, and the movable touch piece 52 rotates.","As a result, the movable contact 52a is separated from the normally closed fixed contact 51a, and thereafter comes into contact with the normally open fixed contact 53a.","Then, the horizontal portion 41 of the movable iron piece 40 is attracted to the magnetic pole portion 31b of the iron core 31.When a voltage is applied to the primary coil 30, an induced current flows through the secondary coil 26 by electromagnetic induction, and the light emitting element 33 is lit via the lead wire 26d and the like.","The light of the light emitting element 33 is then transmitted through the notch 42 of the movable iron piece 40 provided above the light emitting element 33 and the operation check window 72, and whether or not the light emitting element 33 is lit can be checked from the operation check window 72 of the casing 70.Hence in the embodiment, the light emitting element 33 continues to emit light while a voltage is applied to the primary coil 30, so that whether or not the electromagnetic relay 10 is in operation can be determined from the outside of the electromagnetic relay 10.Note that at least a part of the casing 70 may have the operation check window 72 which is translucent or transparent so that the light of the light emitting element 33 can be visually checked from the outside.","Subsequently, when the application of the voltage to the primary coil 30 is stopped, the magnetic line of force passing through the iron core 31 disappears, and the movable touch piece 52 pushes back the movable iron piece 40 via the card 60.Thus, after being separated from the normally open fixed contact 53a, the movable contact 52a comes into contact with the normally closed fixed contact 51a and returns to its original position.","Then, the induced current flowing through the secondary coil 26 disappears, and the light emitting element 33 is turned off.","This enables visual checking that the electromagnetic relay 10 has stopped operating.","According to the embodiment, with the secondary coil 26 formed by metal plating, it is possible to obtain the electromagnetic device 20 more compact in size and smaller in bulk than that of the conventional example.","Further, according to the embodiment, there is no need to bind the extended wire of the coil to the coil terminal as in the conventional example, thus facilitating the connection work, so that the electromagnetic device 20 with high productivity can be obtained.","In the embodiment, the light emitting element 33 is directly attached to the guard portion 24 of the spool 21.Therefore, it is unnecessary to attach the light emitting element 33 to the guard portion 24 of the spool 21 via the connection terminal.","Furthermore, there is no need to electrically connect the light emitting element 33 to the connection terminal via a lead wire.","This eliminates the need to do assembling work and soldering work on the connection terminal, and the electromagnetic device with high productivity can be obtained with small numbers of parts and assembling steps.","Further, the secondary coil 26 is formed in advance on the cylindrical body 22 of the spool 21 by metal plating, for example, the MID molding method, thus eliminating the need to do winding work on the secondary coil 26, so that the productivity is further improved.","Moreover, the light emitting element 33 is lit by an induced current flowing through the secondary coil 26.This eliminates the need to obtain the power, which is necessary for lighting the light emitting element 33, from an external power supply.","As a result, it is unnecessary to connect the light emitting element 33 to the external power supply, and an electromagnetic device 20 having a simple structure can be obtained.","Although the secondary coil 26 of the electromagnetic device 20 according to the embodiment is provided with the stepped auxiliary pattern 26b in a part of the secondary coil 26, a smoothly continuous spiral secondary coil may be formed.","Further, the communication holes 22a, 24a of the spool 21 may be formed in a mortar shape in order to facilitate laser irradiation performed in the MID molding method.","A variety of embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail with reference to the drawings, and lastly, a variety of aspects of the present invention will be described.","A electromagnetic device according to one or more embodiments of the present invention includes: a spool having a cylindrical body with a through hole; a secondary coil formed in a spiral shape along an outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical body and formed with a closed circuit by metal plating; and a primary coil formed of a conductive wire wound around the secondary coil via an insulating material covering the secondary coil.","An induced current, generated by applying a voltage to any one of the primary coil and the secondary coil, is allowed to flow to the other coil different from the one coil.","According to the first aspect of the present invention, with the secondary coil formed by metal plating, an electromagnetic device more compact in size and smaller in bulk than that of the conventional example can be obtained.","Further, according to the first aspect of the present invention, there is no need to bind the extended wire of the coil to the coil terminal as in the conventional example, thus facilitating the connection work, so that an electromagnetic device with high productivity can be obtained.","According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, the guard portion may be provided at at least one end of the cylindrical body, and both ends of the secondary coil, formed on an outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical body, are electrically connected to each other by a lead wire formed by metal plating through a communication hole provided in the cylindrical body and the guard portion and an inner peripheral surface of the through hole in the cylindrical body.","According to the second aspect, both ends of the secondary coil are connected by metal plating, thus eliminating the need to connect the both ends by the lead wire of the conductive wire.","This can lead to further reduction in the occupied space and the size.","This further facilitates the connection work, thereby enabling saving of labor, so that an electromagnetic device with even higher productivity can be obtained.","In a third aspect of the present invention, in the second aspect, there may be provided an operation indicator lamp, fixed to the guard portion and electrically connected to the secondary coil.","According to the third aspect, the operation indicator lamp provided on the guard portion is electrically connected to the secondary coil, thereby facilitating the connection work on the operation indicator lamp.","In addition, with the operation indicator lamp installed directly on the guard portion, a large wiring space is not required and the device can thus be made more compact in size.","Furthermore, the operation indicator lamp is lit by the induced current generated at the time when a voltage is applied to the primary coil, and hence an electromagnetic device with an energy saving can be obtained.","In a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the third aspect, the operation indicator lamp may be a light-emitting diode (LED).","According to the fourth aspect, it is possible to obtain an electromagnetic device provided with an operation indicator lamp with a further energy saving.","An electromagnetic relay according to a fifth aspect of the present invention has a configuration in which the above electromagnetic device according to any one of the first to fourth aspects is incorporated into a base.","According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, the secondary coil is formed by metal plating, so that the electromagnetic device is more compact in size and smaller in bulk than that of the conventional example It is thus possible to obtain a compact electromagnetic relay.","It is not necessary to bind the extended wire of the coil to the coil terminal as in the conventional example, thus facilitating the connection work, so that an electromagnetic relay with high productivity can be obtained.","According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the fifth aspect, a movable iron piece may be disposed so as to be attracted by magnetic force to a magnetic pole portion of an iron core protruding from the flange portion provided at at least one end of the cylindrical body among iron cores inserted through the through holes of the spool, the magnetic force being generated by applying a voltage to any one of the primary coil and the secondary coil, and the movable iron piece may be provided with a notch through which light of the operation indicator lamp is transmitted.","According to the sixth aspect, the light of the operation indicator lamp provided on the guard portion of the electromagnetic device transmits through the notch provided in the movable iron piece, so that the light can be checked visually.","It is therefore possible to visually check an operating state through the notch, thereby to obtain an electromagnetic relay with high safety and a user's sense of security.","According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in the sixth aspect, there may be provided an operation check window configured to transmit the light of the operation indicator lamp on an outer peripheral surface of a casing fitted to the base.","According to the seventh aspect, the operation indicator lamp can be checked through the operation check window provided in the casing, and an electromagnetic relay with good usability can be obtained.","According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, in the seventh aspect, the operation check window may be a transparent window provided in the casing.","According to the eighth aspect, with no through hole provided in the casing, no fault occurs based on intrusion of dust or the like, and there is an effect that an electromagnetic relay with high reliability can be obtained.","Note that by appropriately combining freely selected embodiments or modifications of the above variety of embodiments and modifications, it is possible to achieve the respective effects of those combined.","While it is possible to combine embodiments, combine examples, or combine an embodiment and an example, it is also possible to combine features in different embodiments or examples.","The electromagnetic device and the electromagnetic relay using the electromagnetic device according to the present invention are not limited to the above electromagnetic device and may be applied to other electromagnetic devices and electromagnetic relays incorporating the electromagnetic devices.","While the present invention has been fully described in connection with the preferred embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings, a variety of modifications or corrections will be apparent to those skilled in the art.","Such modifications or corrections are to be understood as being included in the scope of the invention according to the appended claims so long as not deviating therefrom.","DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 electromagnetic relay 11 base 12 placement space 13 rib 14 press-fit groove 15 engaging claw portion 20 electromagnetic device 21 spool 22 cylindrical body 22a communication hole 23 through hole 24 guard portion 25 guard portion 24a communication hole 26 secondary coil 26a pattern 26b auxiliary pattern 26c lead wire 26d lead wire 26e lead wire 30 primary coil 31 iron core 31b magnetic pole portion 32 yoke 33 light emitting element 34 resistor 35 hinge spring 40 movable iron piece 41 horizontal portion 42 notch 50 contact mechanism 51 fixed contact terminal 51a normally closed fixed contact 52 movable touch piece 52a movable contact 53 fixed contact terminal 53a normally open fixed contact 60 card 61 operating protrusion 70 casing 71 engagement hole 72 operation check window"]],"string":"[\n [\n \"ELECTROMAGNETIC DEVICE AND ELECTROMAGNETIC RELAY USING SAME\",\n \"An electromagnetic device includes a spool having a cylindrical body with a through hole, a secondary coil formed in a spiral shape along an outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical body and formed with a closed circuit by metal plating, and a primary coil formed of a conductive wire wound around the secondary coil via an insulating material covering the secondary coil.\",\n \"An induced current, generated by applying a voltage to any one of the primary coil and the secondary coil, is allowed to flow to the other coil different from the one coil.\"\n ],\n [\n \"1.An electromagnetic device comprising: a spool having a cylindrical body with a through hole; a secondary coil formed in a spiral shape along an outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical body and formed with a closed circuit by metal plating; and a primary coil formed of a conductive wire wound around the secondary coil via an insulating material covering the secondary coil, wherein an induced current, generated by applying a voltage to any one of the primary coil and the secondary coil, is allowed to flow to the other coil different from the one coil.\",\n \"2.The electromagnetic device according to claim 1, wherein a guard portion is provided at at least one end of the cylindrical body, and wherein both ends of the secondary coil, formed on the outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical body, are electrically connected to each other by a lead wire formed by metal plating through a communication hole provided in the cylindrical body and the guard portion and an inner peripheral surface of the through hole in the cylindrical body.\",\n \"3.The electromagnetic device according to claim 2, further comprising: an operation indicator lamp fixed to the guard portion and electrically connected to the secondary coil.\",\n \"4.The electromagnetic device according to claim 3, wherein the operation indicator lamp is a light-emitting diode.\",\n \"5.An electromagnetic relay comprising: a base; and an electromagnetic device incorporated into the base, and comprising: a spool having a cylindrical body with a through hole; a secondary coil formed in a spiral shape along an outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical body and formed with a closed circuit by metal plating; and a primary coil formed of a conductive wire wound around the secondary coil via an insulating material covering the secondary coil, wherein an induced current, generated by applying a voltage to any one of the primary coil and the secondary coil, is allowed to flow to the other coil different from the one coil.\",\n \"6.The electromagnetic relay according to claim 5, wherein a movable iron piece is disposed so as to be attracted by magnetic force to a magnetic pole portion of an iron core protruding from the guard portion provided at at least one end of the cylindrical body among iron cores inserted through the through holes of the spool, the magnetic force being generated by applying a voltage to any one of the primary coil and the secondary coil, and wherein the movable iron piece is provided with a notch through which light of the operation indicator lamp is transmitted.\",\n \"7.The electromagnetic relay according to claim 6, further comprising: an operation check window configured to transmit the light of the operation indicator lamp on an outer peripheral surface of a casing fitted to the base.\",\n \"8.The electromagnetic relay according to claim 7, wherein the operation check window is a transparent window provided in the casing.\"\n ],\n [\n \" BACKGROUND \"\n ],\n [\n \" SUMMARY However, the coil 112 is wound in two layers on the bobbin 113 , so that the bobbin complete body 111 becomes bulky and the device cannot be made more compact in size.\",\n \"In the bobbin complete body 111 , it is necessary to wind extended wires 112 a , 112 a ′ of the coil 112 around external connection terminals 114 a , 114 a ′.\",\n \"Similarly, it is necessary to wind extended wires 112 b , 112 b ′ of the coil 112 around external connection terminals 114 b , 114 b ′.\",\n \"For this reason, with the bobbin complete body 111 , it takes time and effort to do connection work on the coil 112 and the productivity is thus low.\",\n \"One or more embodiments of the present invention provides an electromagnetic device compact in size and with high productivity and an electromagnetic relay using the electromagnetic device.\",\n \"An electromagnetic device according to one or more embodiments of the present invention is provided with: a spool having a cylindrical body with a through hole; a secondary coil formed in a spiral shape along an outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical body and formed with a closed circuit by metal plating; and a primary coil formed of a conductive wire wound around the secondary coil via an insulating material covering the secondary coil.\",\n \"An induced current, generated by applying a voltage to any one of the primary coil and the secondary coil, is allowed to flow to the other coil different from the one coil.\",\n \"According to one or more embodiments of the present invention, with the secondary coil formed by metal plating, an electromagnetic device more compact in size and smaller in bulk than that of the conventional example can be obtained.\",\n \"Further, according to the above aspect of the present invention, there is no need to bind the extended wire of the coil to the coil terminal as in the conventional example, thus facilitating the connection work, so that an electromagnetic device with high productivity can be obtained.\"\n ],\n [\n \"BACKGROUND Technical Field The present invention relates to an electromagnetic device, particularly an electromagnetic device incorporated into an electromagnetic relay by winding a coil twice, and an electromagnetic relay using this electromagnetic device.\",\n \"Related Art As an electromagnetic device with a double-wound coil, for example, a bobbin complete body 111 has been used which is formed by winding a coil 112 in two layers around a bobbin 113, as illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"8 of Patent Document 1.In FIG.\",\n \"8, an electromagnetic relay in which the bobbin complete body 111 is incorporated into a base 116 is disclosed.\",\n \"Patent Document 1: Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No.\",\n \"H3-254035 SUMMARY However, the coil 112 is wound in two layers on the bobbin 113, so that the bobbin complete body 111 becomes bulky and the device cannot be made more compact in size.\",\n \"In the bobbin complete body 111, it is necessary to wind extended wires 112a, 112a′ of the coil 112 around external connection terminals 114a, 114a′.\",\n \"Similarly, it is necessary to wind extended wires 112b, 112b′ of the coil 112 around external connection terminals 114b, 114b′.\",\n \"For this reason, with the bobbin complete body 111, it takes time and effort to do connection work on the coil 112 and the productivity is thus low.\",\n \"One or more embodiments of the present invention provides an electromagnetic device compact in size and with high productivity and an electromagnetic relay using the electromagnetic device.\",\n \"An electromagnetic device according to one or more embodiments of the present invention is provided with: a spool having a cylindrical body with a through hole; a secondary coil formed in a spiral shape along an outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical body and formed with a closed circuit by metal plating; and a primary coil formed of a conductive wire wound around the secondary coil via an insulating material covering the secondary coil.\",\n \"An induced current, generated by applying a voltage to any one of the primary coil and the secondary coil, is allowed to flow to the other coil different from the one coil.\",\n \"According to one or more embodiments of the present invention, with the secondary coil formed by metal plating, an electromagnetic device more compact in size and smaller in bulk than that of the conventional example can be obtained.\",\n \"Further, according to the above aspect of the present invention, there is no need to bind the extended wire of the coil to the coil terminal as in the conventional example, thus facilitating the connection work, so that an electromagnetic device with high productivity can be obtained.\",\n \"BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Embodiments the present invention will become apparent from the following description in conjunction with embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings.\",\n \"In the drawings, FIG.\",\n \"1 is a perspective view illustrating an electromagnetic relay into which an electromagnetic device according to an embodiment of the present invention has been incorporated; FIG.\",\n \"2 is an exploded perspective view of the electromagnetic relay into which the electromagnetic device according to the embodiment of the present invention has been incorporated; FIG.\",\n \"3 is a perspective view illustrating a state where the base has been erased from FIG.\",\n \"1; FIG.\",\n \"4 is a perspective view illustrating a state where a primary coil has been erased from FIG.\",\n \"3; FIG.\",\n \"5 is a perspective view illustrating a spool illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"4; FIG.\",\n \"6A is a longitudinal sectional perspective view of FIG.\",\n \"5; FIG.\",\n \"6B is a partially enlarged perspective view of FIG.\",\n \"6A; FIG.\",\n \"7A is a transverse sectional perspective view of FIG.\",\n \"5 as viewed from another viewpoint; FIG.\",\n \"7B is a partially enlarged perspective view of FIG.\",\n \"7A; and FIG.\",\n \"8 is a perspective view of an electromagnetic device of Patent Document 1.DETAILED DESCRIPTION Before continuing with the description of the present invention, the same reference numerals are provided to the same parts in the accompanying drawings.\",\n \"In describing embodiments of the present invention and in describing configurations represented in the drawings, terms indicating directions such as “up”, “down”, “left”, and “right”, and other terms including those, will be used.\",\n \"The purpose for using those terms is to facilitate understanding of the embodiments through the drawings.\",\n \"Accordingly, those terms do not necessarily indicate directions used at the time of actually using the embodiments of the present invention.\",\n \"A technical scope recited in the claims shall not be restrictively interpreted by using those terms.\",\n \"A description will be given of a case where an electromagnetic device according to the embodiment of the present invention is incorporated into an electromagnetic relay according to the accompanying drawings of FIGS.\",\n \"1 to 7B.\",\n \"As illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"2, an electromagnetic relay 10 includes a base 11, an electromagnetic device 20 installed on the base 11, a movable iron piece 40 that rotates based on excitation and demagnetization of the electromagnetic device 20, a contact mechanism 50 mounted on the base 11, a card 60 that drives the contact mechanism 50 via the movable iron piece 40, and a casing 70.For convenience of explanation, the casing 70 (see FIG.\",\n \"2) is not illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"1.As illustrated in FIGS.\",\n \"1 and 2, the base 11 is provided with a placement space 12 for installing the electromagnetic device 20 on one side of an upper surface of the base 11.Three terminal holes (not illustrated) are provided on the other side of the upper surface of the base 11 to form the contact mechanism 50.In the placement space 12, terminal holes (not illustrated) for press-fitting coil terminals 27, 27 of the electromagnetic device 20 are provided at adjacent corner portions on the front side of the placement space 12 in FIG.\",\n \"2.Further, the placement space 12 is provided with a rib 13 having a flat gate shape at the rear-side corner portion in FIG.\",\n \"2.The rib 13 is provided with a press-fit groove 14 for press-fitting a yoke 32, which will be described later, into the corner portion of the inner side surface thereof.\",\n \"The rib 13 has, on its facing outer side surfaces, engaging claw portions 15 for fixing a casing 70, which will be described later, onto the rib 13.As illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"2, the electromagnetic device 20 includes a spool 21, a primary coil 30, an iron core 31, and the yoke 32.As illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"5, the spool 21 is formed of a cylindrical body 22 and guard portions 24, 25 formed integrally at both axial ends of the cylindrical body 22.As illustrated in FIGS.\",\n \"6A and 6B, the cylindrical body 22 is provided with a through hole 23 in which the iron core 31 having a T-shaped cross section can be inserted from the upper opening to prevent it from coming off.\",\n \"Further, as illustrated in FIGS.\",\n \"5 to 7B, a secondary coil 26 formed along the outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical body 22 is formed by the molded interconnect device (MID) molding method, for example.\",\n \"The MID molding method is a method in which a molded article made of a material obtained by mixing a resin and a conductive material is irradiated with a laser in a predetermined pattern to remove the resin and then metal plating is performed on the exposed conductive material, thereby forming a desired circuit pattern.\",\n \"In the embodiment, as illustrated in FIGS.\",\n \"5, 7A and 7B, patterns 26a are formed at predetermined pitches in the secondary coil 26, the patterns 26a extending in a circumferential direction along the outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical body 22 and being axially parallel to each other.\",\n \"Then, the patterns 26a, which are adjacent to each other vertically, are connected by a stepped auxiliary pattern 26b (FIG.\",\n \"7A).\",\n \"Further, as illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"7B, the lower end of the secondary coil 26 is connected to a lead wire 26c (FIG.\",\n \"6A) along the substantially axial direction on the inner peripheral surface of the through hole 23 of the cylindrical body 22 through a communication hole 22a provided in the cylindrical body 22, the lead wire 26c having been formed by metal plating by the MID molding method, for example.\",\n \"The lead wire 26c is connected to a lead wire 26d provided on the upper surface of the guard portion 24 by metal plating by the MID molding method, for example.\",\n \"The lead wire 26d is connected to a lead wire 26e (FIG.\",\n \"7A) formed by metal plating on the rear surface of the guard portion 24 through a communication hole 24a (FIG.\",\n \"6B) provided in the guard portion 24.The lead wire 26e is connected to the upper end of the secondary coil 26.Therefore, the secondary coil 26 forms a closed circuit.\",\n \"Note that a light emitting element 33 and a resistor 34 are connected in series to the lead wire 26d formed in the guard portion 24 (FIG.\",\n \"6A).\",\n \"The light emitting element 33 functions as an example of an operation indicator lamp, and as a specific example, it is a light-emitting diode (LED).\",\n \"In the embodiment, the light emitting element 33 and the resistor 34 are directly connected to the lead wire 26d of the guard portion 24.There is thus an advantage that the number of parts and assembling steps in the assembling process are small, the productivity is high, and the electromagnetic device 20 which is space-saving can be obtained.\",\n \"Further, as illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"6A, the spool 21 is provided with a recess 25a for fitting the yoke 32, which will be described later, to the guard portion 25.In addition, as illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"5, the coil terminals 27, 27 are press-fitted into terminal holes 25b, 25b provided on the side end face of the guard portion 25 (FIG.\",\n \"4).\",\n \"An insulating film 30a is wound around the cylindrical body 22 of the spool 21 as an example of an insulating material, and a conductive wire 30b is wound around the insulating film 30a to form the primary coil 30, thus constituting the primary coil 30.A extended wire from the conductive wire 30b of the primary coil 30 is then soldered by being bound to binding portions 27a, 27a of the coil terminals 27, 27 (FIG.\",\n \"3).\",\n \"In the embodiment, ribs 28, 28 capable of press-fitting connection terminals (not illustrated) are formed on the guard portion 24 of the spool 21.This is because the spool 21 is used for assembling other electromagnetic relays.\",\n \"The yoke 32 is a magnetic material having an L-shaped cross section, and as illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"2, a support portion 32a is formed by cutting out the upper end thereof.\",\n \"Further, the yoke 32 has a caulking hole 32c in a horizontal portion 32b of the yoke 32.Then, an iron core body of the iron core 31 is inserted into the through hole 23 of the cylindrical body 22 of the spool 21 around which the primary coil 30 is wound.\",\n \"A one end 31a, connected to one end of the iron core body and protruding like a guard from one end of the cylindrical body 22, is fixed, for example by caulking, to the caulking hole 32c of the yoke 32.Meanwhile, the other end, connected to the other end of the iron core body and protruding like a guard from the other end of the cylindrical body 22, is taken as a magnetic pole portion 31b.\",\n \"Therefore, the iron core 31 is a magnetic material (FIG.\",\n \"2) having a T-shaped cross section made up of the iron core body with the one end 31a and the magnetic pole portion 31b, and the iron core body of the iron core 31 has a cross-sectional area capable of being inserted through the through hole 23 of the cylindrical body 22 of the spool 21.As illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"2, the movable iron piece 40 is formed of a magnetic material bent into a substantially L-shaped cross section.\",\n \"The movable iron piece 40 is rotatably supported around the support portion 32a of the yoke 32 via a hinge spring 35 fixed to the rear surface of the yoke 32, for example by caulking.\",\n \"As a result, the movable iron piece 40 has a horizontal portion (plate portion) 41 which faces so as to be able to contact and separate from the magnetic pole portion 31b of the iron core 31.In the movable iron piece 40, the horizontal portion 41 is provided with a notch 42 for visually checking the light emitting element 33.In other words, the notch 42 is configured to transmit the light, emitted by the light emitting element 33, to the outside.\",\n \"As illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"3, the contact mechanism 50 includes a fixed contact terminal 51 to which a normally closed fixed contact 51a is fixed, for example by caulking, a movable touch piece 52 to which a movable contact 52a is fixed, for example by caulking, and a fixed contact terminal 53 to which a normally open fixed contact 53a is fixed, for example by caulking As illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"1, a terminal portion 51b of the fixed contact terminal 51, a terminal portion 52b of the movable touch piece 52, and a terminal portion 53b of the fixed contact terminal 53 are press-fitted into the base 11, to form the contact mechanism 50.As a result, the movable contact 52a faces the normally closed fixed contact 51a and the normally open fixed contact 53a so as to be able to contact and separate from each other.\",\n \"As illustrated in FIGS.\",\n \"1 to 4, the card 60 has a recess (not illustrated) engaging with a lower end 43 of the movable iron piece 40 on one side of the facing front and rear surfaces, while the card 60 has an operating protrusion 61 projecting from the other side thereof.\",\n \"Then, the card 60 engages the recess with the lower end 43 of the movable iron piece 40 assembled to the yoke 32.As a result, the operating protrusion 61 is pressure-welded to the movable touch piece 52 through a through hole 51c of the fixed contact terminal 51.The casing 70 has a box shape that can be fitted to the base 11, and an engagement hole 71 is provided in the lower side edge of each of the facing side surfaces.\",\n \"The ceiling surface of the casing 70 is provided with an operation check window 72 through which the light emitting element 33 can be checked visually.\",\n \"An example of the operation check window 72 is a transparent window.\",\n \"That is, the operation check window 72 is disposed to face the notch 42, and is configured so as to guide the light, emitted by the light emitting element 33, to the outside through the notch 42 and the operation check window 72.Next, the operation of the electromagnetic relay 10 will be described.\",\n \"First, when no voltage is applied to the primary coil 30 of the electromagnetic device 20, as illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"1, no induced current is generated in the secondary coil 26, and the light emitting element 33 is not lit.\",\n \"Further, the movable touch piece 52 biases the lower end 43 of the movable iron piece 40 via the card 60.The movable contact 52a is thus in contact with the normally closed fixed contact 51a.\",\n \"The horizontal portion 41 of the movable iron piece 40 is separated from the magnetic pole portion 31b of the iron core 31.When a voltage is applied to the primary coil 30 for excitation, the magnetic line of force passing through the iron core 31 attracts the horizontal portion 41 of the movable iron piece 40 to the magnetic pole portion 31b of the iron core 31.Then, against the spring force of the movable touch piece 52, the movable iron piece 40 rotates around the support portion 32a of the yoke 32, and the lower end 43 of the movable iron piece 40 presses the card 60.Therefore, the operating protrusion 61 of the card 60 presses the movable touch piece 52, and the movable touch piece 52 rotates.\",\n \"As a result, the movable contact 52a is separated from the normally closed fixed contact 51a, and thereafter comes into contact with the normally open fixed contact 53a.\",\n \"Then, the horizontal portion 41 of the movable iron piece 40 is attracted to the magnetic pole portion 31b of the iron core 31.When a voltage is applied to the primary coil 30, an induced current flows through the secondary coil 26 by electromagnetic induction, and the light emitting element 33 is lit via the lead wire 26d and the like.\",\n \"The light of the light emitting element 33 is then transmitted through the notch 42 of the movable iron piece 40 provided above the light emitting element 33 and the operation check window 72, and whether or not the light emitting element 33 is lit can be checked from the operation check window 72 of the casing 70.Hence in the embodiment, the light emitting element 33 continues to emit light while a voltage is applied to the primary coil 30, so that whether or not the electromagnetic relay 10 is in operation can be determined from the outside of the electromagnetic relay 10.Note that at least a part of the casing 70 may have the operation check window 72 which is translucent or transparent so that the light of the light emitting element 33 can be visually checked from the outside.\",\n \"Subsequently, when the application of the voltage to the primary coil 30 is stopped, the magnetic line of force passing through the iron core 31 disappears, and the movable touch piece 52 pushes back the movable iron piece 40 via the card 60.Thus, after being separated from the normally open fixed contact 53a, the movable contact 52a comes into contact with the normally closed fixed contact 51a and returns to its original position.\",\n \"Then, the induced current flowing through the secondary coil 26 disappears, and the light emitting element 33 is turned off.\",\n \"This enables visual checking that the electromagnetic relay 10 has stopped operating.\",\n \"According to the embodiment, with the secondary coil 26 formed by metal plating, it is possible to obtain the electromagnetic device 20 more compact in size and smaller in bulk than that of the conventional example.\",\n \"Further, according to the embodiment, there is no need to bind the extended wire of the coil to the coil terminal as in the conventional example, thus facilitating the connection work, so that the electromagnetic device 20 with high productivity can be obtained.\",\n \"In the embodiment, the light emitting element 33 is directly attached to the guard portion 24 of the spool 21.Therefore, it is unnecessary to attach the light emitting element 33 to the guard portion 24 of the spool 21 via the connection terminal.\",\n \"Furthermore, there is no need to electrically connect the light emitting element 33 to the connection terminal via a lead wire.\",\n \"This eliminates the need to do assembling work and soldering work on the connection terminal, and the electromagnetic device with high productivity can be obtained with small numbers of parts and assembling steps.\",\n \"Further, the secondary coil 26 is formed in advance on the cylindrical body 22 of the spool 21 by metal plating, for example, the MID molding method, thus eliminating the need to do winding work on the secondary coil 26, so that the productivity is further improved.\",\n \"Moreover, the light emitting element 33 is lit by an induced current flowing through the secondary coil 26.This eliminates the need to obtain the power, which is necessary for lighting the light emitting element 33, from an external power supply.\",\n \"As a result, it is unnecessary to connect the light emitting element 33 to the external power supply, and an electromagnetic device 20 having a simple structure can be obtained.\",\n \"Although the secondary coil 26 of the electromagnetic device 20 according to the embodiment is provided with the stepped auxiliary pattern 26b in a part of the secondary coil 26, a smoothly continuous spiral secondary coil may be formed.\",\n \"Further, the communication holes 22a, 24a of the spool 21 may be formed in a mortar shape in order to facilitate laser irradiation performed in the MID molding method.\",\n \"A variety of embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail with reference to the drawings, and lastly, a variety of aspects of the present invention will be described.\",\n \"A electromagnetic device according to one or more embodiments of the present invention includes: a spool having a cylindrical body with a through hole; a secondary coil formed in a spiral shape along an outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical body and formed with a closed circuit by metal plating; and a primary coil formed of a conductive wire wound around the secondary coil via an insulating material covering the secondary coil.\",\n \"An induced current, generated by applying a voltage to any one of the primary coil and the secondary coil, is allowed to flow to the other coil different from the one coil.\",\n \"According to the first aspect of the present invention, with the secondary coil formed by metal plating, an electromagnetic device more compact in size and smaller in bulk than that of the conventional example can be obtained.\",\n \"Further, according to the first aspect of the present invention, there is no need to bind the extended wire of the coil to the coil terminal as in the conventional example, thus facilitating the connection work, so that an electromagnetic device with high productivity can be obtained.\",\n \"According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, the guard portion may be provided at at least one end of the cylindrical body, and both ends of the secondary coil, formed on an outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical body, are electrically connected to each other by a lead wire formed by metal plating through a communication hole provided in the cylindrical body and the guard portion and an inner peripheral surface of the through hole in the cylindrical body.\",\n \"According to the second aspect, both ends of the secondary coil are connected by metal plating, thus eliminating the need to connect the both ends by the lead wire of the conductive wire.\",\n \"This can lead to further reduction in the occupied space and the size.\",\n \"This further facilitates the connection work, thereby enabling saving of labor, so that an electromagnetic device with even higher productivity can be obtained.\",\n \"In a third aspect of the present invention, in the second aspect, there may be provided an operation indicator lamp, fixed to the guard portion and electrically connected to the secondary coil.\",\n \"According to the third aspect, the operation indicator lamp provided on the guard portion is electrically connected to the secondary coil, thereby facilitating the connection work on the operation indicator lamp.\",\n \"In addition, with the operation indicator lamp installed directly on the guard portion, a large wiring space is not required and the device can thus be made more compact in size.\",\n \"Furthermore, the operation indicator lamp is lit by the induced current generated at the time when a voltage is applied to the primary coil, and hence an electromagnetic device with an energy saving can be obtained.\",\n \"In a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the third aspect, the operation indicator lamp may be a light-emitting diode (LED).\",\n \"According to the fourth aspect, it is possible to obtain an electromagnetic device provided with an operation indicator lamp with a further energy saving.\",\n \"An electromagnetic relay according to a fifth aspect of the present invention has a configuration in which the above electromagnetic device according to any one of the first to fourth aspects is incorporated into a base.\",\n \"According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, the secondary coil is formed by metal plating, so that the electromagnetic device is more compact in size and smaller in bulk than that of the conventional example It is thus possible to obtain a compact electromagnetic relay.\",\n \"It is not necessary to bind the extended wire of the coil to the coil terminal as in the conventional example, thus facilitating the connection work, so that an electromagnetic relay with high productivity can be obtained.\",\n \"According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the fifth aspect, a movable iron piece may be disposed so as to be attracted by magnetic force to a magnetic pole portion of an iron core protruding from the flange portion provided at at least one end of the cylindrical body among iron cores inserted through the through holes of the spool, the magnetic force being generated by applying a voltage to any one of the primary coil and the secondary coil, and the movable iron piece may be provided with a notch through which light of the operation indicator lamp is transmitted.\",\n \"According to the sixth aspect, the light of the operation indicator lamp provided on the guard portion of the electromagnetic device transmits through the notch provided in the movable iron piece, so that the light can be checked visually.\",\n \"It is therefore possible to visually check an operating state through the notch, thereby to obtain an electromagnetic relay with high safety and a user's sense of security.\",\n \"According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in the sixth aspect, there may be provided an operation check window configured to transmit the light of the operation indicator lamp on an outer peripheral surface of a casing fitted to the base.\",\n \"According to the seventh aspect, the operation indicator lamp can be checked through the operation check window provided in the casing, and an electromagnetic relay with good usability can be obtained.\",\n \"According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, in the seventh aspect, the operation check window may be a transparent window provided in the casing.\",\n \"According to the eighth aspect, with no through hole provided in the casing, no fault occurs based on intrusion of dust or the like, and there is an effect that an electromagnetic relay with high reliability can be obtained.\",\n \"Note that by appropriately combining freely selected embodiments or modifications of the above variety of embodiments and modifications, it is possible to achieve the respective effects of those combined.\",\n \"While it is possible to combine embodiments, combine examples, or combine an embodiment and an example, it is also possible to combine features in different embodiments or examples.\",\n \"The electromagnetic device and the electromagnetic relay using the electromagnetic device according to the present invention are not limited to the above electromagnetic device and may be applied to other electromagnetic devices and electromagnetic relays incorporating the electromagnetic devices.\",\n \"While the present invention has been fully described in connection with the preferred embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings, a variety of modifications or corrections will be apparent to those skilled in the art.\",\n \"Such modifications or corrections are to be understood as being included in the scope of the invention according to the appended claims so long as not deviating therefrom.\",\n \"DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 electromagnetic relay 11 base 12 placement space 13 rib 14 press-fit groove 15 engaging claw portion 20 electromagnetic device 21 spool 22 cylindrical body 22a communication hole 23 through hole 24 guard portion 25 guard portion 24a communication hole 26 secondary coil 26a pattern 26b auxiliary pattern 26c lead wire 26d lead wire 26e lead wire 30 primary coil 31 iron core 31b magnetic pole portion 32 yoke 33 light emitting element 34 resistor 35 hinge spring 40 movable iron piece 41 horizontal portion 42 notch 50 contact mechanism 51 fixed contact terminal 51a normally closed fixed contact 52 movable touch piece 52a movable contact 53 fixed contact terminal 53a normally open fixed contact 60 card 61 operating protrusion 70 casing 71 engagement hole 72 operation check window\"\n ]\n]"},"source":{"kind":"string","value":"Patent_15876072"}}},{"rowIdx":4495070,"cells":{"text":{"kind":"list like","value":[["METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR VIRTUAL AND PHYSICAL NETWORK INTEGRATION","The disclosure herein describes a virtual extensible local area network (VXLAN) gateway.","During operation, the VXLAN gateway receives, from a physical host, an Ethernet packet destined for a virtual machine residing in a remote layer-2 network broadcast domain that is different from a local layer-2 network broadcast domain where the physical host resides.","The VXLAN gateway then determines a VXLAN identifier for the received Ethernet packet.","The VXLAN gateway further encapsulates the Ethernet packet with the virtual extensible local area network identifier and an Internet Protocol (IP) header, and forwards the encapsulated packet to an IP network, thereby allowing the packet to be transported to the virtual machine via the IP network and allowing the remote layer-2 network broadcast domain and the local layer-2 network broadcast domain to be part of a common layer-2 broadcast domain."],["1-21.","(canceled) 22.For a physical device separate from sources and destinations of packets in a network, a method for implementing a virtual extensible local area network (VXLAN) gateway, the method comprising: through an IP network to which the physical device implementing the gateway connects, receiving an encapsulated packet that originated from a virtual machine residing in a remote layer-2 network broadcast domain; decapsulating the packet by removing an IP header of the packet and identifying a VXLAN identifier for the packet, wherein an Ethernet packet remains after decapsulation; based at least in part on the VXLAN identifier, determining that a destination for the Ethernet packet is a server separate from the physical device implementing the gateway, the server residing in a local layer-2 network broadcast domain that is different from the remote layer-2 network broadcast domain; and forwarding the Ethernet packet to the server on the local layer-2 network broadcast domain.","23.The method of claim 22 further comprising maintaining a data structure that maps the VXLAN identifier to at least one of (i) the server's medium access control (MAC) address and (ii) the server's virtual local area network (VLAN) tag.","24.The method of claim 22, wherein the VXLAN gateway is a first VXLAN gateway, wherein the packet is encapsulated by a second VXLAN gateway to add the VXLAN identifier and IP header to the packet, wherein the method further comprises establishing a tunnel with the second VXLAN gateway.","25.The method of claim 22 further comprising: receiving, from the server, a second Ethernet packet destined for the machine residing in the remote layer-2 network broadcast domain; encapsulating the second Ethernet packet with the VXLAN identifier and a second IP header; and forwarding the encapsulated second packet to the IP network, thereby allowing the packet to be transmitted to the remote layer-2 network broadcast domain.","26.The method of claim 25 further comprising determining that the second Ethernet packet maps to the VXLAN identifier.","27.The method of claim 22 further comprising receiving configuration information from a controller, wherein the configuration comprises mapping information that maps a set of addresses to the VXLAN identifier.","28.The method of claim 27, wherein the controller is an OpenFlow controller, wherein the configuration information is received as a set of flows from the OpenFlow controller.","29.The method of claim 22, wherein the destination of the Ethernet packet is a virtual machine that operates on the server, wherein a virtual switch that operates on the physical host is not configured to decapsulate packets with VXLAN identifiers.","30.The method of claim 22, wherein the IP header comprises a destination address corresponding to the VXLAN gateway.","31.The method of claim 22, wherein the server is a first server, the local layer-2 network broadcast domain is a first local layer-2 network broadcast domain, the encapsulated packet is a first encapsulated packet, the Ethernet packet is a first Ethernet packet, the machine is a first machine, the remote layer-2 network broadcast domain is a first remote layer-2 network domain, and the VXLAN identifier is a first VXLAN identifier, the method further comprising: receiving, through the IP network, a second encapsulated packet that originated from a second machine residing in a second remote layer-2 network broadcast domain; decapsulating the second packet by removing an IP header of the second packet and identifying a second VXLAN identifier for the packet, wherein a second Ethernet packet remains after decapsulation; and based at least in part on the second VXLAN identifier, determining that a destination for the second Ethernet packet is a second server separate from the physical device implementing the VXLAN gateway, the second server residing in the second local layer-2 network broadcast domain; and forwarding the second Ethernet packet to the second server on the second local layer-2 network broadcast domain.","32.A non-transitory machine readable medium storing a program which when executed by a set of processing units of a physical device separate from sources and destinations of packets in a network implements a virtual extensible local area network (VXLAN) gateway, the program comprising sets of instructions for: through an IP network to which the physical device implementing the gateway connects, receiving an encapsulated packet that originated from a virtual machine residing in a remote layer-2 network broadcast domain; decapsulating the packet by removing an IP header of the packet and identifying a VXLAN identifier for the packet, wherein an Ethernet packet remains after decapsulation; based at least in part on the VXLAN identifier, determining that a destination for the Ethernet packet is a server separate from the physical device implementing the gateway, the server residing in a local layer-2 network broadcast domain that is different from the remote layer-2 network broadcast domain; and forwarding the Ethernet packet to the server on the local layer-2 network broadcast domain.","33.The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 32, wherein the program further comprises a set of instructions for maintaining a data structure that maps the VXLAN identifier to at least one of (i) the server's medium access control (MAC) address and (ii) the server's virtual local area network (VLAN) tag.","34.The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 32, wherein the VXLAN gateway is a first VXLAN gateway, wherein the packet is encapsulated by a second VXLAN gateway to add the VXLAN identifier and IP header to the packet, wherein the program further comprises a set of instructions for establishing a tunnel with the second VXLAN gateway.","35.The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 32 wherein the program further comprises sets of instructions for: receiving, from the server, a second Ethernet packet destined for the machine residing in the remote layer-2 network broadcast domain; encapsulating the second Ethernet packet with the VXLAN identifier and a second IP header; and forwarding the encapsulated second packet to the IP network, thereby allowing the packet to be transmitted to the remote layer-2 network broadcast domain.","36.The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 35, wherein the program further comprises a set of instructions for determining that the second Ethernet packet maps to the VXLAN identifier.","37.The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 32, wherein the program further comprises a set of instructions for receiving configuration information from a controller, wherein the configuration comprises mapping information that maps a set of addresses to the VXLAN identifier.","38.The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 37, wherein the controller is an OpenFlow controller, wherein the configuration information is received as a set of flows from the OpenFlow controller.","39.The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 32, wherein the destination of the Ethernet packet is a virtual machine that operates on the server, wherein a virtual switch that operates on the physical host is not configured to decapsulate packets with VXLAN identifiers.","40.The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 32, wherein the IP header comprises a destination address corresponding to the VXLAN gateway.","41.The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 32, wherein the server is a first server, the local layer-2 network broadcast domain is a first local layer-2 network broadcast domain, the encapsulated packet is a first encapsulated packet, the Ethernet packet is a first Ethernet packet, the machine is a first machine, the remote layer-2 network broadcast domain is a first remote layer-2 network domain, and the VXLAN identifier is a first VXLAN identifier, wherein the program further comprises sets of instructions for: receiving, through the IP network, a second encapsulated packet that originated from a second machine residing in a second remote layer-2 network broadcast domain; decapsulating the second packet by removing an IP header of the second packet and identifying a second VXLAN identifier for the packet, wherein a second Ethernet packet remains after decapsulation; and based at least in part on the second VXLAN identifier, determining that a destination for the second Ethernet packet is a second server separate from the physical device implementing the VXLAN gateway, the second server residing in the second local layer-2 network broadcast domain; and forwarding the second Ethernet packet to the second server on the second local layer-2 network broadcast domain."],[" BACKGROUND The exponential growth of the Internet has made it a ubiquitous delivery medium for a variety of applications.","Such applications have in turn brought with them an increasing demand for bandwidth.","As a result, service providers race to build larger and faster data centers with versatile capabilities.","Meanwhile, advances in virtualization technologies have made it possible to implement a large number of virtual machines (VMs) in a data center.","These virtual machines can essentially operate as physical hosts and perform a variety of functions such as Web or database servers.","Because virtual machines are implemented in software, they can freely migrate to various locations.","This capability allows service providers to partition and isolate physical resources (e.g., computing power and network capacity) according to customer needs, and to allocate such resources dynamically.","While virtualization brings unprecedented flexibility to service providers, the conventional layer-2 network architecture, however, tends to be rigid and cannot readily accommodate the dynamic nature of virtual machines.","For example, in conventional data center architecture, hosts are often inter-connected by one or more layer-2 (e.g., Ethernet) switches to form a layer-2 broadcast domain.","The physical reach of a layer-2 broadcast domain is limited by the transmission medium.","As a result, different data centers are typically associated with different layer-2 broadcast domains, and multiple layer-2 broadcast domains could exist within a single data center.","For a VM in one data center to communicate with a VM or a storage device in another data center, such communication would need to be carried over layer-3 networks.","That is, the packets between the source and destination have to be processed and forwarded by layer-3 devices (e.g., IP routers), since the source and destination belong to different layer-2 broadcast domains.","While this architecture has benefits, flat layer-2 processing has its advantages.","In fact, it would be desirable to exploit the advantages of both layer-3 and layer-2 models and processing capabilities in the network.","One technique to solve the problems described above is to implement a virtual extensible local area network (VXLAN).","VXLAN is a standard network virtualization technology managed by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), and works by creating a logical layer-2 network that is overlaid above a layer-3 IP network.","Ethernet packets generated by VMs are encapsulated in an IP header before they are transported to a remote data center where the IP header is removed and the original Ethernet packet is delivered to the destination.","The IP encapsulation mechanism allows a logical layer-2 broadcast domain to be extended to an arbitrary number of remote locations, and allows different data centers or different sections of the same data center (and hence the VMs and devices therein) to be in the same layer-2 broadcast domain.","The VXLAN function typically resides within a host's hypervisor, and works in conjunction with the hypervisor's virtual switch.","More details of VXLAN can be found in IETF draft “VXLAN: A Framework for Overlaying Virtualized Layer 2 Networks over Layer 3 Networks,” available at https://tools.ietf.org/html/draft-mahalingam-dutt-dcops-vxlan-02, which is incorporated by reference here.","Existing VXLAN implementations, however, cannot easily accommodate a mixture of physical hosts and VMs in the same logical layer-2 broadcast domain.","This is because by default the VXLAN feature in a hypervisor encapsulates Ethernet packets generated by a VM that belongs to a certain VXLAN.","A physical host, on the other hand, cannot easily participate in the same VXLAN because there is no mechanism to encapsulate the Ethernet packets it generates, which would otherwise allow the Ethernet packets to be delivered to other VXLAN-capable VMs."],[" SUMMARY The disclosure herein describes a network communication system that facilitates the integration of virtual and physical network devices.","Specifically, the system provides a virtual extensible local area network (VXLAN) gateway.","During operation, the VXLAN gateway receives, from a physical host, an Ethernet packet destined for a virtual machine residing in a remote layer-2 network broadcast domain that is different from a local layer-2 network broadcast domain where the physical host resides.","The VXLAN gateway then determines a VXLAN network identifier (VNI) for the received Ethernet packet.","The VXLAN gateway further encapsulates the Ethernet packet with the VNI and an Internet Protocol (IP) header, and forwards the encapsulated packet to an IP network, thereby allowing the packet to be transported to the virtual machine via the IP network and allowing the remote layer-2 network broadcast domain and the local layer-2 network broadcast domain to be part of a common layer-2 broadcast domain.","Ethernet packet received from the physical host can be an address resolution protocol (ARP) request packet.","In addition, the VXLAN gateway maintains a data structure that maps the VNI to an IP multicast group.","The VXLAN gateway also sets a destination IP address in the IP header to be an IP address corresponding to the IP multicast group.","The VXLAN gateway can also maintain a data structure that maps the physical host's medium access control (MAC) address and optionally the physical host's virtual local area network (VLAN) tag to the VNI.","The data structure may also contain entries to encompass all the physical hosts on a specific VLAN.","This is indicated as a mapping between the VNI and VLAN tag without any host-specific information.","Additionally, the VXLAN gateway can receive a packet from the virtual machine, wherein the packet includes an outer Ethernet header, an IP header, and an inner Ethernet header.","The VXLAN gateway then decapsulates the packet received from the virtual machine by removing its outer Ethernet header and IP header and forwards the decapsulated packet to the physical host.","The VXLAN gateway can further establish a tunnel with a second virtual extensible local area network gateway, thereby joining two layer-2 network broadcast domains with a common VNI.","Optionally, the VXLAN gateway can receive configuration information from an OpenFlow controller."],["RELATED APPLICATION This application claims the benefit of U.S.","Provisional Application No.","61/683,100, Attorney Docket Number A954.PRO, entitled “VIRTUAL AND PHYSICAL NETWORKING INTEGRATION WITH VXLAN GATEWAYS,” by inventors Thayumanavan Sridhar and Margaret Petrus, filed 14 Aug. 2012.BACKGROUND The exponential growth of the Internet has made it a ubiquitous delivery medium for a variety of applications.","Such applications have in turn brought with them an increasing demand for bandwidth.","As a result, service providers race to build larger and faster data centers with versatile capabilities.","Meanwhile, advances in virtualization technologies have made it possible to implement a large number of virtual machines (VMs) in a data center.","These virtual machines can essentially operate as physical hosts and perform a variety of functions such as Web or database servers.","Because virtual machines are implemented in software, they can freely migrate to various locations.","This capability allows service providers to partition and isolate physical resources (e.g., computing power and network capacity) according to customer needs, and to allocate such resources dynamically.","While virtualization brings unprecedented flexibility to service providers, the conventional layer-2 network architecture, however, tends to be rigid and cannot readily accommodate the dynamic nature of virtual machines.","For example, in conventional data center architecture, hosts are often inter-connected by one or more layer-2 (e.g., Ethernet) switches to form a layer-2 broadcast domain.","The physical reach of a layer-2 broadcast domain is limited by the transmission medium.","As a result, different data centers are typically associated with different layer-2 broadcast domains, and multiple layer-2 broadcast domains could exist within a single data center.","For a VM in one data center to communicate with a VM or a storage device in another data center, such communication would need to be carried over layer-3 networks.","That is, the packets between the source and destination have to be processed and forwarded by layer-3 devices (e.g., IP routers), since the source and destination belong to different layer-2 broadcast domains.","While this architecture has benefits, flat layer-2 processing has its advantages.","In fact, it would be desirable to exploit the advantages of both layer-3 and layer-2 models and processing capabilities in the network.","One technique to solve the problems described above is to implement a virtual extensible local area network (VXLAN).","VXLAN is a standard network virtualization technology managed by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), and works by creating a logical layer-2 network that is overlaid above a layer-3 IP network.","Ethernet packets generated by VMs are encapsulated in an IP header before they are transported to a remote data center where the IP header is removed and the original Ethernet packet is delivered to the destination.","The IP encapsulation mechanism allows a logical layer-2 broadcast domain to be extended to an arbitrary number of remote locations, and allows different data centers or different sections of the same data center (and hence the VMs and devices therein) to be in the same layer-2 broadcast domain.","The VXLAN function typically resides within a host's hypervisor, and works in conjunction with the hypervisor's virtual switch.","More details of VXLAN can be found in IETF draft “VXLAN: A Framework for Overlaying Virtualized Layer 2 Networks over Layer 3 Networks,” available at https://tools.ietf.org/html/draft-mahalingam-dutt-dcops-vxlan-02, which is incorporated by reference here.","Existing VXLAN implementations, however, cannot easily accommodate a mixture of physical hosts and VMs in the same logical layer-2 broadcast domain.","This is because by default the VXLAN feature in a hypervisor encapsulates Ethernet packets generated by a VM that belongs to a certain VXLAN.","A physical host, on the other hand, cannot easily participate in the same VXLAN because there is no mechanism to encapsulate the Ethernet packets it generates, which would otherwise allow the Ethernet packets to be delivered to other VXLAN-capable VMs.","SUMMARY The disclosure herein describes a network communication system that facilitates the integration of virtual and physical network devices.","Specifically, the system provides a virtual extensible local area network (VXLAN) gateway.","During operation, the VXLAN gateway receives, from a physical host, an Ethernet packet destined for a virtual machine residing in a remote layer-2 network broadcast domain that is different from a local layer-2 network broadcast domain where the physical host resides.","The VXLAN gateway then determines a VXLAN network identifier (VNI) for the received Ethernet packet.","The VXLAN gateway further encapsulates the Ethernet packet with the VNI and an Internet Protocol (IP) header, and forwards the encapsulated packet to an IP network, thereby allowing the packet to be transported to the virtual machine via the IP network and allowing the remote layer-2 network broadcast domain and the local layer-2 network broadcast domain to be part of a common layer-2 broadcast domain.","Ethernet packet received from the physical host can be an address resolution protocol (ARP) request packet.","In addition, the VXLAN gateway maintains a data structure that maps the VNI to an IP multicast group.","The VXLAN gateway also sets a destination IP address in the IP header to be an IP address corresponding to the IP multicast group.","The VXLAN gateway can also maintain a data structure that maps the physical host's medium access control (MAC) address and optionally the physical host's virtual local area network (VLAN) tag to the VNI.","The data structure may also contain entries to encompass all the physical hosts on a specific VLAN.","This is indicated as a mapping between the VNI and VLAN tag without any host-specific information.","Additionally, the VXLAN gateway can receive a packet from the virtual machine, wherein the packet includes an outer Ethernet header, an IP header, and an inner Ethernet header.","The VXLAN gateway then decapsulates the packet received from the virtual machine by removing its outer Ethernet header and IP header and forwards the decapsulated packet to the physical host.","The VXLAN gateway can further establish a tunnel with a second virtual extensible local area network gateway, thereby joining two layer-2 network broadcast domains with a common VNI.","Optionally, the VXLAN gateway can receive configuration information from an OpenFlow controller.","BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF FIGURES FIG.","1 illustrates an exemplary network architecture that facilitates a VXLAN gateway.","FIG.","2 illustrates header format for a conventional Ethernet packet and its VXLAN encapsulation.","FIG.","3 presents a time-space diagram illustrating an exemplary process of a physical host initiating communication with a VM across an IP network, via a VXLAN gateway.","FIG.","4 presents a flow chart illustrating an exemplary process of a physical host communicating with a VM via a VXLAN gateway.","FIG.","5 illustrates an exemplary network architecture where two remotely located data centers are joined to form a single layer-2 broadcast domain by VXLAN gateways.","FIG.","6 illustrates an exemplary network architecture that facilitates configuration of a VXLAN gateway using an OpeFlow controller.","FIG.","7 illustrates an exemplary computer system that facilitates a VXLAN gateway.","In the figures, like reference numerals refer to the same figure elements.","DETAILED DESCRIPTION The following description is presented to enable any person skilled in the art to make and use the embodiments, and is provided in the context of a particular application and its requirements.","Various modifications to the disclosed embodiments will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the general principles defined herein may be applied to other embodiments and applications without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure.","Thus, the present invention is not limited to the embodiments shown, but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the principles and features disclosed herein.","Embodiments of the system disclosed herein solve the problem of enabling VXLAN-encapsulated communication between a VM and a physical host by facilitating a VXLAN gateway, which serves as a gateway for the physical host and performs VXLAN encapsulation and decapsulation on behalf of the physical host.","As mentioned above, the VXLAN feature in a hypervisor (such as the ESX® product family by VMware, Inc. of Palo Alto, Calif.) automatically encapsulates an Ethernet packet generated by a VM that is part of a VXLAN-enabled Ethernet broadcast domain.","There is currently no ready-to-use mechanism that can allow a physical host, which does not have this VXLAN feature in its protocol stack, to participate in this VXLAN-enabled broadcast domain.","This is because there is no device in the network that can encapsulate the physical host's Ethernet packet with VXLAN headers.","To solve this problem, a VXLAN gateway residing in the same layer-2 broadcast domain as the physical host can perform the VXLAN encapsulation and decapsulation on behalf of the physical host.","FIG.","1 illustrates an exemplary network architecture that facilitates a VXLAN gateway.","In this example, an IP network 100 couples several conventional layer-2 networks.","Specifically, a host 102 is coupled to an IP router 130.Host 102 hosts a number of VMs: 108, 110, and 112.VMs 108 and 110 belong to VXLAN 1, and VM 112 belongs to VXLAN 2.Virtualization software 104 (such as a hypervisor) manages the VMs in host 102, and includes a VXLAN module 106.VXLAN module 106 is responsible for encapsulating and decapsulating the Ethernet packets generated by VMs 108, 110, and 112.Similarly, a host 103 is coupled to an IP router 132.Host 103 hosts a number of VMs: 118, 120, and 122.VM 118 belongs to VXLAN 1, and VMs 120 and 122 belong to VXLAN 2.Virtualization software 114 manages VMs 118, 120, and 122, and includes a VXLAN module 116.When VMs within the same VXLAN communicate with each other, the Ethernet packet generated by a VM is encapsulated with an IP header and then delivered to the VXLAN module in the destination physical host (which owns the destination IP address).","For example, when VM 108 communicates with VM 118, VM 108 generates an Ethernet packet with VM 118's MAC address as its MAC destination address (DA).","(Note that VMs within the same VXLAN are in the same logical layer-2 broadcast domain, and are therefore assumed to learn each other's MAC address.)","When this Ethernet packet reaches VXLAN module 106, VXLAN module 106 inspects the packet's MAC source address (SA), MAC DA, and optionally VLAN tag, and determines that both the source (VM 108) and destination (VM 118) belong to VXLAN 1.Furthermore, based on the packet's MAC DA, VXLAN module 106 determines the IP address of the destination physical host 103.In turn, VXLAN module 106 encapsulates this Ethernet packet with a proper VXLAN header and IP header (which will be described in more detail in conjunction with FIG.","2), and transmits this encapsulated packet to IP router 130.Since the encapsulated packet has an IP destination address that is associated with host 103, IP router 130 (and other IP routers in IP network 100) can then make the proper forwarding decision and forwards the encapsulated packet toward host 103.When host 103 receives the encapsulated packet, VXLAN module 116 first removes the IP header to expose the inner Ethernet packet.","Subsequently, based on both the VNI and the inner Ethernet header's MAC DA, virtualization software 114 forwards the inner Ethernet packet to VM 118.Note that when VXLAN 116 receives the Ethernet packet, it can establish a mapping relationship of the MAC SA of the inner Ethernet packet (which is VM 108's MAC address) and the IP source address (which is host 102's IP address).","Hence, when in the future VM 118 sends an Ethernet packet to VM 108, VXLAN module 116 can perform VXLAN encapsulation with host 102's IP address as the IP destination address.","In the situation where a source VM does not have knowledge of a destination VM's MAC address (and only the destination VM's IP address), the source VM typically issues an address resolution protocol (ARP) request with the destination VM's IP address.","This ARP request is a broadcast layer-2 message, which is supposed to be received by all the hosts (and VMs) in a layer-2 broadcast domain.","In the case of VXLAN, for example, when VM 108 sends out an ARP request, this ARP request first reaches VXLAN module 106.In turn, when VXLAN module 106 determines that it is an ARP request that is supposed to be broadcast to the entire VXLAN, VXLAN module 106 encapsulates the ARP request with an IP header that has an IP multicast group address as its destination IP address.","That is, each VXLAN is associated with an IP multicast tree that includes all the physical hosts in the VXLAN.","This way, when there is a broadcast packet for the entire VXLAN, a VXLAN module in a host's hypervisor can encapsulate the packet with an IP multicast header, and multicast this encapsulated packet to all the hosts in the VXLAN.","Hence, the ARP request would be multicast to all the hosts associated with the same VXLAN.","The VXLAN module on each receiving host would decapsulate the packet, and locally broadcast the inner ARP request to all the VMs belonging to that VXLAN.","In response, the VM that has an IP address that matches the one in the ARP request produces an ARP response, which would be encapsulated by the local VXLAN module and unicast back to the requesting VM.","In the example illustrated in FIG.","1, if a physical host (or a VM that is not VXLAN-capable) is coupled to IP network 100, either directly or via a layer-2 switch, it would be difficult, if not impossible, for the physical host to communicate with any VM that belongs to a VXLAN, because an Ethernet packet from the physical host cannot be delivered to any of the VMs since the Ethernet packet is not probably encapsulated with a VXLAN header and IP header.","One solution is to use a VXLAN gateway 124, which can be a stand-alone device that performs the functions of VXLAN module 106 or 108.For example, a physical host 126 can be coupled to VXLAN gateway 124 via a layer-2 switch 127.Physical host 126 belongs to VLAN 1, which is mapped to VXLAN 1 by VXLAN gateway 124.A physical host 128 can host a number of VMs 138, 140, and 142, which are not VXLAN enabled.","VM 138 belongs to VLAN 1, which maps to VXLAN 1.VMs 140 and 142 belong to VLAN 2, which maps to VXLAN 2.Host 128 is also coupled to VXLAN gateway 124.When physical host 126 is to communicate with VM 108, physical host 126 can send out an Ethernet packet with VM 108's MAC address as the MAC DA, its own MAC address as the MAC SA, and a VLAN tag corresponding to VLAN 1.When this Ethernet packet reaches VXLAN gateway 124, VXLAN gateway 124 inspects the packet's MAC SA and MAC DA, and its VLAN tag.","Note that VXLAN gateway maintains a set of mapping information that maps a MAC address and optionally a VLAN tag to a VXLAN.","Note that the data structure to maintain the mapping information may also contain entries to encompass all the physical hosts on a specific VLAN.","This is indicated as a mapping between the VNI and VLAN tag without any host-specific information.","If physical host 126 is properly configured, VXLAN gateway 124 would identify the Ethernet packet's MAC SA and MAC DA (and optionally VLAN tag) to be associated with VXLAN 1.","(Note that if the VLAN tag is present, VXLAN gateway 124 may directly map the VLAN to a VXLAN without using the MAC addresses.","If VLAN is not configured, however, VXLAN gateway 124 can map the MAC SA, MAC DA, or both, to the VXLAN.)","Furthermore, VXLAN gateway 124 also maintains a set of mapping information between a VM's MAC address and the IP address of that VM's physical host.","Hence, based on the MAC DA of the Ethernet packet generated by physical host 126, which is VM 108's MAC address, VXLAN gateway 124 determines that host 102's IP address should be used as the destination IP address for the VXLAN encapsulation.","In addition, VXLAN gateway 124 uses its own IP address as the source IP address for the encapsulation.","Subsequently, VXLAN encapsulates the Ethernet packet from host 126 with the proper VXLAN header and IP header and transmits the encapsulated packet to IP network 100.When the encapsulated packet reaches host 102, the encapsulated packet is forwarded to VXLAN module 106.VXLAN module 106 in turn removes the IP header to obtain the inner Ethernet packet.","Note that VXLAN module 106 can learn the mapping between the source IP address of the IP header (which is VXLAN gateway 124's IP address) and the MAC SA of the inner Ethernet packet (which is host 126's MAC address).","This mapping information is used to encapsulate outbound traffic to host 126.Subsequently, VXLAN module 106 forwards the inner Ethernet packet to VM 108 based on the MAC DA.","When VM 108 sends an Ethernet packet back to host 126, a similar VXLAN encapsulation/decapsulation process takes place.","Specifically, VXLAN module 106 identifies that the Ethernet packet from VM 108 to host 126 belongs to VXLAN 1.Furthermore, based on the Ethernet packet's MAC DA (which is host 126's MAC address), VXLAN module 106 identifies host 126's IP address as the destination IP address for the VXLAN encapsulation, and uses host 102's IP address as the source IP address.","Host 102 then sends the encapsulated Ethernet packet to IP network 100, which delivers the packet to VXLAN gateway 124.VXLAN gateway 124 then decapsulates the packet by removing its IP header, and forwards the inner Ethernet packet to host 126.FIG.","2 illustrates header format for a conventional Ethernet packet and its VXLAN encapsulation.","In this example, a conventional Ethernet packet 200 typically includes a payload 203 and an Ethernet header 208.Typically, payload 203 can include an IP packet which includes an IP header 206.Ethernet header 208 includes a MAC DA 204, a MAC SA 202, and optionally a VLAN tag 205.In one embodiment, VXLAN gateway 124 can encapsulate conventional Ethernet packet 200 into an encapsulated packet 220.Encapsulated packet 220 typically includes a VXLAN header 222 which contains a VNI to indicate the VXLAN to which inner Ethernet packet 200 belongs, a UDP header 218 which indicates the transport-layer protocol and port number reserved for VXLAN, and an outer IP header 210.In addition, encapsulated packet 220 includes an outer Ethernet header 212.Take, for example, Ethernet packet 200 as an Ethernet packet generated by host 126 and destined for VM 108.Typically, an upper layer application in host 126 would generate an IP packet destined for VM 108, using VM 108's IP address.","This IP packet becomes payload 203, and VM 108's IP address would be the destination IP address in IP header 206.In addition, host 126's IP address would be the source IP address in IP header 206.The datalink layer in host 126 then generates Ethernet header 208 to encapsulate payload 203.MAC DA 204 of Ethernet header 208 would be VM 108's MAC address, and MAC SA 202 of Ethernet header 208 would be host 126's MAC address.","This is based on the assumption that host 126 has learned VM 108's MAC address.","In the case where host 126 does not have knowledge of VM 108's MAC address, host 126 can use ARP to discover VM 108's MAC address.","This ARP process is described in conjunction with FIG.","3.Host 126 then sends Ethernet packet 200 to VXLAN gateway 124.When VXLAN gateway 124 receives Ethernet packet 200 from host 126, VXLAN gateway 124 inspects the Ethernet MAC DA 204, MAC SA 202, and optionally VLAN tag 205.Based on this information VXLAN gateway 124 determines that Ethernet packet 200 is associated with VXLAN 1.Furthermore, based on MAC DA 204, VXLAN gateway 124 determines that the destination IP address for VXLAN encapsulation is the IP address of host 102.Subsequently, VXLAN gateway 124 assembles the VXLAN header which includes VXLAN header 222 (corresponding to VXLAN 1), and attaches UDP header 218 which includes the appropriate UDP port number.","In addition, VXLAN gateway 124 assembles outer IP header 210 which uses host 102's IP address as the destination address, and VXLAN gateway 124's own IP address as the source address.","VXLAN gateway 124 then assembles an outer Ethernet header 212.Outer Ethernet header 212 is used to transport packet 220 from VXLAN gateway 124 to the next-hop IP router 134.Outer Ethernet header 212 has a MAC DA 214 which is IP router 134's MAC address, a MAC SA which is VXLAN gateway 124's MAC address, and optionally an outer VLAN tag 217.Once packet 220 reaches IP router 134, IP router 134 can remove outer Ethernet header 212 and forward the packet based on outer IP header 210.This process continues throughout IP network 100 until the packet reaches host 102.As mentioned above, when host 126 attempts to communicate with VM 108 for the very first time, host 126 might only have VM 108's IP address but not its MAC address.","To discover VM 108's MAC address, host 126 can perform an ARP query operation.","FIG.","3 presents a time-space diagram illustrating this process.","Initially, host 126 generates an ARP request message which is carried in an Ethernet broadcast packet 302.Host 126 then transmits broadcast packet 302 to VXLAN gateway 124.In turn, VXLAN gateway 124 identifies that host 126 belongs to VXLAN 1 based on the MAC SA of packet 302.In addition, since packet 302 is an Ethernet broadcast packet, VXLAN gateway 124 maps packet 302 to an IP multicast group corresponding to VXLAN 1, and generates an IP multicast header 303 to encapsulate packet 302.Note that the IP multicast group includes both hosts 102 and 103, since these two hosts both host VMs belonging to VXLAN 1 (VMs 108 and 110 on host 102, and VM 118 on host 103).","This IP multicast packet is then delivered by IP network 100 to both hosts 102 and 103.VXLAN module 106 on host 102 then removes IP header 303 from packet 302 and locally broadcasts packet 302 to all the VMs (i.e., VMs 108 and 110) belonging to VXLAN 1.In addition, VXLAN module 106 learns the mapping between host 126's MAC address, which is the MAC SA in packet 302, and the corresponding IP address, which is VXLAN gateway 124's IP address and the source IP address in the IP multicast packet.","Similarly, VXLAN module 116 on host 103 receives the same IP multicast packet and forwards the inner Ethernet broadcast packet 302 to VM 118 (not shown in FIG.","3).","Subsequently, VM 108 determines and its IP address matches the IP address in the ARP request in packet 302.In response, VM 108 generates an ARP response message and encapsulates it in an Ethernet unicast packet 304, which has host 126's MAC address as the MAC DA and VM 108's own MAC address as the MAC SA.","VXLAN module 106 on host 102 then encapsulates packet 304 with a unicast IP header 305.The source IP address of IP header 305 is host 102's IP address, and the destination IP address is VXLAN gateway 124's IP address.","When this unicast IP packet reaches VXLAN gateway 124, VXLAN gateway 124 removes IP header 305, and forwards the inner Ethernet packet 304 to host 126.In turn, host 126 retrieves the ARP response carried in packet 304, and learns VM 108's MAC address.","Next, host 126 generates a regular unicast Ethernet packet 306 that carries a payload to VM 108.The MAC DA of packet 306 is VM 108's MAC address, which was learned by host 126 based on packet 304 (the ARP response).","The MAC SA of packet 306 is host 126's MAC address.","VXLAN gateway 124 then encapsulates packet 306 with a VXLAN header followed by a unicast IP header 307.IP header 307 has host 102's IP address as its destination IP address, and VXLAN gateway 124's IP address as its source IP address.","Subsequently, VXLAN module 106 on host 102 removes IP header 307 and forwards inner Ethernet packet 306 to VM 108.When VM 108 sends an Ethernet packet 308 in return, VXLAN module 106 encapsulates packet 308 with a unicast IP header 309.Unicast IP header 309 has VXLAN gateway 124's IP address as its destination IP address, and host 102's IP address as its source IP address.","VXLAN gateway 124 then receives the encapsulated packet, removes IP header 309, and forwards inner Ethernet packet 308 to host 126.FIG.","4 presents a flow chart illustrating a general process of a physical host communicating with a VM via a VXLAN gateway.","During operation, to initiate communication with a VM in a VXLAN, a physical host first broadcasts an ARP request which reaches the VXLAN gateway (operation 402).","In response, the VXLAN gateway maps the ARP request to a particular VXLAN and the corresponding IP multicast group based on the physical host's MAC address and optionally its VLAN tag (operation 404).","The VXLAN gateway encapsulates the ARP request with a VXLAN header, a UDP header, and an outer IP header (which includes an IP multicast group address as destination IP address) and an outer Ethernet header (operation 406).","The VXLAN gateway then transmits the encapsulated packet to the IP network (operation 408).","The encapsulated packet is delivered by the IP network to all the hosts that host VMs belonging to the same VXLAN.","As a result, a VXLAN-enabled hypervisor on the host which hosts the VM corresponding to the ARP request receives the encapsulated packet, decapsulates the packet, and forwards the inner ARP request to the VMs belonging to the same VXLAN and running on the host (operation 410).","Subsequently, the VM with an IP address matching the ARP request responds to the ARP request (operation 412).","In response, the hypervisor for the VM encapsulates the ARP response with the VXLAN gateway's IP address as the destination IP address and transmits the encapsulated packet to the IP network (operation 414).","Next, the VXLAN gateway receives the encapsulated ARP response packet and decapsulates it (operation 416).","The VXLAN gateway then forwards the decapsulated ARP response packet to the physical host (operation 418).","In turn, the physical host learns the destination VM's MAC address (operation 420).","The physical host subsequently can proceed to communicate with the VM using the VM's MAC address as if the VM is residing in the same layer-2 broadcast domain (operation 422).","In some embodiments, in addition to providing the VXLAN function to a non-VXLAN-enabled physical host, VXLAN gateways can also “stitch” two data centers which are not VXLAN-capable into one VXLAN domain with a common VXLAN ID.","To facilitate such “stitching,” two VXLAN gateways residing within two data centers respectively establish a tunnel (which for example can be IP-based, such as IPSEC based, tunnel in one embodiment) between them.","In one embodiment, this tunnel is an IPsec tunnel.","The two VXLAN gateways can transparently pass through packets from one data center to the other, hence joining two data centers into a single broadcast domain.","Note that IPsec tunnel is used as an example, and any tunneling protocol can be used by the two VXLAN gateways.","FIG.","5 illustrates an exemplary network architecture where two remotely located data centers are joined to form a single layer-2 broadcast domain by VXLAN gateways.","In this example, host 504 hosts VMs 518, 520, and 522.Host 506 hosts VMs 508, 510, and 512.Host 504 is coupled to VXLAN gateway 516, and host 506 is coupled to VXLAN gateway 516.VXLAN gateways 516 and 506 are both coupled to IP network 500, and have established a tunnel 515 between them.","During operation, each VXLAN gateway maintains a set of mapping information that maps not only the local MAC addresses to the VXLAN, but also the MAC addresses in the remote data center to the VXLAN.","For example, when VM 508 sends out an Ethernet packet destined for VM 518, VXLAN gateway 514 would encapsulate this Ethernet packet with the VXLAN and IP headers, and send this encapsulated packet via tunnel 515 to VXLAN gateway 516.VXLAN gateway 516 in turn would decapsulate the packet and send the inner Ethernet packet to host 504, which can forward it to VM 518.Essentially, VXLAN gateways 516 and 506 provide the functionality of a VXLAN module in a VXLAN-enabled hypervisor.","As mentioned above, a VXLAN gateway typically maintains a set of mapping information, which maps a MAC address and (optionally) a VLAN tag to a VXLAN ID.","Furthermore, the VXLAN encapsulation requires mapping a MAC DA to a destination IP address (either unicast or multicast, depending on the inner Ethernet).","In one embodiment, an OpenFlow controller can facilitate such configuration of each VXLAN gateway in the network, as illustrated in FIG.","6.In this example, all the mapping information (which is stored in the form of flow definition) is communicated from an OpenFlow controller 602 to VXLAN gateway 124 via a secure (e.g., SSL) tunnel 604.The configuration information provided by OpenFlow controller 602 can be used by VXLAN gateway 124 to build a forwarding table containing entries for specific flows.","Each flow is defined using a 12 tuple value {MAC DA, MAC SA, Ethertype, Source IP, Destination IP, etc.",".",".",". }","with the possibility of using wildcards in any field.","More details on OpenFlow can be found in https://www.opennetworking.org/images/stories/downloads/specification/openflow-spec-v1.2.pdf, which is incorporated by reference herein.","It should be noted that the VXLAN gateway described herein can be implemented as a stand-alone appliance, as part of a switch or router, or as part of a host.","Furthermore, the VXLAN gateway can be implemented in hardware or software, or a combination of both.","FIG.","7 illustrates an exemplary computer system that facilitates a VXLAN gateway.","In this example, a computer system 702 includes a processor 704, memory 706, and a storage device 708.Computer system 702 is also coupled to a display 710, a keyboard 712, and a pointing device 708.Storage device 708 stores data 730 and instructions which when loaded into memory 706 and executed by processor 704 implement an operating system 716 and a VXLAN gateway system 718.Gateway system 718 includes a communication module 720, a VXLAN mapping module 722, a packet encapsulation module 724, an IP tunnel module 726, and an OpenFlow module 728.When executed by the processor, these modules jointly or separately perform the functions described above.","The data structures and code described in this detailed description are typically stored on a computer-readable storage medium, which may be any device or medium that can store code and/or data for use by a computer system.","The computer-readable storage medium includes, but is not limited to, volatile memory, non-volatile memory, magnetic and optical storage devices such as disk drives, magnetic tape, CDs (compact discs), DVDs (digital versatile discs or digital video discs), or other media capable of storing computer-readable media now known or later developed.","The methods and processes described in the detailed description section can be embodied as code and/or data, which can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium as described above.","When a computer system reads and executes the code and/or data stored on the computer-readable storage medium, the computer system performs the methods and processes embodied as data structures and code and stored within the computer-readable storage medium.","Furthermore, the methods and processes described above can be included in hardware modules.","For example, the hardware modules can include, but are not limited to, application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) chips, field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), and other programmable-logic devices now known or later developed.","When the hardware modules are activated, the hardware modules perform the methods and processes included within the hardware modules.","The foregoing descriptions of embodiments of the present invention have been presented for purposes of illustration and description only.","They are not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the present invention to the forms disclosed.","Accordingly, many modifications and variations will be apparent to practitioners skilled in the art.","Additionally, the above disclosure is not intended to limit the present invention.","The scope of the present invention is defined by the appended claims."]],"string":"[\n [\n \"METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR VIRTUAL AND PHYSICAL NETWORK INTEGRATION\",\n \"The disclosure herein describes a virtual extensible local area network (VXLAN) gateway.\",\n \"During operation, the VXLAN gateway receives, from a physical host, an Ethernet packet destined for a virtual machine residing in a remote layer-2 network broadcast domain that is different from a local layer-2 network broadcast domain where the physical host resides.\",\n \"The VXLAN gateway then determines a VXLAN identifier for the received Ethernet packet.\",\n \"The VXLAN gateway further encapsulates the Ethernet packet with the virtual extensible local area network identifier and an Internet Protocol (IP) header, and forwards the encapsulated packet to an IP network, thereby allowing the packet to be transported to the virtual machine via the IP network and allowing the remote layer-2 network broadcast domain and the local layer-2 network broadcast domain to be part of a common layer-2 broadcast domain.\"\n ],\n [\n \"1-21.\",\n \"(canceled) 22.For a physical device separate from sources and destinations of packets in a network, a method for implementing a virtual extensible local area network (VXLAN) gateway, the method comprising: through an IP network to which the physical device implementing the gateway connects, receiving an encapsulated packet that originated from a virtual machine residing in a remote layer-2 network broadcast domain; decapsulating the packet by removing an IP header of the packet and identifying a VXLAN identifier for the packet, wherein an Ethernet packet remains after decapsulation; based at least in part on the VXLAN identifier, determining that a destination for the Ethernet packet is a server separate from the physical device implementing the gateway, the server residing in a local layer-2 network broadcast domain that is different from the remote layer-2 network broadcast domain; and forwarding the Ethernet packet to the server on the local layer-2 network broadcast domain.\",\n \"23.The method of claim 22 further comprising maintaining a data structure that maps the VXLAN identifier to at least one of (i) the server's medium access control (MAC) address and (ii) the server's virtual local area network (VLAN) tag.\",\n \"24.The method of claim 22, wherein the VXLAN gateway is a first VXLAN gateway, wherein the packet is encapsulated by a second VXLAN gateway to add the VXLAN identifier and IP header to the packet, wherein the method further comprises establishing a tunnel with the second VXLAN gateway.\",\n \"25.The method of claim 22 further comprising: receiving, from the server, a second Ethernet packet destined for the machine residing in the remote layer-2 network broadcast domain; encapsulating the second Ethernet packet with the VXLAN identifier and a second IP header; and forwarding the encapsulated second packet to the IP network, thereby allowing the packet to be transmitted to the remote layer-2 network broadcast domain.\",\n \"26.The method of claim 25 further comprising determining that the second Ethernet packet maps to the VXLAN identifier.\",\n \"27.The method of claim 22 further comprising receiving configuration information from a controller, wherein the configuration comprises mapping information that maps a set of addresses to the VXLAN identifier.\",\n \"28.The method of claim 27, wherein the controller is an OpenFlow controller, wherein the configuration information is received as a set of flows from the OpenFlow controller.\",\n \"29.The method of claim 22, wherein the destination of the Ethernet packet is a virtual machine that operates on the server, wherein a virtual switch that operates on the physical host is not configured to decapsulate packets with VXLAN identifiers.\",\n \"30.The method of claim 22, wherein the IP header comprises a destination address corresponding to the VXLAN gateway.\",\n \"31.The method of claim 22, wherein the server is a first server, the local layer-2 network broadcast domain is a first local layer-2 network broadcast domain, the encapsulated packet is a first encapsulated packet, the Ethernet packet is a first Ethernet packet, the machine is a first machine, the remote layer-2 network broadcast domain is a first remote layer-2 network domain, and the VXLAN identifier is a first VXLAN identifier, the method further comprising: receiving, through the IP network, a second encapsulated packet that originated from a second machine residing in a second remote layer-2 network broadcast domain; decapsulating the second packet by removing an IP header of the second packet and identifying a second VXLAN identifier for the packet, wherein a second Ethernet packet remains after decapsulation; and based at least in part on the second VXLAN identifier, determining that a destination for the second Ethernet packet is a second server separate from the physical device implementing the VXLAN gateway, the second server residing in the second local layer-2 network broadcast domain; and forwarding the second Ethernet packet to the second server on the second local layer-2 network broadcast domain.\",\n \"32.A non-transitory machine readable medium storing a program which when executed by a set of processing units of a physical device separate from sources and destinations of packets in a network implements a virtual extensible local area network (VXLAN) gateway, the program comprising sets of instructions for: through an IP network to which the physical device implementing the gateway connects, receiving an encapsulated packet that originated from a virtual machine residing in a remote layer-2 network broadcast domain; decapsulating the packet by removing an IP header of the packet and identifying a VXLAN identifier for the packet, wherein an Ethernet packet remains after decapsulation; based at least in part on the VXLAN identifier, determining that a destination for the Ethernet packet is a server separate from the physical device implementing the gateway, the server residing in a local layer-2 network broadcast domain that is different from the remote layer-2 network broadcast domain; and forwarding the Ethernet packet to the server on the local layer-2 network broadcast domain.\",\n \"33.The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 32, wherein the program further comprises a set of instructions for maintaining a data structure that maps the VXLAN identifier to at least one of (i) the server's medium access control (MAC) address and (ii) the server's virtual local area network (VLAN) tag.\",\n \"34.The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 32, wherein the VXLAN gateway is a first VXLAN gateway, wherein the packet is encapsulated by a second VXLAN gateway to add the VXLAN identifier and IP header to the packet, wherein the program further comprises a set of instructions for establishing a tunnel with the second VXLAN gateway.\",\n \"35.The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 32 wherein the program further comprises sets of instructions for: receiving, from the server, a second Ethernet packet destined for the machine residing in the remote layer-2 network broadcast domain; encapsulating the second Ethernet packet with the VXLAN identifier and a second IP header; and forwarding the encapsulated second packet to the IP network, thereby allowing the packet to be transmitted to the remote layer-2 network broadcast domain.\",\n \"36.The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 35, wherein the program further comprises a set of instructions for determining that the second Ethernet packet maps to the VXLAN identifier.\",\n \"37.The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 32, wherein the program further comprises a set of instructions for receiving configuration information from a controller, wherein the configuration comprises mapping information that maps a set of addresses to the VXLAN identifier.\",\n \"38.The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 37, wherein the controller is an OpenFlow controller, wherein the configuration information is received as a set of flows from the OpenFlow controller.\",\n \"39.The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 32, wherein the destination of the Ethernet packet is a virtual machine that operates on the server, wherein a virtual switch that operates on the physical host is not configured to decapsulate packets with VXLAN identifiers.\",\n \"40.The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 32, wherein the IP header comprises a destination address corresponding to the VXLAN gateway.\",\n \"41.The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 32, wherein the server is a first server, the local layer-2 network broadcast domain is a first local layer-2 network broadcast domain, the encapsulated packet is a first encapsulated packet, the Ethernet packet is a first Ethernet packet, the machine is a first machine, the remote layer-2 network broadcast domain is a first remote layer-2 network domain, and the VXLAN identifier is a first VXLAN identifier, wherein the program further comprises sets of instructions for: receiving, through the IP network, a second encapsulated packet that originated from a second machine residing in a second remote layer-2 network broadcast domain; decapsulating the second packet by removing an IP header of the second packet and identifying a second VXLAN identifier for the packet, wherein a second Ethernet packet remains after decapsulation; and based at least in part on the second VXLAN identifier, determining that a destination for the second Ethernet packet is a second server separate from the physical device implementing the VXLAN gateway, the second server residing in the second local layer-2 network broadcast domain; and forwarding the second Ethernet packet to the second server on the second local layer-2 network broadcast domain.\"\n ],\n [\n \" BACKGROUND The exponential growth of the Internet has made it a ubiquitous delivery medium for a variety of applications.\",\n \"Such applications have in turn brought with them an increasing demand for bandwidth.\",\n \"As a result, service providers race to build larger and faster data centers with versatile capabilities.\",\n \"Meanwhile, advances in virtualization technologies have made it possible to implement a large number of virtual machines (VMs) in a data center.\",\n \"These virtual machines can essentially operate as physical hosts and perform a variety of functions such as Web or database servers.\",\n \"Because virtual machines are implemented in software, they can freely migrate to various locations.\",\n \"This capability allows service providers to partition and isolate physical resources (e.g., computing power and network capacity) according to customer needs, and to allocate such resources dynamically.\",\n \"While virtualization brings unprecedented flexibility to service providers, the conventional layer-2 network architecture, however, tends to be rigid and cannot readily accommodate the dynamic nature of virtual machines.\",\n \"For example, in conventional data center architecture, hosts are often inter-connected by one or more layer-2 (e.g., Ethernet) switches to form a layer-2 broadcast domain.\",\n \"The physical reach of a layer-2 broadcast domain is limited by the transmission medium.\",\n \"As a result, different data centers are typically associated with different layer-2 broadcast domains, and multiple layer-2 broadcast domains could exist within a single data center.\",\n \"For a VM in one data center to communicate with a VM or a storage device in another data center, such communication would need to be carried over layer-3 networks.\",\n \"That is, the packets between the source and destination have to be processed and forwarded by layer-3 devices (e.g., IP routers), since the source and destination belong to different layer-2 broadcast domains.\",\n \"While this architecture has benefits, flat layer-2 processing has its advantages.\",\n \"In fact, it would be desirable to exploit the advantages of both layer-3 and layer-2 models and processing capabilities in the network.\",\n \"One technique to solve the problems described above is to implement a virtual extensible local area network (VXLAN).\",\n \"VXLAN is a standard network virtualization technology managed by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), and works by creating a logical layer-2 network that is overlaid above a layer-3 IP network.\",\n \"Ethernet packets generated by VMs are encapsulated in an IP header before they are transported to a remote data center where the IP header is removed and the original Ethernet packet is delivered to the destination.\",\n \"The IP encapsulation mechanism allows a logical layer-2 broadcast domain to be extended to an arbitrary number of remote locations, and allows different data centers or different sections of the same data center (and hence the VMs and devices therein) to be in the same layer-2 broadcast domain.\",\n \"The VXLAN function typically resides within a host's hypervisor, and works in conjunction with the hypervisor's virtual switch.\",\n \"More details of VXLAN can be found in IETF draft “VXLAN: A Framework for Overlaying Virtualized Layer 2 Networks over Layer 3 Networks,” available at https://tools.ietf.org/html/draft-mahalingam-dutt-dcops-vxlan-02, which is incorporated by reference here.\",\n \"Existing VXLAN implementations, however, cannot easily accommodate a mixture of physical hosts and VMs in the same logical layer-2 broadcast domain.\",\n \"This is because by default the VXLAN feature in a hypervisor encapsulates Ethernet packets generated by a VM that belongs to a certain VXLAN.\",\n \"A physical host, on the other hand, cannot easily participate in the same VXLAN because there is no mechanism to encapsulate the Ethernet packets it generates, which would otherwise allow the Ethernet packets to be delivered to other VXLAN-capable VMs.\"\n ],\n [\n \" SUMMARY The disclosure herein describes a network communication system that facilitates the integration of virtual and physical network devices.\",\n \"Specifically, the system provides a virtual extensible local area network (VXLAN) gateway.\",\n \"During operation, the VXLAN gateway receives, from a physical host, an Ethernet packet destined for a virtual machine residing in a remote layer-2 network broadcast domain that is different from a local layer-2 network broadcast domain where the physical host resides.\",\n \"The VXLAN gateway then determines a VXLAN network identifier (VNI) for the received Ethernet packet.\",\n \"The VXLAN gateway further encapsulates the Ethernet packet with the VNI and an Internet Protocol (IP) header, and forwards the encapsulated packet to an IP network, thereby allowing the packet to be transported to the virtual machine via the IP network and allowing the remote layer-2 network broadcast domain and the local layer-2 network broadcast domain to be part of a common layer-2 broadcast domain.\",\n \"Ethernet packet received from the physical host can be an address resolution protocol (ARP) request packet.\",\n \"In addition, the VXLAN gateway maintains a data structure that maps the VNI to an IP multicast group.\",\n \"The VXLAN gateway also sets a destination IP address in the IP header to be an IP address corresponding to the IP multicast group.\",\n \"The VXLAN gateway can also maintain a data structure that maps the physical host's medium access control (MAC) address and optionally the physical host's virtual local area network (VLAN) tag to the VNI.\",\n \"The data structure may also contain entries to encompass all the physical hosts on a specific VLAN.\",\n \"This is indicated as a mapping between the VNI and VLAN tag without any host-specific information.\",\n \"Additionally, the VXLAN gateway can receive a packet from the virtual machine, wherein the packet includes an outer Ethernet header, an IP header, and an inner Ethernet header.\",\n \"The VXLAN gateway then decapsulates the packet received from the virtual machine by removing its outer Ethernet header and IP header and forwards the decapsulated packet to the physical host.\",\n \"The VXLAN gateway can further establish a tunnel with a second virtual extensible local area network gateway, thereby joining two layer-2 network broadcast domains with a common VNI.\",\n \"Optionally, the VXLAN gateway can receive configuration information from an OpenFlow controller.\"\n ],\n [\n \"RELATED APPLICATION This application claims the benefit of U.S.\",\n \"Provisional Application No.\",\n \"61/683,100, Attorney Docket Number A954.PRO, entitled “VIRTUAL AND PHYSICAL NETWORKING INTEGRATION WITH VXLAN GATEWAYS,” by inventors Thayumanavan Sridhar and Margaret Petrus, filed 14 Aug. 2012.BACKGROUND The exponential growth of the Internet has made it a ubiquitous delivery medium for a variety of applications.\",\n \"Such applications have in turn brought with them an increasing demand for bandwidth.\",\n \"As a result, service providers race to build larger and faster data centers with versatile capabilities.\",\n \"Meanwhile, advances in virtualization technologies have made it possible to implement a large number of virtual machines (VMs) in a data center.\",\n \"These virtual machines can essentially operate as physical hosts and perform a variety of functions such as Web or database servers.\",\n \"Because virtual machines are implemented in software, they can freely migrate to various locations.\",\n \"This capability allows service providers to partition and isolate physical resources (e.g., computing power and network capacity) according to customer needs, and to allocate such resources dynamically.\",\n \"While virtualization brings unprecedented flexibility to service providers, the conventional layer-2 network architecture, however, tends to be rigid and cannot readily accommodate the dynamic nature of virtual machines.\",\n \"For example, in conventional data center architecture, hosts are often inter-connected by one or more layer-2 (e.g., Ethernet) switches to form a layer-2 broadcast domain.\",\n \"The physical reach of a layer-2 broadcast domain is limited by the transmission medium.\",\n \"As a result, different data centers are typically associated with different layer-2 broadcast domains, and multiple layer-2 broadcast domains could exist within a single data center.\",\n \"For a VM in one data center to communicate with a VM or a storage device in another data center, such communication would need to be carried over layer-3 networks.\",\n \"That is, the packets between the source and destination have to be processed and forwarded by layer-3 devices (e.g., IP routers), since the source and destination belong to different layer-2 broadcast domains.\",\n \"While this architecture has benefits, flat layer-2 processing has its advantages.\",\n \"In fact, it would be desirable to exploit the advantages of both layer-3 and layer-2 models and processing capabilities in the network.\",\n \"One technique to solve the problems described above is to implement a virtual extensible local area network (VXLAN).\",\n \"VXLAN is a standard network virtualization technology managed by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), and works by creating a logical layer-2 network that is overlaid above a layer-3 IP network.\",\n \"Ethernet packets generated by VMs are encapsulated in an IP header before they are transported to a remote data center where the IP header is removed and the original Ethernet packet is delivered to the destination.\",\n \"The IP encapsulation mechanism allows a logical layer-2 broadcast domain to be extended to an arbitrary number of remote locations, and allows different data centers or different sections of the same data center (and hence the VMs and devices therein) to be in the same layer-2 broadcast domain.\",\n \"The VXLAN function typically resides within a host's hypervisor, and works in conjunction with the hypervisor's virtual switch.\",\n \"More details of VXLAN can be found in IETF draft “VXLAN: A Framework for Overlaying Virtualized Layer 2 Networks over Layer 3 Networks,” available at https://tools.ietf.org/html/draft-mahalingam-dutt-dcops-vxlan-02, which is incorporated by reference here.\",\n \"Existing VXLAN implementations, however, cannot easily accommodate a mixture of physical hosts and VMs in the same logical layer-2 broadcast domain.\",\n \"This is because by default the VXLAN feature in a hypervisor encapsulates Ethernet packets generated by a VM that belongs to a certain VXLAN.\",\n \"A physical host, on the other hand, cannot easily participate in the same VXLAN because there is no mechanism to encapsulate the Ethernet packets it generates, which would otherwise allow the Ethernet packets to be delivered to other VXLAN-capable VMs.\",\n \"SUMMARY The disclosure herein describes a network communication system that facilitates the integration of virtual and physical network devices.\",\n \"Specifically, the system provides a virtual extensible local area network (VXLAN) gateway.\",\n \"During operation, the VXLAN gateway receives, from a physical host, an Ethernet packet destined for a virtual machine residing in a remote layer-2 network broadcast domain that is different from a local layer-2 network broadcast domain where the physical host resides.\",\n \"The VXLAN gateway then determines a VXLAN network identifier (VNI) for the received Ethernet packet.\",\n \"The VXLAN gateway further encapsulates the Ethernet packet with the VNI and an Internet Protocol (IP) header, and forwards the encapsulated packet to an IP network, thereby allowing the packet to be transported to the virtual machine via the IP network and allowing the remote layer-2 network broadcast domain and the local layer-2 network broadcast domain to be part of a common layer-2 broadcast domain.\",\n \"Ethernet packet received from the physical host can be an address resolution protocol (ARP) request packet.\",\n \"In addition, the VXLAN gateway maintains a data structure that maps the VNI to an IP multicast group.\",\n \"The VXLAN gateway also sets a destination IP address in the IP header to be an IP address corresponding to the IP multicast group.\",\n \"The VXLAN gateway can also maintain a data structure that maps the physical host's medium access control (MAC) address and optionally the physical host's virtual local area network (VLAN) tag to the VNI.\",\n \"The data structure may also contain entries to encompass all the physical hosts on a specific VLAN.\",\n \"This is indicated as a mapping between the VNI and VLAN tag without any host-specific information.\",\n \"Additionally, the VXLAN gateway can receive a packet from the virtual machine, wherein the packet includes an outer Ethernet header, an IP header, and an inner Ethernet header.\",\n \"The VXLAN gateway then decapsulates the packet received from the virtual machine by removing its outer Ethernet header and IP header and forwards the decapsulated packet to the physical host.\",\n \"The VXLAN gateway can further establish a tunnel with a second virtual extensible local area network gateway, thereby joining two layer-2 network broadcast domains with a common VNI.\",\n \"Optionally, the VXLAN gateway can receive configuration information from an OpenFlow controller.\",\n \"BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF FIGURES FIG.\",\n \"1 illustrates an exemplary network architecture that facilitates a VXLAN gateway.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"2 illustrates header format for a conventional Ethernet packet and its VXLAN encapsulation.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"3 presents a time-space diagram illustrating an exemplary process of a physical host initiating communication with a VM across an IP network, via a VXLAN gateway.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"4 presents a flow chart illustrating an exemplary process of a physical host communicating with a VM via a VXLAN gateway.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"5 illustrates an exemplary network architecture where two remotely located data centers are joined to form a single layer-2 broadcast domain by VXLAN gateways.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"6 illustrates an exemplary network architecture that facilitates configuration of a VXLAN gateway using an OpeFlow controller.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"7 illustrates an exemplary computer system that facilitates a VXLAN gateway.\",\n \"In the figures, like reference numerals refer to the same figure elements.\",\n \"DETAILED DESCRIPTION The following description is presented to enable any person skilled in the art to make and use the embodiments, and is provided in the context of a particular application and its requirements.\",\n \"Various modifications to the disclosed embodiments will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the general principles defined herein may be applied to other embodiments and applications without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure.\",\n \"Thus, the present invention is not limited to the embodiments shown, but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the principles and features disclosed herein.\",\n \"Embodiments of the system disclosed herein solve the problem of enabling VXLAN-encapsulated communication between a VM and a physical host by facilitating a VXLAN gateway, which serves as a gateway for the physical host and performs VXLAN encapsulation and decapsulation on behalf of the physical host.\",\n \"As mentioned above, the VXLAN feature in a hypervisor (such as the ESX® product family by VMware, Inc. of Palo Alto, Calif.) automatically encapsulates an Ethernet packet generated by a VM that is part of a VXLAN-enabled Ethernet broadcast domain.\",\n \"There is currently no ready-to-use mechanism that can allow a physical host, which does not have this VXLAN feature in its protocol stack, to participate in this VXLAN-enabled broadcast domain.\",\n \"This is because there is no device in the network that can encapsulate the physical host's Ethernet packet with VXLAN headers.\",\n \"To solve this problem, a VXLAN gateway residing in the same layer-2 broadcast domain as the physical host can perform the VXLAN encapsulation and decapsulation on behalf of the physical host.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"1 illustrates an exemplary network architecture that facilitates a VXLAN gateway.\",\n \"In this example, an IP network 100 couples several conventional layer-2 networks.\",\n \"Specifically, a host 102 is coupled to an IP router 130.Host 102 hosts a number of VMs: 108, 110, and 112.VMs 108 and 110 belong to VXLAN 1, and VM 112 belongs to VXLAN 2.Virtualization software 104 (such as a hypervisor) manages the VMs in host 102, and includes a VXLAN module 106.VXLAN module 106 is responsible for encapsulating and decapsulating the Ethernet packets generated by VMs 108, 110, and 112.Similarly, a host 103 is coupled to an IP router 132.Host 103 hosts a number of VMs: 118, 120, and 122.VM 118 belongs to VXLAN 1, and VMs 120 and 122 belong to VXLAN 2.Virtualization software 114 manages VMs 118, 120, and 122, and includes a VXLAN module 116.When VMs within the same VXLAN communicate with each other, the Ethernet packet generated by a VM is encapsulated with an IP header and then delivered to the VXLAN module in the destination physical host (which owns the destination IP address).\",\n \"For example, when VM 108 communicates with VM 118, VM 108 generates an Ethernet packet with VM 118's MAC address as its MAC destination address (DA).\",\n \"(Note that VMs within the same VXLAN are in the same logical layer-2 broadcast domain, and are therefore assumed to learn each other's MAC address.)\",\n \"When this Ethernet packet reaches VXLAN module 106, VXLAN module 106 inspects the packet's MAC source address (SA), MAC DA, and optionally VLAN tag, and determines that both the source (VM 108) and destination (VM 118) belong to VXLAN 1.Furthermore, based on the packet's MAC DA, VXLAN module 106 determines the IP address of the destination physical host 103.In turn, VXLAN module 106 encapsulates this Ethernet packet with a proper VXLAN header and IP header (which will be described in more detail in conjunction with FIG.\",\n \"2), and transmits this encapsulated packet to IP router 130.Since the encapsulated packet has an IP destination address that is associated with host 103, IP router 130 (and other IP routers in IP network 100) can then make the proper forwarding decision and forwards the encapsulated packet toward host 103.When host 103 receives the encapsulated packet, VXLAN module 116 first removes the IP header to expose the inner Ethernet packet.\",\n \"Subsequently, based on both the VNI and the inner Ethernet header's MAC DA, virtualization software 114 forwards the inner Ethernet packet to VM 118.Note that when VXLAN 116 receives the Ethernet packet, it can establish a mapping relationship of the MAC SA of the inner Ethernet packet (which is VM 108's MAC address) and the IP source address (which is host 102's IP address).\",\n \"Hence, when in the future VM 118 sends an Ethernet packet to VM 108, VXLAN module 116 can perform VXLAN encapsulation with host 102's IP address as the IP destination address.\",\n \"In the situation where a source VM does not have knowledge of a destination VM's MAC address (and only the destination VM's IP address), the source VM typically issues an address resolution protocol (ARP) request with the destination VM's IP address.\",\n \"This ARP request is a broadcast layer-2 message, which is supposed to be received by all the hosts (and VMs) in a layer-2 broadcast domain.\",\n \"In the case of VXLAN, for example, when VM 108 sends out an ARP request, this ARP request first reaches VXLAN module 106.In turn, when VXLAN module 106 determines that it is an ARP request that is supposed to be broadcast to the entire VXLAN, VXLAN module 106 encapsulates the ARP request with an IP header that has an IP multicast group address as its destination IP address.\",\n \"That is, each VXLAN is associated with an IP multicast tree that includes all the physical hosts in the VXLAN.\",\n \"This way, when there is a broadcast packet for the entire VXLAN, a VXLAN module in a host's hypervisor can encapsulate the packet with an IP multicast header, and multicast this encapsulated packet to all the hosts in the VXLAN.\",\n \"Hence, the ARP request would be multicast to all the hosts associated with the same VXLAN.\",\n \"The VXLAN module on each receiving host would decapsulate the packet, and locally broadcast the inner ARP request to all the VMs belonging to that VXLAN.\",\n \"In response, the VM that has an IP address that matches the one in the ARP request produces an ARP response, which would be encapsulated by the local VXLAN module and unicast back to the requesting VM.\",\n \"In the example illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"1, if a physical host (or a VM that is not VXLAN-capable) is coupled to IP network 100, either directly or via a layer-2 switch, it would be difficult, if not impossible, for the physical host to communicate with any VM that belongs to a VXLAN, because an Ethernet packet from the physical host cannot be delivered to any of the VMs since the Ethernet packet is not probably encapsulated with a VXLAN header and IP header.\",\n \"One solution is to use a VXLAN gateway 124, which can be a stand-alone device that performs the functions of VXLAN module 106 or 108.For example, a physical host 126 can be coupled to VXLAN gateway 124 via a layer-2 switch 127.Physical host 126 belongs to VLAN 1, which is mapped to VXLAN 1 by VXLAN gateway 124.A physical host 128 can host a number of VMs 138, 140, and 142, which are not VXLAN enabled.\",\n \"VM 138 belongs to VLAN 1, which maps to VXLAN 1.VMs 140 and 142 belong to VLAN 2, which maps to VXLAN 2.Host 128 is also coupled to VXLAN gateway 124.When physical host 126 is to communicate with VM 108, physical host 126 can send out an Ethernet packet with VM 108's MAC address as the MAC DA, its own MAC address as the MAC SA, and a VLAN tag corresponding to VLAN 1.When this Ethernet packet reaches VXLAN gateway 124, VXLAN gateway 124 inspects the packet's MAC SA and MAC DA, and its VLAN tag.\",\n \"Note that VXLAN gateway maintains a set of mapping information that maps a MAC address and optionally a VLAN tag to a VXLAN.\",\n \"Note that the data structure to maintain the mapping information may also contain entries to encompass all the physical hosts on a specific VLAN.\",\n \"This is indicated as a mapping between the VNI and VLAN tag without any host-specific information.\",\n \"If physical host 126 is properly configured, VXLAN gateway 124 would identify the Ethernet packet's MAC SA and MAC DA (and optionally VLAN tag) to be associated with VXLAN 1.\",\n \"(Note that if the VLAN tag is present, VXLAN gateway 124 may directly map the VLAN to a VXLAN without using the MAC addresses.\",\n \"If VLAN is not configured, however, VXLAN gateway 124 can map the MAC SA, MAC DA, or both, to the VXLAN.)\",\n \"Furthermore, VXLAN gateway 124 also maintains a set of mapping information between a VM's MAC address and the IP address of that VM's physical host.\",\n \"Hence, based on the MAC DA of the Ethernet packet generated by physical host 126, which is VM 108's MAC address, VXLAN gateway 124 determines that host 102's IP address should be used as the destination IP address for the VXLAN encapsulation.\",\n \"In addition, VXLAN gateway 124 uses its own IP address as the source IP address for the encapsulation.\",\n \"Subsequently, VXLAN encapsulates the Ethernet packet from host 126 with the proper VXLAN header and IP header and transmits the encapsulated packet to IP network 100.When the encapsulated packet reaches host 102, the encapsulated packet is forwarded to VXLAN module 106.VXLAN module 106 in turn removes the IP header to obtain the inner Ethernet packet.\",\n \"Note that VXLAN module 106 can learn the mapping between the source IP address of the IP header (which is VXLAN gateway 124's IP address) and the MAC SA of the inner Ethernet packet (which is host 126's MAC address).\",\n \"This mapping information is used to encapsulate outbound traffic to host 126.Subsequently, VXLAN module 106 forwards the inner Ethernet packet to VM 108 based on the MAC DA.\",\n \"When VM 108 sends an Ethernet packet back to host 126, a similar VXLAN encapsulation/decapsulation process takes place.\",\n \"Specifically, VXLAN module 106 identifies that the Ethernet packet from VM 108 to host 126 belongs to VXLAN 1.Furthermore, based on the Ethernet packet's MAC DA (which is host 126's MAC address), VXLAN module 106 identifies host 126's IP address as the destination IP address for the VXLAN encapsulation, and uses host 102's IP address as the source IP address.\",\n \"Host 102 then sends the encapsulated Ethernet packet to IP network 100, which delivers the packet to VXLAN gateway 124.VXLAN gateway 124 then decapsulates the packet by removing its IP header, and forwards the inner Ethernet packet to host 126.FIG.\",\n \"2 illustrates header format for a conventional Ethernet packet and its VXLAN encapsulation.\",\n \"In this example, a conventional Ethernet packet 200 typically includes a payload 203 and an Ethernet header 208.Typically, payload 203 can include an IP packet which includes an IP header 206.Ethernet header 208 includes a MAC DA 204, a MAC SA 202, and optionally a VLAN tag 205.In one embodiment, VXLAN gateway 124 can encapsulate conventional Ethernet packet 200 into an encapsulated packet 220.Encapsulated packet 220 typically includes a VXLAN header 222 which contains a VNI to indicate the VXLAN to which inner Ethernet packet 200 belongs, a UDP header 218 which indicates the transport-layer protocol and port number reserved for VXLAN, and an outer IP header 210.In addition, encapsulated packet 220 includes an outer Ethernet header 212.Take, for example, Ethernet packet 200 as an Ethernet packet generated by host 126 and destined for VM 108.Typically, an upper layer application in host 126 would generate an IP packet destined for VM 108, using VM 108's IP address.\",\n \"This IP packet becomes payload 203, and VM 108's IP address would be the destination IP address in IP header 206.In addition, host 126's IP address would be the source IP address in IP header 206.The datalink layer in host 126 then generates Ethernet header 208 to encapsulate payload 203.MAC DA 204 of Ethernet header 208 would be VM 108's MAC address, and MAC SA 202 of Ethernet header 208 would be host 126's MAC address.\",\n \"This is based on the assumption that host 126 has learned VM 108's MAC address.\",\n \"In the case where host 126 does not have knowledge of VM 108's MAC address, host 126 can use ARP to discover VM 108's MAC address.\",\n \"This ARP process is described in conjunction with FIG.\",\n \"3.Host 126 then sends Ethernet packet 200 to VXLAN gateway 124.When VXLAN gateway 124 receives Ethernet packet 200 from host 126, VXLAN gateway 124 inspects the Ethernet MAC DA 204, MAC SA 202, and optionally VLAN tag 205.Based on this information VXLAN gateway 124 determines that Ethernet packet 200 is associated with VXLAN 1.Furthermore, based on MAC DA 204, VXLAN gateway 124 determines that the destination IP address for VXLAN encapsulation is the IP address of host 102.Subsequently, VXLAN gateway 124 assembles the VXLAN header which includes VXLAN header 222 (corresponding to VXLAN 1), and attaches UDP header 218 which includes the appropriate UDP port number.\",\n \"In addition, VXLAN gateway 124 assembles outer IP header 210 which uses host 102's IP address as the destination address, and VXLAN gateway 124's own IP address as the source address.\",\n \"VXLAN gateway 124 then assembles an outer Ethernet header 212.Outer Ethernet header 212 is used to transport packet 220 from VXLAN gateway 124 to the next-hop IP router 134.Outer Ethernet header 212 has a MAC DA 214 which is IP router 134's MAC address, a MAC SA which is VXLAN gateway 124's MAC address, and optionally an outer VLAN tag 217.Once packet 220 reaches IP router 134, IP router 134 can remove outer Ethernet header 212 and forward the packet based on outer IP header 210.This process continues throughout IP network 100 until the packet reaches host 102.As mentioned above, when host 126 attempts to communicate with VM 108 for the very first time, host 126 might only have VM 108's IP address but not its MAC address.\",\n \"To discover VM 108's MAC address, host 126 can perform an ARP query operation.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"3 presents a time-space diagram illustrating this process.\",\n \"Initially, host 126 generates an ARP request message which is carried in an Ethernet broadcast packet 302.Host 126 then transmits broadcast packet 302 to VXLAN gateway 124.In turn, VXLAN gateway 124 identifies that host 126 belongs to VXLAN 1 based on the MAC SA of packet 302.In addition, since packet 302 is an Ethernet broadcast packet, VXLAN gateway 124 maps packet 302 to an IP multicast group corresponding to VXLAN 1, and generates an IP multicast header 303 to encapsulate packet 302.Note that the IP multicast group includes both hosts 102 and 103, since these two hosts both host VMs belonging to VXLAN 1 (VMs 108 and 110 on host 102, and VM 118 on host 103).\",\n \"This IP multicast packet is then delivered by IP network 100 to both hosts 102 and 103.VXLAN module 106 on host 102 then removes IP header 303 from packet 302 and locally broadcasts packet 302 to all the VMs (i.e., VMs 108 and 110) belonging to VXLAN 1.In addition, VXLAN module 106 learns the mapping between host 126's MAC address, which is the MAC SA in packet 302, and the corresponding IP address, which is VXLAN gateway 124's IP address and the source IP address in the IP multicast packet.\",\n \"Similarly, VXLAN module 116 on host 103 receives the same IP multicast packet and forwards the inner Ethernet broadcast packet 302 to VM 118 (not shown in FIG.\",\n \"3).\",\n \"Subsequently, VM 108 determines and its IP address matches the IP address in the ARP request in packet 302.In response, VM 108 generates an ARP response message and encapsulates it in an Ethernet unicast packet 304, which has host 126's MAC address as the MAC DA and VM 108's own MAC address as the MAC SA.\",\n \"VXLAN module 106 on host 102 then encapsulates packet 304 with a unicast IP header 305.The source IP address of IP header 305 is host 102's IP address, and the destination IP address is VXLAN gateway 124's IP address.\",\n \"When this unicast IP packet reaches VXLAN gateway 124, VXLAN gateway 124 removes IP header 305, and forwards the inner Ethernet packet 304 to host 126.In turn, host 126 retrieves the ARP response carried in packet 304, and learns VM 108's MAC address.\",\n \"Next, host 126 generates a regular unicast Ethernet packet 306 that carries a payload to VM 108.The MAC DA of packet 306 is VM 108's MAC address, which was learned by host 126 based on packet 304 (the ARP response).\",\n \"The MAC SA of packet 306 is host 126's MAC address.\",\n \"VXLAN gateway 124 then encapsulates packet 306 with a VXLAN header followed by a unicast IP header 307.IP header 307 has host 102's IP address as its destination IP address, and VXLAN gateway 124's IP address as its source IP address.\",\n \"Subsequently, VXLAN module 106 on host 102 removes IP header 307 and forwards inner Ethernet packet 306 to VM 108.When VM 108 sends an Ethernet packet 308 in return, VXLAN module 106 encapsulates packet 308 with a unicast IP header 309.Unicast IP header 309 has VXLAN gateway 124's IP address as its destination IP address, and host 102's IP address as its source IP address.\",\n \"VXLAN gateway 124 then receives the encapsulated packet, removes IP header 309, and forwards inner Ethernet packet 308 to host 126.FIG.\",\n \"4 presents a flow chart illustrating a general process of a physical host communicating with a VM via a VXLAN gateway.\",\n \"During operation, to initiate communication with a VM in a VXLAN, a physical host first broadcasts an ARP request which reaches the VXLAN gateway (operation 402).\",\n \"In response, the VXLAN gateway maps the ARP request to a particular VXLAN and the corresponding IP multicast group based on the physical host's MAC address and optionally its VLAN tag (operation 404).\",\n \"The VXLAN gateway encapsulates the ARP request with a VXLAN header, a UDP header, and an outer IP header (which includes an IP multicast group address as destination IP address) and an outer Ethernet header (operation 406).\",\n \"The VXLAN gateway then transmits the encapsulated packet to the IP network (operation 408).\",\n \"The encapsulated packet is delivered by the IP network to all the hosts that host VMs belonging to the same VXLAN.\",\n \"As a result, a VXLAN-enabled hypervisor on the host which hosts the VM corresponding to the ARP request receives the encapsulated packet, decapsulates the packet, and forwards the inner ARP request to the VMs belonging to the same VXLAN and running on the host (operation 410).\",\n \"Subsequently, the VM with an IP address matching the ARP request responds to the ARP request (operation 412).\",\n \"In response, the hypervisor for the VM encapsulates the ARP response with the VXLAN gateway's IP address as the destination IP address and transmits the encapsulated packet to the IP network (operation 414).\",\n \"Next, the VXLAN gateway receives the encapsulated ARP response packet and decapsulates it (operation 416).\",\n \"The VXLAN gateway then forwards the decapsulated ARP response packet to the physical host (operation 418).\",\n \"In turn, the physical host learns the destination VM's MAC address (operation 420).\",\n \"The physical host subsequently can proceed to communicate with the VM using the VM's MAC address as if the VM is residing in the same layer-2 broadcast domain (operation 422).\",\n \"In some embodiments, in addition to providing the VXLAN function to a non-VXLAN-enabled physical host, VXLAN gateways can also “stitch” two data centers which are not VXLAN-capable into one VXLAN domain with a common VXLAN ID.\",\n \"To facilitate such “stitching,” two VXLAN gateways residing within two data centers respectively establish a tunnel (which for example can be IP-based, such as IPSEC based, tunnel in one embodiment) between them.\",\n \"In one embodiment, this tunnel is an IPsec tunnel.\",\n \"The two VXLAN gateways can transparently pass through packets from one data center to the other, hence joining two data centers into a single broadcast domain.\",\n \"Note that IPsec tunnel is used as an example, and any tunneling protocol can be used by the two VXLAN gateways.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"5 illustrates an exemplary network architecture where two remotely located data centers are joined to form a single layer-2 broadcast domain by VXLAN gateways.\",\n \"In this example, host 504 hosts VMs 518, 520, and 522.Host 506 hosts VMs 508, 510, and 512.Host 504 is coupled to VXLAN gateway 516, and host 506 is coupled to VXLAN gateway 516.VXLAN gateways 516 and 506 are both coupled to IP network 500, and have established a tunnel 515 between them.\",\n \"During operation, each VXLAN gateway maintains a set of mapping information that maps not only the local MAC addresses to the VXLAN, but also the MAC addresses in the remote data center to the VXLAN.\",\n \"For example, when VM 508 sends out an Ethernet packet destined for VM 518, VXLAN gateway 514 would encapsulate this Ethernet packet with the VXLAN and IP headers, and send this encapsulated packet via tunnel 515 to VXLAN gateway 516.VXLAN gateway 516 in turn would decapsulate the packet and send the inner Ethernet packet to host 504, which can forward it to VM 518.Essentially, VXLAN gateways 516 and 506 provide the functionality of a VXLAN module in a VXLAN-enabled hypervisor.\",\n \"As mentioned above, a VXLAN gateway typically maintains a set of mapping information, which maps a MAC address and (optionally) a VLAN tag to a VXLAN ID.\",\n \"Furthermore, the VXLAN encapsulation requires mapping a MAC DA to a destination IP address (either unicast or multicast, depending on the inner Ethernet).\",\n \"In one embodiment, an OpenFlow controller can facilitate such configuration of each VXLAN gateway in the network, as illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"6.In this example, all the mapping information (which is stored in the form of flow definition) is communicated from an OpenFlow controller 602 to VXLAN gateway 124 via a secure (e.g., SSL) tunnel 604.The configuration information provided by OpenFlow controller 602 can be used by VXLAN gateway 124 to build a forwarding table containing entries for specific flows.\",\n \"Each flow is defined using a 12 tuple value {MAC DA, MAC SA, Ethertype, Source IP, Destination IP, etc.\",\n \".\",\n \".\",\n \". }\",\n \"with the possibility of using wildcards in any field.\",\n \"More details on OpenFlow can be found in https://www.opennetworking.org/images/stories/downloads/specification/openflow-spec-v1.2.pdf, which is incorporated by reference herein.\",\n \"It should be noted that the VXLAN gateway described herein can be implemented as a stand-alone appliance, as part of a switch or router, or as part of a host.\",\n \"Furthermore, the VXLAN gateway can be implemented in hardware or software, or a combination of both.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"7 illustrates an exemplary computer system that facilitates a VXLAN gateway.\",\n \"In this example, a computer system 702 includes a processor 704, memory 706, and a storage device 708.Computer system 702 is also coupled to a display 710, a keyboard 712, and a pointing device 708.Storage device 708 stores data 730 and instructions which when loaded into memory 706 and executed by processor 704 implement an operating system 716 and a VXLAN gateway system 718.Gateway system 718 includes a communication module 720, a VXLAN mapping module 722, a packet encapsulation module 724, an IP tunnel module 726, and an OpenFlow module 728.When executed by the processor, these modules jointly or separately perform the functions described above.\",\n \"The data structures and code described in this detailed description are typically stored on a computer-readable storage medium, which may be any device or medium that can store code and/or data for use by a computer system.\",\n \"The computer-readable storage medium includes, but is not limited to, volatile memory, non-volatile memory, magnetic and optical storage devices such as disk drives, magnetic tape, CDs (compact discs), DVDs (digital versatile discs or digital video discs), or other media capable of storing computer-readable media now known or later developed.\",\n \"The methods and processes described in the detailed description section can be embodied as code and/or data, which can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium as described above.\",\n \"When a computer system reads and executes the code and/or data stored on the computer-readable storage medium, the computer system performs the methods and processes embodied as data structures and code and stored within the computer-readable storage medium.\",\n \"Furthermore, the methods and processes described above can be included in hardware modules.\",\n \"For example, the hardware modules can include, but are not limited to, application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) chips, field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), and other programmable-logic devices now known or later developed.\",\n \"When the hardware modules are activated, the hardware modules perform the methods and processes included within the hardware modules.\",\n \"The foregoing descriptions of embodiments of the present invention have been presented for purposes of illustration and description only.\",\n \"They are not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the present invention to the forms disclosed.\",\n \"Accordingly, many modifications and variations will be apparent to practitioners skilled in the art.\",\n \"Additionally, the above disclosure is not intended to limit the present invention.\",\n \"The scope of the present invention is defined by the appended claims.\"\n ]\n]"},"source":{"kind":"string","value":"Patent_15876077"}}},{"rowIdx":4495071,"cells":{"text":{"kind":"list like","value":[["Depth Controllable and Measurable Medical Driver Devices and Methods of Use","Disclosed are devices and methods for creating a bore in bone.","The devices and methods described involve controlling the drive and measuring the drilling energy of a working tool such that a user can avoid injuries to surrounding structures."],["1.A driving device comprising: a housing having a proximal end and a distal end; a motor contained within the housing; a gearbox connecting the motor to a working tool interchangeably connected via a coupler, wherein the motor turns the gearbox, the coupler and the working tool; a torque sensor configured to measure drilling torque at an output of the gearbox and convert the measured drilling torque into a torque measurement signal, wherein the drilling torque is in a direction opposite rotation of the working tool, wherein the gearbox has a gearbox torque in a direction opposite rotation of the working tool, and wherein the gearbox is held as a reference point such that the gearbox torque is excluded from the torque measurement signal; a programmable electronics package programmed to keep constant rotations per minute (RPM) of the motor preventing working tool rotational acceleration or deceleration, and programmed to integrate over time the torque measurement signal from the torque sensor to obtain a measurement of drilling energy of the working tool; and a tool guide assembly coupled to the housing, wherein upon actuation, axial motion of the tool guide assembly towards the proximal end of the housing to a retracted state allows a length of the working tool to be driven into a target region of work.","2.The device of claim 1, wherein the tool guide assembly comprises: a tool guide configured to surround at least a portion of the working tool; and a surface guide having a proximal region and a distal region, the distal region configured to couple to the tool guide and the proximal region configured to couple to the housing.","3.The device of claim 1, wherein a change in the drilling energy corresponds to a change in material strength and density of work penetrated.","4.The device of claim 3, further comprising an alert, wherein the torque sensor communicates with the programmable electronics package in real-time and the alert provides a user with information regarding status of the driving device during use.","5.The device of claim 4, wherein the alert comprises an auditory, visual or tactile signal.","6.The device of claim 3, wherein the work penetrated comprises medullary canal, cancellous bone, cortical bone, or soft tissue.","7.The device of claim 1, wherein the working tool is selected from the group consisting of a drill bit, a detuned drill bit, wire, Kirschner wire, pin, trochar, burr, screwdriver, reamer, saw, saw blade, router, router bit, stepped drill bit, bone plug removal tool, bone harvesting tool, bone marrow harvesting tool, and bone marrow aspirating tool.","8.The device of claim 1, further comprising one or more axial force sensors configured to sense the axial force applied at one or both of the distal end of the tool guide and the working tool, wherein the programmable electronics package is further programmed to obtain a measurement of work done by the working tool based on the axial force and a linear distance traveled by the tool guide assembly and/or the length of the working tool driven into the target region.","9.The device of claim 8, wherein the programmable electronics package is further programmed to obtain a measurement of drilling energy based on the measurement of work.","10.The device of claim 8, further comprising an axial force alert, wherein the axial force sensor communicates with the programmable electronics package in real-time and the axial force alert provides a user with information regarding status of the driving device during use.","11.The device of claim 10, wherein the axial force alert comprises an auditory, visual or tactile signal.","12.The device of claim 11, wherein the visual signal comprises one or more LEDs positioned within a user line-of-sight, wherein the LEDs indicate degree of axial force being applied by the user to the tool guide in real-time.","13.The device of claim 8, wherein the one or more axial force sensors comprises a tool guide sensor configured to sense and signal the axial force applied by the user to the tool guide.","14.The device of claim 13, wherein the one or more axial force sensors comprises a working tool sensor configured to sense and signal the axial force applied by the user to the working tool, wherein the degree of axial force being applied to the tool guide is provided separately from the degree of axial force being applied to the working tool.","15.The device of claim 14, wherein the degree of axial force being applied to the tool guide and the degree of axial force being applied to the working tool equals the total user force applied to the device.","16.The device of claim 2, wherein the tool guide at least partially surrounding the working tool is configured to assist in the engagement of an implant.","17.The device of claim 16, wherein the tool guide comprises one or more features that mechanically couple with corresponding features of the implant.","18.The device of claim 16, wherein the implant comprises a fracture fixation plate or a joint part.","19.The device of claim 16, wherein the tool guide couples to the implant at an angle away from perpendicular.","20.The device of claim 1, wherein a change in current used to drive the motor is received by the programmable electronics package signaling when to stop the axial motion of the tool guide assembly and preventing penetration of the working tool beyond the target region of the work.","21.The device of claim 1, wherein the torque sensor is coupled to the housing and to the motor such that the torque sensor couples the motor to the housing.","22.The device of claim 2, further comprising a second motor contained within the housing, wherein the proximal region of the surface guide is coupled to the second motor.","23.The device of claim 22, wherein the second motor is configured to cause the axial motion of the tool guide assembly toward the proximal end of the housing.","24.The device of claim 22, wherein the first motor is coupled to a first drive shaft and the second motor is coupled to a second drive shaft.","25.The device of claim 24, wherein the first drive shaft and the second drive shaft are in a co-axial, parallel, or orthogonal arrangement relative to one another.","26.The device of claim 24, wherein the surface guide comprises a forward surface guide and a rear surface guide, wherein a distal region of the forward surface guide couples to the tool guide and a proximal region of the forward surface guide couples to the rear surface guide, and wherein the rear surface guide couples to the second drive shaft.","27.The device of claim 26, wherein the rear surface guide is attached to a drive lug coupled to and powered by the second motor to move the rear surface guide in an axial direction.","28.The device of claim 26, wherein the forward surface guide comprises at least one support that mates with corresponding support of the rear surface guide.","29.The device of claim 26, wherein the forward surface guide engages an outer surface of the coupler.","30.The device of claim 1, wherein the tool guide assembly is configured to be removed away from the working tool.","31.The device of claim 1, wherein contact between the tool guide assembly and the working tool is prevented by maintaining the tool guide assembly coaxial with a longitudinal axis of the working tool."],[" BACKGROUND Orthopedic surgery can require bone drilling for the repair of fractures or insertion of implants or other devices.","The resulting holes can be used to accept screws, implants and other devices to exert pressure, fixation or reduction of the bone or to place prosthetic joints or other implants.","Other medical procedures can require access to bone.","For example, the interosseous canal of bone can be accessed to allow fluid administration.","Bone can also be accessed to allow the harvesting of bone, collection of bone marrow cores, or for the aspiration of bone marrow for diagnostic or therapeutic purposes.","During any procedure where a drill or other driver is used to advance a tool into and through bone, the user must consciously and carefully limit the penetration to the desired depth.","If the user allows the tool to penetrate further, the patient can suffer injury to distal structures such as nerve, brain, spinal cord, artery, vein, muscle, fascia, bone or joint space structures.","These types of injuries can lead to severe patient morbidity and even death.","The devices inserted to a drilled bore often must fit within a narrow length range that can vary sometimes by no more than a millimeter or less.","Once the drilling of a bone is safely complete, it is often prudent to obtain the depth of the bore made by the drilling tool.","Many procedures require knowledge of the depth of tool penetration, such as in the placement of internal fixation devices, screws and other implantable hardware.","Selecting an appropriate length of the screw or other implant necessary for the procedure depends upon such knowledge of the bore's depth.","Conventional techniques used in the art are often inconvenient, time consuming and unreliable often requiring trial and error and multiple exposures to radiographs before the proper implant insertion is achieved.","A common way to obtain the depth of the bore formed by a drilling tool is to use a depth gauge.","Often users must interrupt the drilling procedure in order to palpate or measure with a depth gauge whether or not the desired depth has been achieved.","In many instances a user will take a radiograph during a drilling procedure to confirm the appropriate depth of penetration has been achieved or take a radiograph while the depth gauge is in place to ensure the information the gauge provides is accurate.","Depth gauges used in the art can be inaccurate resulting in a user placing a screw of an inappropriate length not often identified until a confirming radiograph is taken.","Each radiograph taken increases the radiation exposure of the surgeon, staff and patient in the operating suite.","Depth gauges known in the art can also break and require the user to retrieve it from the bore.","Inconvenient and inaccurate depth measurement devices and methods can result in improperly sized screws that must be removed and replaced with new properly sized screws.","Wasted hardware, increased disruptions and delays in orthopedic procedures ultimately increase the expense of a procedure as well as expose the surgeon, staff and the patient to unnecessary radiation.","The cost of the additional time, the wasted hardware and the radiation exposure are quite significant."],[" SUMMARY The techniques known in the art to drill holes in bone are technically demanding and require separate measuring steps that interrupt the actual drilling of the bone adding time, cost and the need for additional confirming radiographs to complete such procedures.","There remains a need for safer, controlled drilling methods and devices.","There is also a need for an instrument that simultaneously controls and measures the depth of penetration of the instrument during procedures such as placement of internal fixation devices, screws, and other implantable hardware.","In one aspect, disclosed is a medical driving device including a housing having a proximal end and a distal end.","The housing includes a hand-held portion near the proximal end of the housing; and an engagement portion near the distal end of the housing; a first drive shaft extending through a region of the housing between the proximal and distal ends; a first drive element coupled to a region of the first drive shaft; a second drive element coupled to the first drive shaft and to a second drive shaft; a coupler coupled to the second drive element, the coupler interchangeably connected to a working tool; and a tool guide assembly.","The tool guide assembly includes a tool guide surrounding the working tool; a forward surface guide having a proximal region and a distal region, the distal region configured to couple to the tool guide; and a rear surface guide configured to couple to the first drive shaft and the proximal region of the forward surface guide.","The device further includes a programmable electronics package configured to sense torque in at least the second drive element.","The first drive shaft and the second drive shaft can be in a co-axial arrangement, parallel arrangement, or an orthogonal co-axial arrangement relative to one another.","The hand-held portion further can include an actuator.","The second drive element coupled to the second drive shaft can drive the coupler and the working tool.","The coupler and the working tool can be rotated by the second drive shaft.","The coupler and the working tool can be oscillated by the second drive shaft.","The tool guide assembly can travel axially towards the proximal end of the housing to a retracted state upon actuation of the first drive shaft.","Axial travel of the tool guide towards the proximal end of the housing can reveal a length of the working tool that extends beyond the tool guide.","The working tool can be a drill bit, a detuned drill bit, wire, Kirschner wire, pin, trochar, burr, screwdriver, reamer, saw, saw blade, router, router bit, stepped drill bit, bone plug removal tool, bone harvesting tool, bone marrow harvesting tool, and bone marrow aspirating tool.","The programmable electronics package can measure current used to drive the second drive element.","The current measured can correspond to a torque of the working tool and the material strength and density of work penetrated.","The device can further include a torque sensor positioned on the housing between the second drive element and the working tool, the torque sensor configured to directly measure torque of the working tool.","The torque sensor can be configured to communicate measurements of torque to the programmable electronics package.","A change in the measurements of torque can correspond to change in material strength and density of work penetrated.","The device can further include an alert such that the torque sensor communicates with the programmable electronics package in real-time and the alert provides a user with information regarding status of the driving device during use.","The alert can be an auditory, visual or tactile signal.","The work penetrated can be medullary canal, cancellous bone, cortical bone, or soft tissue.","The device can further include one or more axial force sensors configured to sense the axial force applied at one or both of the distal end of the tool guide and the working tool.","The device can further include an axial force alert, the axial force sensor communicates with the programmable electronics package in real-time and the axial force alert provides a user with information regarding status of the driving device during use.","The axial force alert can be an auditory, visual or tactile signal.","The visual signal can be one or more LEDs positioned within a user line-of-sight, wherein the LEDs indicate degree of axial pressure being applied by the user in real-time.","The proximal region of the forward surface guide can be telescopically coupled to the rear surface guide.","The device can further include a gearbox connecting the second drive element to the working tool.","The tool guide surrounding the working tool can be configured to assist in the engagement of an implant.","The tool guide can include one or more features that mechanically couple with corresponding features of the implant.","The implant can be a fracture fixation plate or a joint part.","The tool guide can couple to the implant at an angle away from perpendicular.","In another aspect, disclosed is a method of penetrating bone using a driving instrument including contacting a field of bone with a distal engagement end of the instrument; receiving a first input by a first drive element of the instrument, the first drive element coupled to a working tool; driving the working tool at a first speed; receiving a second input by a second drive element of the instrument, the second drive element coupled to a guide surrounding at least a portion of the distal engagement end of the instrument; moving the guide axially in a proximal direction; and revealing a length of the working tool extending beyond the distal engagement end of the instrument.","The length of the working tool extending beyond the distal engagement end of the instrument can correspond to a depth of penetration by the working tool into the field of bone.","The method can further include receiving commands by the instrument to electronically program the depth of penetration by the working tool.","The method can further include instantaneously measuring axial motion of the guide using a transducer coupled to the instrument.","The method can further include adjusting axial movement of the guide to avoid plunge of the working tool.","The method can further include adjusting movement of the working tool to avoid tissue damage.","The method can further include alerting a user of a change in axial force against the field of bone using a signal, wherein the signal comprises an auditory, visual or tactile signal.","The method can further include instantaneously measuring torque of the working tool.","The torque can be measured electronically.","The torque can be measured directly using a torque sensor in contact with at least a portion of the second drive element.","The torque can correspond to a material strength and density of the field of bone.","The method can further include alerting a user of a change in material strength and density of the field of bone using a signal, wherein the signal comprises an auditory, visual or tactile signal.","A change in torque measured can indicate a transition from a first tissue type to a second tissue type.","The first tissue type can include cortical bone and the second tissue type can include medullary canal or cancellous bone.","The first tissue type can include medullary canal or cancellous bone and the second tissue type can include cortical bone.","Other features and advantages will be apparent from the following description of various embodiments, which illustrate, by way of example, the principles of the disclosed devices and methods."],["REFERENCE TO PRIORITY DOCUMENTS This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser.","No.","14/522,087 filed Nov. 24, 2014, which is a continuation application of U.S. application Ser.","No.","13/077,794 filed Mar.","31, 2011, which claims the benefit of priority to U.S.","Provisional Patent Application Ser.","No.","61/319,771, filed on Mar.","31, 2010; and U.S.","Provisional Patent Application Ser.","No.","61/333,685, filed on May 11, 2010; and U.S.","Provisional Patent Application Ser.","No.","61/421,596, filed on Dec. 9, 2010.Priority of the filing dates and the disclosures of the Patent Applications are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety.","BACKGROUND Orthopedic surgery can require bone drilling for the repair of fractures or insertion of implants or other devices.","The resulting holes can be used to accept screws, implants and other devices to exert pressure, fixation or reduction of the bone or to place prosthetic joints or other implants.","Other medical procedures can require access to bone.","For example, the interosseous canal of bone can be accessed to allow fluid administration.","Bone can also be accessed to allow the harvesting of bone, collection of bone marrow cores, or for the aspiration of bone marrow for diagnostic or therapeutic purposes.","During any procedure where a drill or other driver is used to advance a tool into and through bone, the user must consciously and carefully limit the penetration to the desired depth.","If the user allows the tool to penetrate further, the patient can suffer injury to distal structures such as nerve, brain, spinal cord, artery, vein, muscle, fascia, bone or joint space structures.","These types of injuries can lead to severe patient morbidity and even death.","The devices inserted to a drilled bore often must fit within a narrow length range that can vary sometimes by no more than a millimeter or less.","Once the drilling of a bone is safely complete, it is often prudent to obtain the depth of the bore made by the drilling tool.","Many procedures require knowledge of the depth of tool penetration, such as in the placement of internal fixation devices, screws and other implantable hardware.","Selecting an appropriate length of the screw or other implant necessary for the procedure depends upon such knowledge of the bore's depth.","Conventional techniques used in the art are often inconvenient, time consuming and unreliable often requiring trial and error and multiple exposures to radiographs before the proper implant insertion is achieved.","A common way to obtain the depth of the bore formed by a drilling tool is to use a depth gauge.","Often users must interrupt the drilling procedure in order to palpate or measure with a depth gauge whether or not the desired depth has been achieved.","In many instances a user will take a radiograph during a drilling procedure to confirm the appropriate depth of penetration has been achieved or take a radiograph while the depth gauge is in place to ensure the information the gauge provides is accurate.","Depth gauges used in the art can be inaccurate resulting in a user placing a screw of an inappropriate length not often identified until a confirming radiograph is taken.","Each radiograph taken increases the radiation exposure of the surgeon, staff and patient in the operating suite.","Depth gauges known in the art can also break and require the user to retrieve it from the bore.","Inconvenient and inaccurate depth measurement devices and methods can result in improperly sized screws that must be removed and replaced with new properly sized screws.","Wasted hardware, increased disruptions and delays in orthopedic procedures ultimately increase the expense of a procedure as well as expose the surgeon, staff and the patient to unnecessary radiation.","The cost of the additional time, the wasted hardware and the radiation exposure are quite significant.","SUMMARY The techniques known in the art to drill holes in bone are technically demanding and require separate measuring steps that interrupt the actual drilling of the bone adding time, cost and the need for additional confirming radiographs to complete such procedures.","There remains a need for safer, controlled drilling methods and devices.","There is also a need for an instrument that simultaneously controls and measures the depth of penetration of the instrument during procedures such as placement of internal fixation devices, screws, and other implantable hardware.","In one aspect, disclosed is a medical driving device including a housing having a proximal end and a distal end.","The housing includes a hand-held portion near the proximal end of the housing; and an engagement portion near the distal end of the housing; a first drive shaft extending through a region of the housing between the proximal and distal ends; a first drive element coupled to a region of the first drive shaft; a second drive element coupled to the first drive shaft and to a second drive shaft; a coupler coupled to the second drive element, the coupler interchangeably connected to a working tool; and a tool guide assembly.","The tool guide assembly includes a tool guide surrounding the working tool; a forward surface guide having a proximal region and a distal region, the distal region configured to couple to the tool guide; and a rear surface guide configured to couple to the first drive shaft and the proximal region of the forward surface guide.","The device further includes a programmable electronics package configured to sense torque in at least the second drive element.","The first drive shaft and the second drive shaft can be in a co-axial arrangement, parallel arrangement, or an orthogonal co-axial arrangement relative to one another.","The hand-held portion further can include an actuator.","The second drive element coupled to the second drive shaft can drive the coupler and the working tool.","The coupler and the working tool can be rotated by the second drive shaft.","The coupler and the working tool can be oscillated by the second drive shaft.","The tool guide assembly can travel axially towards the proximal end of the housing to a retracted state upon actuation of the first drive shaft.","Axial travel of the tool guide towards the proximal end of the housing can reveal a length of the working tool that extends beyond the tool guide.","The working tool can be a drill bit, a detuned drill bit, wire, Kirschner wire, pin, trochar, burr, screwdriver, reamer, saw, saw blade, router, router bit, stepped drill bit, bone plug removal tool, bone harvesting tool, bone marrow harvesting tool, and bone marrow aspirating tool.","The programmable electronics package can measure current used to drive the second drive element.","The current measured can correspond to a torque of the working tool and the material strength and density of work penetrated.","The device can further include a torque sensor positioned on the housing between the second drive element and the working tool, the torque sensor configured to directly measure torque of the working tool.","The torque sensor can be configured to communicate measurements of torque to the programmable electronics package.","A change in the measurements of torque can correspond to change in material strength and density of work penetrated.","The device can further include an alert such that the torque sensor communicates with the programmable electronics package in real-time and the alert provides a user with information regarding status of the driving device during use.","The alert can be an auditory, visual or tactile signal.","The work penetrated can be medullary canal, cancellous bone, cortical bone, or soft tissue.","The device can further include one or more axial force sensors configured to sense the axial force applied at one or both of the distal end of the tool guide and the working tool.","The device can further include an axial force alert, the axial force sensor communicates with the programmable electronics package in real-time and the axial force alert provides a user with information regarding status of the driving device during use.","The axial force alert can be an auditory, visual or tactile signal.","The visual signal can be one or more LEDs positioned within a user line-of-sight, wherein the LEDs indicate degree of axial pressure being applied by the user in real-time.","The proximal region of the forward surface guide can be telescopically coupled to the rear surface guide.","The device can further include a gearbox connecting the second drive element to the working tool.","The tool guide surrounding the working tool can be configured to assist in the engagement of an implant.","The tool guide can include one or more features that mechanically couple with corresponding features of the implant.","The implant can be a fracture fixation plate or a joint part.","The tool guide can couple to the implant at an angle away from perpendicular.","In another aspect, disclosed is a method of penetrating bone using a driving instrument including contacting a field of bone with a distal engagement end of the instrument; receiving a first input by a first drive element of the instrument, the first drive element coupled to a working tool; driving the working tool at a first speed; receiving a second input by a second drive element of the instrument, the second drive element coupled to a guide surrounding at least a portion of the distal engagement end of the instrument; moving the guide axially in a proximal direction; and revealing a length of the working tool extending beyond the distal engagement end of the instrument.","The length of the working tool extending beyond the distal engagement end of the instrument can correspond to a depth of penetration by the working tool into the field of bone.","The method can further include receiving commands by the instrument to electronically program the depth of penetration by the working tool.","The method can further include instantaneously measuring axial motion of the guide using a transducer coupled to the instrument.","The method can further include adjusting axial movement of the guide to avoid plunge of the working tool.","The method can further include adjusting movement of the working tool to avoid tissue damage.","The method can further include alerting a user of a change in axial force against the field of bone using a signal, wherein the signal comprises an auditory, visual or tactile signal.","The method can further include instantaneously measuring torque of the working tool.","The torque can be measured electronically.","The torque can be measured directly using a torque sensor in contact with at least a portion of the second drive element.","The torque can correspond to a material strength and density of the field of bone.","The method can further include alerting a user of a change in material strength and density of the field of bone using a signal, wherein the signal comprises an auditory, visual or tactile signal.","A change in torque measured can indicate a transition from a first tissue type to a second tissue type.","The first tissue type can include cortical bone and the second tissue type can include medullary canal or cancellous bone.","The first tissue type can include medullary canal or cancellous bone and the second tissue type can include cortical bone.","Other features and advantages will be apparent from the following description of various embodiments, which illustrate, by way of example, the principles of the disclosed devices and methods.","BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG.","1 is a perspective, cut-away view of one embodiment of an instrument.","FIG.","2 is a side, cut-away view of the instrument of FIG.","1.FIG.","3 is a perspective view of another embodiment of an instrument.","FIG.","4 is a perspective view of the instrument of FIG.","3 showing a length of the working tool in an extended position.","FIG.","5 is an exploded view of the instrument of FIG.","3.FIG.","6 is a perspective view of an instrument having a guide interfaced with a fracture fixation plate.","FIG.","7 is a perspective view of the guide of FIG.","6 interfaced with the fracture fixation plate.","FIG.","8 is a perspective view of a guide/fixation plate interface system.","FIG.","9 is a perspective view of a guide coupled to the instrument of FIG.","6 interfaced with the fracture fixation plate.","FIG.","10 is a side view of a drill bit having detuned flutes.","FIGS.","11A and 11B are perspective views of an instrument having a saw blade and saw blade guide coupled thereto.","FIG.","12 is a side view of an instrument having a driving tool coupled thereto.","FIG.","13 is a perspective view of another embodiment of an instrument.","FIG.","14 is a perspective view of a rotary encoder for use with an instrument described herein.","FIG.","15 is a schematic view of a drive mechanism showing torque forces generated by a working tool, gearbox and motor.","FIG.","16 is a schematic view of a direct torque sensor measuring force produced by drilling torque.","DETAILED DESCRIPTION This disclosure relates to a surgical instrument for preparing a bore in animal tissue.","In an embodiment, the disclosure relates to a surgical instrument that drives a tool in which both drive power and relative axial extension of the tool are controlled and measurable.","The instrument can have both a rotational drive and an axial drive, each of which can be controllable by the user.","The instrument allows a user to control and simultaneously measure the travel of the tool into a target tissue.","FIGS.","1-2 illustrate cut-away views of an instrument 10.The instrument 10 can include a body 20 that houses two drive motors 30, 60 and a working tool 110 coupled via a chuck 90 extendable near a distal engagement end 120 of the instrument 10.As will be described in more detail below, the instrument 10 can instantaneously sense, meter and control the work created by the tool 110.Instantaneous sensing, metering and controlling the instrument 10 help to prevent injury to surrounding tissues and structures that could otherwise be caused by the tool 110.For example, sensing, metering and controlling the rotational speed of the drive can reduce the risk of heating surrounding tissue and bone, for example to the point of causing localized burns.","Sensing, metering and controlling the axial motion and/or relative extension of the working tool 110 can prevent penetrating injuries, for example, to structures distal of the target such as nerve, brain, spinal cord, artery, vein, muscle, fascia, bone or joint space structures.","Instantaneous sensing, metering and controlling the bore created as the working tool penetrates the tissue can provide an advantage when selecting implants for insertion.","For example, the length of the drilling hole and subsequently the length of the implant needed can be simultaneously metered upon creating the bore.","This eliminates the need for an additional step of measuring the depth of the bore created with a separate device.","Further, depth gauges can frequently provide false measurements resulting in users selecting the wrong size implant for insertion and requiring them to remove the implant and reinsert a different sized implant.","Conventional depth gauges are also prone to breakage, which can lead to additional time usage and patient morbidity.","Sensing, metering and controlling the depth of the bore in real-time or as it is being created eliminates the trial-and-error process of selecting the correct implant for the procedure, which ultimately can improve patient safety.","The instruments described herein also save operating time and the need for additional procedures like repeated radiographs in determining implant size.","Because estimates of operating room costs for the personnel alone can be as high as $25 per minute even small savings of time in an operating room can result in large savings of money.","The instruments described herein provide an added benefit of reducing the number of radiographs needed in the operating room.","Intra-operative radiographs and radiation exposure are one of the major occupational risks to surgeons and operating room staff.","Radiation exposure of this type has been shown to lead to radiation dermatitis, cataracts, skin cancers, leukemia and other cancers.","The instruments and methods described herein reduce the number of radiographs needed per procedure and the life-time exposure of surgeons and staff to x-rays.","This reduced radiation exposure ultimately lowers chronic radiation exposure and the risk of radiation-related illnesses in surgeons and their staff.","Drive System The configuration of the drive system of the instrument 10 can vary.","In an embodiment shown in FIGS.","1-2, drive motor 30 of the instrument 10 can be a fixed axial drive motor 30 and drive motor 60 can be a slidable, rotational drive motor 60.Drive motor 30 can be coupled to a drive shaft 40, which can in turn be coupled to drive motor 60.The drive shaft 40 can be a jack screw, ball screw, lead screw and the like that can translate the torque or rotary movement of the drive motor 30 into thrust in an axial direction to slidably move the drive motor 60 relative to the instrument 10.The drive shaft 40 can be made to move either in a distal (forward) direction or a proximal (reverse) direction that is substantially parallel to the axis of the instrument 10.The drive motor 60 can connect to the drive shaft 40 by way of a detachable coupler 50.The drive motor 60 can be coupled to and rotate a drive shaft 80 that can connect to the chuck 90 that holds the working tool 110.As such, movement of the drive motor 60 along the longitudinal axis of the instrument 10 can cause similar movement of the working tool 110 and extension of the tool 110, for example beyond the distal engagement end 120 of the instrument 10.In use, the drive shaft 40 driven by drive motor 30 can axially drive the drive motor 60, which can rotate the drive shaft 80, which can rotate the chuck 90 which can rotate the tool 110.The chuck 90 can be stabilized within the body 20, for example by bearings 100.The bearings 100 can be axially slidable and stabilizing.","The second drive motor 60 can be constrained or held rotationally still to provide for the eventual rotational movement of the working tool 110.The drive motor 60 can be fixed against rotational movement by guide rails or anti-rotation conducting flanges 70.In an embodiment, the flanges 70 slide within channels in the body 20.In an embodiment, each channel can have an opposite polarity such that they conduct electricity from a power source to the drive motor 60.In another embodiment, the power can be separate from the conducting flanges 70.The anti-rotation conduction flanges 70 can also be spiral shaped and travel through spiral grooves to add stability.","The anti-rotation conduction flanges can also be excluded from the device and the rotational drive motor fixed to the axial drive shaft 40 causing the drive motor 60 to turn along with the axial drive shaft 40.It should be appreciated that the configuration of the drive shaft 40, 80 relative to the drive motors 30, 60 can vary.","For example, the motors 30, 60 can be in parallel overlapping orientation relative to one another as shown in FIGS.","1 and 2.Alternatively, the drive shaft 40 and motor 30 can be positioned in a co-axial orientation as shown in FIGS.","3, 4 and 5.In another example, the drive shaft 40 and motor 30 can be positioned orthogonal to drive shaft 80 and motor 60.For example, the rotated motor can be positioned within the handle 25 of the instrument 10.The parallel overlapping orientation as well as the orthogonal orientation can provide for a shorter, more compact length of the instrument 10 without limiting the overall extension of the tool 110 that can be achieved.","Alternatively, the drive shaft 40, 80 and motor 30, 60 can be connected via a gearbox (not shown).","It should also be appreciated that use of the term “working tool” herein or “rotation of the working tool” is not intended to be limiting and that working tools other than rotating drill bits are considered as will be described in more detail below.","Although the embodiments shown herein use motors, such as a stepper motor powered by a battery, it should be appreciated that power systems other than rotational drive motors are considered.","For example, a non-electric drive motor, pneumatic motors or actuators powered for example by a nitrogen gas source, electrical motors, hydraulic actuators, and the like or a combination thereof can be incorporated into the instrument.","It should also be appreciated that a motor and gearing can be used in place of the two-motor embodiment.","Instrument Guides Extension of the working tool 110 relative to the longitudinal axis of the instrument 10 can be accomplished as described above via linear movement of the drive motor 60 within the body 20 of the instrument 10.In another embodiment, the drive motor 60 need not move axially relative to the instrument 10.Instead, extension of the working tool 110 relative to the distal engagement end 120 of the instrument 10 can be effected by the movement of one or more surface guides on the instrument 10 as will be described below.","FIGS.","3-5 illustrate an embodiment of an instrument 10 that includes a body 20 that houses an axial drive motor 30, a rotational drive motor 60, a working tool 110 coupled via a chuck 90 extendable near a distal engagement end 120 of the instrument 10.A chuck extension 280 can also be included.","The instrument 10 can further include a rear surface guide 300 and a forward surface 302 guide that, as will be discussed in more detail below, can be withdrawn in a proximal direction to reveal a length of the working tool 110 extending beyond the distal engagement end 120 of the instrument 10.The drive motor 30 can be an axial drive motor and spindle seated near the proximal end (rear) of the body 20 and the second drive motor 60 can be a rotational drive motor and spindle seated near the distal (front) end of the body 20.Body insert 220 can fit inside the top of the body 20 such that the body insert 220 covers the drive motors 30, 60 (see FIG.","5).","The drive motor 30 can attach to drive a drive shaft 40 and the drive shaft 40 can attach to the drive lug 240.The drive lug 240 can attach to the rear surface guide 300 at its proximal end.","The distal end of the rear surface guide 300 can attach to the proximal end of the forward surface guide 302.There can be one or more o-rings 250 between the two surface guides 300, 302.The drive lug 240 and the rear surface guide 300 can sit in the body 20 above the body insert 220.The top of the body 20 also can accept a body cover 214.The rear surface guide 300 can fit between the body 20 and the body cover 214 such that it is free to move within the body 20 and extend beyond the body 20 and the body cover 214.As best shown in FIG.","3, the forward surface guide 302 can engage an outer surface of the chuck 90, for example, via a sleeve and/or one or more stabilizing flanges 305.In another embodiment, the chuck 90 can function without a sleeve or stabilizing flanges and instead the forward surface guide 302 can have a bushing or other device to engage the chuck 90 directly and still allow the chuck 90 to spin freely.","In use, the axial drive motor 30 can power the drive lug 240 in an axial direction, which in turn can drive in an axial direction the rear surface guide 300 coupled to the forward surface guide 302.An increased length of the working tool 110 is revealed in order to engage the work.","The drive motor 60 rotates the chuck 90 and the working tool 110.The surface guides 300, 302 shown in the drawings have two “arms” or supports that extend axially.","But it should be appreciated that the surface guides 300, 302 can have one, two, three or more arms that provide additional support to bear the load.","It should also be appreciated that the surface guides 300, 302 can be a single unit.","In another embodiment, the surface guides 300, 302 can be telescoping surface guides.","This can provide the instrument 10 with a larger range in overall drill length in a more efficient configuration.","The telescoping surface guides can each include an actuator such as a pneumatic, hydraulic, motorized or other actuator that causes the surface guides 300, 302 to telescope and change overall guide length (i.e.","telescope outward to lengthen or telescope inward to shorten).","In another embodiment, the telescoping surface guides 300, 302 can be used to achieve depth control without the use of an axial motor.","The axial electric motor can be replaced by a hydraulic or pneumatic motor, as can the rotational motor.","A distal guide 170 can optionally be coupled to the instrument 10.In one embodiment, the distal guide 170 is coupled to a distal end of the body 20 of the instrument 10 (as shown in FIGS.","1 and 2).","In another embodiment, the distal guide 170 is coupled to the forward surface guide 302 (as shown in FIGS.","3-5).","The distal guide 170 can include a central channel through which the working tool 110 can extend to engage the work.","The distal guide 170 can have a tapered geometry or reduced outer diameter such that its contact surface is relatively small compared to the distal end of the body 20 and the bulk of the instrument 10 is focused into a small area of contact with the work.","The distal guide 170 can also include gripping features at its forward surface such as spikes or other protrusions such that the guide 170 can hold its position on the work.","The distal guide 170 can assist in the engagement of bone, fracture plates or other implants or joint parts.","One or more portions of the distal guide 170 can couple with the implant, for example by directly pressing or screwing the implant onto one or more corresponding features of the distal guide 170.FIGS.","6-9 show an instrument and various embodiments of distal guides 170a, 170b, 170c that can interface with the work using various mechanisms.","Guide 170a can engage an implant 815, such as a fracture fixation plate, by a threaded interface, or by another mechanism, such that the guide 170a screws into, or otherwise couples with the implant 815.Guides 170a and 170b are shown connected to the implant 815 in a generally perpendicular configuration.","Alternatively, distal guide 170c can connect to the implant 815 at an angle away from perpendicular.","The guide 170b can include an interface that provides a unique connection with the implant 815.For example, the distal guide 170b can include a pin-index type connection or a diameter-index type system that provide non-interchangeable connections between the distal guide 170 and the implant 815.As such, a specific implant 815 can interface with a particular distal guide 170 to prevent misconnections.","The specific geometry of the interface between the distal guide 170 and the implant 815 can vary.","FIG.","8 shows a schematic of just one example of an interface system between the implant 815 and the distal guide 170.The distal guide 170 can include one or more geometric features 805 that extend from a forward surface of the distal guide 170.The geometric features 805 can couple with corresponding geometric features 810 provided on the implant 815 such that the two properly and uniquely interconnect.","The corresponding geometric features 805, 810 can dictate the type of implant 815 that can be used with a particular distal guide 170 providing for a unique pairing between the two.","It should be appreciated that although the figure shows the implant 815 as a fracture fixation plate, the implant 815 with which the guide 170 can interface can vary including bone, fracture plates or other implants or joint parts.","The interface between the distal guide 170 and the implant 815 can provide for directional guidance for the working tool 110.The implant 815 can connect to the distal guide 170, the distal guide 170 can connect to the instrument 10 resulting in one interconnected complex for drilling a bore.","In one embodiment, the implant 815 couples to the distal guide 170 which can be attached to the instrument 10 via the forward surface guide 302.The implant 815 can also couple a distal guide 170 that is separate from the instrument 10.In another embodiment shown in FIG.","9, the instrument can include two guides.","In this embodiment, a first distal guide 170 is attached to the instrument 10 and a second distal guide 170a is connected to the implant 815.The first distal guide 170 can then couple to the second distal guide 170a.","Working Tools As mentioned above, the working tool 110 can be connected to the instrument 10 using a rotatably-driven coupler or chuck 90 with or without a chuck extension 280.The chuck 90 can be a conventional coupler such as a three-jaw chuck in which the jaws grasp the proximal portion of the tool 110 and hold it firmly in place.","The chuck 90 can be actuated to open or close the jaws by a rotation mechanism or a key or other techniques known in the art.","The chuck 90 can also be a quick-release type of coupler.","The chuck 90 can be extended beyond the distal engagement end 120 such that the chuck 90 can be accessed external of the body 20.This accessibility of the chuck 90 relative to the instrument 10 allows for a user to make reliable connections between the working tool 110 and the chuck 90.The exterior access can also allow for shorter, safer driven tools than if the chuck 90 was internal to the instrument body 20.Additionally, the exterior access can provide for ease of cleaning this portion of the instrument 10.The working tool 110 as described herein can include, but is not limited to, tools such as a drill bit, Kirschner (or other) wire, pin, trochar, burr, screwdriver, reamer, saw, saw blade, router, router bit, stepped drill bit, bone plug removal tools, bone harvesting tools, bone marrow harvesting tools, bone marrow aspirating tools or any other tools that can be reversibly attached to a chuck 90 or other type of coupling device.","It should be appreciated that where a working tool is described herein as a drill bit or wire or pin or other type of tool that such description is not intended to be limiting.","It should be appreciated that a wide variety of tools can be used as the working tool with the instruments described herein.","For example, the working tool can be a saw blade connected to a coupler that oscillates or reciprocates the saw blade as described with respect to FIGS.","11A-11B below or a wire driver as described with respect to FIG.","12 below.","The working tool 110 can be made of metal materials such as titanium metal or stainless steel that can be sterilized and reused.","Alternatively, the working tool 110 can be made of polymeric material that can be discarded after each use.","The material can be chosen to provide the necessary strength to allow the proper tool action.","FIG.","10 shows an embodiment of a drill bit 905 having a flute 910 that is detuned or dulled.","It should be appreciated that the entire length of the flute 910 need not have the same edge geometry.","For example, the detuned flute 910 can have an edge 915 that is sharper starting at a proximal region of the bit 905 towards the tool attachment region.","It should also be appreciated that the bit 905 can have more than one flute 910 as is known in the art.","The detuned flute 910 allows for greater sensitivity in measurement of torque and measurement of current.","The bit 905 can also have fast spirals 920 with short rotational diameter and a short tip 925 such that it transfers less energy to the work to avoid over-heating the work and surrounding tissues.","The drill bit 905 design also can provide a feel to the user such that information regarding the subtle material strength and density changes of the work can be appreciated during use.","Other Tool Embodiments It should be appreciated that other medical devices can incorporate the metering and controlling features of the instruments as described herein.","FIGS.","11A and 11B show an embodiment of an instrument 1005 having a working tool that is an oscillating bone saw blade 1010 coupled to chuck 1090 and surrounded by a saw blade guide 1007 that is coupled to a forward surface guide 1002 coupled to a rear surface guide 1000.The oscillating saw blade 1010 can have opposed proximal and distal ends and can be formed so that teeth 1015 extend forward from the distal end of the planar body of the blade 1010.The arrangement and geometry of the teeth 1015 can vary.","The body of the blade 1010 can be formed of material such as stainless steel or other appropriate cutting material.","The teeth 1015 can extend forward from the blade distal end through an elongate slot 1008 in the saw blade guide 1007 coupled to the instrument as best shown in FIG.","11B.","The proximal end of the blade 1010 can include features (not shown) that facilitate the coupling of the blade 1010 to a chuck 1090.The chuck 1090 can connect to a drive mechanism that oscillates or reciprocates the saw blade 1010 to effect cutting.","For example, the distal end of the blade 1010 can pivot back and forth relative to the proximal end of the blade 1010.As the saw blade 1010 saws through material, another drive mechanism can drive the rear surface guide 1000, the forward surface guide 1002 and the saw blade guide 1007 in an axial direction such that the body of the blade 1010 extends further through the slot 1008 of the saw blade guide 1007.The slot 1008 and the guides 1000, 1002, 1007 are configured such that they do not interfere with the oscillating and/or reciprocating motion of the blade 1010.The length of the blade 1010 can vary to accommodate various depth penetrations.","FIG.","12 shows an embodiment of an instrument 1105 having a working tool used to implant a Kirschner wire (k-wire) or other wire or pin.","In an embodiment, the instrument 1105 can incorporate a wire driver 1110 used to implant a k-wire 1115 (or other wire or pin, hereinafter called “wire” for simplicity).","The wire driver 1110 can be a modular attachment that can be used with the various instruments described herein.","For example, the wire driver 1110 can be inserted into other instruments 10 described herein and used in place of the chuck 90, which can be removable.","Alternatively, the wire driver instrument 1105 can be completely separate embodiments in which the wire driver 1110 is not modular or removable and instead is coupled permanently to the instrument 1105.It should be appreciated that the various instruments described herein can be modular such that mechanical features such as the chuck 90 or the axial drive motor 30 can be swapped out in place for one another.","The wire driver 1110 can hold the wire 1115 as well as rotate or oscillate the wire 1115.The wire driver 1110 can be released to slide axially to a new position causing more (or less) wire 1115 to be exposed for allowing a further penetration of the bone.","In an embodiment, the body 1120 of the driver 1105 including the internal workings are cannulated such that the wire 1115 can be fed through the driver 1105 body 1120.The wire 1115 can extend through the cannulation in the body 1120 of the driver 1105 from the front of the driver 1105 out through the back end 1125 of the driver 1105.As mentioned, the wire driver 1110 can hold the wire 1115 in place much like a drill chuck.","When the wire driver 1110 is activated, the rotational motor (not shown) can oscillate or rotate the wire 1115 in a clockwise or counter-clockwise direction.","As with previous embodiments, the rotational motor can be biased in either rotational direction.","When the driver 1105 is activated the axial drive (not shown) can pull the surface guide(s) 1130 back (proximally) and the wire 1115 can advance into the work site such as bone.","A trigger 1135 can be incorporated into the driver 1105 that holds the wire 1115 when grasped by a user.","If pressure on the trigger 1135 is released, the trigger 1135 releases the wire 1115 such that the driver 1105 can slide forward or backward to expose less or more wire 1115, respectively.","When a user desires more wire 1115, the trigger 1135 can be released and the driver 1105 pushes the surface guide 1130 forward.","The length the surface guide 1130 moves forward equals the length of wire 1115 that is now available for advancement into the bone.","This length can be added to the computed total axial distance as needed to obtain an accurate account of the length of wire 1115 that was driven into the bone.","The wire 1115 can be held in place by either the guide 1130 (such as by pinching) or the bone into which the wire 1115 was driven can itself be used to hold the wire 1115 in place.","If the wire 1115 is held in place by the bone, the user can urge the guide 1130 against the bone as the surface guide 1130 pushes the driver 1105 back to let out more wire 1115.If the user desires to remove the wire 1115 from the bone, the reverse axial drive (not shown) can be engaged such that the surface guide 1130 move forward and the driver 1105 moves backward away from patient while the trigger 1135 is engaged.","It should also be appreciated that, although not shown, this instrument embodiment can incorporate a distal guide 170 coupled to a forward end of the surface guide 1130 as described in previous embodiments.","Tool Actuation Actuation of the drive motors and other features of the instruments described herein can vary.","Actuators can include triggers, buttons and switches that can be retracted, pressed, squeezed, slid or otherwise actuated to perform a certain function of the instrument 10.The actuators can be incorporated into a handle of the instrument 10 in such a way that is ergonomically comfortable for a user.","For example, the instrument can include a pistol grip having trigger-type actuators such that the instrument 10 can be easily and comfortably held and actuated during use.","It should be appreciated, however, that the instrument 10 can have other configurations such as a straight-bodied instruments that do not include a pistol grip.","Each drive motor can have a separate actuator for activation.","For example, the drive motor 30 can be turned on by actuator 32 and the drive motor 60 can be turned on by actuator 62 (see FIG.","1).","The actuators 32, 62 can be depressible triggers positioned on a handle 25 of the body 20, such as within a trigger housing 212.The actuators 32, 62 can adjust the speed of the drive motors 30, 60 in a manner that is proportional to the degree of depression of the actuators 32, 62, for example relative to the instrument handle 25.The direction the drive shaft 40 moves can be changed from a forward to a reverse direction, for example, by the position of a switch or other selectable mechanism.","Similarly, the drive motor 60 can be made to move in a forward or reverse direction as determined by the position of a selectable switch.","Further, the motor can be biased in either rotational direction.","In another embodiment shown in FIGS.","3-5, the instrument 10 can include a forward trigger 232 and a reverse trigger 234 that can each actuate both drive motors 30, 60.The forward trigger 232 can be a two-stage forward trigger 232 such that it can engage the rotational drive motor 60 in the first stage (i.e.","effecting working tool 110 rotation) and the axial drive motor 30 in the second stage (i.e.","effecting working tool 110 extension).","The speed of the rotational drive motor 60 can be proportional to the degree of actuation of the first stage of the forward trigger 232, for example depression of the trigger 232.The speed of the axial drive motor 30 can be proportional to the degree of actuation of the second stage of the forward trigger 232.In an embodiment, the trigger 232 in the first stage can engage the rotational drive motor 60.The tool 110 spins and with further depression of the trigger 232 can reach full speed.","Just before the trigger 232 enters the second stage, the axial drive motor 30 can engage.","The axial drive motor 30 can cause withdrawal of the surface guides 300, 302 in a proximal direction P (see FIG.","4) to reveal a length of the working tool 110 allowing it to engage with and bore into the work as the user applies pressure to the instrument 10 and keeps it engaged with the work.","It should be appreciated that the axial drive motor 30 can also cause the movement of the working tool 110 in a distal direction to reveal the length as described with respect to other embodiments herein.","It should be appreciated that an axial force sensor can be incorporated that assists a user in keeping the instrument engaged with the work, as will be discussed in more detail below.","The reverse trigger 234 can cause both of the drive motors 30, 60 to reverse their direction.","When the reverse trigger 234 is engaged while the two-stage trigger 232 is actuated during the first stage, the rotational drive motor 60 as well as the chuck 90 and the working tool 110, can spin in a reverse direction.","When the second stage of the forward trigger 232 is actuated, and the reverse trigger 234 is still engaged, the rotational drive motor 60 as well as the chuck 90 and the working tool 110, can spin at maximal speed in a reverse direction and the axial drive motor 30 can begin to spin proportional to the degree of actuation of the second stage of the forward trigger 232.The action of the axial drive motor 30 can cause the drive lug 240, the rear surface guide 300, the forward surface guide 302 and the guide 170 to move in the distal direction (i.e.","towards the work in direction of Arrow D, see FIG.","3).","The axial movement of the guides 300, 302 can push the instrument 10 away from the work and draw the working tool 110 out of the work.","In another embodiment, the motors 30, 60 can have independent reverse functions and can be controlled independently via independent actuators or triggers.","The instrument 10 can also include an oscillation select switch 262 (see FIGS.","3-5).","The oscillating function can also be actuated by certain trigger combinations or an oscillation trigger.","When the oscillation select switch 262 is in the “off” position, the instrument 10 can function as described above.","When the oscillation select switch 262 is in the “on” position, the rotational drive motor 60 can oscillate in the appropriate direction when the triggers 232, 234 are actuated and the axial drive motor 30 function is not affected.","If the forward trigger 232 is actuated, the instrument 10 can oscillate in the forward direction, i.e.","the rotational drive motor 60 can oscillate forward but the axial drive motor 30 can cause the drive lug 240, the rear surface guide 300 the forward surface guide 302 and the guide 170 to move in a proximal direction as before.","If the reverse and forward triggers 232, 234 are actuated, the instrument 10 can oscillate in the reverse direction, i.e.","the rotational drive motor 60 oscillates in reverse but the axial drive motor 30 can cause the drive lug 240, the rear surface guide 300, the forward surface guide 302 and the guide 170 to move in the distal direction as before.","The oscillation select switch 262 can affect the function of the rotational motor 60 not the axial drive motor 30.When selected it can cause the rotational motor 60 to oscillate.","Irrigation System The instruments described herein can include an irrigation system.","The irrigation system allows for the surgical field to be kept cool while the instrument 10 is in use and reduce the risk of tissue damage such as bone burning and bone death.","The irrigation system can also reduce the risk of hardware failure, the need for re-operation, infection, limb loss and death.","The irrigation system can include one or more irrigation nozzles 130 located at or near the engagement end 120 of the body 20.In one embodiment, the irrigation nozzles 130 spray fluid from the distal tip of the body 20.In another embodiment, the irrigation nozzles 130 can be routed internally through the working tool 110.The irrigation fluid can be sprayed through a channel running through the working tool 110 and exiting at a port near the distal end of the tool 110.In a further embodiment, the forward surface guide 302 can have one or more irrigation nozzles 130 (see FIGS.","3-5).","The irrigation nozzles 130 can also be coupled to the distal guide 170.The irrigation nozzles 130 can deliver irrigation fluid (i.e.","a liquid or a gas) through irrigation tubing 340 (see FIGS.","3-5) from a sterile fluid bag or other irrigation fluid source.","In an embodiment, carbon dioxide gas can be used to irrigate the work to remove heat.","The irrigation tubing 340 can be coupled to the instrument 10 via an irrigation port near a proximal end of the body 20.The irrigation tubing 340 can be angled downward to avoid crimping and for more efficient manipulation of the instrument 10 by the user.","An external fluid pump or gravity can be used to pressurize the irrigation system.","The irrigation system can be kept outside the sterile surgical field except, for example, the irrigation tubing 340 connected to the instrument 10.Such an arrangement can contribute to the engagement end 120 and the working tool 110 remaining relatively free from bulk or other awkward equipment enabling more accurate placement and easy use of the instrument 10 in the surgical field.","The irrigation system of the instrument 10 can also include a suction mechanism at or near the surgical field.","Suction can be applied through the irrigation nozzles 130 or can be applied through additional channels.","The irrigation system can be controlled manually by the user such as with an irrigation actuator positioned, for example, on a handle 25 of the instrument 10 or by a foot pedal or other mechanism.","The irrigation actuator can be a depressible trigger or button that can turn on or off the flow of irrigation fluid from the irrigation tube 340.The same actuator or another actuator can turn on or off the suction applied to the surgical field.","The irrigation system can also be controlled automatically for example by one or more sensors near the work site communicating with an electronics package of the instrument to be described in more detail below.","Automated irrigation is generally a desired option for users as it can effectively reduce drill bit temperature, bone temperature and the risk of bone burning.","Modularity and Internal Access The body 20 of the instruments 10 described herein can include one or more removable covers that can be used to access one or more of the various internal components.","Further, one or more of the internal components can be modular and can be completely separated from the body 20 of the instrument 10.This allows for interchanging parts as well as cleaning and sterilizing the components of the instrument 10.In one embodiment, the instrument 10 can have a cover 122 near the engagement end 120 that can be removed to access, clean or remove the coupler 90, bearings 100 and drive shaft 80 and any other internal components of the instrument 10.The drive motor 60 can extend to a region near the distal end of the body 20 and allow for the actuation and release of the coupler 50.For example, the release can be a depressible button 52 (see FIG.","5) on a surface of the drive motor 60 that can allow a user to disconnect the drive motor 60 from the drive shaft 40 when the release is depressed to allow a user to remove the drive motor 60 from the body 20.In another embodiment shown in FIG.","13, a body cover 1515 can enclose the rear surface guide (not shown) and at least a proximal portion of the forward surface guide 302.The forward surface guide 302 can be covered by the body cover 1515 up to the point where the chuck 90 is exposed at the distal engagement end 120 of the instrument 10 and can exit the body cover 1515 through openings 1520.These openings can include bushings seated around the perimeter of the opening 1520 that are sealed from the remainder of the instrument body.","The one or more body covers 1515 can be removed independently of one or more of the guides.","Alternatively, the one or more body covers 1515 can be integrated with one or more of the guides such that they can be removed along with the covers 1515 in order to access the interior of the instrument 10.Proximally, the body 20 can include a removable end piece 150 that can be removed to gain access to the proximal region of the body 20 in order to clean or remove the modular portions of the instrument 10 near the proximal end, such as the drive shaft 40 and the drive motor 30.The removable end piece 150 can be incorporated with a removable electronics package as will be discussed in more detail below.","One or more of the body covers can be translucent or transparent such that the components inside are visible from the outside without removal of the covers.","It should also be appreciated that the components can be disposable and need not be removed or cleaned.","Electronics and Sensors An electronics package 236 can be positioned within the body 20 of the instrument 10 and can have a variety of configurations.","In an embodiment, the electronics package 236 can be positioned within the body 20 as well as within the handle 25.In an embodiment, the electronics package 236 can be positioned within a space of the body 20, for example near or at the proximal end behind drive motor 30 (see for example, FIG.","5 or 6).","The electronics package 236 can include a display.","The electronics package 236 and display can be removable along with one or more of the body covers.","Information regarding the use of the instrument 10 can be relayed in real-time to the display such that the information is provided to a user instantaneously during use of the instrument 10, for example bore depth or other information as will be described in more detail below.","The display can include an LED or other display using, for example, electrical filaments, plasma, gas or the like.","The instrument 10 can also include a display that is not coupled or integrated within the instrument itself, for example, a heads-up display that communicates with the instrument 10 (i.e.","either wired or wirelessly).","The heads-up display can include a graphical user interface (GUI) that can display data and provide interactive functions such as a touch screen for input of data and information such as the drill bit size.","The heads-up display can be mounted as is known in the art such as with a boom or other mechanism that provides user convenience.","For example, the heads-up display can be mounted on a boom that can be easily positioned and moved around during a surgical procedure.","The heads-up display can be autoclavable such that the display can be positioned within the surgical field where a user is using the instrument 10.Alternatively, the heads-up display can be inserted into a sterile cover such that the display can be positioned within the surgical field where a user is using the instrument 10.The electronics package 236 (see FIGS.","5-6) can communicate with various sensors positioned within the instrument 10 that assess the status of the components of the instrument and communicate this information in real-time to the electronics package 236 and the user via a display.","The instrument 10 can provide the user with alerts and information regarding the status of the instrument and instrument components during use such that manual and/or automatic adjustments can be made.","The electronics package 236 can also include motor control electronics and software programs that can be programmed to automatically adjust the instrument 10 in real-time to maintain use of the instrument 10 within set thresholds.","For example, the instrument can include software capable of being programmed to continuously measure and/or control a variety of functions including, but not limited to, bone depth, material strength, bone density, skive, drill bit development, speed of rotation, acceleration, deceleration, irrigation, voltage, torque, thrust, feed rate, current, voltage, axial movement, axial force and other functions of the instrument or a combination thereof.","The instrument can include mechanical measurement systems, such as a mechanical torque measurement system as will be described in more detail below.","As such, the instruments described herein can detect and control penetration of the working tool through various tissue layers.","The instruments can control, for example, axial feed rate, motor RPM, and engagement of the work to allow a user to avoid certain unsafe instrument situations.","For example, the instruments described herein can detect joint penetration in real-time allowing a user to avoid “pop through” or plunging situations, for example, in which the instrument suddenly penetrates the cortical bone and inadvertently damages soft tissue or joint structures.","Joint penetration can occur perpendicularly as well as tangentially (also known as skiving).","The instruments described herein can provide an overall system stability that allows for the accurate tracking and detection and control of instrument status during use.","It should be appreciated that the control of the instruments described herein can also be adjusted manually by the user.","For example, the user can change the thrust of the drive motor 30 by letting up or pressing down on the actuator 32.The user can also change the thrust of the instrument 10 by pushing down or letting up on the axial pressure being applied to the instrument 10.In an embodiment, tissue resistance as compared to axial pressure on the instrument 10 applied by the user can cause/allow the relative position of the handle of the instrument 10 to feel as if it were backing out of the work as the tool 110 is axially extended from the instrument 10.This can require the user to apply additional axial pressure to drive the tool 110 through the tissue.","The torque as related to the rotating tool 110 can also change during use of the instrument 10.This change provides feedback to the user who in turn can make appropriate adjustments to the axial and rotational movements as needed.","The instruments 10 described herein can instantaneously measure the axial motion and the depth the working tool 110 travels into the work by a transducer or encoder, such as an incremental rotary encoder, an absolute rotary encoder, mechanical, magnetic, electrical, or optical rotary encoder, or the like (see for example BEI Optical encoder; www.motion-control-info.com/encoder_design_guide.html).","The depth the working tool 110 travels into the work can also be measured by a synchro, a resolver, a rotary variable differential transformer (RVDT) or a rotary potentiometer, or the like.","As shown in FIG.","14, the rotary encoder 39 can include a bearing housing assembly 201, a light source 202, a code disc 203, a mask 204, a photodetector assembly 205, an electronics board 206 that rotate around shaft 208.In an embodiment, the rotary encoder is an incremental rotary encoder with dual channels in quadrature with an additional data track to provide an internal position reference for setting a “zero point”.","The rotary encoder can be an absolute rotary encoder.","The encoder can measure rotation and convert that information into axial motion.","The encoder can interface with the drive motor 30 and the drive shaft 40 and can provide instantaneous information on the position of the drive shaft 40 regarding the depth of axial movement of the working tool into a bore.","This information can be fed to the electronics package 236 that can perform count multiplication to determine the tool position.","For example, the rotation of the drive shaft 40 can be measure and a calculation performed to determine the distance traveled.","This distance traveled can be compared to a set point or zero point such that the position of the working tool 110 from the distal end of the instrument can be calculated.","This calculation relates to depth as determined by the position of the distal end of the instrument with respect to the target tissue (e.g.","bone).","In an embodiment, the instrument can include a meter that measures the rotational speed (see for example the speed device described in U.S. Pat.","No.","4,723,911), time, velocity, acceleration, deceleration or torque.","The meter can provide the user information pertaining to the passage of the working tool 110 through different layers of tissue.","For example, movement of the working tool 110 through cortical bone into medullary canal or cancellous bone, medullary canal or cancellous bone to cortical bone, or from cortical bone to soft tissue.","In an embodiment, metrics can be obtained via an axial force sensor and/or a torque sensor to measure drive or motor torque directly.","In an embodiment, the rotational drive motor 60, or a gearbox connected to the rotational motor 60, can be positioned such that it can press against a force sensor to provide direct measurements of torque that can be displayed to a user and provide information pertaining to the passage of the tool through varied layers of tissue.","In another embodiment the rotational drive motor 60 can have a torque sensor (not shown).","In an embodiment the rotation drive motor 60 can be a brushless DC (BLDC) electric motor having one or more Hall sensors.","When the tool passes from cortical bone into medullary canal or cancellous bone or from cortical bone into soft tissue the measured torque can drop dramatically.","The information can be relayed to the display 236 and integrated with the function of the motor drivers and their actuators.","For example, in an embodiment, when the tool 110 is moving axially in a forward direction and passes from cortical bone to medullary canal or cancellous bone or from cortical bone to soft tissue the reduced torque will interrupt the axial motion.","The axial drive can then be reengaged by releasing pressure on the forward two-stage trigger and reapplying pressure.","The instruments 10 described herein can also control the depth of penetration of the working tool 110.In an embodiment, the maximum depth of the bore that is to be created by the instrument 10 can be programmed with electronics in advance of drilling.","The measurement can be zeroed by the user prior to use, for example, by depressing an axial measurement selector/reset button.","This allows the user to zero the measurement according to the length of the selected tool 110.In one embodiment, the distal end of the working tool 110 can be aligned with the distal end of the body 20 and the instrument zeroed.","This can be performed manually by the user or electronically with set points and a feedback system (i.e.","interface with the coupler).","The alignment of the distal end of the tool 110 and the distal end of the body 20 can be such that the two are flush with one another or the distal end of the tool 110 can be some distance beyond the distal end of the body 20, for example between about 3 mm and 7 mm.","The tool 110 can be positioned flush against the bone prior to drilling.","As the tool 110 advances into the bone, the instrument 10 can be held flush against the bone.","The instrument 10 can also include a distal guide 170 and be zeroed once the tool 110 aligns with the distal end of the guide 170 (and a fixation plate attached to the guide 170, if present).","Once the cut is started and the tool 110 can be flush with the bone, the user can use the axial drive to further advance the tool 110 through the bone.","The electronics package 236 can be zeroed as described above to include the additional axial length of the guide 170.In another embodiment, the user can feed in a distal direction a portion of the working tool 110, for example 30 mm if working on a tibia or femur or 12 mm if working on a radius.","The user can then manually drill through the bone as with an axially static drill.","Upon reaching that pre-programmed depth, if the distal cortex had not yet been breached, the axial drive can be used to penetrate the bone further.","In another embodiment, the electronics can contain a preset maximum distance that can limit the distal travel of the tool 110.For example, a stop and go signal (i.e.","single click of the trigger) or a double stop and go (i.e.","double click of the trigger) can release the depth stop and allow further travel.","Any of a variety of schedules can be programmed into the electronics to control distal advancement of the tool.","For example, each time the tool 110 is advanced beyond the initial stop, the electronics can be programmed to allow only a further distal travel of for example 3 mm or 6 mm or other incremental distance before stopping again and alerting the user similar to a snooze alarm system of a clock radio.","Identifying the desired depth of penetration for pre-programmed embodiments can be determined, for example, by knowing the typical size of the target tissue based upon the age and size of a patient or the actual size of the target tissue from pre-op radiographs, CT scans or MRI scans.","A user can also manually estimate to approximately 70-80% depth travel through the proximal cortex, the medullar bone and close to or into the distal cortex prior to the automatic pre-programmed settings taking effect.","For example, the user can manually estimate until a region of the bone is entered where a greater amount of control is desirable such as the distal cortex.","At that stage, the axial drive of the instrument can be used to slowly proceed through that portion of the bone to the target location.","A user can also proceed until a pop is felt or a change in speed can be heard in the drill.","This can be augmented by acceleration or torque measurements provided to the user.","For example, as the drill bit penetrates to the very last layers of the distal cortex it can begin to accelerate with a burst of acceleration as it breeches the distal cortex completely, this can also be sensed as a change in torque.","In another embodiment, the RPM of the rotational drill motor is kept constant, preventing tool acceleration or deceleration.","This allows the torque to be correlated to material strength.","The instrument can provide its own auditory output to accentuate the sometimes subtle auditory changes caused by the drill bit.","Upon reaching the predetermined target depth, axial movement of the device can automatically slow or stop while rotational movement can continue.","It should be appreciated, however, that the user can manually override any pre-programmed limitations or automated controls by actuation/triggers on the device without changing hand positions to continue.","As described above, the instruments described herein can include one or more sensors that communicate information to the user using a variety of alert mechanisms and/or graphical displays.","In an embodiment, the instrument includes an axial force sensor and an axial force alert.","As described herein, the axial force sensor can be used to sense the axial force applied at the distal end of the drill guide and/or applied by the working tool.","The axial force sensor can communicate with the axial force alert and provide information to the user to ensure that the distal end of the drill guide and/or tool stay engaged with the work and maintains an appropriate level of pressure.","Applying too much pressure or force on the work can increase the risk for damage to the work or surrounding tissues.","Applying too little pressure or force can cause the tool to back off the work and prevent tool advancement at the desired rate.","The axial force sensor can communicate with the axial force alert in real-time to provide the user with information regarding the status of the drill guide and whether the applied axial force is at the desirable pressure for an optimum result.","The axial force alert can include an alarm or other auditory signal, a light or other visual signal, a vibration or other tactile signal, or a combination thereof.","In an embodiment, the visual output can be an LED light or graphical interface positioned in the line of sight with the work, for example near or at the proximal end or back of the device.","The output of the axial force alert can be proportional to the axial force being applied.","For example, the axial force alert can include a light that can change color or a plurality of lights that sequentially illuminate depending on the axial force applied.","Alternatively, the axial force alert can include an auditory alert that changes pitch or frequency depending on the axial force applied.","In use, the user can inadvertently lighten manually applied forward (or axial) pressure on the instrument 10 that can result in a slowing of progress into the work and consequently the drill guide from backing away from the work.","A user can maintain forward pressure on the instrument 10 such that the working tool 110 drives into the bone distally as the guides retract in a proximal direction.","If a user does not maintain forward pressure the instrument 10 can be pushed in a proximal direction resulting in the working tool 110 not moving into the work.","It can be desirable, however, to use as little forward pressure on the instrument as necessary to avoid injury to the bone.","In some embodiments, the instrument 10 can include an axial force sensor that can measure the axial force a user applies to the work.","The axial force sensor can interact with the electronics and provide an output to the user (e.g.","visual or auditory or other output) to indicate when an amount of pressure is being applied by the user.","The instrument can be programmed to provide the output to the user when an appropriate amount of pressure is being applied or when the pressure being applied falls outside a programmed range.","In one example, LED lights can be positioned near a proximal end of the instrument within a user's line-of-sight such that the axial force applied can be visualized.","For example, a flashing white LED can mean too little axial pressure is being applied, a green LED can mean the axial pressure is in a desired range and a flashing red LED can mean the axial pressure is too high.","The instruments described herein can also include a torque sensor that detects the torque applied by the rotational motor and a torque alert.","As described previously in reference to the axial force alert, the torque alert can also include an alarm or other auditory signal, a light or other visual signal, a vibration or other tactile signal, or a combination thereof.","For example, the sensed torque similar to the sensed axial force can be displayed visually such as on a graphical interface in the line of sight with the work.","The torque alert can also be proportional relative to the torque being applied.","Further, the output for the axial force alert can be distinguishable from the output for the torque alert.","For example, a first auditory signal can be provided by the axial force alert proportional to the axial force and a second auditory signal can be provided by the torque alert proportional to the torque applied.","The auditory signals from the two alerts can be distinguishable by the user as being separate.","For example, the axial force alert can be a different pitched auditory signal compared to the torque alert.","In another embodiment, the axial force alert can signal the user only when conditions at the work change, whereas the torque alert can be a continuous signal, such as a sound with a variable pitch that is proportional to the torque or energy being sensed.","It should be appreciated that any number of sensors and a variety of alerts or graphical information can be used singly or in combination as is known in the art.","The systems described herein can also provide information to the user regarding optimal screw placement even in the case of a shared or convergent drill hole for the placement of interference screws, such as screws that are purposefully touching.","Clinically, a user can feel when an interference screw is contacted by a drilling or driving device.","However, once the interference screw is engaged the distal cortex can no longer be clinically felt by the user and a myriad of potential problems exist with regard to injury of distal structures.","Both the interference screw and the distal cortex can be detected by tracking changes in the metrics, for example current or measured torque.","The data can be used to inform the user in real-time when the instrument is in contact with one or more of the bone cortices or the screw.","Similarly, the instruments described herein can provide instant, intra-operative feedback on drill bit performance such as drill flute clogging and the assessment of drill bit sharpness using a calibration block.","Material strength and bone density can be determined by comparing intraoperative metrics such as current, measured torque or axial force with existing empirical data obtained while drilling with known drill bit sizes, drill bit types, axial feed rates and motor RPMs.","The instruments described herein therefore can be useful in diagnosing bone pathologies such as osteoporosis and the detection of holes or fractures in the bone being drilled.","Further, material strength and bone density data can assist a user in choosing an appropriate fixation technique, e.g.","non-locking (cortical or cancellous) versus locking (unicortical or bicortical).","Conventionally, to select the appropriate fixation technique a user must make an educated guess or using bone density data obtained prior to the fracture to estimate local material strength at the fracture fixation site.","For example, dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) scans are commonly used to measure bone density and monitor osteopenia or osteoporosis treatments.","But a DEXA scan cannot be performed acutely for a fracture patient and the standardized regional measurements may not be relevant at the fracture site.","The instruments described herein provide an advantage in that determination of bone strength and bone density can be performed in acute situations and in real-time at the fracture site.","Drilling torque (or energy) of the working tool is related to the properties of the bone, such as its material strength and its bone density.","One or more of the sensors described herein can be used to estimate the material strength and bone density such that the instrument can detect transitions between different types of bone, as well as entry and exit from bone in real-time.","As shown in FIG.","15, a motor 60 can rotate and produce a motor torque Tm that is in the direction of rotation of a working tool 110 coupled to the motor 60.Drilling torque Td is opposite the direction of rotation of the working tool 110.A gearbox 75 can be incorporated in the instrument to convert the high-speed, low-torque operation of the motor 60 to a higher torque working tool 110 speed.","The gearbox 75 can exhibit an additional torque component Tg due to internal energy losses, such as mechanical losses in the form of drag that counteracts torque and can result in a loss of energy between the motor 60 and the working tool 110.Gearbox torque Tg is also opposite the direction of rotation of the working tool 110.The motor 60 can be held as the reference point and the motor torque Tm measured electronically.","In this embodiment, the instrument measures the current required to operate the motor 60, for example a brushless DC motor with a Hall Sensor that operates a drive train, and the motor 60 acts as both the actuator and the sensor.","Motor torque measurements in this embodiment include both drilling torque Td and gearbox Tg losses.","The gearbox inefficiencies can affect the accuracy of the torque measurements.","The error in estimating the drilling torque component can be more pronounced for larger gear ratios in that more gears have more surface contact and thus, more drag.","In another embodiment, the instrument can directly measure torque (see FIG.","16).","The gearbox 75 is held as a reference point for the torque measurement and only the drilling torque Td is measured.","Measurements of the drilling torque Td can be taken at the output of the gearbox 75 such that internal gearbox losses are not included in the torque measurement although the motor 60 may still drive against the internal drag.","A discrete sensor can be incorporated in the instrument to convert the drilling torque Td into a measurement signal.","A mechanical beam or level can be incorporated to support the gearbox 75 and convert the torque Td into a linear force.","The linear force can be converted into an electrical signal using a strain gauge load cell or scale or other torque sensor 77 to measure the resulting linear force.","The direct torque measurement does not measure the energy lost internally to the gearbox 75 or the other motor components.","The motor 60 can exert torque between its shaft and housing, which can be rigid mounted to the gearbox 75.In this embodiment, the torque required to overcome the internal losses of the gearbox 75 can be transferred through the housing of the motor 60 and gearbox 75 and the mechanical path does not include a torque sensor.","The torque sensor 77 can, instead be positioned between the gearbox housing 75 and the working tool 110 by attaching the torque sensor 77 to the drill housing.","The user can hold the body 20 of the instrument 10, which is rigidly attached to the gearbox housing 75.Although motor self-torque measurement can be more convenient since no additional sensor is needed, the accuracy can be lower than for a direct torque measurement in which a torque sensor is used.","Direct torque measurements from a manufacturing standpoint can also allow one to design the gearbox independently from the torque measurement sensitivity.","The instrument 10 can be a corded or cordless powered instrument.","In an embodiment, the instrument 10 includes and is powered by a removable battery 360 (see FIG.","5).","The battery 360 can be enclosed within a battery cover 362 capped on the bottom by a battery case cover 364.The body 20 can accept battery release buttons 366.The battery 360 can have different chemical compositions or characteristics.","For instance, batteries can include lead-acid, nickel cadmium, nickel metal hydride, silver-oxide, mercury oxide, lithium ion, lithium ion polymer, or other lithium chemistries.","The instruments can also include rechargeable batteries using either a DC power-port, induction, solar cells or the like for recharging.","Power systems known in the art for powering medical devices for use in the operating room are to be considered herein.","Methods of Use Below is an example of a method of using an instrument described herein.","It should be appreciated that a variety of driving devices or working tools can be coupled to the instruments described herein.","Description related to guides on a drilling device having a drill bit coupled thereto is not intended to be limited to only drills and drilling bores.","Rather, the instruments and guides can be used to saw or drive into tissues as described herein.","It should be appreciated that any of the instruments described herein can be coupled to robotic arms or robotic systems or other computer-assisted surgical systems in which the user uses a computer console to manipulate the controls of the instrument.","The computer can translate the user's movements and actuation of the controls to be then carried out on the patient by the robotic arm.","Robotics can provide real-time pre- and inter-operative tactile and/or auditory feedback along with visualization, such as three-dimensional modeling.","The robotic system can have an articulated endowrist at the end of two or more “working” arms configured to be inserted through a small portal.","A stable, camera arm with two lenses (allowing stereoscopic images) can be also inserted through another small portal.","The end-effectors can manipulate instruments and can have various degrees of freedom.","The user can control the robot through a console placed in the operating room, allowing control of both the external and internal surgical environments.","The user's interface can have instrument controllers that can filter tremor and decrease the scale of motion.","Foot pedals can expand the user's repertoire, allowing tissue coagulation and irrigation.","Visual feedback can be through a stereoscopic display.","Robotic systems to which the devices disclosed herein can be coupled include the Haptic Guidance System or RIO® Systems (MAKO Surgical Corp, Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.) and the da Vinci® Surgical Systems (Intuitive Surgical, Sunnyvale, Calif.).","Other surgical robots can be considered as well including the Robot-Assisted Micro-Surgery (RAMS) system (MicroDexterity Systems, Inc.), NeuroArm® (University of Calgary), Zeus® Surgical robots, SpineAssist (Mazor Surgical Technologies, Israel), ROBODOC and ORTHODOC (Curexo Technology Corp., Fremont, Calif.), ACROBOT (Acrobot, Elstree, UK), PathFinder (Prosurgics Ltd., Loudwater, High Wycombe, UK), and Laprotek system (Hansen Medical, Inc.).","Other robotic arms can be used with the instruments described herein such that the instrument can be independently controlled by the robot as opposed to direct manipulation by the user.","In one embodiment of the method, the user can dissect tissue down to the bone and create a field large enough to put against the bone the working tool 110 or distal guide 170 or an implant attached to the distal guide 170.Screws can be placed across fractures without any other implants or a plate can be fixed across the fracture by bone screws.","The screws can lock into the plate and bone.","When a plate is to be used, the user can create a field large enough to place the plate.","Alternatively, the plate can be inserted through a small incision such that the user can slide it along the surface of the bone in combination of blunt dissection of the tissue along the way (i.e.","subcutaneous plate).","The screws can be placed, for example using a radiograph to find the holes in the plate, through small incisions through the skin with dissection down to the bone.","The surrounding tissue can be protected using retractors, a guide through which the working tool is inserted, attachable guides placed on the instrument and the like.","If a distal guide 170 is used, the length of the guide 170 can be accounted for in the depth measurement.","If a guide 170 attached to an implant is used, the depth can be automatically or manually zeroed.","For example, if a plate is used the thickness of the plate can be automatically or manually accounted for in the zeroing.","The working end of the instrument 10, with or without a distal guide 170, can be placed next to the exposed and dissected bone and the instrument zeroed.","Alternatively, the user can extend a few millimeters of the working tool 110 to engage the bone and drill a counter-sink or pilot hole prior to zeroing the instrument 10.Where a fixation plate is used, the plate can be placed next to the bone and the drill end placed snug to the plate.","Alternatively, some plates have guides that interface such that the instrument is directed at a selected angle.","The instruments disclosed herein can be made such that they attach to or freely engage these types of distal guides 170.The user can apply pressure axially and engage first the rotational drive motor 60 to the desired speed.","The user can proceed to engage the axial drive motor 30 either continuously or incrementally, depending upon the material strength and bone density and preference of the user.","The drilling can continue through the cortical bone, through the medullary canal or cancellous bone, into and through the distal cortical bone.","Once through the distal cortical bone as determined by pre-set depth control mechanism, axial resistance, auditory feedback from the rotational speed of the drill bit and/or auditory feedback from acceleration or torque sensors, the axial movement can be stopped.","The user can remove the working tool 110 by reversing the axial drive motor 30 or by pulling back on the instrument 10.The rotational drive motor 60 can be left engaged and in the forward direction to facilitate clearing the hole created.","The user can read the depth on the display 236 and select the proper screw for implantation.","The screw can be implanted using a screw driver or the like.","In another method, the user can perform a unicortical procedure wherein the working tool is stopped prior to some other endpoint such as before or after a growth plate or before or after the distal cortex.","In use, an instrument 10, such as the instrument shown in FIG.","4, can be set against exposed bone or, if used, the fracture fixation plate or other type of implant such as a joint prosthetic.","The appropriate zero-depth position can be determined automatically.","Once the user activates the trigger 232, the guide 170 as well as the guides 300, 302 retracts in the proximal direction (arrow P) and the working tool 110 can extend through the guide 170.The working tool 110 can engage the work and bore into the work as the user applies pressure to the instrument 10 and keeps it engaged with the work.","The working tool 110 can drill into the bone by the amount the guide 170 retracts.","The guide 170 retraction can be measured instantaneously and shown on a display, for example a display positioned at the back of the instrument 10.The automatic determination of the zero-position whether set against bone or against a fracture fixation plate can depend upon algorithms related to the way the guide 170 sets against the bone or the plate and the thickness of the plate.","These variables can be unique to each plating system and set of guides.","The depth of the travel of working tool 110 into the work, and/or the instantaneous torque or torque curve, can be measured and shown on the display 236 simultaneously and instantaneously as the working tool 110 moves axially in a distal direction and penetrates the work.","Once the desired depth of penetration is reached, the reverse trigger 234 can be actuated to cause both of the drive motors 30, 60 to reverse their direction.","The action of the axial drive motor 30 can cause the drive lug 240, the rear surface guide 300, the forward surface guide 302 and the guide 170 to move in an axial direction away from the body 20 of the instrument 10 in a distal direction such that the axial movement pushes the instrument body 20 away from the work and draws the tool 110 out of the work.","Alternatively, the operator can pull the tool 110 from the work with the instrument either on (in any direction) or off.","Aspects of the subject matter described herein may be realized in digital electronic circuitry, integrated circuitry, specially designed ASICs (application specific integrated circuits), computer hardware, firmware, software, and/or combinations thereof.","These various implementations may include implementation in one or more computer programs that are executable and/or interpretable on a programmable system including at least one programmable processor, which may be special or general purpose, coupled to receive data and instructions from, and to transmit data and instructions to, a storage system, at least one input device, and at least one output device.","For example, a software program can be incorporated into the device that takes advantage of the reproducible relationship between current, torque, material strength and density in a system where the RPM of the rotational motor is held constant.","Current is proportional to torque and torque is proportional to bone strength and density.","As such the software can correlate the current the motor uses during drilling or sawing to the material strength and bone density.","Such a software program can be used to measure material strength and bone density in real-time by reading the current being used by the motor.","The software program can also be used to control RPM, feed rate, current and/or voltage.","These computer programs (also known as programs, software, software applications or code) include machine instructions for a programmable processor, and may be implemented in a high-level procedural and/or object-oriented programming language, and/or in assembly/machine language.","As used herein, the term “machine-readable medium” refers to any computer program product, apparatus and/or device (e.g., magnetic discs, optical disks, memory, Programmable Logic Devices (PLDs)) used to provide machine instructions and/or data to a programmable processor, including a machine-readable medium that receives machine instructions as a machine-readable signal.","The term “machine-readable signal” refers to any signal used to provide machine instructions and/or data to a programmable processor.","While this specification contains many specifics, these should not be construed as limitations on the scope of the claims or of what can be claimed, but rather as descriptions of features specific to particular embodiments.","Certain features that are described in this specification in the context of separate embodiments can also be implemented in combination in a single embodiment.","Conversely, various features that are described in the context of a single embodiment can also be implemented in multiple embodiments separately or in any suitable sub-combination.","For example, a current sensing mechanism can be incorporated into a drill or saw device and used independently of a depth-control mechanism.","Similarly, a depth-control mechanism can be incorporated into a device that does not include other sensing mechanisms.","Moreover, although features can be described above as acting in certain combinations and even initially claimed as such, one or more features from a claimed combination can in some cases be excised from the combination, and the claimed combination can be directed to a sub-combination or a variation of a sub-combination.","Similarly, while operations are depicted in the drawings in a particular order, this should not be understood as requiring that such operations be performed in the particular order shown or in sequential order, or that all illustrated operations be performed, to achieve desirable results.","Although embodiments of various methods and devices are described herein in detail with reference to certain versions, it should be appreciated that other versions, embodiments, methods of use, and combinations thereof are also possible.","Therefore the spirit and scope of the appended claims should not be limited to the description of the embodiments contained herein."]],"string":"[\n [\n \"Depth Controllable and Measurable Medical Driver Devices and Methods of Use\",\n \"Disclosed are devices and methods for creating a bore in bone.\",\n \"The devices and methods described involve controlling the drive and measuring the drilling energy of a working tool such that a user can avoid injuries to surrounding structures.\"\n ],\n [\n \"1.A driving device comprising: a housing having a proximal end and a distal end; a motor contained within the housing; a gearbox connecting the motor to a working tool interchangeably connected via a coupler, wherein the motor turns the gearbox, the coupler and the working tool; a torque sensor configured to measure drilling torque at an output of the gearbox and convert the measured drilling torque into a torque measurement signal, wherein the drilling torque is in a direction opposite rotation of the working tool, wherein the gearbox has a gearbox torque in a direction opposite rotation of the working tool, and wherein the gearbox is held as a reference point such that the gearbox torque is excluded from the torque measurement signal; a programmable electronics package programmed to keep constant rotations per minute (RPM) of the motor preventing working tool rotational acceleration or deceleration, and programmed to integrate over time the torque measurement signal from the torque sensor to obtain a measurement of drilling energy of the working tool; and a tool guide assembly coupled to the housing, wherein upon actuation, axial motion of the tool guide assembly towards the proximal end of the housing to a retracted state allows a length of the working tool to be driven into a target region of work.\",\n \"2.The device of claim 1, wherein the tool guide assembly comprises: a tool guide configured to surround at least a portion of the working tool; and a surface guide having a proximal region and a distal region, the distal region configured to couple to the tool guide and the proximal region configured to couple to the housing.\",\n \"3.The device of claim 1, wherein a change in the drilling energy corresponds to a change in material strength and density of work penetrated.\",\n \"4.The device of claim 3, further comprising an alert, wherein the torque sensor communicates with the programmable electronics package in real-time and the alert provides a user with information regarding status of the driving device during use.\",\n \"5.The device of claim 4, wherein the alert comprises an auditory, visual or tactile signal.\",\n \"6.The device of claim 3, wherein the work penetrated comprises medullary canal, cancellous bone, cortical bone, or soft tissue.\",\n \"7.The device of claim 1, wherein the working tool is selected from the group consisting of a drill bit, a detuned drill bit, wire, Kirschner wire, pin, trochar, burr, screwdriver, reamer, saw, saw blade, router, router bit, stepped drill bit, bone plug removal tool, bone harvesting tool, bone marrow harvesting tool, and bone marrow aspirating tool.\",\n \"8.The device of claim 1, further comprising one or more axial force sensors configured to sense the axial force applied at one or both of the distal end of the tool guide and the working tool, wherein the programmable electronics package is further programmed to obtain a measurement of work done by the working tool based on the axial force and a linear distance traveled by the tool guide assembly and/or the length of the working tool driven into the target region.\",\n \"9.The device of claim 8, wherein the programmable electronics package is further programmed to obtain a measurement of drilling energy based on the measurement of work.\",\n \"10.The device of claim 8, further comprising an axial force alert, wherein the axial force sensor communicates with the programmable electronics package in real-time and the axial force alert provides a user with information regarding status of the driving device during use.\",\n \"11.The device of claim 10, wherein the axial force alert comprises an auditory, visual or tactile signal.\",\n \"12.The device of claim 11, wherein the visual signal comprises one or more LEDs positioned within a user line-of-sight, wherein the LEDs indicate degree of axial force being applied by the user to the tool guide in real-time.\",\n \"13.The device of claim 8, wherein the one or more axial force sensors comprises a tool guide sensor configured to sense and signal the axial force applied by the user to the tool guide.\",\n \"14.The device of claim 13, wherein the one or more axial force sensors comprises a working tool sensor configured to sense and signal the axial force applied by the user to the working tool, wherein the degree of axial force being applied to the tool guide is provided separately from the degree of axial force being applied to the working tool.\",\n \"15.The device of claim 14, wherein the degree of axial force being applied to the tool guide and the degree of axial force being applied to the working tool equals the total user force applied to the device.\",\n \"16.The device of claim 2, wherein the tool guide at least partially surrounding the working tool is configured to assist in the engagement of an implant.\",\n \"17.The device of claim 16, wherein the tool guide comprises one or more features that mechanically couple with corresponding features of the implant.\",\n \"18.The device of claim 16, wherein the implant comprises a fracture fixation plate or a joint part.\",\n \"19.The device of claim 16, wherein the tool guide couples to the implant at an angle away from perpendicular.\",\n \"20.The device of claim 1, wherein a change in current used to drive the motor is received by the programmable electronics package signaling when to stop the axial motion of the tool guide assembly and preventing penetration of the working tool beyond the target region of the work.\",\n \"21.The device of claim 1, wherein the torque sensor is coupled to the housing and to the motor such that the torque sensor couples the motor to the housing.\",\n \"22.The device of claim 2, further comprising a second motor contained within the housing, wherein the proximal region of the surface guide is coupled to the second motor.\",\n \"23.The device of claim 22, wherein the second motor is configured to cause the axial motion of the tool guide assembly toward the proximal end of the housing.\",\n \"24.The device of claim 22, wherein the first motor is coupled to a first drive shaft and the second motor is coupled to a second drive shaft.\",\n \"25.The device of claim 24, wherein the first drive shaft and the second drive shaft are in a co-axial, parallel, or orthogonal arrangement relative to one another.\",\n \"26.The device of claim 24, wherein the surface guide comprises a forward surface guide and a rear surface guide, wherein a distal region of the forward surface guide couples to the tool guide and a proximal region of the forward surface guide couples to the rear surface guide, and wherein the rear surface guide couples to the second drive shaft.\",\n \"27.The device of claim 26, wherein the rear surface guide is attached to a drive lug coupled to and powered by the second motor to move the rear surface guide in an axial direction.\",\n \"28.The device of claim 26, wherein the forward surface guide comprises at least one support that mates with corresponding support of the rear surface guide.\",\n \"29.The device of claim 26, wherein the forward surface guide engages an outer surface of the coupler.\",\n \"30.The device of claim 1, wherein the tool guide assembly is configured to be removed away from the working tool.\",\n \"31.The device of claim 1, wherein contact between the tool guide assembly and the working tool is prevented by maintaining the tool guide assembly coaxial with a longitudinal axis of the working tool.\"\n ],\n [\n \" BACKGROUND Orthopedic surgery can require bone drilling for the repair of fractures or insertion of implants or other devices.\",\n \"The resulting holes can be used to accept screws, implants and other devices to exert pressure, fixation or reduction of the bone or to place prosthetic joints or other implants.\",\n \"Other medical procedures can require access to bone.\",\n \"For example, the interosseous canal of bone can be accessed to allow fluid administration.\",\n \"Bone can also be accessed to allow the harvesting of bone, collection of bone marrow cores, or for the aspiration of bone marrow for diagnostic or therapeutic purposes.\",\n \"During any procedure where a drill or other driver is used to advance a tool into and through bone, the user must consciously and carefully limit the penetration to the desired depth.\",\n \"If the user allows the tool to penetrate further, the patient can suffer injury to distal structures such as nerve, brain, spinal cord, artery, vein, muscle, fascia, bone or joint space structures.\",\n \"These types of injuries can lead to severe patient morbidity and even death.\",\n \"The devices inserted to a drilled bore often must fit within a narrow length range that can vary sometimes by no more than a millimeter or less.\",\n \"Once the drilling of a bone is safely complete, it is often prudent to obtain the depth of the bore made by the drilling tool.\",\n \"Many procedures require knowledge of the depth of tool penetration, such as in the placement of internal fixation devices, screws and other implantable hardware.\",\n \"Selecting an appropriate length of the screw or other implant necessary for the procedure depends upon such knowledge of the bore's depth.\",\n \"Conventional techniques used in the art are often inconvenient, time consuming and unreliable often requiring trial and error and multiple exposures to radiographs before the proper implant insertion is achieved.\",\n \"A common way to obtain the depth of the bore formed by a drilling tool is to use a depth gauge.\",\n \"Often users must interrupt the drilling procedure in order to palpate or measure with a depth gauge whether or not the desired depth has been achieved.\",\n \"In many instances a user will take a radiograph during a drilling procedure to confirm the appropriate depth of penetration has been achieved or take a radiograph while the depth gauge is in place to ensure the information the gauge provides is accurate.\",\n \"Depth gauges used in the art can be inaccurate resulting in a user placing a screw of an inappropriate length not often identified until a confirming radiograph is taken.\",\n \"Each radiograph taken increases the radiation exposure of the surgeon, staff and patient in the operating suite.\",\n \"Depth gauges known in the art can also break and require the user to retrieve it from the bore.\",\n \"Inconvenient and inaccurate depth measurement devices and methods can result in improperly sized screws that must be removed and replaced with new properly sized screws.\",\n \"Wasted hardware, increased disruptions and delays in orthopedic procedures ultimately increase the expense of a procedure as well as expose the surgeon, staff and the patient to unnecessary radiation.\",\n \"The cost of the additional time, the wasted hardware and the radiation exposure are quite significant.\"\n ],\n [\n \" SUMMARY The techniques known in the art to drill holes in bone are technically demanding and require separate measuring steps that interrupt the actual drilling of the bone adding time, cost and the need for additional confirming radiographs to complete such procedures.\",\n \"There remains a need for safer, controlled drilling methods and devices.\",\n \"There is also a need for an instrument that simultaneously controls and measures the depth of penetration of the instrument during procedures such as placement of internal fixation devices, screws, and other implantable hardware.\",\n \"In one aspect, disclosed is a medical driving device including a housing having a proximal end and a distal end.\",\n \"The housing includes a hand-held portion near the proximal end of the housing; and an engagement portion near the distal end of the housing; a first drive shaft extending through a region of the housing between the proximal and distal ends; a first drive element coupled to a region of the first drive shaft; a second drive element coupled to the first drive shaft and to a second drive shaft; a coupler coupled to the second drive element, the coupler interchangeably connected to a working tool; and a tool guide assembly.\",\n \"The tool guide assembly includes a tool guide surrounding the working tool; a forward surface guide having a proximal region and a distal region, the distal region configured to couple to the tool guide; and a rear surface guide configured to couple to the first drive shaft and the proximal region of the forward surface guide.\",\n \"The device further includes a programmable electronics package configured to sense torque in at least the second drive element.\",\n \"The first drive shaft and the second drive shaft can be in a co-axial arrangement, parallel arrangement, or an orthogonal co-axial arrangement relative to one another.\",\n \"The hand-held portion further can include an actuator.\",\n \"The second drive element coupled to the second drive shaft can drive the coupler and the working tool.\",\n \"The coupler and the working tool can be rotated by the second drive shaft.\",\n \"The coupler and the working tool can be oscillated by the second drive shaft.\",\n \"The tool guide assembly can travel axially towards the proximal end of the housing to a retracted state upon actuation of the first drive shaft.\",\n \"Axial travel of the tool guide towards the proximal end of the housing can reveal a length of the working tool that extends beyond the tool guide.\",\n \"The working tool can be a drill bit, a detuned drill bit, wire, Kirschner wire, pin, trochar, burr, screwdriver, reamer, saw, saw blade, router, router bit, stepped drill bit, bone plug removal tool, bone harvesting tool, bone marrow harvesting tool, and bone marrow aspirating tool.\",\n \"The programmable electronics package can measure current used to drive the second drive element.\",\n \"The current measured can correspond to a torque of the working tool and the material strength and density of work penetrated.\",\n \"The device can further include a torque sensor positioned on the housing between the second drive element and the working tool, the torque sensor configured to directly measure torque of the working tool.\",\n \"The torque sensor can be configured to communicate measurements of torque to the programmable electronics package.\",\n \"A change in the measurements of torque can correspond to change in material strength and density of work penetrated.\",\n \"The device can further include an alert such that the torque sensor communicates with the programmable electronics package in real-time and the alert provides a user with information regarding status of the driving device during use.\",\n \"The alert can be an auditory, visual or tactile signal.\",\n \"The work penetrated can be medullary canal, cancellous bone, cortical bone, or soft tissue.\",\n \"The device can further include one or more axial force sensors configured to sense the axial force applied at one or both of the distal end of the tool guide and the working tool.\",\n \"The device can further include an axial force alert, the axial force sensor communicates with the programmable electronics package in real-time and the axial force alert provides a user with information regarding status of the driving device during use.\",\n \"The axial force alert can be an auditory, visual or tactile signal.\",\n \"The visual signal can be one or more LEDs positioned within a user line-of-sight, wherein the LEDs indicate degree of axial pressure being applied by the user in real-time.\",\n \"The proximal region of the forward surface guide can be telescopically coupled to the rear surface guide.\",\n \"The device can further include a gearbox connecting the second drive element to the working tool.\",\n \"The tool guide surrounding the working tool can be configured to assist in the engagement of an implant.\",\n \"The tool guide can include one or more features that mechanically couple with corresponding features of the implant.\",\n \"The implant can be a fracture fixation plate or a joint part.\",\n \"The tool guide can couple to the implant at an angle away from perpendicular.\",\n \"In another aspect, disclosed is a method of penetrating bone using a driving instrument including contacting a field of bone with a distal engagement end of the instrument; receiving a first input by a first drive element of the instrument, the first drive element coupled to a working tool; driving the working tool at a first speed; receiving a second input by a second drive element of the instrument, the second drive element coupled to a guide surrounding at least a portion of the distal engagement end of the instrument; moving the guide axially in a proximal direction; and revealing a length of the working tool extending beyond the distal engagement end of the instrument.\",\n \"The length of the working tool extending beyond the distal engagement end of the instrument can correspond to a depth of penetration by the working tool into the field of bone.\",\n \"The method can further include receiving commands by the instrument to electronically program the depth of penetration by the working tool.\",\n \"The method can further include instantaneously measuring axial motion of the guide using a transducer coupled to the instrument.\",\n \"The method can further include adjusting axial movement of the guide to avoid plunge of the working tool.\",\n \"The method can further include adjusting movement of the working tool to avoid tissue damage.\",\n \"The method can further include alerting a user of a change in axial force against the field of bone using a signal, wherein the signal comprises an auditory, visual or tactile signal.\",\n \"The method can further include instantaneously measuring torque of the working tool.\",\n \"The torque can be measured electronically.\",\n \"The torque can be measured directly using a torque sensor in contact with at least a portion of the second drive element.\",\n \"The torque can correspond to a material strength and density of the field of bone.\",\n \"The method can further include alerting a user of a change in material strength and density of the field of bone using a signal, wherein the signal comprises an auditory, visual or tactile signal.\",\n \"A change in torque measured can indicate a transition from a first tissue type to a second tissue type.\",\n \"The first tissue type can include cortical bone and the second tissue type can include medullary canal or cancellous bone.\",\n \"The first tissue type can include medullary canal or cancellous bone and the second tissue type can include cortical bone.\",\n \"Other features and advantages will be apparent from the following description of various embodiments, which illustrate, by way of example, the principles of the disclosed devices and methods.\"\n ],\n [\n \"REFERENCE TO PRIORITY DOCUMENTS This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"14/522,087 filed Nov. 24, 2014, which is a continuation application of U.S. application Ser.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"13/077,794 filed Mar.\",\n \"31, 2011, which claims the benefit of priority to U.S.\",\n \"Provisional Patent Application Ser.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"61/319,771, filed on Mar.\",\n \"31, 2010; and U.S.\",\n \"Provisional Patent Application Ser.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"61/333,685, filed on May 11, 2010; and U.S.\",\n \"Provisional Patent Application Ser.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"61/421,596, filed on Dec. 9, 2010.Priority of the filing dates and the disclosures of the Patent Applications are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety.\",\n \"BACKGROUND Orthopedic surgery can require bone drilling for the repair of fractures or insertion of implants or other devices.\",\n \"The resulting holes can be used to accept screws, implants and other devices to exert pressure, fixation or reduction of the bone or to place prosthetic joints or other implants.\",\n \"Other medical procedures can require access to bone.\",\n \"For example, the interosseous canal of bone can be accessed to allow fluid administration.\",\n \"Bone can also be accessed to allow the harvesting of bone, collection of bone marrow cores, or for the aspiration of bone marrow for diagnostic or therapeutic purposes.\",\n \"During any procedure where a drill or other driver is used to advance a tool into and through bone, the user must consciously and carefully limit the penetration to the desired depth.\",\n \"If the user allows the tool to penetrate further, the patient can suffer injury to distal structures such as nerve, brain, spinal cord, artery, vein, muscle, fascia, bone or joint space structures.\",\n \"These types of injuries can lead to severe patient morbidity and even death.\",\n \"The devices inserted to a drilled bore often must fit within a narrow length range that can vary sometimes by no more than a millimeter or less.\",\n \"Once the drilling of a bone is safely complete, it is often prudent to obtain the depth of the bore made by the drilling tool.\",\n \"Many procedures require knowledge of the depth of tool penetration, such as in the placement of internal fixation devices, screws and other implantable hardware.\",\n \"Selecting an appropriate length of the screw or other implant necessary for the procedure depends upon such knowledge of the bore's depth.\",\n \"Conventional techniques used in the art are often inconvenient, time consuming and unreliable often requiring trial and error and multiple exposures to radiographs before the proper implant insertion is achieved.\",\n \"A common way to obtain the depth of the bore formed by a drilling tool is to use a depth gauge.\",\n \"Often users must interrupt the drilling procedure in order to palpate or measure with a depth gauge whether or not the desired depth has been achieved.\",\n \"In many instances a user will take a radiograph during a drilling procedure to confirm the appropriate depth of penetration has been achieved or take a radiograph while the depth gauge is in place to ensure the information the gauge provides is accurate.\",\n \"Depth gauges used in the art can be inaccurate resulting in a user placing a screw of an inappropriate length not often identified until a confirming radiograph is taken.\",\n \"Each radiograph taken increases the radiation exposure of the surgeon, staff and patient in the operating suite.\",\n \"Depth gauges known in the art can also break and require the user to retrieve it from the bore.\",\n \"Inconvenient and inaccurate depth measurement devices and methods can result in improperly sized screws that must be removed and replaced with new properly sized screws.\",\n \"Wasted hardware, increased disruptions and delays in orthopedic procedures ultimately increase the expense of a procedure as well as expose the surgeon, staff and the patient to unnecessary radiation.\",\n \"The cost of the additional time, the wasted hardware and the radiation exposure are quite significant.\",\n \"SUMMARY The techniques known in the art to drill holes in bone are technically demanding and require separate measuring steps that interrupt the actual drilling of the bone adding time, cost and the need for additional confirming radiographs to complete such procedures.\",\n \"There remains a need for safer, controlled drilling methods and devices.\",\n \"There is also a need for an instrument that simultaneously controls and measures the depth of penetration of the instrument during procedures such as placement of internal fixation devices, screws, and other implantable hardware.\",\n \"In one aspect, disclosed is a medical driving device including a housing having a proximal end and a distal end.\",\n \"The housing includes a hand-held portion near the proximal end of the housing; and an engagement portion near the distal end of the housing; a first drive shaft extending through a region of the housing between the proximal and distal ends; a first drive element coupled to a region of the first drive shaft; a second drive element coupled to the first drive shaft and to a second drive shaft; a coupler coupled to the second drive element, the coupler interchangeably connected to a working tool; and a tool guide assembly.\",\n \"The tool guide assembly includes a tool guide surrounding the working tool; a forward surface guide having a proximal region and a distal region, the distal region configured to couple to the tool guide; and a rear surface guide configured to couple to the first drive shaft and the proximal region of the forward surface guide.\",\n \"The device further includes a programmable electronics package configured to sense torque in at least the second drive element.\",\n \"The first drive shaft and the second drive shaft can be in a co-axial arrangement, parallel arrangement, or an orthogonal co-axial arrangement relative to one another.\",\n \"The hand-held portion further can include an actuator.\",\n \"The second drive element coupled to the second drive shaft can drive the coupler and the working tool.\",\n \"The coupler and the working tool can be rotated by the second drive shaft.\",\n \"The coupler and the working tool can be oscillated by the second drive shaft.\",\n \"The tool guide assembly can travel axially towards the proximal end of the housing to a retracted state upon actuation of the first drive shaft.\",\n \"Axial travel of the tool guide towards the proximal end of the housing can reveal a length of the working tool that extends beyond the tool guide.\",\n \"The working tool can be a drill bit, a detuned drill bit, wire, Kirschner wire, pin, trochar, burr, screwdriver, reamer, saw, saw blade, router, router bit, stepped drill bit, bone plug removal tool, bone harvesting tool, bone marrow harvesting tool, and bone marrow aspirating tool.\",\n \"The programmable electronics package can measure current used to drive the second drive element.\",\n \"The current measured can correspond to a torque of the working tool and the material strength and density of work penetrated.\",\n \"The device can further include a torque sensor positioned on the housing between the second drive element and the working tool, the torque sensor configured to directly measure torque of the working tool.\",\n \"The torque sensor can be configured to communicate measurements of torque to the programmable electronics package.\",\n \"A change in the measurements of torque can correspond to change in material strength and density of work penetrated.\",\n \"The device can further include an alert such that the torque sensor communicates with the programmable electronics package in real-time and the alert provides a user with information regarding status of the driving device during use.\",\n \"The alert can be an auditory, visual or tactile signal.\",\n \"The work penetrated can be medullary canal, cancellous bone, cortical bone, or soft tissue.\",\n \"The device can further include one or more axial force sensors configured to sense the axial force applied at one or both of the distal end of the tool guide and the working tool.\",\n \"The device can further include an axial force alert, the axial force sensor communicates with the programmable electronics package in real-time and the axial force alert provides a user with information regarding status of the driving device during use.\",\n \"The axial force alert can be an auditory, visual or tactile signal.\",\n \"The visual signal can be one or more LEDs positioned within a user line-of-sight, wherein the LEDs indicate degree of axial pressure being applied by the user in real-time.\",\n \"The proximal region of the forward surface guide can be telescopically coupled to the rear surface guide.\",\n \"The device can further include a gearbox connecting the second drive element to the working tool.\",\n \"The tool guide surrounding the working tool can be configured to assist in the engagement of an implant.\",\n \"The tool guide can include one or more features that mechanically couple with corresponding features of the implant.\",\n \"The implant can be a fracture fixation plate or a joint part.\",\n \"The tool guide can couple to the implant at an angle away from perpendicular.\",\n \"In another aspect, disclosed is a method of penetrating bone using a driving instrument including contacting a field of bone with a distal engagement end of the instrument; receiving a first input by a first drive element of the instrument, the first drive element coupled to a working tool; driving the working tool at a first speed; receiving a second input by a second drive element of the instrument, the second drive element coupled to a guide surrounding at least a portion of the distal engagement end of the instrument; moving the guide axially in a proximal direction; and revealing a length of the working tool extending beyond the distal engagement end of the instrument.\",\n \"The length of the working tool extending beyond the distal engagement end of the instrument can correspond to a depth of penetration by the working tool into the field of bone.\",\n \"The method can further include receiving commands by the instrument to electronically program the depth of penetration by the working tool.\",\n \"The method can further include instantaneously measuring axial motion of the guide using a transducer coupled to the instrument.\",\n \"The method can further include adjusting axial movement of the guide to avoid plunge of the working tool.\",\n \"The method can further include adjusting movement of the working tool to avoid tissue damage.\",\n \"The method can further include alerting a user of a change in axial force against the field of bone using a signal, wherein the signal comprises an auditory, visual or tactile signal.\",\n \"The method can further include instantaneously measuring torque of the working tool.\",\n \"The torque can be measured electronically.\",\n \"The torque can be measured directly using a torque sensor in contact with at least a portion of the second drive element.\",\n \"The torque can correspond to a material strength and density of the field of bone.\",\n \"The method can further include alerting a user of a change in material strength and density of the field of bone using a signal, wherein the signal comprises an auditory, visual or tactile signal.\",\n \"A change in torque measured can indicate a transition from a first tissue type to a second tissue type.\",\n \"The first tissue type can include cortical bone and the second tissue type can include medullary canal or cancellous bone.\",\n \"The first tissue type can include medullary canal or cancellous bone and the second tissue type can include cortical bone.\",\n \"Other features and advantages will be apparent from the following description of various embodiments, which illustrate, by way of example, the principles of the disclosed devices and methods.\",\n \"BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG.\",\n \"1 is a perspective, cut-away view of one embodiment of an instrument.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"2 is a side, cut-away view of the instrument of FIG.\",\n \"1.FIG.\",\n \"3 is a perspective view of another embodiment of an instrument.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"4 is a perspective view of the instrument of FIG.\",\n \"3 showing a length of the working tool in an extended position.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"5 is an exploded view of the instrument of FIG.\",\n \"3.FIG.\",\n \"6 is a perspective view of an instrument having a guide interfaced with a fracture fixation plate.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"7 is a perspective view of the guide of FIG.\",\n \"6 interfaced with the fracture fixation plate.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"8 is a perspective view of a guide/fixation plate interface system.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"9 is a perspective view of a guide coupled to the instrument of FIG.\",\n \"6 interfaced with the fracture fixation plate.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"10 is a side view of a drill bit having detuned flutes.\",\n \"FIGS.\",\n \"11A and 11B are perspective views of an instrument having a saw blade and saw blade guide coupled thereto.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"12 is a side view of an instrument having a driving tool coupled thereto.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"13 is a perspective view of another embodiment of an instrument.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"14 is a perspective view of a rotary encoder for use with an instrument described herein.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"15 is a schematic view of a drive mechanism showing torque forces generated by a working tool, gearbox and motor.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"16 is a schematic view of a direct torque sensor measuring force produced by drilling torque.\",\n \"DETAILED DESCRIPTION This disclosure relates to a surgical instrument for preparing a bore in animal tissue.\",\n \"In an embodiment, the disclosure relates to a surgical instrument that drives a tool in which both drive power and relative axial extension of the tool are controlled and measurable.\",\n \"The instrument can have both a rotational drive and an axial drive, each of which can be controllable by the user.\",\n \"The instrument allows a user to control and simultaneously measure the travel of the tool into a target tissue.\",\n \"FIGS.\",\n \"1-2 illustrate cut-away views of an instrument 10.The instrument 10 can include a body 20 that houses two drive motors 30, 60 and a working tool 110 coupled via a chuck 90 extendable near a distal engagement end 120 of the instrument 10.As will be described in more detail below, the instrument 10 can instantaneously sense, meter and control the work created by the tool 110.Instantaneous sensing, metering and controlling the instrument 10 help to prevent injury to surrounding tissues and structures that could otherwise be caused by the tool 110.For example, sensing, metering and controlling the rotational speed of the drive can reduce the risk of heating surrounding tissue and bone, for example to the point of causing localized burns.\",\n \"Sensing, metering and controlling the axial motion and/or relative extension of the working tool 110 can prevent penetrating injuries, for example, to structures distal of the target such as nerve, brain, spinal cord, artery, vein, muscle, fascia, bone or joint space structures.\",\n \"Instantaneous sensing, metering and controlling the bore created as the working tool penetrates the tissue can provide an advantage when selecting implants for insertion.\",\n \"For example, the length of the drilling hole and subsequently the length of the implant needed can be simultaneously metered upon creating the bore.\",\n \"This eliminates the need for an additional step of measuring the depth of the bore created with a separate device.\",\n \"Further, depth gauges can frequently provide false measurements resulting in users selecting the wrong size implant for insertion and requiring them to remove the implant and reinsert a different sized implant.\",\n \"Conventional depth gauges are also prone to breakage, which can lead to additional time usage and patient morbidity.\",\n \"Sensing, metering and controlling the depth of the bore in real-time or as it is being created eliminates the trial-and-error process of selecting the correct implant for the procedure, which ultimately can improve patient safety.\",\n \"The instruments described herein also save operating time and the need for additional procedures like repeated radiographs in determining implant size.\",\n \"Because estimates of operating room costs for the personnel alone can be as high as $25 per minute even small savings of time in an operating room can result in large savings of money.\",\n \"The instruments described herein provide an added benefit of reducing the number of radiographs needed in the operating room.\",\n \"Intra-operative radiographs and radiation exposure are one of the major occupational risks to surgeons and operating room staff.\",\n \"Radiation exposure of this type has been shown to lead to radiation dermatitis, cataracts, skin cancers, leukemia and other cancers.\",\n \"The instruments and methods described herein reduce the number of radiographs needed per procedure and the life-time exposure of surgeons and staff to x-rays.\",\n \"This reduced radiation exposure ultimately lowers chronic radiation exposure and the risk of radiation-related illnesses in surgeons and their staff.\",\n \"Drive System The configuration of the drive system of the instrument 10 can vary.\",\n \"In an embodiment shown in FIGS.\",\n \"1-2, drive motor 30 of the instrument 10 can be a fixed axial drive motor 30 and drive motor 60 can be a slidable, rotational drive motor 60.Drive motor 30 can be coupled to a drive shaft 40, which can in turn be coupled to drive motor 60.The drive shaft 40 can be a jack screw, ball screw, lead screw and the like that can translate the torque or rotary movement of the drive motor 30 into thrust in an axial direction to slidably move the drive motor 60 relative to the instrument 10.The drive shaft 40 can be made to move either in a distal (forward) direction or a proximal (reverse) direction that is substantially parallel to the axis of the instrument 10.The drive motor 60 can connect to the drive shaft 40 by way of a detachable coupler 50.The drive motor 60 can be coupled to and rotate a drive shaft 80 that can connect to the chuck 90 that holds the working tool 110.As such, movement of the drive motor 60 along the longitudinal axis of the instrument 10 can cause similar movement of the working tool 110 and extension of the tool 110, for example beyond the distal engagement end 120 of the instrument 10.In use, the drive shaft 40 driven by drive motor 30 can axially drive the drive motor 60, which can rotate the drive shaft 80, which can rotate the chuck 90 which can rotate the tool 110.The chuck 90 can be stabilized within the body 20, for example by bearings 100.The bearings 100 can be axially slidable and stabilizing.\",\n \"The second drive motor 60 can be constrained or held rotationally still to provide for the eventual rotational movement of the working tool 110.The drive motor 60 can be fixed against rotational movement by guide rails or anti-rotation conducting flanges 70.In an embodiment, the flanges 70 slide within channels in the body 20.In an embodiment, each channel can have an opposite polarity such that they conduct electricity from a power source to the drive motor 60.In another embodiment, the power can be separate from the conducting flanges 70.The anti-rotation conduction flanges 70 can also be spiral shaped and travel through spiral grooves to add stability.\",\n \"The anti-rotation conduction flanges can also be excluded from the device and the rotational drive motor fixed to the axial drive shaft 40 causing the drive motor 60 to turn along with the axial drive shaft 40.It should be appreciated that the configuration of the drive shaft 40, 80 relative to the drive motors 30, 60 can vary.\",\n \"For example, the motors 30, 60 can be in parallel overlapping orientation relative to one another as shown in FIGS.\",\n \"1 and 2.Alternatively, the drive shaft 40 and motor 30 can be positioned in a co-axial orientation as shown in FIGS.\",\n \"3, 4 and 5.In another example, the drive shaft 40 and motor 30 can be positioned orthogonal to drive shaft 80 and motor 60.For example, the rotated motor can be positioned within the handle 25 of the instrument 10.The parallel overlapping orientation as well as the orthogonal orientation can provide for a shorter, more compact length of the instrument 10 without limiting the overall extension of the tool 110 that can be achieved.\",\n \"Alternatively, the drive shaft 40, 80 and motor 30, 60 can be connected via a gearbox (not shown).\",\n \"It should also be appreciated that use of the term “working tool” herein or “rotation of the working tool” is not intended to be limiting and that working tools other than rotating drill bits are considered as will be described in more detail below.\",\n \"Although the embodiments shown herein use motors, such as a stepper motor powered by a battery, it should be appreciated that power systems other than rotational drive motors are considered.\",\n \"For example, a non-electric drive motor, pneumatic motors or actuators powered for example by a nitrogen gas source, electrical motors, hydraulic actuators, and the like or a combination thereof can be incorporated into the instrument.\",\n \"It should also be appreciated that a motor and gearing can be used in place of the two-motor embodiment.\",\n \"Instrument Guides Extension of the working tool 110 relative to the longitudinal axis of the instrument 10 can be accomplished as described above via linear movement of the drive motor 60 within the body 20 of the instrument 10.In another embodiment, the drive motor 60 need not move axially relative to the instrument 10.Instead, extension of the working tool 110 relative to the distal engagement end 120 of the instrument 10 can be effected by the movement of one or more surface guides on the instrument 10 as will be described below.\",\n \"FIGS.\",\n \"3-5 illustrate an embodiment of an instrument 10 that includes a body 20 that houses an axial drive motor 30, a rotational drive motor 60, a working tool 110 coupled via a chuck 90 extendable near a distal engagement end 120 of the instrument 10.A chuck extension 280 can also be included.\",\n \"The instrument 10 can further include a rear surface guide 300 and a forward surface 302 guide that, as will be discussed in more detail below, can be withdrawn in a proximal direction to reveal a length of the working tool 110 extending beyond the distal engagement end 120 of the instrument 10.The drive motor 30 can be an axial drive motor and spindle seated near the proximal end (rear) of the body 20 and the second drive motor 60 can be a rotational drive motor and spindle seated near the distal (front) end of the body 20.Body insert 220 can fit inside the top of the body 20 such that the body insert 220 covers the drive motors 30, 60 (see FIG.\",\n \"5).\",\n \"The drive motor 30 can attach to drive a drive shaft 40 and the drive shaft 40 can attach to the drive lug 240.The drive lug 240 can attach to the rear surface guide 300 at its proximal end.\",\n \"The distal end of the rear surface guide 300 can attach to the proximal end of the forward surface guide 302.There can be one or more o-rings 250 between the two surface guides 300, 302.The drive lug 240 and the rear surface guide 300 can sit in the body 20 above the body insert 220.The top of the body 20 also can accept a body cover 214.The rear surface guide 300 can fit between the body 20 and the body cover 214 such that it is free to move within the body 20 and extend beyond the body 20 and the body cover 214.As best shown in FIG.\",\n \"3, the forward surface guide 302 can engage an outer surface of the chuck 90, for example, via a sleeve and/or one or more stabilizing flanges 305.In another embodiment, the chuck 90 can function without a sleeve or stabilizing flanges and instead the forward surface guide 302 can have a bushing or other device to engage the chuck 90 directly and still allow the chuck 90 to spin freely.\",\n \"In use, the axial drive motor 30 can power the drive lug 240 in an axial direction, which in turn can drive in an axial direction the rear surface guide 300 coupled to the forward surface guide 302.An increased length of the working tool 110 is revealed in order to engage the work.\",\n \"The drive motor 60 rotates the chuck 90 and the working tool 110.The surface guides 300, 302 shown in the drawings have two “arms” or supports that extend axially.\",\n \"But it should be appreciated that the surface guides 300, 302 can have one, two, three or more arms that provide additional support to bear the load.\",\n \"It should also be appreciated that the surface guides 300, 302 can be a single unit.\",\n \"In another embodiment, the surface guides 300, 302 can be telescoping surface guides.\",\n \"This can provide the instrument 10 with a larger range in overall drill length in a more efficient configuration.\",\n \"The telescoping surface guides can each include an actuator such as a pneumatic, hydraulic, motorized or other actuator that causes the surface guides 300, 302 to telescope and change overall guide length (i.e.\",\n \"telescope outward to lengthen or telescope inward to shorten).\",\n \"In another embodiment, the telescoping surface guides 300, 302 can be used to achieve depth control without the use of an axial motor.\",\n \"The axial electric motor can be replaced by a hydraulic or pneumatic motor, as can the rotational motor.\",\n \"A distal guide 170 can optionally be coupled to the instrument 10.In one embodiment, the distal guide 170 is coupled to a distal end of the body 20 of the instrument 10 (as shown in FIGS.\",\n \"1 and 2).\",\n \"In another embodiment, the distal guide 170 is coupled to the forward surface guide 302 (as shown in FIGS.\",\n \"3-5).\",\n \"The distal guide 170 can include a central channel through which the working tool 110 can extend to engage the work.\",\n \"The distal guide 170 can have a tapered geometry or reduced outer diameter such that its contact surface is relatively small compared to the distal end of the body 20 and the bulk of the instrument 10 is focused into a small area of contact with the work.\",\n \"The distal guide 170 can also include gripping features at its forward surface such as spikes or other protrusions such that the guide 170 can hold its position on the work.\",\n \"The distal guide 170 can assist in the engagement of bone, fracture plates or other implants or joint parts.\",\n \"One or more portions of the distal guide 170 can couple with the implant, for example by directly pressing or screwing the implant onto one or more corresponding features of the distal guide 170.FIGS.\",\n \"6-9 show an instrument and various embodiments of distal guides 170a, 170b, 170c that can interface with the work using various mechanisms.\",\n \"Guide 170a can engage an implant 815, such as a fracture fixation plate, by a threaded interface, or by another mechanism, such that the guide 170a screws into, or otherwise couples with the implant 815.Guides 170a and 170b are shown connected to the implant 815 in a generally perpendicular configuration.\",\n \"Alternatively, distal guide 170c can connect to the implant 815 at an angle away from perpendicular.\",\n \"The guide 170b can include an interface that provides a unique connection with the implant 815.For example, the distal guide 170b can include a pin-index type connection or a diameter-index type system that provide non-interchangeable connections between the distal guide 170 and the implant 815.As such, a specific implant 815 can interface with a particular distal guide 170 to prevent misconnections.\",\n \"The specific geometry of the interface between the distal guide 170 and the implant 815 can vary.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"8 shows a schematic of just one example of an interface system between the implant 815 and the distal guide 170.The distal guide 170 can include one or more geometric features 805 that extend from a forward surface of the distal guide 170.The geometric features 805 can couple with corresponding geometric features 810 provided on the implant 815 such that the two properly and uniquely interconnect.\",\n \"The corresponding geometric features 805, 810 can dictate the type of implant 815 that can be used with a particular distal guide 170 providing for a unique pairing between the two.\",\n \"It should be appreciated that although the figure shows the implant 815 as a fracture fixation plate, the implant 815 with which the guide 170 can interface can vary including bone, fracture plates or other implants or joint parts.\",\n \"The interface between the distal guide 170 and the implant 815 can provide for directional guidance for the working tool 110.The implant 815 can connect to the distal guide 170, the distal guide 170 can connect to the instrument 10 resulting in one interconnected complex for drilling a bore.\",\n \"In one embodiment, the implant 815 couples to the distal guide 170 which can be attached to the instrument 10 via the forward surface guide 302.The implant 815 can also couple a distal guide 170 that is separate from the instrument 10.In another embodiment shown in FIG.\",\n \"9, the instrument can include two guides.\",\n \"In this embodiment, a first distal guide 170 is attached to the instrument 10 and a second distal guide 170a is connected to the implant 815.The first distal guide 170 can then couple to the second distal guide 170a.\",\n \"Working Tools As mentioned above, the working tool 110 can be connected to the instrument 10 using a rotatably-driven coupler or chuck 90 with or without a chuck extension 280.The chuck 90 can be a conventional coupler such as a three-jaw chuck in which the jaws grasp the proximal portion of the tool 110 and hold it firmly in place.\",\n \"The chuck 90 can be actuated to open or close the jaws by a rotation mechanism or a key or other techniques known in the art.\",\n \"The chuck 90 can also be a quick-release type of coupler.\",\n \"The chuck 90 can be extended beyond the distal engagement end 120 such that the chuck 90 can be accessed external of the body 20.This accessibility of the chuck 90 relative to the instrument 10 allows for a user to make reliable connections between the working tool 110 and the chuck 90.The exterior access can also allow for shorter, safer driven tools than if the chuck 90 was internal to the instrument body 20.Additionally, the exterior access can provide for ease of cleaning this portion of the instrument 10.The working tool 110 as described herein can include, but is not limited to, tools such as a drill bit, Kirschner (or other) wire, pin, trochar, burr, screwdriver, reamer, saw, saw blade, router, router bit, stepped drill bit, bone plug removal tools, bone harvesting tools, bone marrow harvesting tools, bone marrow aspirating tools or any other tools that can be reversibly attached to a chuck 90 or other type of coupling device.\",\n \"It should be appreciated that where a working tool is described herein as a drill bit or wire or pin or other type of tool that such description is not intended to be limiting.\",\n \"It should be appreciated that a wide variety of tools can be used as the working tool with the instruments described herein.\",\n \"For example, the working tool can be a saw blade connected to a coupler that oscillates or reciprocates the saw blade as described with respect to FIGS.\",\n \"11A-11B below or a wire driver as described with respect to FIG.\",\n \"12 below.\",\n \"The working tool 110 can be made of metal materials such as titanium metal or stainless steel that can be sterilized and reused.\",\n \"Alternatively, the working tool 110 can be made of polymeric material that can be discarded after each use.\",\n \"The material can be chosen to provide the necessary strength to allow the proper tool action.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"10 shows an embodiment of a drill bit 905 having a flute 910 that is detuned or dulled.\",\n \"It should be appreciated that the entire length of the flute 910 need not have the same edge geometry.\",\n \"For example, the detuned flute 910 can have an edge 915 that is sharper starting at a proximal region of the bit 905 towards the tool attachment region.\",\n \"It should also be appreciated that the bit 905 can have more than one flute 910 as is known in the art.\",\n \"The detuned flute 910 allows for greater sensitivity in measurement of torque and measurement of current.\",\n \"The bit 905 can also have fast spirals 920 with short rotational diameter and a short tip 925 such that it transfers less energy to the work to avoid over-heating the work and surrounding tissues.\",\n \"The drill bit 905 design also can provide a feel to the user such that information regarding the subtle material strength and density changes of the work can be appreciated during use.\",\n \"Other Tool Embodiments It should be appreciated that other medical devices can incorporate the metering and controlling features of the instruments as described herein.\",\n \"FIGS.\",\n \"11A and 11B show an embodiment of an instrument 1005 having a working tool that is an oscillating bone saw blade 1010 coupled to chuck 1090 and surrounded by a saw blade guide 1007 that is coupled to a forward surface guide 1002 coupled to a rear surface guide 1000.The oscillating saw blade 1010 can have opposed proximal and distal ends and can be formed so that teeth 1015 extend forward from the distal end of the planar body of the blade 1010.The arrangement and geometry of the teeth 1015 can vary.\",\n \"The body of the blade 1010 can be formed of material such as stainless steel or other appropriate cutting material.\",\n \"The teeth 1015 can extend forward from the blade distal end through an elongate slot 1008 in the saw blade guide 1007 coupled to the instrument as best shown in FIG.\",\n \"11B.\",\n \"The proximal end of the blade 1010 can include features (not shown) that facilitate the coupling of the blade 1010 to a chuck 1090.The chuck 1090 can connect to a drive mechanism that oscillates or reciprocates the saw blade 1010 to effect cutting.\",\n \"For example, the distal end of the blade 1010 can pivot back and forth relative to the proximal end of the blade 1010.As the saw blade 1010 saws through material, another drive mechanism can drive the rear surface guide 1000, the forward surface guide 1002 and the saw blade guide 1007 in an axial direction such that the body of the blade 1010 extends further through the slot 1008 of the saw blade guide 1007.The slot 1008 and the guides 1000, 1002, 1007 are configured such that they do not interfere with the oscillating and/or reciprocating motion of the blade 1010.The length of the blade 1010 can vary to accommodate various depth penetrations.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"12 shows an embodiment of an instrument 1105 having a working tool used to implant a Kirschner wire (k-wire) or other wire or pin.\",\n \"In an embodiment, the instrument 1105 can incorporate a wire driver 1110 used to implant a k-wire 1115 (or other wire or pin, hereinafter called “wire” for simplicity).\",\n \"The wire driver 1110 can be a modular attachment that can be used with the various instruments described herein.\",\n \"For example, the wire driver 1110 can be inserted into other instruments 10 described herein and used in place of the chuck 90, which can be removable.\",\n \"Alternatively, the wire driver instrument 1105 can be completely separate embodiments in which the wire driver 1110 is not modular or removable and instead is coupled permanently to the instrument 1105.It should be appreciated that the various instruments described herein can be modular such that mechanical features such as the chuck 90 or the axial drive motor 30 can be swapped out in place for one another.\",\n \"The wire driver 1110 can hold the wire 1115 as well as rotate or oscillate the wire 1115.The wire driver 1110 can be released to slide axially to a new position causing more (or less) wire 1115 to be exposed for allowing a further penetration of the bone.\",\n \"In an embodiment, the body 1120 of the driver 1105 including the internal workings are cannulated such that the wire 1115 can be fed through the driver 1105 body 1120.The wire 1115 can extend through the cannulation in the body 1120 of the driver 1105 from the front of the driver 1105 out through the back end 1125 of the driver 1105.As mentioned, the wire driver 1110 can hold the wire 1115 in place much like a drill chuck.\",\n \"When the wire driver 1110 is activated, the rotational motor (not shown) can oscillate or rotate the wire 1115 in a clockwise or counter-clockwise direction.\",\n \"As with previous embodiments, the rotational motor can be biased in either rotational direction.\",\n \"When the driver 1105 is activated the axial drive (not shown) can pull the surface guide(s) 1130 back (proximally) and the wire 1115 can advance into the work site such as bone.\",\n \"A trigger 1135 can be incorporated into the driver 1105 that holds the wire 1115 when grasped by a user.\",\n \"If pressure on the trigger 1135 is released, the trigger 1135 releases the wire 1115 such that the driver 1105 can slide forward or backward to expose less or more wire 1115, respectively.\",\n \"When a user desires more wire 1115, the trigger 1135 can be released and the driver 1105 pushes the surface guide 1130 forward.\",\n \"The length the surface guide 1130 moves forward equals the length of wire 1115 that is now available for advancement into the bone.\",\n \"This length can be added to the computed total axial distance as needed to obtain an accurate account of the length of wire 1115 that was driven into the bone.\",\n \"The wire 1115 can be held in place by either the guide 1130 (such as by pinching) or the bone into which the wire 1115 was driven can itself be used to hold the wire 1115 in place.\",\n \"If the wire 1115 is held in place by the bone, the user can urge the guide 1130 against the bone as the surface guide 1130 pushes the driver 1105 back to let out more wire 1115.If the user desires to remove the wire 1115 from the bone, the reverse axial drive (not shown) can be engaged such that the surface guide 1130 move forward and the driver 1105 moves backward away from patient while the trigger 1135 is engaged.\",\n \"It should also be appreciated that, although not shown, this instrument embodiment can incorporate a distal guide 170 coupled to a forward end of the surface guide 1130 as described in previous embodiments.\",\n \"Tool Actuation Actuation of the drive motors and other features of the instruments described herein can vary.\",\n \"Actuators can include triggers, buttons and switches that can be retracted, pressed, squeezed, slid or otherwise actuated to perform a certain function of the instrument 10.The actuators can be incorporated into a handle of the instrument 10 in such a way that is ergonomically comfortable for a user.\",\n \"For example, the instrument can include a pistol grip having trigger-type actuators such that the instrument 10 can be easily and comfortably held and actuated during use.\",\n \"It should be appreciated, however, that the instrument 10 can have other configurations such as a straight-bodied instruments that do not include a pistol grip.\",\n \"Each drive motor can have a separate actuator for activation.\",\n \"For example, the drive motor 30 can be turned on by actuator 32 and the drive motor 60 can be turned on by actuator 62 (see FIG.\",\n \"1).\",\n \"The actuators 32, 62 can be depressible triggers positioned on a handle 25 of the body 20, such as within a trigger housing 212.The actuators 32, 62 can adjust the speed of the drive motors 30, 60 in a manner that is proportional to the degree of depression of the actuators 32, 62, for example relative to the instrument handle 25.The direction the drive shaft 40 moves can be changed from a forward to a reverse direction, for example, by the position of a switch or other selectable mechanism.\",\n \"Similarly, the drive motor 60 can be made to move in a forward or reverse direction as determined by the position of a selectable switch.\",\n \"Further, the motor can be biased in either rotational direction.\",\n \"In another embodiment shown in FIGS.\",\n \"3-5, the instrument 10 can include a forward trigger 232 and a reverse trigger 234 that can each actuate both drive motors 30, 60.The forward trigger 232 can be a two-stage forward trigger 232 such that it can engage the rotational drive motor 60 in the first stage (i.e.\",\n \"effecting working tool 110 rotation) and the axial drive motor 30 in the second stage (i.e.\",\n \"effecting working tool 110 extension).\",\n \"The speed of the rotational drive motor 60 can be proportional to the degree of actuation of the first stage of the forward trigger 232, for example depression of the trigger 232.The speed of the axial drive motor 30 can be proportional to the degree of actuation of the second stage of the forward trigger 232.In an embodiment, the trigger 232 in the first stage can engage the rotational drive motor 60.The tool 110 spins and with further depression of the trigger 232 can reach full speed.\",\n \"Just before the trigger 232 enters the second stage, the axial drive motor 30 can engage.\",\n \"The axial drive motor 30 can cause withdrawal of the surface guides 300, 302 in a proximal direction P (see FIG.\",\n \"4) to reveal a length of the working tool 110 allowing it to engage with and bore into the work as the user applies pressure to the instrument 10 and keeps it engaged with the work.\",\n \"It should be appreciated that the axial drive motor 30 can also cause the movement of the working tool 110 in a distal direction to reveal the length as described with respect to other embodiments herein.\",\n \"It should be appreciated that an axial force sensor can be incorporated that assists a user in keeping the instrument engaged with the work, as will be discussed in more detail below.\",\n \"The reverse trigger 234 can cause both of the drive motors 30, 60 to reverse their direction.\",\n \"When the reverse trigger 234 is engaged while the two-stage trigger 232 is actuated during the first stage, the rotational drive motor 60 as well as the chuck 90 and the working tool 110, can spin in a reverse direction.\",\n \"When the second stage of the forward trigger 232 is actuated, and the reverse trigger 234 is still engaged, the rotational drive motor 60 as well as the chuck 90 and the working tool 110, can spin at maximal speed in a reverse direction and the axial drive motor 30 can begin to spin proportional to the degree of actuation of the second stage of the forward trigger 232.The action of the axial drive motor 30 can cause the drive lug 240, the rear surface guide 300, the forward surface guide 302 and the guide 170 to move in the distal direction (i.e.\",\n \"towards the work in direction of Arrow D, see FIG.\",\n \"3).\",\n \"The axial movement of the guides 300, 302 can push the instrument 10 away from the work and draw the working tool 110 out of the work.\",\n \"In another embodiment, the motors 30, 60 can have independent reverse functions and can be controlled independently via independent actuators or triggers.\",\n \"The instrument 10 can also include an oscillation select switch 262 (see FIGS.\",\n \"3-5).\",\n \"The oscillating function can also be actuated by certain trigger combinations or an oscillation trigger.\",\n \"When the oscillation select switch 262 is in the “off” position, the instrument 10 can function as described above.\",\n \"When the oscillation select switch 262 is in the “on” position, the rotational drive motor 60 can oscillate in the appropriate direction when the triggers 232, 234 are actuated and the axial drive motor 30 function is not affected.\",\n \"If the forward trigger 232 is actuated, the instrument 10 can oscillate in the forward direction, i.e.\",\n \"the rotational drive motor 60 can oscillate forward but the axial drive motor 30 can cause the drive lug 240, the rear surface guide 300 the forward surface guide 302 and the guide 170 to move in a proximal direction as before.\",\n \"If the reverse and forward triggers 232, 234 are actuated, the instrument 10 can oscillate in the reverse direction, i.e.\",\n \"the rotational drive motor 60 oscillates in reverse but the axial drive motor 30 can cause the drive lug 240, the rear surface guide 300, the forward surface guide 302 and the guide 170 to move in the distal direction as before.\",\n \"The oscillation select switch 262 can affect the function of the rotational motor 60 not the axial drive motor 30.When selected it can cause the rotational motor 60 to oscillate.\",\n \"Irrigation System The instruments described herein can include an irrigation system.\",\n \"The irrigation system allows for the surgical field to be kept cool while the instrument 10 is in use and reduce the risk of tissue damage such as bone burning and bone death.\",\n \"The irrigation system can also reduce the risk of hardware failure, the need for re-operation, infection, limb loss and death.\",\n \"The irrigation system can include one or more irrigation nozzles 130 located at or near the engagement end 120 of the body 20.In one embodiment, the irrigation nozzles 130 spray fluid from the distal tip of the body 20.In another embodiment, the irrigation nozzles 130 can be routed internally through the working tool 110.The irrigation fluid can be sprayed through a channel running through the working tool 110 and exiting at a port near the distal end of the tool 110.In a further embodiment, the forward surface guide 302 can have one or more irrigation nozzles 130 (see FIGS.\",\n \"3-5).\",\n \"The irrigation nozzles 130 can also be coupled to the distal guide 170.The irrigation nozzles 130 can deliver irrigation fluid (i.e.\",\n \"a liquid or a gas) through irrigation tubing 340 (see FIGS.\",\n \"3-5) from a sterile fluid bag or other irrigation fluid source.\",\n \"In an embodiment, carbon dioxide gas can be used to irrigate the work to remove heat.\",\n \"The irrigation tubing 340 can be coupled to the instrument 10 via an irrigation port near a proximal end of the body 20.The irrigation tubing 340 can be angled downward to avoid crimping and for more efficient manipulation of the instrument 10 by the user.\",\n \"An external fluid pump or gravity can be used to pressurize the irrigation system.\",\n \"The irrigation system can be kept outside the sterile surgical field except, for example, the irrigation tubing 340 connected to the instrument 10.Such an arrangement can contribute to the engagement end 120 and the working tool 110 remaining relatively free from bulk or other awkward equipment enabling more accurate placement and easy use of the instrument 10 in the surgical field.\",\n \"The irrigation system of the instrument 10 can also include a suction mechanism at or near the surgical field.\",\n \"Suction can be applied through the irrigation nozzles 130 or can be applied through additional channels.\",\n \"The irrigation system can be controlled manually by the user such as with an irrigation actuator positioned, for example, on a handle 25 of the instrument 10 or by a foot pedal or other mechanism.\",\n \"The irrigation actuator can be a depressible trigger or button that can turn on or off the flow of irrigation fluid from the irrigation tube 340.The same actuator or another actuator can turn on or off the suction applied to the surgical field.\",\n \"The irrigation system can also be controlled automatically for example by one or more sensors near the work site communicating with an electronics package of the instrument to be described in more detail below.\",\n \"Automated irrigation is generally a desired option for users as it can effectively reduce drill bit temperature, bone temperature and the risk of bone burning.\",\n \"Modularity and Internal Access The body 20 of the instruments 10 described herein can include one or more removable covers that can be used to access one or more of the various internal components.\",\n \"Further, one or more of the internal components can be modular and can be completely separated from the body 20 of the instrument 10.This allows for interchanging parts as well as cleaning and sterilizing the components of the instrument 10.In one embodiment, the instrument 10 can have a cover 122 near the engagement end 120 that can be removed to access, clean or remove the coupler 90, bearings 100 and drive shaft 80 and any other internal components of the instrument 10.The drive motor 60 can extend to a region near the distal end of the body 20 and allow for the actuation and release of the coupler 50.For example, the release can be a depressible button 52 (see FIG.\",\n \"5) on a surface of the drive motor 60 that can allow a user to disconnect the drive motor 60 from the drive shaft 40 when the release is depressed to allow a user to remove the drive motor 60 from the body 20.In another embodiment shown in FIG.\",\n \"13, a body cover 1515 can enclose the rear surface guide (not shown) and at least a proximal portion of the forward surface guide 302.The forward surface guide 302 can be covered by the body cover 1515 up to the point where the chuck 90 is exposed at the distal engagement end 120 of the instrument 10 and can exit the body cover 1515 through openings 1520.These openings can include bushings seated around the perimeter of the opening 1520 that are sealed from the remainder of the instrument body.\",\n \"The one or more body covers 1515 can be removed independently of one or more of the guides.\",\n \"Alternatively, the one or more body covers 1515 can be integrated with one or more of the guides such that they can be removed along with the covers 1515 in order to access the interior of the instrument 10.Proximally, the body 20 can include a removable end piece 150 that can be removed to gain access to the proximal region of the body 20 in order to clean or remove the modular portions of the instrument 10 near the proximal end, such as the drive shaft 40 and the drive motor 30.The removable end piece 150 can be incorporated with a removable electronics package as will be discussed in more detail below.\",\n \"One or more of the body covers can be translucent or transparent such that the components inside are visible from the outside without removal of the covers.\",\n \"It should also be appreciated that the components can be disposable and need not be removed or cleaned.\",\n \"Electronics and Sensors An electronics package 236 can be positioned within the body 20 of the instrument 10 and can have a variety of configurations.\",\n \"In an embodiment, the electronics package 236 can be positioned within the body 20 as well as within the handle 25.In an embodiment, the electronics package 236 can be positioned within a space of the body 20, for example near or at the proximal end behind drive motor 30 (see for example, FIG.\",\n \"5 or 6).\",\n \"The electronics package 236 can include a display.\",\n \"The electronics package 236 and display can be removable along with one or more of the body covers.\",\n \"Information regarding the use of the instrument 10 can be relayed in real-time to the display such that the information is provided to a user instantaneously during use of the instrument 10, for example bore depth or other information as will be described in more detail below.\",\n \"The display can include an LED or other display using, for example, electrical filaments, plasma, gas or the like.\",\n \"The instrument 10 can also include a display that is not coupled or integrated within the instrument itself, for example, a heads-up display that communicates with the instrument 10 (i.e.\",\n \"either wired or wirelessly).\",\n \"The heads-up display can include a graphical user interface (GUI) that can display data and provide interactive functions such as a touch screen for input of data and information such as the drill bit size.\",\n \"The heads-up display can be mounted as is known in the art such as with a boom or other mechanism that provides user convenience.\",\n \"For example, the heads-up display can be mounted on a boom that can be easily positioned and moved around during a surgical procedure.\",\n \"The heads-up display can be autoclavable such that the display can be positioned within the surgical field where a user is using the instrument 10.Alternatively, the heads-up display can be inserted into a sterile cover such that the display can be positioned within the surgical field where a user is using the instrument 10.The electronics package 236 (see FIGS.\",\n \"5-6) can communicate with various sensors positioned within the instrument 10 that assess the status of the components of the instrument and communicate this information in real-time to the electronics package 236 and the user via a display.\",\n \"The instrument 10 can provide the user with alerts and information regarding the status of the instrument and instrument components during use such that manual and/or automatic adjustments can be made.\",\n \"The electronics package 236 can also include motor control electronics and software programs that can be programmed to automatically adjust the instrument 10 in real-time to maintain use of the instrument 10 within set thresholds.\",\n \"For example, the instrument can include software capable of being programmed to continuously measure and/or control a variety of functions including, but not limited to, bone depth, material strength, bone density, skive, drill bit development, speed of rotation, acceleration, deceleration, irrigation, voltage, torque, thrust, feed rate, current, voltage, axial movement, axial force and other functions of the instrument or a combination thereof.\",\n \"The instrument can include mechanical measurement systems, such as a mechanical torque measurement system as will be described in more detail below.\",\n \"As such, the instruments described herein can detect and control penetration of the working tool through various tissue layers.\",\n \"The instruments can control, for example, axial feed rate, motor RPM, and engagement of the work to allow a user to avoid certain unsafe instrument situations.\",\n \"For example, the instruments described herein can detect joint penetration in real-time allowing a user to avoid “pop through” or plunging situations, for example, in which the instrument suddenly penetrates the cortical bone and inadvertently damages soft tissue or joint structures.\",\n \"Joint penetration can occur perpendicularly as well as tangentially (also known as skiving).\",\n \"The instruments described herein can provide an overall system stability that allows for the accurate tracking and detection and control of instrument status during use.\",\n \"It should be appreciated that the control of the instruments described herein can also be adjusted manually by the user.\",\n \"For example, the user can change the thrust of the drive motor 30 by letting up or pressing down on the actuator 32.The user can also change the thrust of the instrument 10 by pushing down or letting up on the axial pressure being applied to the instrument 10.In an embodiment, tissue resistance as compared to axial pressure on the instrument 10 applied by the user can cause/allow the relative position of the handle of the instrument 10 to feel as if it were backing out of the work as the tool 110 is axially extended from the instrument 10.This can require the user to apply additional axial pressure to drive the tool 110 through the tissue.\",\n \"The torque as related to the rotating tool 110 can also change during use of the instrument 10.This change provides feedback to the user who in turn can make appropriate adjustments to the axial and rotational movements as needed.\",\n \"The instruments 10 described herein can instantaneously measure the axial motion and the depth the working tool 110 travels into the work by a transducer or encoder, such as an incremental rotary encoder, an absolute rotary encoder, mechanical, magnetic, electrical, or optical rotary encoder, or the like (see for example BEI Optical encoder; www.motion-control-info.com/encoder_design_guide.html).\",\n \"The depth the working tool 110 travels into the work can also be measured by a synchro, a resolver, a rotary variable differential transformer (RVDT) or a rotary potentiometer, or the like.\",\n \"As shown in FIG.\",\n \"14, the rotary encoder 39 can include a bearing housing assembly 201, a light source 202, a code disc 203, a mask 204, a photodetector assembly 205, an electronics board 206 that rotate around shaft 208.In an embodiment, the rotary encoder is an incremental rotary encoder with dual channels in quadrature with an additional data track to provide an internal position reference for setting a “zero point”.\",\n \"The rotary encoder can be an absolute rotary encoder.\",\n \"The encoder can measure rotation and convert that information into axial motion.\",\n \"The encoder can interface with the drive motor 30 and the drive shaft 40 and can provide instantaneous information on the position of the drive shaft 40 regarding the depth of axial movement of the working tool into a bore.\",\n \"This information can be fed to the electronics package 236 that can perform count multiplication to determine the tool position.\",\n \"For example, the rotation of the drive shaft 40 can be measure and a calculation performed to determine the distance traveled.\",\n \"This distance traveled can be compared to a set point or zero point such that the position of the working tool 110 from the distal end of the instrument can be calculated.\",\n \"This calculation relates to depth as determined by the position of the distal end of the instrument with respect to the target tissue (e.g.\",\n \"bone).\",\n \"In an embodiment, the instrument can include a meter that measures the rotational speed (see for example the speed device described in U.S. Pat.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"4,723,911), time, velocity, acceleration, deceleration or torque.\",\n \"The meter can provide the user information pertaining to the passage of the working tool 110 through different layers of tissue.\",\n \"For example, movement of the working tool 110 through cortical bone into medullary canal or cancellous bone, medullary canal or cancellous bone to cortical bone, or from cortical bone to soft tissue.\",\n \"In an embodiment, metrics can be obtained via an axial force sensor and/or a torque sensor to measure drive or motor torque directly.\",\n \"In an embodiment, the rotational drive motor 60, or a gearbox connected to the rotational motor 60, can be positioned such that it can press against a force sensor to provide direct measurements of torque that can be displayed to a user and provide information pertaining to the passage of the tool through varied layers of tissue.\",\n \"In another embodiment the rotational drive motor 60 can have a torque sensor (not shown).\",\n \"In an embodiment the rotation drive motor 60 can be a brushless DC (BLDC) electric motor having one or more Hall sensors.\",\n \"When the tool passes from cortical bone into medullary canal or cancellous bone or from cortical bone into soft tissue the measured torque can drop dramatically.\",\n \"The information can be relayed to the display 236 and integrated with the function of the motor drivers and their actuators.\",\n \"For example, in an embodiment, when the tool 110 is moving axially in a forward direction and passes from cortical bone to medullary canal or cancellous bone or from cortical bone to soft tissue the reduced torque will interrupt the axial motion.\",\n \"The axial drive can then be reengaged by releasing pressure on the forward two-stage trigger and reapplying pressure.\",\n \"The instruments 10 described herein can also control the depth of penetration of the working tool 110.In an embodiment, the maximum depth of the bore that is to be created by the instrument 10 can be programmed with electronics in advance of drilling.\",\n \"The measurement can be zeroed by the user prior to use, for example, by depressing an axial measurement selector/reset button.\",\n \"This allows the user to zero the measurement according to the length of the selected tool 110.In one embodiment, the distal end of the working tool 110 can be aligned with the distal end of the body 20 and the instrument zeroed.\",\n \"This can be performed manually by the user or electronically with set points and a feedback system (i.e.\",\n \"interface with the coupler).\",\n \"The alignment of the distal end of the tool 110 and the distal end of the body 20 can be such that the two are flush with one another or the distal end of the tool 110 can be some distance beyond the distal end of the body 20, for example between about 3 mm and 7 mm.\",\n \"The tool 110 can be positioned flush against the bone prior to drilling.\",\n \"As the tool 110 advances into the bone, the instrument 10 can be held flush against the bone.\",\n \"The instrument 10 can also include a distal guide 170 and be zeroed once the tool 110 aligns with the distal end of the guide 170 (and a fixation plate attached to the guide 170, if present).\",\n \"Once the cut is started and the tool 110 can be flush with the bone, the user can use the axial drive to further advance the tool 110 through the bone.\",\n \"The electronics package 236 can be zeroed as described above to include the additional axial length of the guide 170.In another embodiment, the user can feed in a distal direction a portion of the working tool 110, for example 30 mm if working on a tibia or femur or 12 mm if working on a radius.\",\n \"The user can then manually drill through the bone as with an axially static drill.\",\n \"Upon reaching that pre-programmed depth, if the distal cortex had not yet been breached, the axial drive can be used to penetrate the bone further.\",\n \"In another embodiment, the electronics can contain a preset maximum distance that can limit the distal travel of the tool 110.For example, a stop and go signal (i.e.\",\n \"single click of the trigger) or a double stop and go (i.e.\",\n \"double click of the trigger) can release the depth stop and allow further travel.\",\n \"Any of a variety of schedules can be programmed into the electronics to control distal advancement of the tool.\",\n \"For example, each time the tool 110 is advanced beyond the initial stop, the electronics can be programmed to allow only a further distal travel of for example 3 mm or 6 mm or other incremental distance before stopping again and alerting the user similar to a snooze alarm system of a clock radio.\",\n \"Identifying the desired depth of penetration for pre-programmed embodiments can be determined, for example, by knowing the typical size of the target tissue based upon the age and size of a patient or the actual size of the target tissue from pre-op radiographs, CT scans or MRI scans.\",\n \"A user can also manually estimate to approximately 70-80% depth travel through the proximal cortex, the medullar bone and close to or into the distal cortex prior to the automatic pre-programmed settings taking effect.\",\n \"For example, the user can manually estimate until a region of the bone is entered where a greater amount of control is desirable such as the distal cortex.\",\n \"At that stage, the axial drive of the instrument can be used to slowly proceed through that portion of the bone to the target location.\",\n \"A user can also proceed until a pop is felt or a change in speed can be heard in the drill.\",\n \"This can be augmented by acceleration or torque measurements provided to the user.\",\n \"For example, as the drill bit penetrates to the very last layers of the distal cortex it can begin to accelerate with a burst of acceleration as it breeches the distal cortex completely, this can also be sensed as a change in torque.\",\n \"In another embodiment, the RPM of the rotational drill motor is kept constant, preventing tool acceleration or deceleration.\",\n \"This allows the torque to be correlated to material strength.\",\n \"The instrument can provide its own auditory output to accentuate the sometimes subtle auditory changes caused by the drill bit.\",\n \"Upon reaching the predetermined target depth, axial movement of the device can automatically slow or stop while rotational movement can continue.\",\n \"It should be appreciated, however, that the user can manually override any pre-programmed limitations or automated controls by actuation/triggers on the device without changing hand positions to continue.\",\n \"As described above, the instruments described herein can include one or more sensors that communicate information to the user using a variety of alert mechanisms and/or graphical displays.\",\n \"In an embodiment, the instrument includes an axial force sensor and an axial force alert.\",\n \"As described herein, the axial force sensor can be used to sense the axial force applied at the distal end of the drill guide and/or applied by the working tool.\",\n \"The axial force sensor can communicate with the axial force alert and provide information to the user to ensure that the distal end of the drill guide and/or tool stay engaged with the work and maintains an appropriate level of pressure.\",\n \"Applying too much pressure or force on the work can increase the risk for damage to the work or surrounding tissues.\",\n \"Applying too little pressure or force can cause the tool to back off the work and prevent tool advancement at the desired rate.\",\n \"The axial force sensor can communicate with the axial force alert in real-time to provide the user with information regarding the status of the drill guide and whether the applied axial force is at the desirable pressure for an optimum result.\",\n \"The axial force alert can include an alarm or other auditory signal, a light or other visual signal, a vibration or other tactile signal, or a combination thereof.\",\n \"In an embodiment, the visual output can be an LED light or graphical interface positioned in the line of sight with the work, for example near or at the proximal end or back of the device.\",\n \"The output of the axial force alert can be proportional to the axial force being applied.\",\n \"For example, the axial force alert can include a light that can change color or a plurality of lights that sequentially illuminate depending on the axial force applied.\",\n \"Alternatively, the axial force alert can include an auditory alert that changes pitch or frequency depending on the axial force applied.\",\n \"In use, the user can inadvertently lighten manually applied forward (or axial) pressure on the instrument 10 that can result in a slowing of progress into the work and consequently the drill guide from backing away from the work.\",\n \"A user can maintain forward pressure on the instrument 10 such that the working tool 110 drives into the bone distally as the guides retract in a proximal direction.\",\n \"If a user does not maintain forward pressure the instrument 10 can be pushed in a proximal direction resulting in the working tool 110 not moving into the work.\",\n \"It can be desirable, however, to use as little forward pressure on the instrument as necessary to avoid injury to the bone.\",\n \"In some embodiments, the instrument 10 can include an axial force sensor that can measure the axial force a user applies to the work.\",\n \"The axial force sensor can interact with the electronics and provide an output to the user (e.g.\",\n \"visual or auditory or other output) to indicate when an amount of pressure is being applied by the user.\",\n \"The instrument can be programmed to provide the output to the user when an appropriate amount of pressure is being applied or when the pressure being applied falls outside a programmed range.\",\n \"In one example, LED lights can be positioned near a proximal end of the instrument within a user's line-of-sight such that the axial force applied can be visualized.\",\n \"For example, a flashing white LED can mean too little axial pressure is being applied, a green LED can mean the axial pressure is in a desired range and a flashing red LED can mean the axial pressure is too high.\",\n \"The instruments described herein can also include a torque sensor that detects the torque applied by the rotational motor and a torque alert.\",\n \"As described previously in reference to the axial force alert, the torque alert can also include an alarm or other auditory signal, a light or other visual signal, a vibration or other tactile signal, or a combination thereof.\",\n \"For example, the sensed torque similar to the sensed axial force can be displayed visually such as on a graphical interface in the line of sight with the work.\",\n \"The torque alert can also be proportional relative to the torque being applied.\",\n \"Further, the output for the axial force alert can be distinguishable from the output for the torque alert.\",\n \"For example, a first auditory signal can be provided by the axial force alert proportional to the axial force and a second auditory signal can be provided by the torque alert proportional to the torque applied.\",\n \"The auditory signals from the two alerts can be distinguishable by the user as being separate.\",\n \"For example, the axial force alert can be a different pitched auditory signal compared to the torque alert.\",\n \"In another embodiment, the axial force alert can signal the user only when conditions at the work change, whereas the torque alert can be a continuous signal, such as a sound with a variable pitch that is proportional to the torque or energy being sensed.\",\n \"It should be appreciated that any number of sensors and a variety of alerts or graphical information can be used singly or in combination as is known in the art.\",\n \"The systems described herein can also provide information to the user regarding optimal screw placement even in the case of a shared or convergent drill hole for the placement of interference screws, such as screws that are purposefully touching.\",\n \"Clinically, a user can feel when an interference screw is contacted by a drilling or driving device.\",\n \"However, once the interference screw is engaged the distal cortex can no longer be clinically felt by the user and a myriad of potential problems exist with regard to injury of distal structures.\",\n \"Both the interference screw and the distal cortex can be detected by tracking changes in the metrics, for example current or measured torque.\",\n \"The data can be used to inform the user in real-time when the instrument is in contact with one or more of the bone cortices or the screw.\",\n \"Similarly, the instruments described herein can provide instant, intra-operative feedback on drill bit performance such as drill flute clogging and the assessment of drill bit sharpness using a calibration block.\",\n \"Material strength and bone density can be determined by comparing intraoperative metrics such as current, measured torque or axial force with existing empirical data obtained while drilling with known drill bit sizes, drill bit types, axial feed rates and motor RPMs.\",\n \"The instruments described herein therefore can be useful in diagnosing bone pathologies such as osteoporosis and the detection of holes or fractures in the bone being drilled.\",\n \"Further, material strength and bone density data can assist a user in choosing an appropriate fixation technique, e.g.\",\n \"non-locking (cortical or cancellous) versus locking (unicortical or bicortical).\",\n \"Conventionally, to select the appropriate fixation technique a user must make an educated guess or using bone density data obtained prior to the fracture to estimate local material strength at the fracture fixation site.\",\n \"For example, dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) scans are commonly used to measure bone density and monitor osteopenia or osteoporosis treatments.\",\n \"But a DEXA scan cannot be performed acutely for a fracture patient and the standardized regional measurements may not be relevant at the fracture site.\",\n \"The instruments described herein provide an advantage in that determination of bone strength and bone density can be performed in acute situations and in real-time at the fracture site.\",\n \"Drilling torque (or energy) of the working tool is related to the properties of the bone, such as its material strength and its bone density.\",\n \"One or more of the sensors described herein can be used to estimate the material strength and bone density such that the instrument can detect transitions between different types of bone, as well as entry and exit from bone in real-time.\",\n \"As shown in FIG.\",\n \"15, a motor 60 can rotate and produce a motor torque Tm that is in the direction of rotation of a working tool 110 coupled to the motor 60.Drilling torque Td is opposite the direction of rotation of the working tool 110.A gearbox 75 can be incorporated in the instrument to convert the high-speed, low-torque operation of the motor 60 to a higher torque working tool 110 speed.\",\n \"The gearbox 75 can exhibit an additional torque component Tg due to internal energy losses, such as mechanical losses in the form of drag that counteracts torque and can result in a loss of energy between the motor 60 and the working tool 110.Gearbox torque Tg is also opposite the direction of rotation of the working tool 110.The motor 60 can be held as the reference point and the motor torque Tm measured electronically.\",\n \"In this embodiment, the instrument measures the current required to operate the motor 60, for example a brushless DC motor with a Hall Sensor that operates a drive train, and the motor 60 acts as both the actuator and the sensor.\",\n \"Motor torque measurements in this embodiment include both drilling torque Td and gearbox Tg losses.\",\n \"The gearbox inefficiencies can affect the accuracy of the torque measurements.\",\n \"The error in estimating the drilling torque component can be more pronounced for larger gear ratios in that more gears have more surface contact and thus, more drag.\",\n \"In another embodiment, the instrument can directly measure torque (see FIG.\",\n \"16).\",\n \"The gearbox 75 is held as a reference point for the torque measurement and only the drilling torque Td is measured.\",\n \"Measurements of the drilling torque Td can be taken at the output of the gearbox 75 such that internal gearbox losses are not included in the torque measurement although the motor 60 may still drive against the internal drag.\",\n \"A discrete sensor can be incorporated in the instrument to convert the drilling torque Td into a measurement signal.\",\n \"A mechanical beam or level can be incorporated to support the gearbox 75 and convert the torque Td into a linear force.\",\n \"The linear force can be converted into an electrical signal using a strain gauge load cell or scale or other torque sensor 77 to measure the resulting linear force.\",\n \"The direct torque measurement does not measure the energy lost internally to the gearbox 75 or the other motor components.\",\n \"The motor 60 can exert torque between its shaft and housing, which can be rigid mounted to the gearbox 75.In this embodiment, the torque required to overcome the internal losses of the gearbox 75 can be transferred through the housing of the motor 60 and gearbox 75 and the mechanical path does not include a torque sensor.\",\n \"The torque sensor 77 can, instead be positioned between the gearbox housing 75 and the working tool 110 by attaching the torque sensor 77 to the drill housing.\",\n \"The user can hold the body 20 of the instrument 10, which is rigidly attached to the gearbox housing 75.Although motor self-torque measurement can be more convenient since no additional sensor is needed, the accuracy can be lower than for a direct torque measurement in which a torque sensor is used.\",\n \"Direct torque measurements from a manufacturing standpoint can also allow one to design the gearbox independently from the torque measurement sensitivity.\",\n \"The instrument 10 can be a corded or cordless powered instrument.\",\n \"In an embodiment, the instrument 10 includes and is powered by a removable battery 360 (see FIG.\",\n \"5).\",\n \"The battery 360 can be enclosed within a battery cover 362 capped on the bottom by a battery case cover 364.The body 20 can accept battery release buttons 366.The battery 360 can have different chemical compositions or characteristics.\",\n \"For instance, batteries can include lead-acid, nickel cadmium, nickel metal hydride, silver-oxide, mercury oxide, lithium ion, lithium ion polymer, or other lithium chemistries.\",\n \"The instruments can also include rechargeable batteries using either a DC power-port, induction, solar cells or the like for recharging.\",\n \"Power systems known in the art for powering medical devices for use in the operating room are to be considered herein.\",\n \"Methods of Use Below is an example of a method of using an instrument described herein.\",\n \"It should be appreciated that a variety of driving devices or working tools can be coupled to the instruments described herein.\",\n \"Description related to guides on a drilling device having a drill bit coupled thereto is not intended to be limited to only drills and drilling bores.\",\n \"Rather, the instruments and guides can be used to saw or drive into tissues as described herein.\",\n \"It should be appreciated that any of the instruments described herein can be coupled to robotic arms or robotic systems or other computer-assisted surgical systems in which the user uses a computer console to manipulate the controls of the instrument.\",\n \"The computer can translate the user's movements and actuation of the controls to be then carried out on the patient by the robotic arm.\",\n \"Robotics can provide real-time pre- and inter-operative tactile and/or auditory feedback along with visualization, such as three-dimensional modeling.\",\n \"The robotic system can have an articulated endowrist at the end of two or more “working” arms configured to be inserted through a small portal.\",\n \"A stable, camera arm with two lenses (allowing stereoscopic images) can be also inserted through another small portal.\",\n \"The end-effectors can manipulate instruments and can have various degrees of freedom.\",\n \"The user can control the robot through a console placed in the operating room, allowing control of both the external and internal surgical environments.\",\n \"The user's interface can have instrument controllers that can filter tremor and decrease the scale of motion.\",\n \"Foot pedals can expand the user's repertoire, allowing tissue coagulation and irrigation.\",\n \"Visual feedback can be through a stereoscopic display.\",\n \"Robotic systems to which the devices disclosed herein can be coupled include the Haptic Guidance System or RIO® Systems (MAKO Surgical Corp, Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.) and the da Vinci® Surgical Systems (Intuitive Surgical, Sunnyvale, Calif.).\",\n \"Other surgical robots can be considered as well including the Robot-Assisted Micro-Surgery (RAMS) system (MicroDexterity Systems, Inc.), NeuroArm® (University of Calgary), Zeus® Surgical robots, SpineAssist (Mazor Surgical Technologies, Israel), ROBODOC and ORTHODOC (Curexo Technology Corp., Fremont, Calif.), ACROBOT (Acrobot, Elstree, UK), PathFinder (Prosurgics Ltd., Loudwater, High Wycombe, UK), and Laprotek system (Hansen Medical, Inc.).\",\n \"Other robotic arms can be used with the instruments described herein such that the instrument can be independently controlled by the robot as opposed to direct manipulation by the user.\",\n \"In one embodiment of the method, the user can dissect tissue down to the bone and create a field large enough to put against the bone the working tool 110 or distal guide 170 or an implant attached to the distal guide 170.Screws can be placed across fractures without any other implants or a plate can be fixed across the fracture by bone screws.\",\n \"The screws can lock into the plate and bone.\",\n \"When a plate is to be used, the user can create a field large enough to place the plate.\",\n \"Alternatively, the plate can be inserted through a small incision such that the user can slide it along the surface of the bone in combination of blunt dissection of the tissue along the way (i.e.\",\n \"subcutaneous plate).\",\n \"The screws can be placed, for example using a radiograph to find the holes in the plate, through small incisions through the skin with dissection down to the bone.\",\n \"The surrounding tissue can be protected using retractors, a guide through which the working tool is inserted, attachable guides placed on the instrument and the like.\",\n \"If a distal guide 170 is used, the length of the guide 170 can be accounted for in the depth measurement.\",\n \"If a guide 170 attached to an implant is used, the depth can be automatically or manually zeroed.\",\n \"For example, if a plate is used the thickness of the plate can be automatically or manually accounted for in the zeroing.\",\n \"The working end of the instrument 10, with or without a distal guide 170, can be placed next to the exposed and dissected bone and the instrument zeroed.\",\n \"Alternatively, the user can extend a few millimeters of the working tool 110 to engage the bone and drill a counter-sink or pilot hole prior to zeroing the instrument 10.Where a fixation plate is used, the plate can be placed next to the bone and the drill end placed snug to the plate.\",\n \"Alternatively, some plates have guides that interface such that the instrument is directed at a selected angle.\",\n \"The instruments disclosed herein can be made such that they attach to or freely engage these types of distal guides 170.The user can apply pressure axially and engage first the rotational drive motor 60 to the desired speed.\",\n \"The user can proceed to engage the axial drive motor 30 either continuously or incrementally, depending upon the material strength and bone density and preference of the user.\",\n \"The drilling can continue through the cortical bone, through the medullary canal or cancellous bone, into and through the distal cortical bone.\",\n \"Once through the distal cortical bone as determined by pre-set depth control mechanism, axial resistance, auditory feedback from the rotational speed of the drill bit and/or auditory feedback from acceleration or torque sensors, the axial movement can be stopped.\",\n \"The user can remove the working tool 110 by reversing the axial drive motor 30 or by pulling back on the instrument 10.The rotational drive motor 60 can be left engaged and in the forward direction to facilitate clearing the hole created.\",\n \"The user can read the depth on the display 236 and select the proper screw for implantation.\",\n \"The screw can be implanted using a screw driver or the like.\",\n \"In another method, the user can perform a unicortical procedure wherein the working tool is stopped prior to some other endpoint such as before or after a growth plate or before or after the distal cortex.\",\n \"In use, an instrument 10, such as the instrument shown in FIG.\",\n \"4, can be set against exposed bone or, if used, the fracture fixation plate or other type of implant such as a joint prosthetic.\",\n \"The appropriate zero-depth position can be determined automatically.\",\n \"Once the user activates the trigger 232, the guide 170 as well as the guides 300, 302 retracts in the proximal direction (arrow P) and the working tool 110 can extend through the guide 170.The working tool 110 can engage the work and bore into the work as the user applies pressure to the instrument 10 and keeps it engaged with the work.\",\n \"The working tool 110 can drill into the bone by the amount the guide 170 retracts.\",\n \"The guide 170 retraction can be measured instantaneously and shown on a display, for example a display positioned at the back of the instrument 10.The automatic determination of the zero-position whether set against bone or against a fracture fixation plate can depend upon algorithms related to the way the guide 170 sets against the bone or the plate and the thickness of the plate.\",\n \"These variables can be unique to each plating system and set of guides.\",\n \"The depth of the travel of working tool 110 into the work, and/or the instantaneous torque or torque curve, can be measured and shown on the display 236 simultaneously and instantaneously as the working tool 110 moves axially in a distal direction and penetrates the work.\",\n \"Once the desired depth of penetration is reached, the reverse trigger 234 can be actuated to cause both of the drive motors 30, 60 to reverse their direction.\",\n \"The action of the axial drive motor 30 can cause the drive lug 240, the rear surface guide 300, the forward surface guide 302 and the guide 170 to move in an axial direction away from the body 20 of the instrument 10 in a distal direction such that the axial movement pushes the instrument body 20 away from the work and draws the tool 110 out of the work.\",\n \"Alternatively, the operator can pull the tool 110 from the work with the instrument either on (in any direction) or off.\",\n \"Aspects of the subject matter described herein may be realized in digital electronic circuitry, integrated circuitry, specially designed ASICs (application specific integrated circuits), computer hardware, firmware, software, and/or combinations thereof.\",\n \"These various implementations may include implementation in one or more computer programs that are executable and/or interpretable on a programmable system including at least one programmable processor, which may be special or general purpose, coupled to receive data and instructions from, and to transmit data and instructions to, a storage system, at least one input device, and at least one output device.\",\n \"For example, a software program can be incorporated into the device that takes advantage of the reproducible relationship between current, torque, material strength and density in a system where the RPM of the rotational motor is held constant.\",\n \"Current is proportional to torque and torque is proportional to bone strength and density.\",\n \"As such the software can correlate the current the motor uses during drilling or sawing to the material strength and bone density.\",\n \"Such a software program can be used to measure material strength and bone density in real-time by reading the current being used by the motor.\",\n \"The software program can also be used to control RPM, feed rate, current and/or voltage.\",\n \"These computer programs (also known as programs, software, software applications or code) include machine instructions for a programmable processor, and may be implemented in a high-level procedural and/or object-oriented programming language, and/or in assembly/machine language.\",\n \"As used herein, the term “machine-readable medium” refers to any computer program product, apparatus and/or device (e.g., magnetic discs, optical disks, memory, Programmable Logic Devices (PLDs)) used to provide machine instructions and/or data to a programmable processor, including a machine-readable medium that receives machine instructions as a machine-readable signal.\",\n \"The term “machine-readable signal” refers to any signal used to provide machine instructions and/or data to a programmable processor.\",\n \"While this specification contains many specifics, these should not be construed as limitations on the scope of the claims or of what can be claimed, but rather as descriptions of features specific to particular embodiments.\",\n \"Certain features that are described in this specification in the context of separate embodiments can also be implemented in combination in a single embodiment.\",\n \"Conversely, various features that are described in the context of a single embodiment can also be implemented in multiple embodiments separately or in any suitable sub-combination.\",\n \"For example, a current sensing mechanism can be incorporated into a drill or saw device and used independently of a depth-control mechanism.\",\n \"Similarly, a depth-control mechanism can be incorporated into a device that does not include other sensing mechanisms.\",\n \"Moreover, although features can be described above as acting in certain combinations and even initially claimed as such, one or more features from a claimed combination can in some cases be excised from the combination, and the claimed combination can be directed to a sub-combination or a variation of a sub-combination.\",\n \"Similarly, while operations are depicted in the drawings in a particular order, this should not be understood as requiring that such operations be performed in the particular order shown or in sequential order, or that all illustrated operations be performed, to achieve desirable results.\",\n \"Although embodiments of various methods and devices are described herein in detail with reference to certain versions, it should be appreciated that other versions, embodiments, methods of use, and combinations thereof are also possible.\",\n \"Therefore the spirit and scope of the appended claims should not be limited to the description of the embodiments contained herein.\"\n ]\n]"},"source":{"kind":"string","value":"Patent_15876078"}}},{"rowIdx":4495072,"cells":{"text":{"kind":"list like","value":[["MULTI-CHIP PACKAGE AND METHOD OF PROVIDING DIE-TO-DIE INTERCONNECTS IN SAME","A multi-chip package includes a substrate (110) having a first side (111), an opposing second side (112), and a third side (213) that extends from the first side to the second side, a first die (120) attached to the first side of the substrate and a second die (130) attached to the first side of the substrate, and a bridge (140) adjacent to the third side of the substrate and attached to the first die and to the second die.","No portion of the substrate is underneath the bridge.","The bridge creates a connection between the first die and the second die.","Alternatively, the bridge may be disposed in a cavity (615, 915) in the substrate or between the substrate and a die layer (750).","The bridge may constitute an active die and may be attached to the substrate using wirebonds (241, 841, 1141, 1541)."],["1.A multi-chip package comprising: a substrate having a first side, an opposing second side, and a third side that extends from the first side to the second side, the third side constituting a portion of an outside perimeter of the substrate; a first die attached to the first side of the substrate and a second die attached to the first side of the substrate; and a bridge adjacent to the third side of the substrate and attached to the first die and to the second die, wherein no portion of the substrate is underneath the bridge and wherein the bridge creates a connection between the first die and the second die.","2.A method of providing die-to-die interconnects in a multi-chip package, the method comprising: providing a substrate having a first side, an opposing second side, and a third side that extends from the first side to the second side; attaching a first die to the first side of the substrate such that a portion of the first die extends beyond an edge of the first side of the substrate; attaching a second die to the first side of the substrate such that a portion of the second die extends beyond the edge of the first side of the substrate; providing a bridge containing a plurality of electrically or optically conductive features; positioning the bridge adjacent to the third side of the substrate such that no portion of the substrate is underneath the bridge; and attaching the bridge to the first die and to the second die, thereby creating a connection between the first die and the second die.","3.The method of claim 2 wherein: the bridge comprises silicon.","4.The method of claim 3 wherein: the bridge comprises an active die that constitutes a third die of the multi-chip package; and the bridge is attached to the first die and to the second die using flip-chip connections.","5.The method of claim 4 further comprising: attaching the bridge to the substrate using a wirebond.","6.The method of claim 3 wherein: attaching the bridge comprises using a thermocompression bonding process.","7.The method of claim 3 wherein: attaching the bridge comprises using a solder reflow process.","8.The method of claim 3 wherein: providing the substrate comprises forming an aperture through the substrate such that the third side constitutes a portion of an inside perimeter of the substrate.","9.The method of claim 3 wherein: providing the substrate comprises forming a slot in the substrate such that the third side constitutes a portion of an outside perimeter of the substrate.","10.A method of providing die-to-die interconnects in a multi-chip package, the method comprising: attaching a first die and a second die to a carrier; attaching a bridge to the first die and to the second die; providing a substrate; and attaching the first die and the second die to the substrate.","11.The method of claim 10 wherein: the substrate has a cavity therein; and attaching the first die and the second die to the substrate comprises locating the bridge within the cavity.","12.The method of claim 10 further comprising: removing the carrier.","13.The method of claim 10 wherein: the carrier comprises a heat spreader.","14.The method of claim 10 wherein: attaching the bridge comprises using a thermocompression bonding process.","15.The method of claim 10 wherein: the bridge comprises silicon.","16.The method of claim 15 wherein: the bridge comprises an active die that constitutes a third die of the multi-chip package; the bridge is attached to the first die and to the second die using flip-chip connections; and the method further comprises attaching the bridge to the substrate using a wirebond.","17.A multi-chip package comprising: a substrate containing a cavity having a plurality of pads therein; a first die attached to the substrate and a second die attached to the substrate; a bridge having a first side and an opposing second side; and a plurality of joints at the second side of the bridge, wherein: the first die and the second die are attached to the first side of the bridge; at least a portion of the bridge is located within the cavity such that the plurality of joints are aligned with the plurality of pads; and the bridge creates a connection between the first die and the second die.","18.The multi-chip package of claim 17 wherein: the bridge comprises silicon.","19.The multi-chip package of claim 18 wherein: the bridge is attached to the first die and to the second die using flip-chip connections; the bridge comprises an active die that constitutes a third die of the multi-chip package; and the bridge is attached to the substrate using a wirebond.","20.The multi-chip package of claim 18 wherein: the first die has a first portion containing a first plurality of interconnect structures and a second portion containing a second plurality of interconnect structures; the second die has a third portion containing a third plurality of interconnect structures and a fourth portion containing a fourth plurality of interconnect structures; the first plurality of interconnect structures and the third plurality of interconnect structures have a first pitch; the second plurality of interconnect structures and the fourth plurality of interconnect structures have a second pitch that is different from the first pitch; and the first portion and the third portion are attached to the bridge.","21.A method of providing die-to-die interconnects in a multi-chip package, the method comprising: providing a substrate having a plurality of embedded pads; forming a cavity in the substrate such that the pads are exposed at a floor of the cavity; providing a bridge having bumps thereon corresponding to the pads; placing the bridge in the cavity and aligning the bumps and the pads to each other; providing a first die and a second die; and attaching the first die and the second die to the bridge and the substrate.","22.The method of claim 21 wherein: the bridge comprises silicon.","23.The method of claim 22 wherein: the bridge comprises an active die that constitutes a third die of the multi-chip package; the bridge is attached to the first die and to the second die using flip-chip connections; and the method further comprises attaching the bridge to the substrate using a wirebond.","24.The method of claim 22 wherein: forming the cavity comprises using one of a laser milling and a plasma etching process.","25.A multi-chip package comprising: a substrate; a first active die attached to the substrate using a first flip-chip connection; and a second active die, wherein the second active die is attached to the first active die using a second flip-chip connection and wherein the second active die is also attached to the substrate using a wirebond, wherein: the second active die has a first region and a second region; the first region is an overlap region located between the substrate and a portion of the first active die; and the second flip-chip connection is located in the first region of the second active die and the wirebond is attached to the second active die in the second region.","26.The multi-chip package of claim 25 wherein: the first region of the second active die has a first section and a second section; and the first section contains a first plurality of flip-chip connections having a first density and the second section contains a second plurality of flip-chip connections having a second density less than the first density.","27.The multi-chip package of claim 26 wherein: the first region further comprises a third section that contains a third plurality of flip-chip connections having a third density less than the first density; and the first section is located between the second section and the third section.","28.The multi-chip package of claim 25 wherein: the substrate contains a cavity; and the second active die is at least partially located in the cavity.","29.A method of providing die-to-die interconnects in a multi-chip package, the method comprising: providing a substrate; attaching a first active die to the substrate using a first flip-chip connection; attaching a second active die to the first active die using a second flip-chip connection; and attaching the second active die to the substrate.","30.The method of claim 29 wherein: the second active die is attached to the substrate using a wirebond.","31.A multi-chip package comprising: a substrate; a first active die attached to the substrate using a first flip-chip connection; a second active die, wherein the second active die is attached to the first active die using a second flip-chip connection and wherein the second active die is also attached to the substrate using a wirebond; and a third active die attached to the substrate using a third flip-chip connection and attached to the second active die using a fourth flip-chip connection, wherein: the second active die connects the first active die to the third active die; the second active die has a first region, a second region, and a third region; the first region is a first overlap region located between the substrate and a portion of the first active die; the third region is a second overlap region located between the substrate and a portion of the third active die; the second flip-chip connection is located in the first region of the second active die and the wirebond is attached to the second active die in the second region; and the fourth flip-chip connection is located in the third region of the second active die.","32.The multi-chip package of claim 31 wherein: the first region of the second die has a first section and a second section; the third region of the second die has a third section and a fourth section; the first section contains a first plurality of flip-chip connections having a first density and the second section contains a second plurality of flip-chip connections having a second density less than the first density; and the third section contains a third plurality of flip-chip connections having a third density and the fourth section contains a fourth plurality of flip-chip connections having a fourth density less than the third density.","33.The multi-chip package of claim 32 wherein: the second active die comprises electrically or optically conductive traces extending between the first section and the third section; and the electrically or optically conductive traces connect the first active die to the third active die.","34.The multi-chip package of claim 31 wherein: the substrate contains a cavity; and the second active die is at least partially located in the cavity.","35.A method of providing die-to-die interconnects in a multi-chip package, the method comprising: providing a substrate; attaching a first active die to the substrate using a first flip-chip connection; attaching a second active die to the substrate using a second flip-chip connection; attaching a third active die to the first active die using a third flip-chip connection; attaching the third active die to the second active die using a fourth flip-chip connection; and attaching the third active die to the substrate.","36.The method of claim 35 wherein: the third active die is attached to the substrate using a wirebond."],[" BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION A continuing focus of the microelectronics industry is the enablement of computer chips (also referred to as dies) having greater density, higher performance, and lower cost.","As part of this effort, microelectronic packages containing multiple dies have been developed.","Such multi-chip packages (MCPs) offer the potential for increased architectural flexibility at reduced cost but to do so must provide appropriate die-to-die interconnect densities in a way that is cost-effective.","The interconnect density is an important consideration because an insufficient number of die connections would limit the bandwidth capability for the affected die interface, and thus logic-logic and/or logic-memory communications would suffer."],[" BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The disclosed embodiments will be better understood from a reading of the following detailed description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying figures in the drawings in which: FIGS.","1A, 1B, and 1C are plan views of a multi-chip package according to various embodiments of the invention; FIG.","2 is a cross-sectional view of the multi-chip package of FIG.","1C according to an embodiment of the invention; FIGS.","3 and 4 are flowcharts illustrating methods of providing die-to-die interconnects in a multi-chip package according to embodiments of the invention; FIGS.","5-8 are cross-sectional views of multi-chip packages at various particular points in their manufacturing processes according to embodiments of the invention; FIG.","9 is a cross-sectional view of a multi-chip package according to another embodiment of the invention; FIG.","10 is a flowchart illustrating a method of providing die-to-die interconnects in a multi-chip package according to another embodiment of the invention; FIG.","11A is a plan view and FIGS.","11B and 11C are cross-sectional views of a multi-chip package according to other embodiments of the invention; FIG.","12 is a plan view of one of the active dies in the multi-chip package of FIGS.","11A-11C according to an embodiment of the invention; FIG.","13 is a plan view of an active die according to an embodiment of the invention; FIG.","14 is a flowchart illustrating a method of providing die-to-die interconnects in a multi-chip package according to another embodiment of the invention; FIG.","15 is a plan view of a multi-chip package according to another embodiment of the invention; FIG.","16 illustrates some examples of multi-chip package geometries according to various embodiments of the invention; and FIG.","17 is a flowchart illustrating a method of providing die-to-die interconnects in a multi-chip package according to another embodiment of the invention.","detailed-description description=\"Detailed Description\" end=\"lead\"?","For simplicity and clarity of illustration, the drawing figures illustrate the general manner of construction, and descriptions and details of well-known features and techniques may be omitted to avoid unnecessarily obscuring the discussion of the described embodiments of the invention.","Additionally, elements in the drawing figures are not necessarily drawn to scale.","For example, the dimensions of some of the elements in the figures may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help improve understanding of embodiments of the present invention.","The same reference numerals in different figures denote the same elements, while similar reference numerals may, but do not necessarily, denote similar elements.","The terms “first,” “second,” “third,” “fourth,” and the like in the description and in the claims, if any, are used for distinguishing between similar elements and not necessarily for describing a particular sequential or chronological order.","It is to be understood that the terms so used are interchangeable under appropriate circumstances such that the embodiments of the invention described herein are, for example, capable of operation in sequences other than those illustrated or otherwise described herein.","Similarly, if a method is described herein as comprising a series of steps, the order of such steps as presented herein is not necessarily the only order in which such steps may be performed, and certain of the stated steps may possibly be omitted and/or certain other steps not described herein may possibly be added to the method.","Furthermore, the terms “comprise,” “include,” “have,” and any variations thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of elements is not necessarily limited to those elements, but may include other elements not expressly listed or inherent to such process, method, article, or apparatus.","The terms “left,” “right,” “front,” “back,” “top,” “bottom,” “over,” “under,” and the like in the description and in the claims, if any, are used for descriptive purposes and not necessarily for describing permanent relative positions.","It is to be understood that the terms so used are interchangeable under appropriate circumstances such that the embodiments of the invention described herein are, for example, capable of operation in other orientations than those illustrated or otherwise described herein.","The term “coupled,” as used herein, is defined as directly or indirectly connected in an electrical or non-electrical manner.","Objects described herein as being “adjacent to” each other may be in physical contact with each other, in close proximity to each other, or in the same general region or area as each other, as appropriate for the context in which the phrase is used.","Occurrences of the phrase “in one embodiment” herein do not necessarily all refer to the same embodiment."],["CLAIM OF PRIORITY This application is a divisional of U.S. patent application Ser.","No.","13/531,827 filed Jun.","25, 2012, which is a divisional of U.S. patent application Ser.","No.","12/459,007, now U.S. Pat.","No.","8,227,904, which was filed on Jun.","24, 2009.FIELD OF THE INVENTION The disclosed embodiments of the invention relate generally to multi-chip packages, and relate more particularly to interconnect structures in such packages.","BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION A continuing focus of the microelectronics industry is the enablement of computer chips (also referred to as dies) having greater density, higher performance, and lower cost.","As part of this effort, microelectronic packages containing multiple dies have been developed.","Such multi-chip packages (MCPs) offer the potential for increased architectural flexibility at reduced cost but to do so must provide appropriate die-to-die interconnect densities in a way that is cost-effective.","The interconnect density is an important consideration because an insufficient number of die connections would limit the bandwidth capability for the affected die interface, and thus logic-logic and/or logic-memory communications would suffer.","BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The disclosed embodiments will be better understood from a reading of the following detailed description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying figures in the drawings in which: FIGS.","1A, 1B, and 1C are plan views of a multi-chip package according to various embodiments of the invention; FIG.","2 is a cross-sectional view of the multi-chip package of FIG.","1C according to an embodiment of the invention; FIGS.","3 and 4 are flowcharts illustrating methods of providing die-to-die interconnects in a multi-chip package according to embodiments of the invention; FIGS.","5-8 are cross-sectional views of multi-chip packages at various particular points in their manufacturing processes according to embodiments of the invention; FIG.","9 is a cross-sectional view of a multi-chip package according to another embodiment of the invention; FIG.","10 is a flowchart illustrating a method of providing die-to-die interconnects in a multi-chip package according to another embodiment of the invention; FIG.","11A is a plan view and FIGS.","11B and 11C are cross-sectional views of a multi-chip package according to other embodiments of the invention; FIG.","12 is a plan view of one of the active dies in the multi-chip package of FIGS.","11A-11C according to an embodiment of the invention; FIG.","13 is a plan view of an active die according to an embodiment of the invention; FIG.","14 is a flowchart illustrating a method of providing die-to-die interconnects in a multi-chip package according to another embodiment of the invention; FIG.","15 is a plan view of a multi-chip package according to another embodiment of the invention; FIG.","16 illustrates some examples of multi-chip package geometries according to various embodiments of the invention; and FIG.","17 is a flowchart illustrating a method of providing die-to-die interconnects in a multi-chip package according to another embodiment of the invention.","For simplicity and clarity of illustration, the drawing figures illustrate the general manner of construction, and descriptions and details of well-known features and techniques may be omitted to avoid unnecessarily obscuring the discussion of the described embodiments of the invention.","Additionally, elements in the drawing figures are not necessarily drawn to scale.","For example, the dimensions of some of the elements in the figures may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help improve understanding of embodiments of the present invention.","The same reference numerals in different figures denote the same elements, while similar reference numerals may, but do not necessarily, denote similar elements.","The terms “first,” “second,” “third,” “fourth,” and the like in the description and in the claims, if any, are used for distinguishing between similar elements and not necessarily for describing a particular sequential or chronological order.","It is to be understood that the terms so used are interchangeable under appropriate circumstances such that the embodiments of the invention described herein are, for example, capable of operation in sequences other than those illustrated or otherwise described herein.","Similarly, if a method is described herein as comprising a series of steps, the order of such steps as presented herein is not necessarily the only order in which such steps may be performed, and certain of the stated steps may possibly be omitted and/or certain other steps not described herein may possibly be added to the method.","Furthermore, the terms “comprise,” “include,” “have,” and any variations thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of elements is not necessarily limited to those elements, but may include other elements not expressly listed or inherent to such process, method, article, or apparatus.","The terms “left,” “right,” “front,” “back,” “top,” “bottom,” “over,” “under,” and the like in the description and in the claims, if any, are used for descriptive purposes and not necessarily for describing permanent relative positions.","It is to be understood that the terms so used are interchangeable under appropriate circumstances such that the embodiments of the invention described herein are, for example, capable of operation in other orientations than those illustrated or otherwise described herein.","The term “coupled,” as used herein, is defined as directly or indirectly connected in an electrical or non-electrical manner.","Objects described herein as being “adjacent to” each other may be in physical contact with each other, in close proximity to each other, or in the same general region or area as each other, as appropriate for the context in which the phrase is used.","Occurrences of the phrase “in one embodiment” herein do not necessarily all refer to the same embodiment.","DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In one embodiment of the invention, a multi-chip package comprises a substrate having a first side, an opposing second side, and a third side that extends from the first side to the second side, a first die attached to the first side of the substrate and a second die also attached to the first side of the substrate, and a bridge adjacent to the third side of the substrate and attached to the first die and to the second die.","No portion of the substrate is underneath the bridge.","The bridge creates a connection between the first die and the second die.","Alternatively, the bridge may be disposed in a cavity in the substrate or between the substrate and a die layer.","The bridge may constitute an active die and may be attached to the substrate using wirebonds.","Shrinking die sizes coupled with increasing die performance requirements dictate that the density of the corresponding die-to-die interconnects must be increased.","As may be expected, several manufacturing issues must be addressed in order to accomplish this goal.","One such issue is the difficulty inherent in fabricating interconnects within an organic substrate material.","In order to overcome this problem, a silicon interposer sandwiched between the dies and the package substrate has been proposed.","The use of a standard copper damascene process allows fabrication of lines and spaces of submicron dimensions.","However, the large silicon interposer area and need for through-silicon vias (TSVs) make this approach an expensive one, thus negating the perceived MCP-derived cost benefits.","Embodiments of the invention enable density scaling of interconnect structures that represents an accelerated improvement over existing technology generations by making use of silicon bridges (or bridges made of other materials) that are embedded in or attached to the package substrate.","These bridges need to support only the dense die-to-die interconnect from die edge to die edge and can consequently be much smaller than a silicon interposer.","The silicon bridge concept also eliminates the need for TSV technology.","In addition to greatly increased communication bandwidth due to high density interconnect structures, embodiments of the invention may also enable improved assembly processes due (at least in part) to the maturity of silicon process technology.","Certain embodiments of the invention may enable the fabrication of MCPs having unprecedented die-to-die interconnect densities that would in turn enable MCP-type cost savings, modularity, and architectural flexibility.","Examples of such potential benefits include improved reticle and wafer utilization by die aspect ratio optimization, the ability to combine within a single package dies using different optimized silicon (or other) processes or dies incorporating differing or incompatible design methodologies, the potential to assemble non-rectangular or large “super-dies,” the ability to combine dies or die stacks with differing heights, and others.","Embodiments of the invention also enable the precise alignment of bridges, including silicon bridges, to a package substrate.","Such alignment may be important in the creation of an overall well-defined bump field for subsequent die attach, especially in view of the high interconnect densities targeted on the silicon bridges.","Furthermore, an on-die type density may allow reuse of existing circuit designs with minimal modification, and many available pins at the die-package interface may enable simple protocols and good input/output (I/O) power efficiency.","Some embodiments of the invention make use of a hybrid flip-chip/wirebond assembled active “satellite” die (or dies) where the die is flip-chip connected to at least one processing unit die and is also connected by wirebond directly to the package substrate.","The processing unit die is assembled to the package substrate using flip-chip interconnects.","The flip-chip interconnects between the satellite die and the processing unit die enable high-density, high-speed communication between the satellite die and the processing unit die and also (where multiple processing unit dies are involved) allow the satellite die to play the role of a high-speed silicon bridge enabling high-speed, high-density connectivity between two or more processing unit dies in addition to providing the active functionality of the satellite die to one or more of the processing unit dies.","The wirebond connections to the satellite die allow for power delivery to that die and further allow additional I/O or control signal connectivity apart from that provided by the flip chip connections to the processing unit die(s).","As with the embodiments described above, TSVs are avoided altogether.","Referring now to the drawings, FIGS.","1A, 1B, and 1C are plan views of a multi-chip package 100 according to various embodiments of the invention and FIG.","2 is a cross-sectional view, taken at a line 2-2 in FIG.","1C, of multi-chip package 100 according to an embodiment of the invention.","(Views of corresponding cross sections of FIGS.","1A and 1B would be very similar or identical to the cross section depicted in FIG.","2.)","As illustrated in FIGS.","1A-1C and FIG.","2, multi-chip package 100 comprises a substrate 110 having a side 111, an opposing side 112, and a side 213 that extends from side 111 to side 112.Multi-chip package 100 further comprises a die 120 and a die 130, both of which are attached to side 111 of substrate 110, and a bridge 140 adjacent to side 213 of substrate 110 and attached to die 120 and to die 130.As illustrated, and as further discussed below, no portion of substrate 110 is underneath bridge 140 such that there is an unobstructed path to dies 120 and 130 through or along substrate 110 for bridge 140.Bridge 140 creates a connection (e.g., an electrical or optical connection or the like) between die 120 and die 130 by matching electrically and/or optically conductive traces running through the bridge with pads or other interconnect structures on the dies.","In certain embodiments, as mentioned above, bridge 140 comprises silicon.","Silicon bridges are used because silicon process technology is relatively advanced, and interconnect pitches and line widths that are achievable using existing silicon process technology are significantly smaller than what is possible using, for example, currently available technology for copper lines in polymer layers.","Thus die-to-die interconnects may be constructed with much greater density when silicon bridges are used than when such interconnects are fabricated within typical organic substrate materials.","Speaking generally, embodiments of the invention employ silicon bridges with high density solder bumps and fine lines, with the latter being made using traditional silicon processes.","In some embodiments, bridge 140 can be a passive component, in that it has no functionality other than to provide a high-speed, high-density signaling pathway between dies 120 and 130.In other embodiments, bridge 140 comprises an active die, having its own functionality apart from a bridging function, that constitutes a third die (die 120 and die 130 being the first two) of multi-chip package 100.In such embodiments, bridge 140 could have a design enabled for hybrid assembly, such as having both bumps for flip-chip interconnects and pads for wirebond connections prepared on the same side (surface) of the active die.","Furthermore, such embodiments could reduce manufacturing expenses.","For example, a processing unit die requiring on-package external memory in addition to connectivity with another processing unit die could be served by a single bridge die having fast local memory functionality, thus eliminating the need for any additional components, as such a bridge would provide both functions.","As an example, the active die can be an active silicon die, or the active die can comprise other semiconducting materials such as gallium arsenide (GaAs), silicon germanium (SiGe), or any other suitable semiconducting material or combination of semiconducting materials.","Although this description will from time to time make reference to an “active silicon die,” it should be understood that active dies of any suitable semiconducting material or combination of materials are also contemplated.","It should also be understood that what are referred to herein as active dies, no matter what material or materials they are made of, have their own functionality apart from their ability to act as a bridge and provide connections between other dies.","In the illustrated embodiments, the intersection of side 111 and side 213 creates an edge 117.In FIG.","1A, edge 117 is an internal substrate edge because it lies along an inside perimeter of substrate 110.In contrast, edge 117 in FIGS.","1B and 1C is an external substrate edge because it lies along an outside perimeter of substrate 110.In the latter embodiment (FIGS.","1B and 1C), side 213 constitutes a portion of an outside perimeter of substrate 110, i.e., a perimeter that circumscribes all of substrate 110, while in the former embodiment (FIG.","1A) side 213 constitutes a portion of an inside perimeter of substrate 110, i.e., a perimeter that circumscribes an internal feature of substrate 110, such as an aperture 119, but does not circumscribe all of substrate 110.As illustrated, dies 120 and 130 are arranged such that they overhang an internal or an external edge of substrate 110: a portion 221 of die 120 overhangs edge 117 and, similarly, a portion 231 of die 130 overhangs edge 117.As suggested above, die overhang at an internal substrate edge implies substrate 110 has an aperture, such as aperture 119.In at least some embodiments this aperture is slightly larger than bridge 140.In cases where multiple bridges are desired multiple apertures may be provided, or smaller apertures can be combined into a larger aperture accommodating multiple bridges, depending on design requirements.","Overhang at an external substrate edge implies that dies 120 and 130 are mounted near the package substrate periphery, as discussed above and as illustrated in FIG.","1B.","In certain cases, however, the overhang amount may be greater than desired, which can negatively impact I/O routing, power delivery, thermal management, and the like.","These issues may possibly be overcome by using a slotted package substrate such as that shown in FIG.","1C.","It may be seen in FIG.","2 that the portions of dies 120 and 130 that overhang edge 117 (and that are connected to bridge 140), i.e., portions 221 and 231, respectively, contain interconnect structures having a much smaller pitch than do the interconnect structures at the non-overhanging portions of dies 120 and 130.This is consistent with what has been said above regarding the pitches that are achievable both within and outside of bridge 140.In one embodiment, the fine-pitch interfaces (i.e., those contained in portions 221 and 231) are formed separately from the coarse-pitch interfaces at the non-overhanging portions of dies 120 and 130.Regarding these interconnect structures, it should be mentioned that those described herein as having a “fine pitch” do not necessarily all have the same pitch as each of the other “fine pitch” interconnect structures, nor do all of the “coarse pitch” interconnect structures necessarily have the same (coarser) pitch as each of the other “coarse pitch” interconnect structures.","Rather, each of the “fine pitch” interconnect structures have, in general, a pitch that is finer than any of the “coarse pitch” interconnect structures, but individual pitch variations may exist from one interconnect structure to another.","Electrical signaling analysis for dense die-to-die interconnects for silicon bridges has shown that signaling without repeaters is possible at relevant densities and over lengths required (e.g., up to two millimeters).","Additionally, in at least one embodiment, some or all of these interconnect structures may comprise flip-chip or controlled collapse chip connect (C4) connections.","(The “flip-chip” and “C4” labels are used interchangeably herein.)","Because such connections are well known in the art the details of their structure and manufacture will not be discussed herein except to say that the manufacture is transparent to the particular technology used (whether reflow, thermocompression bonding, or some other process).","For reasons discussed below, in some embodiments (such as, for example, where bridge 140 is an active silicon die), bridge 140 is attached to substrate 110 using wirebonds 241.","(These wirebonds have been omitted from FIGS.","1A-1C in order to increase the clarity of those figures.)","Only a portion of wirebonds 241 are shown in FIG.","2 because the perspective of that figure makes it difficult to depict the full extent of the wirebonds.","It should be understood, however, that wirebonds 241 continue in an unbroken path from bridge 140 to substrate 110 in order to create an electrical connection between bridge 140 and substrate 110.As mentioned above, no TSVs are needed in bridge 140 or for the other bridges/satellite dies described herein.","The satellite dies are connected to the processing unit dies using flip-chip (face-to-face) connections in order to allow for interfacing the processing unit and satellite die I/O and for providing an interface (where desired) for die-to-die bridge functionality.","All or some of the other (slower) I/Os of the satellite die and its power and ground connects are, in certain embodiments, supplied by wirebonds.","This represents a possible cost savings.","An advantage of using wirebonding to supply the I/O and power and ground connections, rather than supplying such connections through a connected processing unit die, is that the processing unit dies would not then need the infrastructure required to provide power and additional I/Os that are not needed for the processing unit die itself, which additional infrastructure and associated overhead would likely increase the processing unit die area and significantly increase the processing unit cost.","Also, if used without a satellite die this additional infrastructure in the processing unit would be wasted.","FIG.","3 is a flowchart illustrating a method 300 of providing die-to-die interconnects in a multi-chip package according to an embodiment of the invention.","As an example, method 300 may represent a portion of a manufacturing process that results in the formation of a multi-chip package that is similar to multi-chip package 100 as shown in FIGS.","1A, 1B, 1C, and 2.Although these figures depict a single bridge connecting two dies, other embodiments of the invention may involve more than two dies and/or more than a single bridge.","A step 310 of method 300 is to provide a substrate having a first side, an opposing second side, and a third side that extends from the first side to the second side.","As an example, the substrate can be similar to substrate 110, and the first side, the second side, and the third side can be similar to, respectively, side 111, side 112, and side 213 of substrate 110.Sides 111 and 112 are first shown in FIG.","1A, and side 213 is shown in FIG.","2.In one embodiment, step 310 comprises forming an aperture through the substrate such that the third side constitutes a portion of an inside perimeter of the substrate.","As an example, this embodiment may result in an MCP such as that shown in FIG.","1A.","In another embodiment, step 310 comprises forming a slot in the substrate such that the third side constitutes a portion of an outside perimeter of the substrate.","As an example, this embodiment may result in an MCP such as that shown in FIG.","1C.","Either of these embodiments may be characterized by a lower cost than that likely required for a bridge embedded in a substrate cavity as described elsewhere herein.","Indeed, in cases where coreless substrates or other thin substrates are to be used such embodiments may be the only viable option.","As an example, apertures or slots such as those discussed above may be formed by mechanical or laser drilling, milling, routing, stamping, punching, etching, or the like.","A step 320 of method 300 is to attach a first die to the first side of the substrate such that a portion of the first die extends beyond an edge of the first side of the substrate.","As an example, the first die can be similar to die 120 that is first shown in FIG.","1A.","As another example, the edge of the first side of the substrate can be similar to edge 117, and the portion of the first die that extends beyond the edge can be similar to portion 221 of die 120, which portion is first shown in FIG.","2.A step 330 of method 300 is to attach a second die to the first side of the substrate such that a portion of the second die extends beyond the edge of the first side of the substrate.","As an example, the second die can be similar to die 130 that is first shown in FIG.","1A.","As another example, the portion of the second die that extends beyond the edge can be similar to portion 231 of die 130, which portion is first shown in FIG.","2.In one embodiment, steps 320 and 330 may be combined into a single step.","In the same or another embodiment the die attachment of steps 330 and 320 (or of the single step that combines the two) comprises an alignment function facilitated by solder self-alignment.","Note that in an embodiment such solder self-alignment occurs during the coarse-pitch MCP die attach step or steps and the dies may be precisely positioned with respect to each other by virtue of a single lithographically defined solder mask pattern on the first side of the substrate.","A step 340 of method 300 is to provide a bridge containing a plurality of electrically and/or optically conductive features.","As an example, the bridge can be similar to bridge 140 that is first shown in FIG.","1A.","Accordingly, in some embodiments the bridge can be an active silicon die.","As another example, the electrically conductive features can be metal traces or the like as known in the art that are suitable for conducting electricity between one region and another, or one component and another, of an MCP, while the optically conductive features can be, for example, optical waveguides such as silicon nitride waveguides, rib waveguides, and the like, or optical coupling elements such as gratings, micro-mirrors, and lenses.","A step 350 of method 300 is to position the bridge adjacent to the third side of the substrate such that no portion of the substrate is underneath the bridge.","This arrangement allows for a mechanical decoupling of the bridge and the substrate—materials that have a large mismatch in coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE).","Furthermore, an unconstrained bridge could offer package stress benefits because it could move without creating a bending load on the fine-pitch joints.","Thus, method 300 may not require the use of an underfill or encapsulant to fill the space around the bride in the aperture or slot or the like.","As an example, step 350 may be accomplished using a pick and place machine, as known in the art.","A step 360 of method 300 is to attach the bridge to the first die and to the second die, thereby creating an electrical or optical connection between the first die and the second die.","Accordingly, step 360 may constitute an attachment from the backside of the package, i.e., method 300 may constitute a “bridge last” process flow.","It should be noted that because no portion of the substrate is underneath the bridge, this “bridge last” process flow may allow the use of a full-thickness bridge (unless thermomechanical considerations indicate bridge thinning to be advantageous for fine-pitch interconnect reliability, or unless thinning is needed for form factor or mechanical clearance) where other process flows would require that a thinned bridge be used.","Also, the “bridge last” process flow enables the building of MCPs with dies or die stacks of disparate heights without any modification to the outlined assembly flow while also providing a scaleable solution that enables affordable assembly of multiple bridges in a given MCP configuration.","In one embodiment, step 360 may be accomplished using a thermocompression bonding process.","In another embodiment, step 360 comprises using a solder reflow process.","As is known in the art, in thermocompression bonding temperature and pressure may be controlled; with a solder reflow process only the temperature may be controlled.","As is also known, solder reflow is a high-throughput batch process.","Thermocompression bonding is typically a sequential process; however, a “ganged” bonder can process several units at once.","Thermocompression bonding may in certain embodiments be needed to achieve the fine-pitch interconnect because of its process flexibility and its better control of process parameters.","A step 370 of method 300 is to attach the bridge to the substrate using a wirebond.","As an example, the wirebond can be similar to wirebonds 241 that are shown in FIG.","2.Step 370 may be performed, for example, in embodiments where the bridge is an active die.","It should be understood, however, that step 370 is not necessarily performed in every embodiment of method 300.FIG.","4 is a flowchart illustrating a method 400 of providing die-to-die interconnects in a multi-chip package according to another embodiment of the invention.","Method 400 is an assembly process enabling the precise alignment of bridges to MCP dies first, followed by the attachment of bridge and dies to a package substrate.","This subsequent attachment of bridge and dies to the package substrate may be easier in the bridge-to-dies first process because it eliminates certain issues typically caused by mixed bump, fine pitches.","Method 400 may also be employed, for example, when a substrate with a cutout cannot be provided and when an overhang over an external substrate edge is not an option due to design considerations.","Method 400 and a multi-chip package 500 related thereto are further illustrated in FIGS.","5-8, which are cross-sectional views of multi-chip package 500 at various particular points in its manufacturing process according to embodiments of the invention.","As explained in further detail below, method 400 generally involves the attachment of dies to a carrier, fine pitch assembly of one or more bridges to the dies, coarse pitch assembly of the carrier, dies, and bridge(s) to a package substrate, and (optionally) de-bonding of the carrier.","Potential advantages of this method over one or more of the other methods or embodiments described herein are that it eliminates the package substrate as a mechanical reference in the mixed-bump-pitch assembly flow, and that it forms the fine-pitch and coarser-pitch interconnects in separate steps.","Furthermore, method 400 permits accurate bridge alignment in three dimensions.","As stated above, accurate bridge alignment may be important in order to create an overall well-defined bump field for subsequent die attach.","High interconnect densities accentuate this requirement.","A step 410 of method 400 is to attach a first die and a second die to a carrier.","When placing the dies, suitable fiducials on previously placed dies or on other components of the subassembly, such as the carrier, may be used as a reference.","As an example, the first die and the second die can be similar to, respectively, die 120 and die 130 that are first shown in FIG.","1A.","As another example, the first die and the second die can be similar to, respectively, a die 520 and a die 530 that are first shown in FIG.","5.Attached to die 520 are fine-pitch interconnect structures 521 and coarse-pitch interconnect structures 522.Attached to die 530 are fine-pitch interconnect structures 531 and coarse-pitch interconnect structures 532.More specifically, and as illustrated in FIG.","5 and subsequent figures, die 520 has a portion 526 containing interconnect structures 521 and a portion 527 containing interconnect structures 522.Similarly, die 530 has a portion 536 containing interconnect structures 531 and a portion 537 containing interconnect structures 532.As mentioned above, interconnect structures 521 and 531 have a first (fine) pitch and interconnect structures 522 and 532 have a second (coarse) pitch that is different from the first pitch.","It may be seen that, as already mentioned elsewhere herein, portions 526 and 536 are attached to the bridge (by way of fine pitch interconnect structures 521 and 531).","Note that interconnect structures 521 and 531 would typically be silicon to silicon structures rather than silicon to organic structures.","As an example, this may help to forestall the problems that are typically associated with a mismatch in the CTE between the two materials.","The carrier can be similar to a carrier 505 that is first shown in FIG.","5.In one embodiment, the carrier comprises an integrated heat spreader (IHS).","As an example, the heat spreader may be made of copper or the like.","Due to the high thermal conductivity of the copper (or other) IHS, the package may be thermally enhanced.","In the embodiment of FIG.","5, dies 520 and 530 are attached to carrier 505 using an adhesive material 507, which may comprise a thermal interface material (TIM) or the like.","A step 420 of method 400 is to attach a bridge to the first die and to the second die.","Note that in this step only the fine pitch interconnect structures are attached.","The small bump pitch may require highly accurate pick-and-place equipment.","Again, on-die fiducials may be useful for achieving successful bonding.","As an example, the bridge can be similar to bridge 140 that is first shown in FIG.","1A.","As another example, the bridge can be similar to a bridge 540, first shown in FIG.","5, that, like bridge 140, may be made of silicon and may, further, be an active silicon die.","In one embodiment, step 420 comprises using a thermocompression bonding process to bond the bridge and the dies to each other.","In other embodiments, step 420 comprises using a solder reflow process or another attachment procedure as known in the art.","A step 430 of method 400 is to provide a substrate.","As an example, the substrate can be similar to substrate 110 that is first shown in FIG.","1A.","As another example, the substrate can be similar to a substrate 610 that is first shown in FIG.","6.Substrate 610 contains a cavity 615 that, in the illustrated embodiment, contains bridge 540 surrounded by a protective material 612 such as an encapsulant, an underfill material, an epoxy, or the like.","Material 612 may be compliant or flexible in order to mechanically decouple bridge 540 and substrate 610, and its presence may enable undisturbed underfilling of dies 520 and 530.As still another example, the substrate can be similar to a substrate 710 that is first shown in FIG.","7.In the FIG.","7 embodiment, dies 520 and 530 form, or are located in, a die layer 750 of multi-chip package 500.Substrate 710 has no cavity; a bridge 740, which is significantly thinner than bridge 540, sits on a surface of substrate 710 or is otherwise located between substrate 710 and dies 520 and 530—in other words, bridge 740 is located between die layer 750 and the surface of the substrate.","(In other respects bridge 740 can be similar to bridges 540 and 140 and can therefore, in certain embodiments, be an active die.)","Also in the FIG.","7 embodiment, one or more of interconnect structures 521, 522, 531, and 532 may need to be modified in order to accommodate the reduced thickness of bridge 740.For example, interconnect structures 521 and 531 may need to be shortened while interconnect structures 522 and 532 may need to be lengthened in order to accommodate the different package geometry.","As with other embodiments described herein, one or more of interconnect structures 521, 522, 531, and 532 may comprise flip-chip connections.","It should be noted that bridge 740 may be thin enough that it requires its own carrier in order to facilitate handling, e.g.","before and during step 420 of method 400.A step 440 of method 400 is to attach the first die and the second die to the substrate.","In this step only the die bumps with a large pitch (outside the bridge area) are attached.","Since the bump pitch is large, less expensive pick-and-place equipment can typically be used.","The appearance of multi-chip package 500 following the performance of step 440 is illustrated in FIG.","6 for an embodiment using substrate 610 and in FIG.","7 for an embodiment using substrate 710.In some embodiments, step 440 is followed by the removal of the carrier.","As an example, this may be accomplished by peeling, cutting, etching away, or melting the adhesive material, or otherwise de-bonding the carrier from the dies.","FIG.","8 shows multi-chip package 500 following the removal of carrier 505.Carrier 505 in FIG.","7 may also be removed (not illustrated).","In other embodiments, such as when the carrier is a heat spreader, step 440 is not performed and the carrier is permanently left in place.","In yet another embodiment (not illustrated), in order to accommodate dies of different thicknesses, a mix of single dies and die stacks, or die stacks of different heights, the carrier or IHS may be stepped such that before bridge-to-die attach the bumps to be interconnected by an individual bridge are coplanar.","Suitable steps or cavities can be created by machining the carrier or IHS.","A step 450 of method 400 is to attach the bridge to the substrate using a wirebond.","As an example, the wirebond can be similar to wirebonds 241 that are shown in FIG.","2 or to wirebonds 841 that are shown in FIG.","8.","(The embodiment of FIG.","7 may also include wirebonds, or in other words bridge 740 may also, in certain embodiments, be connected to substrate 710 using wirebonds.","Such wirebonds are not depicted in FIG.","7, however, because the presence in that figure of carrier 505 combined with the figure's cross-sectional nature make it difficult to illustrate the wirebonds clearly, or because the wirebonds are added after the removal of carrier 505.)","Only a portion of wirebonds 841 are shown in FIG.","8 because the perspective of that figure makes it difficult to depict the full extent of the wirebonds.","It should be understood, however, that wirebonds 841 continue in an unbroken path from bridge 540 to substrate 610 in order to create an electrical connection between bridge 540 and substrate 610.Step 450 may be performed, for example, in embodiments where the bridge is an active die.","It should be understood, however, that step 450 is not necessarily performed in every embodiment of method 400.FIG.","9 is a cross-sectional view of a multi-chip package 900 according to an embodiment of the invention.","As illustrated in FIG.","9, multi-chip package 900 comprises a substrate 910 containing a cavity 915 having a plurality of pads 918 therein, a die 920 and a die 930 attached to substrate 910, a bridge 940 having a side 941 and an opposing side 942, and a plurality of joints 960 at side 942 of bridge 940.As an example, pads 918 and joints 960 can be electrically non-functional.","Pads 918 may be prefabricated during conventional build-up processes and then exposed during cavity formation, for example by laser milling or the like.","An encapsulation material 945 at least partially surrounds bridge 940 in cavity 915 in the illustrated embodiment.","As an example, substrate 910, die 920, die 930, and bridge 940 can be similar to, respectively, substrate 110, die 120, die 130, and bridge 140, all of which are first shown in FIG.","1A.","Accordingly, in certain embodiments bridge 940 can be an active die.","As may be seen in the figure, die 920 and die 930 are attached to side 941 of bridge 940, at least a portion of bridge 940 is located within cavity 915 such that the plurality of j oints 960 are aligned with pads 918, and bridge 940 creates an electrical or optical connection between die 920 and die 930.Die 920 has a portion 926 containing a plurality of interconnect structures 921 and a portion 927 containing a plurality of interconnect structures 922.Similarly, die 930 has a portion 936 containing a plurality of interconnect structures 931 and a portion 937 containing a plurality of interconnect structures 932.Interconnect structures 921 and 931 have a first (fine) pitch and interconnect structures 922 and 932 have a second (coarse) pitch that is different from the first pitch.","Portions 926 and 936 are attached to the bridge (by way of fine pitch interconnect structures 921 and 931).","As has been discussed elsewhere herein, in some embodiments, such as, for example, where bridge 940 is an active die, bridge 940 is attached to substrate 910 using wirebonds.","These wirebonds have not been depicted in FIG.","9 because the nature of that figure makes such depiction difficult.","It should be understood, however, that, in a manner similar to what is shown in other figures described herein, the wirebonds continue in an unbroken path from bridge 940 to substrate 910 in order to create an electrical connection between bridge 940 and substrate 910.FIG.","10 is a flowchart illustrating a method 1000 of providing die-to-die interconnects in a multi-chip package according to an embodiment of the invention.","As an example, method 1000 may represent a portion of a manufacturing process that results in the formation of a multi-chip package that is similar to multi-chip package 900 as shown in FIG.","9.As explained in further detail below, method 1000 generally involves providing a package substrate, machining or otherwise forming a cavity for a silicon or other bridge, dispensing flux onto cavity floor pads, pick and place of the bridge with backside solder bumps, solder reflow with solder self-alignment of the bridge, deflux (unless a no-clean flux or fluxless attachment process is used), encapsulation of bridge, and assembly of active dies.","A potential advantage of this process is that it is readily scalable to multiple bridges on a package and many substrates on a panel.","A step 1010 of method 1000 is to provide a substrate having a plurality of embedded pads.","As an example, the substrate and the pads can be similar to, respectively, substrate 910 and pads 918 that are shown in FIG.","9.A step 1020 of method 1000 is to form a cavity in the substrate such that the pads are exposed at a floor of the cavity.","As an example, the cavity can be similar to cavity 915 that is shown in FIG.","9.In one embodiment, step 1020 may be accomplished using a laser milling process, a plasma etching/reactive ion etching (RIE) process, or the like.","As cavity 915 is formed, electrically non-functional (dummy) or other pads 918 at the cavity floor are exposed.","In one embodiment, these were previously fabricated during the conventional substrate buildup process and were buried by one or more dielectric buildup layers.","Pads 918 may be made of copper and present a suitable surface finish such as electroless nickel, immersion gold (ENIG), conducive to soldering.","A minimum pad thickness of approximately 10 μm may be desirable when laser milling is used for cavity formation, with the laser operation to stop at the pad layer.","Mating pads may be provided on the backside of bridge 940 and the bridge may be bumped ahead of time using standard metallization and bumping techniques, perhaps at the wafer level.","A solder resist layer may also be added to the backside of bridge 940.A step 1030 of method 1000 is to provide a bridge having bumps thereon corresponding to the pads.","(Such correspondence between bumps and pads may, but does not necessarily, mean the number of bumps and the number of pads are equal to each other; rather, the correspondence is such that the bumps match up with the pads to the degree that a reliable mechanical joining is possible.)","As an example, the bridge can be similar to bridge 940, shown in FIG.","9, and can thus in certain embodiments be an active die, and the joints formed can be similar to joints 960, also shown in FIG.","9.A step 1040 of method 1000 is to place the bridge in the cavity and align the bumps and the pads to each other.","Step 1040 attaches the bridge to the substrate.","In one embodiment, the alignment of bumps and pads to each other is accomplished using the self-alignment of solder during reflow and joint formation.","Solder self-alignment of electronic components where the surface tension of the liquid solder is the driving force is well known in the art.","Careful design of a solder joint array can provide self alignment in the x and y dimensions with a positional tolerance in the order of 1 micrometer (hereinafter “micron” or “μm.”) Accurate alignment in the z dimension (height) can be achieved by control of the solder volume.","The precisely aligned bridge may then be encapsulated, thereby locking the bridge at its precisely defined locations.","The resulting hybrid package substrate may then be supplied to a die attach module.","A step 1050 of method 1000 is to provide a first die and a second die.","As an example, the first die and the second die can be similar to, respectively, die 920 and die 930, both of which are shown in FIG.","9.A step 1060 of method 1000 is to attach the first die and the second die to the bridge and the substrate.","In one embodiment, step 1060 comprises a flux dispense step, die pick-and-place steps, and a reflow step.","As mentioned elsewhere herein, at very high I/O densities and very fine bridge interconnect pitches, accurate alignment becomes important in order to facilitate a successful assembly of the MCP (die attach).","Thus, in certain embodiments, and as shown in FIG.","9, joints 960 located at the backside (i.e., side 942) of bridge 940 are utilized to achieve precise alignment of bridge 940 with respect to other package substrate bumps.","It is well known that solder self-alignment can enable ultimate component placement in the x and y dimensions with a positional tolerance on the order of 1 μm.","As an alternative to solder, suitable non-conductive materials that are capable of providing self-alignment based on the underlying surface tension principle (minimization of adhesion energy during bonding) could also be used.","A step 1070 of method 1000 is to attach the bridge to the substrate using a wirebond.","As an example, the wirebond can be similar to wirebonds 241 that are shown in FIG.","2 or to wirebonds 841 that are shown in FIG.","8.Step 1070 may be performed, for example, in embodiments where the bridge is an active die.","It should be understood, however, that step 1070 is not necessarily performed in every embodiment of method 1000.FIG.","11A is a plan view of a multi-chip package 1100 according to an embodiment of the invention.","Cross-sectional views for two different embodiments of multi-chip package 1100, each taken at a line B-C in FIG.","11A, are shown in FIGS.","11B and 11C.","As illustrated in FIGS.","11A-11C, multi-chip package 1100 comprises a substrate 1110, an active die 1120 attached to substrate 1110 using flip-chip connections 1121 (in FIG.","11A these are visible in a portion 1125 of active die 1120 that is depicted (for illustrative purposes) as being transparent), and an active die 1130, which is attached to active die 1120 using a flip-chip connection 1131 and which is attached to substrate 1110 using wirebonds 1141.As may be seen in the figure, multi-chip package 1100 is an example of an embodiment where a satellite die assembled in a hybrid manner is attached to a single on-package (processing unit) die.","Such an arrangement allows for high-density, high-speed flip-chip connectivity between the processing unit and the satellite die and further allows for the processing unit die to utilize the functionality of the satellite die.","In cases where high-density interconnects are not needed (e.g., because of the functionality of the satellite die), the flip-chip interconnects may have a relatively coarse pitch.","Additional connections needed by the satellite die such as, but not limited to, power and ground connectivity, may be provided by wirebonds located on sides of the satellite die not obscured by the processing unit die.","In certain embodiments substrate 1110 contains a cavity in which active die 1130 is at least partially located.","Such a cavity is visible in FIG.","11B and examples may also be seen in FIGS.","6, 8, and 9.In other embodiments, (see FIG.","11C) substrate 1110 has a first side, an opposing second side, and a third side that extends from the first side to the second side (not identified with reference numerals in FIG.","11C, but such as may form an aperture or slot as discussed above), active die 1120 is attached to the first side of substrate 1110 using flip-chip connections 1121, active die 1130 is attached to substrate 1110 using wirebonds 1141, and no portion of substrate 1110 is underneath active die 1130.These embodiments are similar to those described in connection with FIGS.","1A-1C and FIG.","2.In each of these cases, such cavities, apertures, slots, and the like that house the satellite dies may partially overlap with the bump field of the processing unit dies in order to enable flip-chip, high-speed, high-density connections between satellite die and processing unit die as described herein.","Active die 1130 has a region 1138 and a region 1139, where region 1138 is an overlap region located between active die 1130 (below) and a portion of active die 1120 (above).","As shown, the overlap region can be a partial overlap of active dies 1120 and 1130 such that the lower die is not completely underneath the upper die.","The overlap region may be the location of one or more face-to-face flip-chip connections that electrically or optically connect the active dies to each other.","Referring again to the illustrated embodiment, flip-chip connection 1131 is located in region 1138 while wirebonds 1141 are attached to active die 1130 in region 1139.In the illustrated embodiment, active die 1130 is attached to substrate 1110 using wirebonds 1141.Note that one edge of active die 1130 is shown as having a double row of wirebonds.","In some (non-illustrated) embodiments three or more wirebond rows may be fabricated.","Such multiple rows, however, may not achieve the same fine pitches that are achievable with single rows, which may be as small as a pad pitch of 35 μm (corresponding to approximately 29 bonds/mm die edge).","For power and ground connections, minimum pitch wirebond capability may not be needed and a thicker bond wire at a lower pitch may be acceptable or even favorable.","It should be understood that the illustration, like all of the illustrations referred to herein, is not intended to be limiting, and that non-illustrated embodiments may employ more or fewer double wirebond rows (including embodiments having no such rows), one or more sections having more than two wirebond rows, longer or shorter rows having more or fewer wirebonds, wirebonds along only certain sides but not all sides of the active die, or any other useful wirebond configuration.","In one embodiment, active die 1120 is a processing unit die such as a central processing unit (CPU), a graphics processing unit (GPU), or the like, while active die 1130 is a satellite die with functionality such as memory (including volatile memory such as fast DRAM, external SRAM, eDRAM, and the like and non-volatile memory such as flash memory and the like), graphics processing, voltage regulation for power delivery, radio frequency (RF), or the like, including useful combinations thereof.","A satellite die according to various embodiments could even be a microelectromechanical system (MEMS) chip, a sensor chip for use in a system-on-package (SoP), or a photonics die with optoelectronic functionality.","Active die 1130 is sometimes referred to herein as a satellite die because it is connected to, and may share active functionality with, active die 1120.In certain embodiments, active die 1130 may also be connected to and share active functionality with one or more other dies (not illustrated in FIGS.","11A-11C) in addition to active die 1120.In cases where the satellite die is connected to more than one active die the satellite die may or may not electrically or optically connect those active dies to each other, or in other words may or may not act as a bridge between those active dies in a manner that is explained elsewhere herein.","FIG.","12 is a plan view of active die 1130 according to an embodiment of the invention.","The scale of active die 1130 is slightly larger in FIG.","12 than it is in FIGS.","11A-11C.","As illustrated in FIG.","12, region 1138 of active die 1130 has a section 1201 and a section 1202.Section 1201 contains a plurality of flip-chip connections 1231 having a first density and section 1202 contains a plurality of flip-chip connections 1131 (first introduced in FIG.","11A) having a second density that is less than the first density.","The higher-density and lower-density connections can be used as necessary depending on the functionality of active die 1130.In the illustrated embodiment, region 1138 further comprises a section 1203 that contains a plurality of flip-chip connections 1233 having a third density that is also less than the first density and can, in one embodiment, be the same as or substantially similar to the second density.","The connections in any one or more of sections 1201, 1202, and 1203 can be used to enable active die 1120 access to the functionality of active die 1130, and vice versa.","In the embodiment of FIG.","12, section 1201 is located between section 1202 and section 1203, though other configurations are certainly also possible as will be readily apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art.","For example, active die 1130 may have flip-chip connections of only a single (high) density, only a single (standard or low) density, one section of high density and another of lower density connections, with these arranged in any suitable configuration, etc.","Also, it should be noted here that any one or more of bridges 140, 540, 740, and 940, in embodiments where those bridges are active dies, could have the features, configurations, functionalities, etc.","that are described above for active die 1130.Similarly, any one or more of dies 120, 130, 520, 530, 920, and 930 can be similar to active die 1120.It was mentioned above that active die 1130 may be connected to one or more active dies in addition to active die 1120.In some embodiments, as also mentioned, active die 1130 acts as a bridge between active die 1120 and those additional active dies.","Examples of this are depicted in FIGS.","1A-1C, FIG.","2, and FIGS.","6-9 if the bridges in those figures are assumed to be active dies.","FIG.","13 further illustrates a possible configuration for an active bridge or satellite die 1330 according to an embodiment of the invention.","As illustrated in FIG.","13, active die 1330 comprises a region 1338 that is similar to region 1138.For example, in the illustrated embodiment region 1338, like region 1138, contains sections 1201, 1202, and 1203, each containing the features and components described above.","Electrically and/or optically conductive bridge traces 1370, which extend between section 1201 of region 1138 and the corresponding section of region 1338, provide an electrical or optical connection between dies that are bridged by active die 1330.These dies are not shown in FIG.","13, but would, for example, be attached to active die 1330 using flip-chip connections 1131, 1231, and 1233 in a manner similar to that described above for active die 1120.FIG.","14 is a flowchart illustrating a method 1400 of providing die-to-die interconnects in a multi-chip package according to an embodiment of the invention.","As an example, method 1400 may result in an MCP such as that shown in FIG.","11C.","(An MCP such as that shown in FIG.","11B may be formed using a method similar to method 400 or method 1000 with the second die being omitted.)","A step 1410 of method 1400 is to provide a substrate.","As an example, the substrate can be similar to substrate 1110 as it is shown in FIG.","11C.","A step 1420 of method 1400 is to attach a first active die to the substrate using a first flip-chip connection.","As an example, the first active die and the first flip-chip connection can be similar to, respectively, active die 1120 and flip-chip connections 1121, both of which are shown in FIGS.","11A-11C.","A step 1430 of method 1400 is to attach a second active die to the first active die using a second flip-chip connection.","As an example, the second active die and the second flip-chip connection can be similar to, respectively, active die 1130 and flip-chip connections 1131, both of which are first shown in FIG.","11A.","A step 1440 of method 1400 is to attach the second active die to the substrate.","In one embodiment, the second active die is attached to the substrate using a wirebond such as wirebond 1141 that are first shown in FIG.","11A.","FIG.","15 is a plan view of a multi-chip package 1500 according to an embodiment of the invention.","As illustrated in FIG.","15, multi-chip package 1500 comprises a substrate 1510, an active die 1520 attached to substrate 1510 using flip-chip connections 1521, an active die 1530 attached to active die 1520 using flip-chip connections 1531 and to substrate 1510 using wirebonds 1541, and an active die 1550 attached to substrate 1510 using flip-chip connections 1551 and attached to active die 1530 using flip-chip connections 1552.Active die 1520 is electrically and/or optically connected to active die 1550 via electrically and/or optically conductive bridge traces 1570 located in active die 1530.Active die 1530 thus acts as a bridge connecting active dies 1520 and 1550.In the illustrated embodiment, active dies 1520 and 1550 have regions and sections the same as or similar to those described above in connection with active die 1120 and shown in FIGS.","11A-11C, with the features located in those regions and sections, and the characteristics of those features, being similar as well.","In certain embodiments substrate 1510 contains a cavity in which active die 1530 is at least partially located.","Such a cavity is not visible in FIG.","15 but examples may be seen in FIGS.","6, 8, and 9.In other embodiments, substrate 1510 has a first side, an opposing second side, and a third side that extends from the first side to the second side (such as may form an aperture or slot as discussed above), active dies 1520 and 1550 are attached to the first side of substrate 1510, and no portion of substrate 1510 is underneath active die 1530.These embodiments are not explicitly illustrated in FIG.","15 but are similar to those described in connection with FIGS.","1A-1C and FIG.","2.In each of these cases, such cavities, apertures, slots, and the like that house the satellite dies may partially overlap with the bump field of the processing unit dies in order to enable flip-chip, high-speed, high-density connections between satellite die and processing unit die as described herein.","Some examples of MCP package geometries showing such partial overlaps are shown in FIG.","16, where the bridge/satellite die is cross-hatched and the processing unit dies are shown plain.","(Package substrates are not shown in FIG.","16.)","It will be understood that the illustrated examples represent only a fraction of the large number of possible configurations.","FIG.","17 is a flowchart illustrating a method 1700 of providing die-to-die interconnects in a multi-chip package according to an embodiment of the invention.","As an example, method 1700 may result in an MCP such as that shown in FIG.","15.Described below is a “bridge last” process flow similar to that described by method 300.The FIG.","15 structure may also be manufactured with a substrate having a cavity similar to the substrates shown in FIG.","8 or 9.Process flows suitable to manufacture such structures may proceed along the lines of methods 400 and 1000, with a third active die as discussed below standing in for the bridge of those methods.","A step 1710 of method 1700 is to provide a substrate.","As an example, the substrate can be similar to substrate 1510 that is shown in FIG.","15.A step 1720 of method 1700 is to attach a first active die to the substrate using a first flip-chip connection.","As an example, the first active die and the first flip-chip connection can be similar to, respectively, active die 1520 and flip-chip connections 1521, both of which are shown in FIG.","15.A step 1730 of method 1700 is to attach a second active die to the substrate using a second flip-chip connection.","As an example, the second active die can be similar to active die 1550 and the second flip-chip connection can be similar to flip-chip connections 1551, both of which are shown in FIG.","15.A step 1740 of method 1700 is to attach the third active die to the first active die using a third flip-chip connection.","As an example, the third flip-chip connection can be similar to flip-chip connections 1531 that are shown in FIG.","15.A step 1750 of method 1700 is to attach the third active die to the second active die using a fourth flip-chip connection.","As an example, the fourth flip-chip connection can be similar to flip-chip connections 1552 that are shown in FIG.","15.With the third active die attached to both the first and the second active dies, and because the third active die contains electrically and/or optically conductive bridge traces as described above and shown in FIG.","15, method 1700 inherently results in the first and the second active dies being electrically and/or optically connected to each other.","Alternatively, method 1700 could include an additional step that results in such an electrical or optical connection.","A step 1760 of method 1700 is to attach the third active die to the substrate.","In one embodiment, step 1760 comprises attaching the third active die to the substrate using wirebonds.","Although the invention has been described with reference to specific embodiments, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes may be made without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention.","Accordingly, the disclosure of embodiments of the invention is intended to be illustrative of the scope of the invention and is not intended to be limiting.","It is intended that the scope of the invention shall be limited only to the extent required by the appended claims.","For example, to one of ordinary skill in the art, it will be readily apparent that the multi-chip packages and the related structures and methods discussed herein may be implemented in a variety of embodiments, and that the foregoing discussion of certain of these embodiments does not necessarily represent a complete description of all possible embodiments.","Additionally, benefits, other advantages, and solutions to problems have been described with regard to specific embodiments.","The benefits, advantages, solutions to problems, and any element or elements that may cause any benefit, advantage, or solution to occur or become more pronounced, however, are not to be construed as critical, required, or essential features or elements of any or all of the claims.","Moreover, embodiments and limitations disclosed herein are not dedicated to the public under the doctrine of dedication if the embodiments and/or limitations: (1) are not expressly claimed in the claims; and (2) are or are potentially equivalents of express elements and/or limitations in the claims under the doctrine of equivalents."]],"string":"[\n [\n \"MULTI-CHIP PACKAGE AND METHOD OF PROVIDING DIE-TO-DIE INTERCONNECTS IN SAME\",\n \"A multi-chip package includes a substrate (110) having a first side (111), an opposing second side (112), and a third side (213) that extends from the first side to the second side, a first die (120) attached to the first side of the substrate and a second die (130) attached to the first side of the substrate, and a bridge (140) adjacent to the third side of the substrate and attached to the first die and to the second die.\",\n \"No portion of the substrate is underneath the bridge.\",\n \"The bridge creates a connection between the first die and the second die.\",\n \"Alternatively, the bridge may be disposed in a cavity (615, 915) in the substrate or between the substrate and a die layer (750).\",\n \"The bridge may constitute an active die and may be attached to the substrate using wirebonds (241, 841, 1141, 1541).\"\n ],\n [\n \"1.A multi-chip package comprising: a substrate having a first side, an opposing second side, and a third side that extends from the first side to the second side, the third side constituting a portion of an outside perimeter of the substrate; a first die attached to the first side of the substrate and a second die attached to the first side of the substrate; and a bridge adjacent to the third side of the substrate and attached to the first die and to the second die, wherein no portion of the substrate is underneath the bridge and wherein the bridge creates a connection between the first die and the second die.\",\n \"2.A method of providing die-to-die interconnects in a multi-chip package, the method comprising: providing a substrate having a first side, an opposing second side, and a third side that extends from the first side to the second side; attaching a first die to the first side of the substrate such that a portion of the first die extends beyond an edge of the first side of the substrate; attaching a second die to the first side of the substrate such that a portion of the second die extends beyond the edge of the first side of the substrate; providing a bridge containing a plurality of electrically or optically conductive features; positioning the bridge adjacent to the third side of the substrate such that no portion of the substrate is underneath the bridge; and attaching the bridge to the first die and to the second die, thereby creating a connection between the first die and the second die.\",\n \"3.The method of claim 2 wherein: the bridge comprises silicon.\",\n \"4.The method of claim 3 wherein: the bridge comprises an active die that constitutes a third die of the multi-chip package; and the bridge is attached to the first die and to the second die using flip-chip connections.\",\n \"5.The method of claim 4 further comprising: attaching the bridge to the substrate using a wirebond.\",\n \"6.The method of claim 3 wherein: attaching the bridge comprises using a thermocompression bonding process.\",\n \"7.The method of claim 3 wherein: attaching the bridge comprises using a solder reflow process.\",\n \"8.The method of claim 3 wherein: providing the substrate comprises forming an aperture through the substrate such that the third side constitutes a portion of an inside perimeter of the substrate.\",\n \"9.The method of claim 3 wherein: providing the substrate comprises forming a slot in the substrate such that the third side constitutes a portion of an outside perimeter of the substrate.\",\n \"10.A method of providing die-to-die interconnects in a multi-chip package, the method comprising: attaching a first die and a second die to a carrier; attaching a bridge to the first die and to the second die; providing a substrate; and attaching the first die and the second die to the substrate.\",\n \"11.The method of claim 10 wherein: the substrate has a cavity therein; and attaching the first die and the second die to the substrate comprises locating the bridge within the cavity.\",\n \"12.The method of claim 10 further comprising: removing the carrier.\",\n \"13.The method of claim 10 wherein: the carrier comprises a heat spreader.\",\n \"14.The method of claim 10 wherein: attaching the bridge comprises using a thermocompression bonding process.\",\n \"15.The method of claim 10 wherein: the bridge comprises silicon.\",\n \"16.The method of claim 15 wherein: the bridge comprises an active die that constitutes a third die of the multi-chip package; the bridge is attached to the first die and to the second die using flip-chip connections; and the method further comprises attaching the bridge to the substrate using a wirebond.\",\n \"17.A multi-chip package comprising: a substrate containing a cavity having a plurality of pads therein; a first die attached to the substrate and a second die attached to the substrate; a bridge having a first side and an opposing second side; and a plurality of joints at the second side of the bridge, wherein: the first die and the second die are attached to the first side of the bridge; at least a portion of the bridge is located within the cavity such that the plurality of joints are aligned with the plurality of pads; and the bridge creates a connection between the first die and the second die.\",\n \"18.The multi-chip package of claim 17 wherein: the bridge comprises silicon.\",\n \"19.The multi-chip package of claim 18 wherein: the bridge is attached to the first die and to the second die using flip-chip connections; the bridge comprises an active die that constitutes a third die of the multi-chip package; and the bridge is attached to the substrate using a wirebond.\",\n \"20.The multi-chip package of claim 18 wherein: the first die has a first portion containing a first plurality of interconnect structures and a second portion containing a second plurality of interconnect structures; the second die has a third portion containing a third plurality of interconnect structures and a fourth portion containing a fourth plurality of interconnect structures; the first plurality of interconnect structures and the third plurality of interconnect structures have a first pitch; the second plurality of interconnect structures and the fourth plurality of interconnect structures have a second pitch that is different from the first pitch; and the first portion and the third portion are attached to the bridge.\",\n \"21.A method of providing die-to-die interconnects in a multi-chip package, the method comprising: providing a substrate having a plurality of embedded pads; forming a cavity in the substrate such that the pads are exposed at a floor of the cavity; providing a bridge having bumps thereon corresponding to the pads; placing the bridge in the cavity and aligning the bumps and the pads to each other; providing a first die and a second die; and attaching the first die and the second die to the bridge and the substrate.\",\n \"22.The method of claim 21 wherein: the bridge comprises silicon.\",\n \"23.The method of claim 22 wherein: the bridge comprises an active die that constitutes a third die of the multi-chip package; the bridge is attached to the first die and to the second die using flip-chip connections; and the method further comprises attaching the bridge to the substrate using a wirebond.\",\n \"24.The method of claim 22 wherein: forming the cavity comprises using one of a laser milling and a plasma etching process.\",\n \"25.A multi-chip package comprising: a substrate; a first active die attached to the substrate using a first flip-chip connection; and a second active die, wherein the second active die is attached to the first active die using a second flip-chip connection and wherein the second active die is also attached to the substrate using a wirebond, wherein: the second active die has a first region and a second region; the first region is an overlap region located between the substrate and a portion of the first active die; and the second flip-chip connection is located in the first region of the second active die and the wirebond is attached to the second active die in the second region.\",\n \"26.The multi-chip package of claim 25 wherein: the first region of the second active die has a first section and a second section; and the first section contains a first plurality of flip-chip connections having a first density and the second section contains a second plurality of flip-chip connections having a second density less than the first density.\",\n \"27.The multi-chip package of claim 26 wherein: the first region further comprises a third section that contains a third plurality of flip-chip connections having a third density less than the first density; and the first section is located between the second section and the third section.\",\n \"28.The multi-chip package of claim 25 wherein: the substrate contains a cavity; and the second active die is at least partially located in the cavity.\",\n \"29.A method of providing die-to-die interconnects in a multi-chip package, the method comprising: providing a substrate; attaching a first active die to the substrate using a first flip-chip connection; attaching a second active die to the first active die using a second flip-chip connection; and attaching the second active die to the substrate.\",\n \"30.The method of claim 29 wherein: the second active die is attached to the substrate using a wirebond.\",\n \"31.A multi-chip package comprising: a substrate; a first active die attached to the substrate using a first flip-chip connection; a second active die, wherein the second active die is attached to the first active die using a second flip-chip connection and wherein the second active die is also attached to the substrate using a wirebond; and a third active die attached to the substrate using a third flip-chip connection and attached to the second active die using a fourth flip-chip connection, wherein: the second active die connects the first active die to the third active die; the second active die has a first region, a second region, and a third region; the first region is a first overlap region located between the substrate and a portion of the first active die; the third region is a second overlap region located between the substrate and a portion of the third active die; the second flip-chip connection is located in the first region of the second active die and the wirebond is attached to the second active die in the second region; and the fourth flip-chip connection is located in the third region of the second active die.\",\n \"32.The multi-chip package of claim 31 wherein: the first region of the second die has a first section and a second section; the third region of the second die has a third section and a fourth section; the first section contains a first plurality of flip-chip connections having a first density and the second section contains a second plurality of flip-chip connections having a second density less than the first density; and the third section contains a third plurality of flip-chip connections having a third density and the fourth section contains a fourth plurality of flip-chip connections having a fourth density less than the third density.\",\n \"33.The multi-chip package of claim 32 wherein: the second active die comprises electrically or optically conductive traces extending between the first section and the third section; and the electrically or optically conductive traces connect the first active die to the third active die.\",\n \"34.The multi-chip package of claim 31 wherein: the substrate contains a cavity; and the second active die is at least partially located in the cavity.\",\n \"35.A method of providing die-to-die interconnects in a multi-chip package, the method comprising: providing a substrate; attaching a first active die to the substrate using a first flip-chip connection; attaching a second active die to the substrate using a second flip-chip connection; attaching a third active die to the first active die using a third flip-chip connection; attaching the third active die to the second active die using a fourth flip-chip connection; and attaching the third active die to the substrate.\",\n \"36.The method of claim 35 wherein: the third active die is attached to the substrate using a wirebond.\"\n ],\n [\n \" BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION A continuing focus of the microelectronics industry is the enablement of computer chips (also referred to as dies) having greater density, higher performance, and lower cost.\",\n \"As part of this effort, microelectronic packages containing multiple dies have been developed.\",\n \"Such multi-chip packages (MCPs) offer the potential for increased architectural flexibility at reduced cost but to do so must provide appropriate die-to-die interconnect densities in a way that is cost-effective.\",\n \"The interconnect density is an important consideration because an insufficient number of die connections would limit the bandwidth capability for the affected die interface, and thus logic-logic and/or logic-memory communications would suffer.\"\n ],\n [\n \" BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The disclosed embodiments will be better understood from a reading of the following detailed description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying figures in the drawings in which: FIGS.\",\n \"1A, 1B, and 1C are plan views of a multi-chip package according to various embodiments of the invention; FIG.\",\n \"2 is a cross-sectional view of the multi-chip package of FIG.\",\n \"1C according to an embodiment of the invention; FIGS.\",\n \"3 and 4 are flowcharts illustrating methods of providing die-to-die interconnects in a multi-chip package according to embodiments of the invention; FIGS.\",\n \"5-8 are cross-sectional views of multi-chip packages at various particular points in their manufacturing processes according to embodiments of the invention; FIG.\",\n \"9 is a cross-sectional view of a multi-chip package according to another embodiment of the invention; FIG.\",\n \"10 is a flowchart illustrating a method of providing die-to-die interconnects in a multi-chip package according to another embodiment of the invention; FIG.\",\n \"11A is a plan view and FIGS.\",\n \"11B and 11C are cross-sectional views of a multi-chip package according to other embodiments of the invention; FIG.\",\n \"12 is a plan view of one of the active dies in the multi-chip package of FIGS.\",\n \"11A-11C according to an embodiment of the invention; FIG.\",\n \"13 is a plan view of an active die according to an embodiment of the invention; FIG.\",\n \"14 is a flowchart illustrating a method of providing die-to-die interconnects in a multi-chip package according to another embodiment of the invention; FIG.\",\n \"15 is a plan view of a multi-chip package according to another embodiment of the invention; FIG.\",\n \"16 illustrates some examples of multi-chip package geometries according to various embodiments of the invention; and FIG.\",\n \"17 is a flowchart illustrating a method of providing die-to-die interconnects in a multi-chip package according to another embodiment of the invention.\",\n \"detailed-description description=\\\"Detailed Description\\\" end=\\\"lead\\\"?\",\n \"For simplicity and clarity of illustration, the drawing figures illustrate the general manner of construction, and descriptions and details of well-known features and techniques may be omitted to avoid unnecessarily obscuring the discussion of the described embodiments of the invention.\",\n \"Additionally, elements in the drawing figures are not necessarily drawn to scale.\",\n \"For example, the dimensions of some of the elements in the figures may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help improve understanding of embodiments of the present invention.\",\n \"The same reference numerals in different figures denote the same elements, while similar reference numerals may, but do not necessarily, denote similar elements.\",\n \"The terms “first,” “second,” “third,” “fourth,” and the like in the description and in the claims, if any, are used for distinguishing between similar elements and not necessarily for describing a particular sequential or chronological order.\",\n \"It is to be understood that the terms so used are interchangeable under appropriate circumstances such that the embodiments of the invention described herein are, for example, capable of operation in sequences other than those illustrated or otherwise described herein.\",\n \"Similarly, if a method is described herein as comprising a series of steps, the order of such steps as presented herein is not necessarily the only order in which such steps may be performed, and certain of the stated steps may possibly be omitted and/or certain other steps not described herein may possibly be added to the method.\",\n \"Furthermore, the terms “comprise,” “include,” “have,” and any variations thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of elements is not necessarily limited to those elements, but may include other elements not expressly listed or inherent to such process, method, article, or apparatus.\",\n \"The terms “left,” “right,” “front,” “back,” “top,” “bottom,” “over,” “under,” and the like in the description and in the claims, if any, are used for descriptive purposes and not necessarily for describing permanent relative positions.\",\n \"It is to be understood that the terms so used are interchangeable under appropriate circumstances such that the embodiments of the invention described herein are, for example, capable of operation in other orientations than those illustrated or otherwise described herein.\",\n \"The term “coupled,” as used herein, is defined as directly or indirectly connected in an electrical or non-electrical manner.\",\n \"Objects described herein as being “adjacent to” each other may be in physical contact with each other, in close proximity to each other, or in the same general region or area as each other, as appropriate for the context in which the phrase is used.\",\n \"Occurrences of the phrase “in one embodiment” herein do not necessarily all refer to the same embodiment.\"\n ],\n [\n \"CLAIM OF PRIORITY This application is a divisional of U.S. patent application Ser.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"13/531,827 filed Jun.\",\n \"25, 2012, which is a divisional of U.S. patent application Ser.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"12/459,007, now U.S. Pat.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"8,227,904, which was filed on Jun.\",\n \"24, 2009.FIELD OF THE INVENTION The disclosed embodiments of the invention relate generally to multi-chip packages, and relate more particularly to interconnect structures in such packages.\",\n \"BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION A continuing focus of the microelectronics industry is the enablement of computer chips (also referred to as dies) having greater density, higher performance, and lower cost.\",\n \"As part of this effort, microelectronic packages containing multiple dies have been developed.\",\n \"Such multi-chip packages (MCPs) offer the potential for increased architectural flexibility at reduced cost but to do so must provide appropriate die-to-die interconnect densities in a way that is cost-effective.\",\n \"The interconnect density is an important consideration because an insufficient number of die connections would limit the bandwidth capability for the affected die interface, and thus logic-logic and/or logic-memory communications would suffer.\",\n \"BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The disclosed embodiments will be better understood from a reading of the following detailed description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying figures in the drawings in which: FIGS.\",\n \"1A, 1B, and 1C are plan views of a multi-chip package according to various embodiments of the invention; FIG.\",\n \"2 is a cross-sectional view of the multi-chip package of FIG.\",\n \"1C according to an embodiment of the invention; FIGS.\",\n \"3 and 4 are flowcharts illustrating methods of providing die-to-die interconnects in a multi-chip package according to embodiments of the invention; FIGS.\",\n \"5-8 are cross-sectional views of multi-chip packages at various particular points in their manufacturing processes according to embodiments of the invention; FIG.\",\n \"9 is a cross-sectional view of a multi-chip package according to another embodiment of the invention; FIG.\",\n \"10 is a flowchart illustrating a method of providing die-to-die interconnects in a multi-chip package according to another embodiment of the invention; FIG.\",\n \"11A is a plan view and FIGS.\",\n \"11B and 11C are cross-sectional views of a multi-chip package according to other embodiments of the invention; FIG.\",\n \"12 is a plan view of one of the active dies in the multi-chip package of FIGS.\",\n \"11A-11C according to an embodiment of the invention; FIG.\",\n \"13 is a plan view of an active die according to an embodiment of the invention; FIG.\",\n \"14 is a flowchart illustrating a method of providing die-to-die interconnects in a multi-chip package according to another embodiment of the invention; FIG.\",\n \"15 is a plan view of a multi-chip package according to another embodiment of the invention; FIG.\",\n \"16 illustrates some examples of multi-chip package geometries according to various embodiments of the invention; and FIG.\",\n \"17 is a flowchart illustrating a method of providing die-to-die interconnects in a multi-chip package according to another embodiment of the invention.\",\n \"For simplicity and clarity of illustration, the drawing figures illustrate the general manner of construction, and descriptions and details of well-known features and techniques may be omitted to avoid unnecessarily obscuring the discussion of the described embodiments of the invention.\",\n \"Additionally, elements in the drawing figures are not necessarily drawn to scale.\",\n \"For example, the dimensions of some of the elements in the figures may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help improve understanding of embodiments of the present invention.\",\n \"The same reference numerals in different figures denote the same elements, while similar reference numerals may, but do not necessarily, denote similar elements.\",\n \"The terms “first,” “second,” “third,” “fourth,” and the like in the description and in the claims, if any, are used for distinguishing between similar elements and not necessarily for describing a particular sequential or chronological order.\",\n \"It is to be understood that the terms so used are interchangeable under appropriate circumstances such that the embodiments of the invention described herein are, for example, capable of operation in sequences other than those illustrated or otherwise described herein.\",\n \"Similarly, if a method is described herein as comprising a series of steps, the order of such steps as presented herein is not necessarily the only order in which such steps may be performed, and certain of the stated steps may possibly be omitted and/or certain other steps not described herein may possibly be added to the method.\",\n \"Furthermore, the terms “comprise,” “include,” “have,” and any variations thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of elements is not necessarily limited to those elements, but may include other elements not expressly listed or inherent to such process, method, article, or apparatus.\",\n \"The terms “left,” “right,” “front,” “back,” “top,” “bottom,” “over,” “under,” and the like in the description and in the claims, if any, are used for descriptive purposes and not necessarily for describing permanent relative positions.\",\n \"It is to be understood that the terms so used are interchangeable under appropriate circumstances such that the embodiments of the invention described herein are, for example, capable of operation in other orientations than those illustrated or otherwise described herein.\",\n \"The term “coupled,” as used herein, is defined as directly or indirectly connected in an electrical or non-electrical manner.\",\n \"Objects described herein as being “adjacent to” each other may be in physical contact with each other, in close proximity to each other, or in the same general region or area as each other, as appropriate for the context in which the phrase is used.\",\n \"Occurrences of the phrase “in one embodiment” herein do not necessarily all refer to the same embodiment.\",\n \"DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In one embodiment of the invention, a multi-chip package comprises a substrate having a first side, an opposing second side, and a third side that extends from the first side to the second side, a first die attached to the first side of the substrate and a second die also attached to the first side of the substrate, and a bridge adjacent to the third side of the substrate and attached to the first die and to the second die.\",\n \"No portion of the substrate is underneath the bridge.\",\n \"The bridge creates a connection between the first die and the second die.\",\n \"Alternatively, the bridge may be disposed in a cavity in the substrate or between the substrate and a die layer.\",\n \"The bridge may constitute an active die and may be attached to the substrate using wirebonds.\",\n \"Shrinking die sizes coupled with increasing die performance requirements dictate that the density of the corresponding die-to-die interconnects must be increased.\",\n \"As may be expected, several manufacturing issues must be addressed in order to accomplish this goal.\",\n \"One such issue is the difficulty inherent in fabricating interconnects within an organic substrate material.\",\n \"In order to overcome this problem, a silicon interposer sandwiched between the dies and the package substrate has been proposed.\",\n \"The use of a standard copper damascene process allows fabrication of lines and spaces of submicron dimensions.\",\n \"However, the large silicon interposer area and need for through-silicon vias (TSVs) make this approach an expensive one, thus negating the perceived MCP-derived cost benefits.\",\n \"Embodiments of the invention enable density scaling of interconnect structures that represents an accelerated improvement over existing technology generations by making use of silicon bridges (or bridges made of other materials) that are embedded in or attached to the package substrate.\",\n \"These bridges need to support only the dense die-to-die interconnect from die edge to die edge and can consequently be much smaller than a silicon interposer.\",\n \"The silicon bridge concept also eliminates the need for TSV technology.\",\n \"In addition to greatly increased communication bandwidth due to high density interconnect structures, embodiments of the invention may also enable improved assembly processes due (at least in part) to the maturity of silicon process technology.\",\n \"Certain embodiments of the invention may enable the fabrication of MCPs having unprecedented die-to-die interconnect densities that would in turn enable MCP-type cost savings, modularity, and architectural flexibility.\",\n \"Examples of such potential benefits include improved reticle and wafer utilization by die aspect ratio optimization, the ability to combine within a single package dies using different optimized silicon (or other) processes or dies incorporating differing or incompatible design methodologies, the potential to assemble non-rectangular or large “super-dies,” the ability to combine dies or die stacks with differing heights, and others.\",\n \"Embodiments of the invention also enable the precise alignment of bridges, including silicon bridges, to a package substrate.\",\n \"Such alignment may be important in the creation of an overall well-defined bump field for subsequent die attach, especially in view of the high interconnect densities targeted on the silicon bridges.\",\n \"Furthermore, an on-die type density may allow reuse of existing circuit designs with minimal modification, and many available pins at the die-package interface may enable simple protocols and good input/output (I/O) power efficiency.\",\n \"Some embodiments of the invention make use of a hybrid flip-chip/wirebond assembled active “satellite” die (or dies) where the die is flip-chip connected to at least one processing unit die and is also connected by wirebond directly to the package substrate.\",\n \"The processing unit die is assembled to the package substrate using flip-chip interconnects.\",\n \"The flip-chip interconnects between the satellite die and the processing unit die enable high-density, high-speed communication between the satellite die and the processing unit die and also (where multiple processing unit dies are involved) allow the satellite die to play the role of a high-speed silicon bridge enabling high-speed, high-density connectivity between two or more processing unit dies in addition to providing the active functionality of the satellite die to one or more of the processing unit dies.\",\n \"The wirebond connections to the satellite die allow for power delivery to that die and further allow additional I/O or control signal connectivity apart from that provided by the flip chip connections to the processing unit die(s).\",\n \"As with the embodiments described above, TSVs are avoided altogether.\",\n \"Referring now to the drawings, FIGS.\",\n \"1A, 1B, and 1C are plan views of a multi-chip package 100 according to various embodiments of the invention and FIG.\",\n \"2 is a cross-sectional view, taken at a line 2-2 in FIG.\",\n \"1C, of multi-chip package 100 according to an embodiment of the invention.\",\n \"(Views of corresponding cross sections of FIGS.\",\n \"1A and 1B would be very similar or identical to the cross section depicted in FIG.\",\n \"2.)\",\n \"As illustrated in FIGS.\",\n \"1A-1C and FIG.\",\n \"2, multi-chip package 100 comprises a substrate 110 having a side 111, an opposing side 112, and a side 213 that extends from side 111 to side 112.Multi-chip package 100 further comprises a die 120 and a die 130, both of which are attached to side 111 of substrate 110, and a bridge 140 adjacent to side 213 of substrate 110 and attached to die 120 and to die 130.As illustrated, and as further discussed below, no portion of substrate 110 is underneath bridge 140 such that there is an unobstructed path to dies 120 and 130 through or along substrate 110 for bridge 140.Bridge 140 creates a connection (e.g., an electrical or optical connection or the like) between die 120 and die 130 by matching electrically and/or optically conductive traces running through the bridge with pads or other interconnect structures on the dies.\",\n \"In certain embodiments, as mentioned above, bridge 140 comprises silicon.\",\n \"Silicon bridges are used because silicon process technology is relatively advanced, and interconnect pitches and line widths that are achievable using existing silicon process technology are significantly smaller than what is possible using, for example, currently available technology for copper lines in polymer layers.\",\n \"Thus die-to-die interconnects may be constructed with much greater density when silicon bridges are used than when such interconnects are fabricated within typical organic substrate materials.\",\n \"Speaking generally, embodiments of the invention employ silicon bridges with high density solder bumps and fine lines, with the latter being made using traditional silicon processes.\",\n \"In some embodiments, bridge 140 can be a passive component, in that it has no functionality other than to provide a high-speed, high-density signaling pathway between dies 120 and 130.In other embodiments, bridge 140 comprises an active die, having its own functionality apart from a bridging function, that constitutes a third die (die 120 and die 130 being the first two) of multi-chip package 100.In such embodiments, bridge 140 could have a design enabled for hybrid assembly, such as having both bumps for flip-chip interconnects and pads for wirebond connections prepared on the same side (surface) of the active die.\",\n \"Furthermore, such embodiments could reduce manufacturing expenses.\",\n \"For example, a processing unit die requiring on-package external memory in addition to connectivity with another processing unit die could be served by a single bridge die having fast local memory functionality, thus eliminating the need for any additional components, as such a bridge would provide both functions.\",\n \"As an example, the active die can be an active silicon die, or the active die can comprise other semiconducting materials such as gallium arsenide (GaAs), silicon germanium (SiGe), or any other suitable semiconducting material or combination of semiconducting materials.\",\n \"Although this description will from time to time make reference to an “active silicon die,” it should be understood that active dies of any suitable semiconducting material or combination of materials are also contemplated.\",\n \"It should also be understood that what are referred to herein as active dies, no matter what material or materials they are made of, have their own functionality apart from their ability to act as a bridge and provide connections between other dies.\",\n \"In the illustrated embodiments, the intersection of side 111 and side 213 creates an edge 117.In FIG.\",\n \"1A, edge 117 is an internal substrate edge because it lies along an inside perimeter of substrate 110.In contrast, edge 117 in FIGS.\",\n \"1B and 1C is an external substrate edge because it lies along an outside perimeter of substrate 110.In the latter embodiment (FIGS.\",\n \"1B and 1C), side 213 constitutes a portion of an outside perimeter of substrate 110, i.e., a perimeter that circumscribes all of substrate 110, while in the former embodiment (FIG.\",\n \"1A) side 213 constitutes a portion of an inside perimeter of substrate 110, i.e., a perimeter that circumscribes an internal feature of substrate 110, such as an aperture 119, but does not circumscribe all of substrate 110.As illustrated, dies 120 and 130 are arranged such that they overhang an internal or an external edge of substrate 110: a portion 221 of die 120 overhangs edge 117 and, similarly, a portion 231 of die 130 overhangs edge 117.As suggested above, die overhang at an internal substrate edge implies substrate 110 has an aperture, such as aperture 119.In at least some embodiments this aperture is slightly larger than bridge 140.In cases where multiple bridges are desired multiple apertures may be provided, or smaller apertures can be combined into a larger aperture accommodating multiple bridges, depending on design requirements.\",\n \"Overhang at an external substrate edge implies that dies 120 and 130 are mounted near the package substrate periphery, as discussed above and as illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"1B.\",\n \"In certain cases, however, the overhang amount may be greater than desired, which can negatively impact I/O routing, power delivery, thermal management, and the like.\",\n \"These issues may possibly be overcome by using a slotted package substrate such as that shown in FIG.\",\n \"1C.\",\n \"It may be seen in FIG.\",\n \"2 that the portions of dies 120 and 130 that overhang edge 117 (and that are connected to bridge 140), i.e., portions 221 and 231, respectively, contain interconnect structures having a much smaller pitch than do the interconnect structures at the non-overhanging portions of dies 120 and 130.This is consistent with what has been said above regarding the pitches that are achievable both within and outside of bridge 140.In one embodiment, the fine-pitch interfaces (i.e., those contained in portions 221 and 231) are formed separately from the coarse-pitch interfaces at the non-overhanging portions of dies 120 and 130.Regarding these interconnect structures, it should be mentioned that those described herein as having a “fine pitch” do not necessarily all have the same pitch as each of the other “fine pitch” interconnect structures, nor do all of the “coarse pitch” interconnect structures necessarily have the same (coarser) pitch as each of the other “coarse pitch” interconnect structures.\",\n \"Rather, each of the “fine pitch” interconnect structures have, in general, a pitch that is finer than any of the “coarse pitch” interconnect structures, but individual pitch variations may exist from one interconnect structure to another.\",\n \"Electrical signaling analysis for dense die-to-die interconnects for silicon bridges has shown that signaling without repeaters is possible at relevant densities and over lengths required (e.g., up to two millimeters).\",\n \"Additionally, in at least one embodiment, some or all of these interconnect structures may comprise flip-chip or controlled collapse chip connect (C4) connections.\",\n \"(The “flip-chip” and “C4” labels are used interchangeably herein.)\",\n \"Because such connections are well known in the art the details of their structure and manufacture will not be discussed herein except to say that the manufacture is transparent to the particular technology used (whether reflow, thermocompression bonding, or some other process).\",\n \"For reasons discussed below, in some embodiments (such as, for example, where bridge 140 is an active silicon die), bridge 140 is attached to substrate 110 using wirebonds 241.\",\n \"(These wirebonds have been omitted from FIGS.\",\n \"1A-1C in order to increase the clarity of those figures.)\",\n \"Only a portion of wirebonds 241 are shown in FIG.\",\n \"2 because the perspective of that figure makes it difficult to depict the full extent of the wirebonds.\",\n \"It should be understood, however, that wirebonds 241 continue in an unbroken path from bridge 140 to substrate 110 in order to create an electrical connection between bridge 140 and substrate 110.As mentioned above, no TSVs are needed in bridge 140 or for the other bridges/satellite dies described herein.\",\n \"The satellite dies are connected to the processing unit dies using flip-chip (face-to-face) connections in order to allow for interfacing the processing unit and satellite die I/O and for providing an interface (where desired) for die-to-die bridge functionality.\",\n \"All or some of the other (slower) I/Os of the satellite die and its power and ground connects are, in certain embodiments, supplied by wirebonds.\",\n \"This represents a possible cost savings.\",\n \"An advantage of using wirebonding to supply the I/O and power and ground connections, rather than supplying such connections through a connected processing unit die, is that the processing unit dies would not then need the infrastructure required to provide power and additional I/Os that are not needed for the processing unit die itself, which additional infrastructure and associated overhead would likely increase the processing unit die area and significantly increase the processing unit cost.\",\n \"Also, if used without a satellite die this additional infrastructure in the processing unit would be wasted.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"3 is a flowchart illustrating a method 300 of providing die-to-die interconnects in a multi-chip package according to an embodiment of the invention.\",\n \"As an example, method 300 may represent a portion of a manufacturing process that results in the formation of a multi-chip package that is similar to multi-chip package 100 as shown in FIGS.\",\n \"1A, 1B, 1C, and 2.Although these figures depict a single bridge connecting two dies, other embodiments of the invention may involve more than two dies and/or more than a single bridge.\",\n \"A step 310 of method 300 is to provide a substrate having a first side, an opposing second side, and a third side that extends from the first side to the second side.\",\n \"As an example, the substrate can be similar to substrate 110, and the first side, the second side, and the third side can be similar to, respectively, side 111, side 112, and side 213 of substrate 110.Sides 111 and 112 are first shown in FIG.\",\n \"1A, and side 213 is shown in FIG.\",\n \"2.In one embodiment, step 310 comprises forming an aperture through the substrate such that the third side constitutes a portion of an inside perimeter of the substrate.\",\n \"As an example, this embodiment may result in an MCP such as that shown in FIG.\",\n \"1A.\",\n \"In another embodiment, step 310 comprises forming a slot in the substrate such that the third side constitutes a portion of an outside perimeter of the substrate.\",\n \"As an example, this embodiment may result in an MCP such as that shown in FIG.\",\n \"1C.\",\n \"Either of these embodiments may be characterized by a lower cost than that likely required for a bridge embedded in a substrate cavity as described elsewhere herein.\",\n \"Indeed, in cases where coreless substrates or other thin substrates are to be used such embodiments may be the only viable option.\",\n \"As an example, apertures or slots such as those discussed above may be formed by mechanical or laser drilling, milling, routing, stamping, punching, etching, or the like.\",\n \"A step 320 of method 300 is to attach a first die to the first side of the substrate such that a portion of the first die extends beyond an edge of the first side of the substrate.\",\n \"As an example, the first die can be similar to die 120 that is first shown in FIG.\",\n \"1A.\",\n \"As another example, the edge of the first side of the substrate can be similar to edge 117, and the portion of the first die that extends beyond the edge can be similar to portion 221 of die 120, which portion is first shown in FIG.\",\n \"2.A step 330 of method 300 is to attach a second die to the first side of the substrate such that a portion of the second die extends beyond the edge of the first side of the substrate.\",\n \"As an example, the second die can be similar to die 130 that is first shown in FIG.\",\n \"1A.\",\n \"As another example, the portion of the second die that extends beyond the edge can be similar to portion 231 of die 130, which portion is first shown in FIG.\",\n \"2.In one embodiment, steps 320 and 330 may be combined into a single step.\",\n \"In the same or another embodiment the die attachment of steps 330 and 320 (or of the single step that combines the two) comprises an alignment function facilitated by solder self-alignment.\",\n \"Note that in an embodiment such solder self-alignment occurs during the coarse-pitch MCP die attach step or steps and the dies may be precisely positioned with respect to each other by virtue of a single lithographically defined solder mask pattern on the first side of the substrate.\",\n \"A step 340 of method 300 is to provide a bridge containing a plurality of electrically and/or optically conductive features.\",\n \"As an example, the bridge can be similar to bridge 140 that is first shown in FIG.\",\n \"1A.\",\n \"Accordingly, in some embodiments the bridge can be an active silicon die.\",\n \"As another example, the electrically conductive features can be metal traces or the like as known in the art that are suitable for conducting electricity between one region and another, or one component and another, of an MCP, while the optically conductive features can be, for example, optical waveguides such as silicon nitride waveguides, rib waveguides, and the like, or optical coupling elements such as gratings, micro-mirrors, and lenses.\",\n \"A step 350 of method 300 is to position the bridge adjacent to the third side of the substrate such that no portion of the substrate is underneath the bridge.\",\n \"This arrangement allows for a mechanical decoupling of the bridge and the substrate—materials that have a large mismatch in coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE).\",\n \"Furthermore, an unconstrained bridge could offer package stress benefits because it could move without creating a bending load on the fine-pitch joints.\",\n \"Thus, method 300 may not require the use of an underfill or encapsulant to fill the space around the bride in the aperture or slot or the like.\",\n \"As an example, step 350 may be accomplished using a pick and place machine, as known in the art.\",\n \"A step 360 of method 300 is to attach the bridge to the first die and to the second die, thereby creating an electrical or optical connection between the first die and the second die.\",\n \"Accordingly, step 360 may constitute an attachment from the backside of the package, i.e., method 300 may constitute a “bridge last” process flow.\",\n \"It should be noted that because no portion of the substrate is underneath the bridge, this “bridge last” process flow may allow the use of a full-thickness bridge (unless thermomechanical considerations indicate bridge thinning to be advantageous for fine-pitch interconnect reliability, or unless thinning is needed for form factor or mechanical clearance) where other process flows would require that a thinned bridge be used.\",\n \"Also, the “bridge last” process flow enables the building of MCPs with dies or die stacks of disparate heights without any modification to the outlined assembly flow while also providing a scaleable solution that enables affordable assembly of multiple bridges in a given MCP configuration.\",\n \"In one embodiment, step 360 may be accomplished using a thermocompression bonding process.\",\n \"In another embodiment, step 360 comprises using a solder reflow process.\",\n \"As is known in the art, in thermocompression bonding temperature and pressure may be controlled; with a solder reflow process only the temperature may be controlled.\",\n \"As is also known, solder reflow is a high-throughput batch process.\",\n \"Thermocompression bonding is typically a sequential process; however, a “ganged” bonder can process several units at once.\",\n \"Thermocompression bonding may in certain embodiments be needed to achieve the fine-pitch interconnect because of its process flexibility and its better control of process parameters.\",\n \"A step 370 of method 300 is to attach the bridge to the substrate using a wirebond.\",\n \"As an example, the wirebond can be similar to wirebonds 241 that are shown in FIG.\",\n \"2.Step 370 may be performed, for example, in embodiments where the bridge is an active die.\",\n \"It should be understood, however, that step 370 is not necessarily performed in every embodiment of method 300.FIG.\",\n \"4 is a flowchart illustrating a method 400 of providing die-to-die interconnects in a multi-chip package according to another embodiment of the invention.\",\n \"Method 400 is an assembly process enabling the precise alignment of bridges to MCP dies first, followed by the attachment of bridge and dies to a package substrate.\",\n \"This subsequent attachment of bridge and dies to the package substrate may be easier in the bridge-to-dies first process because it eliminates certain issues typically caused by mixed bump, fine pitches.\",\n \"Method 400 may also be employed, for example, when a substrate with a cutout cannot be provided and when an overhang over an external substrate edge is not an option due to design considerations.\",\n \"Method 400 and a multi-chip package 500 related thereto are further illustrated in FIGS.\",\n \"5-8, which are cross-sectional views of multi-chip package 500 at various particular points in its manufacturing process according to embodiments of the invention.\",\n \"As explained in further detail below, method 400 generally involves the attachment of dies to a carrier, fine pitch assembly of one or more bridges to the dies, coarse pitch assembly of the carrier, dies, and bridge(s) to a package substrate, and (optionally) de-bonding of the carrier.\",\n \"Potential advantages of this method over one or more of the other methods or embodiments described herein are that it eliminates the package substrate as a mechanical reference in the mixed-bump-pitch assembly flow, and that it forms the fine-pitch and coarser-pitch interconnects in separate steps.\",\n \"Furthermore, method 400 permits accurate bridge alignment in three dimensions.\",\n \"As stated above, accurate bridge alignment may be important in order to create an overall well-defined bump field for subsequent die attach.\",\n \"High interconnect densities accentuate this requirement.\",\n \"A step 410 of method 400 is to attach a first die and a second die to a carrier.\",\n \"When placing the dies, suitable fiducials on previously placed dies or on other components of the subassembly, such as the carrier, may be used as a reference.\",\n \"As an example, the first die and the second die can be similar to, respectively, die 120 and die 130 that are first shown in FIG.\",\n \"1A.\",\n \"As another example, the first die and the second die can be similar to, respectively, a die 520 and a die 530 that are first shown in FIG.\",\n \"5.Attached to die 520 are fine-pitch interconnect structures 521 and coarse-pitch interconnect structures 522.Attached to die 530 are fine-pitch interconnect structures 531 and coarse-pitch interconnect structures 532.More specifically, and as illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"5 and subsequent figures, die 520 has a portion 526 containing interconnect structures 521 and a portion 527 containing interconnect structures 522.Similarly, die 530 has a portion 536 containing interconnect structures 531 and a portion 537 containing interconnect structures 532.As mentioned above, interconnect structures 521 and 531 have a first (fine) pitch and interconnect structures 522 and 532 have a second (coarse) pitch that is different from the first pitch.\",\n \"It may be seen that, as already mentioned elsewhere herein, portions 526 and 536 are attached to the bridge (by way of fine pitch interconnect structures 521 and 531).\",\n \"Note that interconnect structures 521 and 531 would typically be silicon to silicon structures rather than silicon to organic structures.\",\n \"As an example, this may help to forestall the problems that are typically associated with a mismatch in the CTE between the two materials.\",\n \"The carrier can be similar to a carrier 505 that is first shown in FIG.\",\n \"5.In one embodiment, the carrier comprises an integrated heat spreader (IHS).\",\n \"As an example, the heat spreader may be made of copper or the like.\",\n \"Due to the high thermal conductivity of the copper (or other) IHS, the package may be thermally enhanced.\",\n \"In the embodiment of FIG.\",\n \"5, dies 520 and 530 are attached to carrier 505 using an adhesive material 507, which may comprise a thermal interface material (TIM) or the like.\",\n \"A step 420 of method 400 is to attach a bridge to the first die and to the second die.\",\n \"Note that in this step only the fine pitch interconnect structures are attached.\",\n \"The small bump pitch may require highly accurate pick-and-place equipment.\",\n \"Again, on-die fiducials may be useful for achieving successful bonding.\",\n \"As an example, the bridge can be similar to bridge 140 that is first shown in FIG.\",\n \"1A.\",\n \"As another example, the bridge can be similar to a bridge 540, first shown in FIG.\",\n \"5, that, like bridge 140, may be made of silicon and may, further, be an active silicon die.\",\n \"In one embodiment, step 420 comprises using a thermocompression bonding process to bond the bridge and the dies to each other.\",\n \"In other embodiments, step 420 comprises using a solder reflow process or another attachment procedure as known in the art.\",\n \"A step 430 of method 400 is to provide a substrate.\",\n \"As an example, the substrate can be similar to substrate 110 that is first shown in FIG.\",\n \"1A.\",\n \"As another example, the substrate can be similar to a substrate 610 that is first shown in FIG.\",\n \"6.Substrate 610 contains a cavity 615 that, in the illustrated embodiment, contains bridge 540 surrounded by a protective material 612 such as an encapsulant, an underfill material, an epoxy, or the like.\",\n \"Material 612 may be compliant or flexible in order to mechanically decouple bridge 540 and substrate 610, and its presence may enable undisturbed underfilling of dies 520 and 530.As still another example, the substrate can be similar to a substrate 710 that is first shown in FIG.\",\n \"7.In the FIG.\",\n \"7 embodiment, dies 520 and 530 form, or are located in, a die layer 750 of multi-chip package 500.Substrate 710 has no cavity; a bridge 740, which is significantly thinner than bridge 540, sits on a surface of substrate 710 or is otherwise located between substrate 710 and dies 520 and 530—in other words, bridge 740 is located between die layer 750 and the surface of the substrate.\",\n \"(In other respects bridge 740 can be similar to bridges 540 and 140 and can therefore, in certain embodiments, be an active die.)\",\n \"Also in the FIG.\",\n \"7 embodiment, one or more of interconnect structures 521, 522, 531, and 532 may need to be modified in order to accommodate the reduced thickness of bridge 740.For example, interconnect structures 521 and 531 may need to be shortened while interconnect structures 522 and 532 may need to be lengthened in order to accommodate the different package geometry.\",\n \"As with other embodiments described herein, one or more of interconnect structures 521, 522, 531, and 532 may comprise flip-chip connections.\",\n \"It should be noted that bridge 740 may be thin enough that it requires its own carrier in order to facilitate handling, e.g.\",\n \"before and during step 420 of method 400.A step 440 of method 400 is to attach the first die and the second die to the substrate.\",\n \"In this step only the die bumps with a large pitch (outside the bridge area) are attached.\",\n \"Since the bump pitch is large, less expensive pick-and-place equipment can typically be used.\",\n \"The appearance of multi-chip package 500 following the performance of step 440 is illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"6 for an embodiment using substrate 610 and in FIG.\",\n \"7 for an embodiment using substrate 710.In some embodiments, step 440 is followed by the removal of the carrier.\",\n \"As an example, this may be accomplished by peeling, cutting, etching away, or melting the adhesive material, or otherwise de-bonding the carrier from the dies.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"8 shows multi-chip package 500 following the removal of carrier 505.Carrier 505 in FIG.\",\n \"7 may also be removed (not illustrated).\",\n \"In other embodiments, such as when the carrier is a heat spreader, step 440 is not performed and the carrier is permanently left in place.\",\n \"In yet another embodiment (not illustrated), in order to accommodate dies of different thicknesses, a mix of single dies and die stacks, or die stacks of different heights, the carrier or IHS may be stepped such that before bridge-to-die attach the bumps to be interconnected by an individual bridge are coplanar.\",\n \"Suitable steps or cavities can be created by machining the carrier or IHS.\",\n \"A step 450 of method 400 is to attach the bridge to the substrate using a wirebond.\",\n \"As an example, the wirebond can be similar to wirebonds 241 that are shown in FIG.\",\n \"2 or to wirebonds 841 that are shown in FIG.\",\n \"8.\",\n \"(The embodiment of FIG.\",\n \"7 may also include wirebonds, or in other words bridge 740 may also, in certain embodiments, be connected to substrate 710 using wirebonds.\",\n \"Such wirebonds are not depicted in FIG.\",\n \"7, however, because the presence in that figure of carrier 505 combined with the figure's cross-sectional nature make it difficult to illustrate the wirebonds clearly, or because the wirebonds are added after the removal of carrier 505.)\",\n \"Only a portion of wirebonds 841 are shown in FIG.\",\n \"8 because the perspective of that figure makes it difficult to depict the full extent of the wirebonds.\",\n \"It should be understood, however, that wirebonds 841 continue in an unbroken path from bridge 540 to substrate 610 in order to create an electrical connection between bridge 540 and substrate 610.Step 450 may be performed, for example, in embodiments where the bridge is an active die.\",\n \"It should be understood, however, that step 450 is not necessarily performed in every embodiment of method 400.FIG.\",\n \"9 is a cross-sectional view of a multi-chip package 900 according to an embodiment of the invention.\",\n \"As illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"9, multi-chip package 900 comprises a substrate 910 containing a cavity 915 having a plurality of pads 918 therein, a die 920 and a die 930 attached to substrate 910, a bridge 940 having a side 941 and an opposing side 942, and a plurality of joints 960 at side 942 of bridge 940.As an example, pads 918 and joints 960 can be electrically non-functional.\",\n \"Pads 918 may be prefabricated during conventional build-up processes and then exposed during cavity formation, for example by laser milling or the like.\",\n \"An encapsulation material 945 at least partially surrounds bridge 940 in cavity 915 in the illustrated embodiment.\",\n \"As an example, substrate 910, die 920, die 930, and bridge 940 can be similar to, respectively, substrate 110, die 120, die 130, and bridge 140, all of which are first shown in FIG.\",\n \"1A.\",\n \"Accordingly, in certain embodiments bridge 940 can be an active die.\",\n \"As may be seen in the figure, die 920 and die 930 are attached to side 941 of bridge 940, at least a portion of bridge 940 is located within cavity 915 such that the plurality of j oints 960 are aligned with pads 918, and bridge 940 creates an electrical or optical connection between die 920 and die 930.Die 920 has a portion 926 containing a plurality of interconnect structures 921 and a portion 927 containing a plurality of interconnect structures 922.Similarly, die 930 has a portion 936 containing a plurality of interconnect structures 931 and a portion 937 containing a plurality of interconnect structures 932.Interconnect structures 921 and 931 have a first (fine) pitch and interconnect structures 922 and 932 have a second (coarse) pitch that is different from the first pitch.\",\n \"Portions 926 and 936 are attached to the bridge (by way of fine pitch interconnect structures 921 and 931).\",\n \"As has been discussed elsewhere herein, in some embodiments, such as, for example, where bridge 940 is an active die, bridge 940 is attached to substrate 910 using wirebonds.\",\n \"These wirebonds have not been depicted in FIG.\",\n \"9 because the nature of that figure makes such depiction difficult.\",\n \"It should be understood, however, that, in a manner similar to what is shown in other figures described herein, the wirebonds continue in an unbroken path from bridge 940 to substrate 910 in order to create an electrical connection between bridge 940 and substrate 910.FIG.\",\n \"10 is a flowchart illustrating a method 1000 of providing die-to-die interconnects in a multi-chip package according to an embodiment of the invention.\",\n \"As an example, method 1000 may represent a portion of a manufacturing process that results in the formation of a multi-chip package that is similar to multi-chip package 900 as shown in FIG.\",\n \"9.As explained in further detail below, method 1000 generally involves providing a package substrate, machining or otherwise forming a cavity for a silicon or other bridge, dispensing flux onto cavity floor pads, pick and place of the bridge with backside solder bumps, solder reflow with solder self-alignment of the bridge, deflux (unless a no-clean flux or fluxless attachment process is used), encapsulation of bridge, and assembly of active dies.\",\n \"A potential advantage of this process is that it is readily scalable to multiple bridges on a package and many substrates on a panel.\",\n \"A step 1010 of method 1000 is to provide a substrate having a plurality of embedded pads.\",\n \"As an example, the substrate and the pads can be similar to, respectively, substrate 910 and pads 918 that are shown in FIG.\",\n \"9.A step 1020 of method 1000 is to form a cavity in the substrate such that the pads are exposed at a floor of the cavity.\",\n \"As an example, the cavity can be similar to cavity 915 that is shown in FIG.\",\n \"9.In one embodiment, step 1020 may be accomplished using a laser milling process, a plasma etching/reactive ion etching (RIE) process, or the like.\",\n \"As cavity 915 is formed, electrically non-functional (dummy) or other pads 918 at the cavity floor are exposed.\",\n \"In one embodiment, these were previously fabricated during the conventional substrate buildup process and were buried by one or more dielectric buildup layers.\",\n \"Pads 918 may be made of copper and present a suitable surface finish such as electroless nickel, immersion gold (ENIG), conducive to soldering.\",\n \"A minimum pad thickness of approximately 10 μm may be desirable when laser milling is used for cavity formation, with the laser operation to stop at the pad layer.\",\n \"Mating pads may be provided on the backside of bridge 940 and the bridge may be bumped ahead of time using standard metallization and bumping techniques, perhaps at the wafer level.\",\n \"A solder resist layer may also be added to the backside of bridge 940.A step 1030 of method 1000 is to provide a bridge having bumps thereon corresponding to the pads.\",\n \"(Such correspondence between bumps and pads may, but does not necessarily, mean the number of bumps and the number of pads are equal to each other; rather, the correspondence is such that the bumps match up with the pads to the degree that a reliable mechanical joining is possible.)\",\n \"As an example, the bridge can be similar to bridge 940, shown in FIG.\",\n \"9, and can thus in certain embodiments be an active die, and the joints formed can be similar to joints 960, also shown in FIG.\",\n \"9.A step 1040 of method 1000 is to place the bridge in the cavity and align the bumps and the pads to each other.\",\n \"Step 1040 attaches the bridge to the substrate.\",\n \"In one embodiment, the alignment of bumps and pads to each other is accomplished using the self-alignment of solder during reflow and joint formation.\",\n \"Solder self-alignment of electronic components where the surface tension of the liquid solder is the driving force is well known in the art.\",\n \"Careful design of a solder joint array can provide self alignment in the x and y dimensions with a positional tolerance in the order of 1 micrometer (hereinafter “micron” or “μm.”) Accurate alignment in the z dimension (height) can be achieved by control of the solder volume.\",\n \"The precisely aligned bridge may then be encapsulated, thereby locking the bridge at its precisely defined locations.\",\n \"The resulting hybrid package substrate may then be supplied to a die attach module.\",\n \"A step 1050 of method 1000 is to provide a first die and a second die.\",\n \"As an example, the first die and the second die can be similar to, respectively, die 920 and die 930, both of which are shown in FIG.\",\n \"9.A step 1060 of method 1000 is to attach the first die and the second die to the bridge and the substrate.\",\n \"In one embodiment, step 1060 comprises a flux dispense step, die pick-and-place steps, and a reflow step.\",\n \"As mentioned elsewhere herein, at very high I/O densities and very fine bridge interconnect pitches, accurate alignment becomes important in order to facilitate a successful assembly of the MCP (die attach).\",\n \"Thus, in certain embodiments, and as shown in FIG.\",\n \"9, joints 960 located at the backside (i.e., side 942) of bridge 940 are utilized to achieve precise alignment of bridge 940 with respect to other package substrate bumps.\",\n \"It is well known that solder self-alignment can enable ultimate component placement in the x and y dimensions with a positional tolerance on the order of 1 μm.\",\n \"As an alternative to solder, suitable non-conductive materials that are capable of providing self-alignment based on the underlying surface tension principle (minimization of adhesion energy during bonding) could also be used.\",\n \"A step 1070 of method 1000 is to attach the bridge to the substrate using a wirebond.\",\n \"As an example, the wirebond can be similar to wirebonds 241 that are shown in FIG.\",\n \"2 or to wirebonds 841 that are shown in FIG.\",\n \"8.Step 1070 may be performed, for example, in embodiments where the bridge is an active die.\",\n \"It should be understood, however, that step 1070 is not necessarily performed in every embodiment of method 1000.FIG.\",\n \"11A is a plan view of a multi-chip package 1100 according to an embodiment of the invention.\",\n \"Cross-sectional views for two different embodiments of multi-chip package 1100, each taken at a line B-C in FIG.\",\n \"11A, are shown in FIGS.\",\n \"11B and 11C.\",\n \"As illustrated in FIGS.\",\n \"11A-11C, multi-chip package 1100 comprises a substrate 1110, an active die 1120 attached to substrate 1110 using flip-chip connections 1121 (in FIG.\",\n \"11A these are visible in a portion 1125 of active die 1120 that is depicted (for illustrative purposes) as being transparent), and an active die 1130, which is attached to active die 1120 using a flip-chip connection 1131 and which is attached to substrate 1110 using wirebonds 1141.As may be seen in the figure, multi-chip package 1100 is an example of an embodiment where a satellite die assembled in a hybrid manner is attached to a single on-package (processing unit) die.\",\n \"Such an arrangement allows for high-density, high-speed flip-chip connectivity between the processing unit and the satellite die and further allows for the processing unit die to utilize the functionality of the satellite die.\",\n \"In cases where high-density interconnects are not needed (e.g., because of the functionality of the satellite die), the flip-chip interconnects may have a relatively coarse pitch.\",\n \"Additional connections needed by the satellite die such as, but not limited to, power and ground connectivity, may be provided by wirebonds located on sides of the satellite die not obscured by the processing unit die.\",\n \"In certain embodiments substrate 1110 contains a cavity in which active die 1130 is at least partially located.\",\n \"Such a cavity is visible in FIG.\",\n \"11B and examples may also be seen in FIGS.\",\n \"6, 8, and 9.In other embodiments, (see FIG.\",\n \"11C) substrate 1110 has a first side, an opposing second side, and a third side that extends from the first side to the second side (not identified with reference numerals in FIG.\",\n \"11C, but such as may form an aperture or slot as discussed above), active die 1120 is attached to the first side of substrate 1110 using flip-chip connections 1121, active die 1130 is attached to substrate 1110 using wirebonds 1141, and no portion of substrate 1110 is underneath active die 1130.These embodiments are similar to those described in connection with FIGS.\",\n \"1A-1C and FIG.\",\n \"2.In each of these cases, such cavities, apertures, slots, and the like that house the satellite dies may partially overlap with the bump field of the processing unit dies in order to enable flip-chip, high-speed, high-density connections between satellite die and processing unit die as described herein.\",\n \"Active die 1130 has a region 1138 and a region 1139, where region 1138 is an overlap region located between active die 1130 (below) and a portion of active die 1120 (above).\",\n \"As shown, the overlap region can be a partial overlap of active dies 1120 and 1130 such that the lower die is not completely underneath the upper die.\",\n \"The overlap region may be the location of one or more face-to-face flip-chip connections that electrically or optically connect the active dies to each other.\",\n \"Referring again to the illustrated embodiment, flip-chip connection 1131 is located in region 1138 while wirebonds 1141 are attached to active die 1130 in region 1139.In the illustrated embodiment, active die 1130 is attached to substrate 1110 using wirebonds 1141.Note that one edge of active die 1130 is shown as having a double row of wirebonds.\",\n \"In some (non-illustrated) embodiments three or more wirebond rows may be fabricated.\",\n \"Such multiple rows, however, may not achieve the same fine pitches that are achievable with single rows, which may be as small as a pad pitch of 35 μm (corresponding to approximately 29 bonds/mm die edge).\",\n \"For power and ground connections, minimum pitch wirebond capability may not be needed and a thicker bond wire at a lower pitch may be acceptable or even favorable.\",\n \"It should be understood that the illustration, like all of the illustrations referred to herein, is not intended to be limiting, and that non-illustrated embodiments may employ more or fewer double wirebond rows (including embodiments having no such rows), one or more sections having more than two wirebond rows, longer or shorter rows having more or fewer wirebonds, wirebonds along only certain sides but not all sides of the active die, or any other useful wirebond configuration.\",\n \"In one embodiment, active die 1120 is a processing unit die such as a central processing unit (CPU), a graphics processing unit (GPU), or the like, while active die 1130 is a satellite die with functionality such as memory (including volatile memory such as fast DRAM, external SRAM, eDRAM, and the like and non-volatile memory such as flash memory and the like), graphics processing, voltage regulation for power delivery, radio frequency (RF), or the like, including useful combinations thereof.\",\n \"A satellite die according to various embodiments could even be a microelectromechanical system (MEMS) chip, a sensor chip for use in a system-on-package (SoP), or a photonics die with optoelectronic functionality.\",\n \"Active die 1130 is sometimes referred to herein as a satellite die because it is connected to, and may share active functionality with, active die 1120.In certain embodiments, active die 1130 may also be connected to and share active functionality with one or more other dies (not illustrated in FIGS.\",\n \"11A-11C) in addition to active die 1120.In cases where the satellite die is connected to more than one active die the satellite die may or may not electrically or optically connect those active dies to each other, or in other words may or may not act as a bridge between those active dies in a manner that is explained elsewhere herein.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"12 is a plan view of active die 1130 according to an embodiment of the invention.\",\n \"The scale of active die 1130 is slightly larger in FIG.\",\n \"12 than it is in FIGS.\",\n \"11A-11C.\",\n \"As illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"12, region 1138 of active die 1130 has a section 1201 and a section 1202.Section 1201 contains a plurality of flip-chip connections 1231 having a first density and section 1202 contains a plurality of flip-chip connections 1131 (first introduced in FIG.\",\n \"11A) having a second density that is less than the first density.\",\n \"The higher-density and lower-density connections can be used as necessary depending on the functionality of active die 1130.In the illustrated embodiment, region 1138 further comprises a section 1203 that contains a plurality of flip-chip connections 1233 having a third density that is also less than the first density and can, in one embodiment, be the same as or substantially similar to the second density.\",\n \"The connections in any one or more of sections 1201, 1202, and 1203 can be used to enable active die 1120 access to the functionality of active die 1130, and vice versa.\",\n \"In the embodiment of FIG.\",\n \"12, section 1201 is located between section 1202 and section 1203, though other configurations are certainly also possible as will be readily apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art.\",\n \"For example, active die 1130 may have flip-chip connections of only a single (high) density, only a single (standard or low) density, one section of high density and another of lower density connections, with these arranged in any suitable configuration, etc.\",\n \"Also, it should be noted here that any one or more of bridges 140, 540, 740, and 940, in embodiments where those bridges are active dies, could have the features, configurations, functionalities, etc.\",\n \"that are described above for active die 1130.Similarly, any one or more of dies 120, 130, 520, 530, 920, and 930 can be similar to active die 1120.It was mentioned above that active die 1130 may be connected to one or more active dies in addition to active die 1120.In some embodiments, as also mentioned, active die 1130 acts as a bridge between active die 1120 and those additional active dies.\",\n \"Examples of this are depicted in FIGS.\",\n \"1A-1C, FIG.\",\n \"2, and FIGS.\",\n \"6-9 if the bridges in those figures are assumed to be active dies.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"13 further illustrates a possible configuration for an active bridge or satellite die 1330 according to an embodiment of the invention.\",\n \"As illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"13, active die 1330 comprises a region 1338 that is similar to region 1138.For example, in the illustrated embodiment region 1338, like region 1138, contains sections 1201, 1202, and 1203, each containing the features and components described above.\",\n \"Electrically and/or optically conductive bridge traces 1370, which extend between section 1201 of region 1138 and the corresponding section of region 1338, provide an electrical or optical connection between dies that are bridged by active die 1330.These dies are not shown in FIG.\",\n \"13, but would, for example, be attached to active die 1330 using flip-chip connections 1131, 1231, and 1233 in a manner similar to that described above for active die 1120.FIG.\",\n \"14 is a flowchart illustrating a method 1400 of providing die-to-die interconnects in a multi-chip package according to an embodiment of the invention.\",\n \"As an example, method 1400 may result in an MCP such as that shown in FIG.\",\n \"11C.\",\n \"(An MCP such as that shown in FIG.\",\n \"11B may be formed using a method similar to method 400 or method 1000 with the second die being omitted.)\",\n \"A step 1410 of method 1400 is to provide a substrate.\",\n \"As an example, the substrate can be similar to substrate 1110 as it is shown in FIG.\",\n \"11C.\",\n \"A step 1420 of method 1400 is to attach a first active die to the substrate using a first flip-chip connection.\",\n \"As an example, the first active die and the first flip-chip connection can be similar to, respectively, active die 1120 and flip-chip connections 1121, both of which are shown in FIGS.\",\n \"11A-11C.\",\n \"A step 1430 of method 1400 is to attach a second active die to the first active die using a second flip-chip connection.\",\n \"As an example, the second active die and the second flip-chip connection can be similar to, respectively, active die 1130 and flip-chip connections 1131, both of which are first shown in FIG.\",\n \"11A.\",\n \"A step 1440 of method 1400 is to attach the second active die to the substrate.\",\n \"In one embodiment, the second active die is attached to the substrate using a wirebond such as wirebond 1141 that are first shown in FIG.\",\n \"11A.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"15 is a plan view of a multi-chip package 1500 according to an embodiment of the invention.\",\n \"As illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"15, multi-chip package 1500 comprises a substrate 1510, an active die 1520 attached to substrate 1510 using flip-chip connections 1521, an active die 1530 attached to active die 1520 using flip-chip connections 1531 and to substrate 1510 using wirebonds 1541, and an active die 1550 attached to substrate 1510 using flip-chip connections 1551 and attached to active die 1530 using flip-chip connections 1552.Active die 1520 is electrically and/or optically connected to active die 1550 via electrically and/or optically conductive bridge traces 1570 located in active die 1530.Active die 1530 thus acts as a bridge connecting active dies 1520 and 1550.In the illustrated embodiment, active dies 1520 and 1550 have regions and sections the same as or similar to those described above in connection with active die 1120 and shown in FIGS.\",\n \"11A-11C, with the features located in those regions and sections, and the characteristics of those features, being similar as well.\",\n \"In certain embodiments substrate 1510 contains a cavity in which active die 1530 is at least partially located.\",\n \"Such a cavity is not visible in FIG.\",\n \"15 but examples may be seen in FIGS.\",\n \"6, 8, and 9.In other embodiments, substrate 1510 has a first side, an opposing second side, and a third side that extends from the first side to the second side (such as may form an aperture or slot as discussed above), active dies 1520 and 1550 are attached to the first side of substrate 1510, and no portion of substrate 1510 is underneath active die 1530.These embodiments are not explicitly illustrated in FIG.\",\n \"15 but are similar to those described in connection with FIGS.\",\n \"1A-1C and FIG.\",\n \"2.In each of these cases, such cavities, apertures, slots, and the like that house the satellite dies may partially overlap with the bump field of the processing unit dies in order to enable flip-chip, high-speed, high-density connections between satellite die and processing unit die as described herein.\",\n \"Some examples of MCP package geometries showing such partial overlaps are shown in FIG.\",\n \"16, where the bridge/satellite die is cross-hatched and the processing unit dies are shown plain.\",\n \"(Package substrates are not shown in FIG.\",\n \"16.)\",\n \"It will be understood that the illustrated examples represent only a fraction of the large number of possible configurations.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"17 is a flowchart illustrating a method 1700 of providing die-to-die interconnects in a multi-chip package according to an embodiment of the invention.\",\n \"As an example, method 1700 may result in an MCP such as that shown in FIG.\",\n \"15.Described below is a “bridge last” process flow similar to that described by method 300.The FIG.\",\n \"15 structure may also be manufactured with a substrate having a cavity similar to the substrates shown in FIG.\",\n \"8 or 9.Process flows suitable to manufacture such structures may proceed along the lines of methods 400 and 1000, with a third active die as discussed below standing in for the bridge of those methods.\",\n \"A step 1710 of method 1700 is to provide a substrate.\",\n \"As an example, the substrate can be similar to substrate 1510 that is shown in FIG.\",\n \"15.A step 1720 of method 1700 is to attach a first active die to the substrate using a first flip-chip connection.\",\n \"As an example, the first active die and the first flip-chip connection can be similar to, respectively, active die 1520 and flip-chip connections 1521, both of which are shown in FIG.\",\n \"15.A step 1730 of method 1700 is to attach a second active die to the substrate using a second flip-chip connection.\",\n \"As an example, the second active die can be similar to active die 1550 and the second flip-chip connection can be similar to flip-chip connections 1551, both of which are shown in FIG.\",\n \"15.A step 1740 of method 1700 is to attach the third active die to the first active die using a third flip-chip connection.\",\n \"As an example, the third flip-chip connection can be similar to flip-chip connections 1531 that are shown in FIG.\",\n \"15.A step 1750 of method 1700 is to attach the third active die to the second active die using a fourth flip-chip connection.\",\n \"As an example, the fourth flip-chip connection can be similar to flip-chip connections 1552 that are shown in FIG.\",\n \"15.With the third active die attached to both the first and the second active dies, and because the third active die contains electrically and/or optically conductive bridge traces as described above and shown in FIG.\",\n \"15, method 1700 inherently results in the first and the second active dies being electrically and/or optically connected to each other.\",\n \"Alternatively, method 1700 could include an additional step that results in such an electrical or optical connection.\",\n \"A step 1760 of method 1700 is to attach the third active die to the substrate.\",\n \"In one embodiment, step 1760 comprises attaching the third active die to the substrate using wirebonds.\",\n \"Although the invention has been described with reference to specific embodiments, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes may be made without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention.\",\n \"Accordingly, the disclosure of embodiments of the invention is intended to be illustrative of the scope of the invention and is not intended to be limiting.\",\n \"It is intended that the scope of the invention shall be limited only to the extent required by the appended claims.\",\n \"For example, to one of ordinary skill in the art, it will be readily apparent that the multi-chip packages and the related structures and methods discussed herein may be implemented in a variety of embodiments, and that the foregoing discussion of certain of these embodiments does not necessarily represent a complete description of all possible embodiments.\",\n \"Additionally, benefits, other advantages, and solutions to problems have been described with regard to specific embodiments.\",\n \"The benefits, advantages, solutions to problems, and any element or elements that may cause any benefit, advantage, or solution to occur or become more pronounced, however, are not to be construed as critical, required, or essential features or elements of any or all of the claims.\",\n \"Moreover, embodiments and limitations disclosed herein are not dedicated to the public under the doctrine of dedication if the embodiments and/or limitations: (1) are not expressly claimed in the claims; and (2) are or are potentially equivalents of express elements and/or limitations in the claims under the doctrine of equivalents.\"\n ]\n]"},"source":{"kind":"string","value":"Patent_15876080"}}},{"rowIdx":4495073,"cells":{"text":{"kind":"list like","value":[["SPREAD SPECTRUM CODED WAVEFORMS IN ULTRASOUND DIAGNOSTICS","Techniques, systems, and devices are disclosed for ultrasound diagnostics using spread spectrum, coherent, frequency- and/or phase-coded waveforms.","In one aspect, a method includes synthesizing individual orthogonal coded waveforms to form a composite waveform for transmission toward a biological material of interest, in which the synthesized individual orthogonal coded waveforms correspond to distinct frequency bands and include one or both of frequency-coded or phase-coded waveforms; transmitting a composite acoustic waveform toward the biological material of interest, where the transmitting includes transducing the individual orthogonal coded waveforms into corresponding acoustic waveforms to form the composite acoustic waveform; receiving acoustic waveforms returned from at least part of the biological material of interest corresponding to at least some of the transmitted acoustic waveforms that form the composite acoustic waveform; and processing the received returned acoustic waveforms to produce an image of at least part of the biological material of interest."],["1.An acoustic imaging system, comprising: a waveform generation unit comprising one or more waveform synthesizers and amplifiers coupled to a waveform generator, wherein the waveform generation unit synthesizes a composite waveform comprising individual orthogonal coded waveforms corresponding to distinct frequency bands that are generated by the one or more waveform synthesizers according to waveform information provided by the waveform generator, wherein the individual orthogonal coded waveforms include one or both of frequency-coded or phase-coded waveforms; a transmitter array of transducer elements in communication with the waveform generation unit to transmit acoustic waveforms forming a composite acoustic waveform based on drive signals produced from the individual orthogonal coded waveforms toward a biological material, wherein the transmitter array of transducer elements is partitioned into two or more subarrays such that at least one of the two or more subarrays is individually amplitude weighted and at least one of the two or more subarrays is individually phase weighted for at least one frequency band of the frequency bands corresponding to the transmitted acoustic waveforms and combined, thereby providing enhanced cross-range resolution; a receiver array of transducer elements to receive returned acoustic waveforms returned from at least part of the biological material, wherein the received returned acoustic waveforms correspond to at least some of the transmitted acoustic waveforms of the composite acoustic waveform, wherein the receiver array of transducer elements is partitioned into two or more subarrays such that at least one of the two or more subarrays is individually amplitude weighted and at least one of the two or more subarrays is individually phase weighted for at least one frequency band of the frequency bands corresponding to the received returned acoustic waveforms and combined, thereby providing enhanced cross-range resolution; and a controller unit in communication with the waveform generation unit and the transmitter and receiver arrays, the controller unit including a processing unit to process the received returned acoustic waveforms to produce an image of at least part of the biological material.","2.The system of claim 1, further comprising: a user interface unit including a display and in communication with the controller unit to display the produced image.","3.The system of claim 2, wherein the user interface unit includes one or more user interface devices in communication with the controller unit to receive input from an operator of the system.","4.The system of claim 3, wherein the input includes a mode of operation, including: an ATS-Mode (Artificial Tissue Staining Mode) for imaging biological tissue that enables image color coding based on at least one feature of one or more measured properties that are obtained from the returned acoustic waveforms, or a CAD-Mode (Computer Aided Diagnostic Mode) for imaging biological tissue that uses one or more algorithmic classifiers to classify biological tissue types using at least one feature of one or more measured properties that are obtained from the returned acoustic waveforms.","5.The system of claim 2, wherein the display of the user interface unit is operable to display a color coded image of the biological tissue based on the classified biological tissue types.","6.The system of claim 1, further comprising: an array of analog to digital (A/D) converters in communication with the receiver array and the controller unit to convert the received returned acoustic waveforms from analog format to digital format.","7.The system of claim 2, wherein the transmitter array and the receiver array include the same transducer elements, and the system further comprises: a transmit/receive switching unit in communication with the waveform generation unit and the transmitter and receiver arrays to switch between a transmit mode to transmit the acoustic waveforms and a receive mode to receive the returned acoustic waveforms.","8.The system of claim 7, wherein the one or more amplifiers of the waveform generation unit are communicatively coupled between the transmit/receive switching unit and the one or more waveform synthesizers to modify the individual orthogonal coded waveforms of the composite waveform.","9.The system of claim 7, further comprising: an array of analog to digital (A/D) converters in communication with the receiver array and the controller unit to convert the received returned acoustic waveforms from analog format to digital format; and an array of one or more pre-amplifiers configured between the transmit/receive switching unit and the array of A/D converters that modifies the received returned acoustic waveforms.","10.The system of claim 1, wherein each of the phase-coded waveforms includes a frequency chip phase component that a pseudo-random number."],[" BACKGROUND Ultrasound imaging is an imaging modality that employs the properties of sound waves traveling through a medium to render a visual image.","Ultrasound imaging has been used as an imaging modality for decades in a variety of biomedical fields to view internal structures and functions of animals and humans.","Ultrasound waves used in biomedical imaging may operate in different frequencies, e.g., between 1 and 20 MHz, or even higher frequencies.","Some factors including inadequate spatial resolution and tissue differentiation can lead to less than desirable image quality using conventional techniques of ultrasound imaging, which can limit its use for many clinical applications."],[" SUMMARY Techniques, systems, and apparatuses are disclosed for ultrasound diagnostics using spread spectrum, coherent, frequency- and/or phase-coded waveforms that can exhibit wide instantaneous bandwidth.","In one aspect of the disclosed technology, a method of creating an image from an acoustic waveform in an acoustic imaging device includes setting a transmit/receive switch in the acoustic imaging device into a transmit mode to transmit an acoustic waveform toward a target, in transmitting the acoustic waveform, synthesizing, in one or more waveform synthesizers, a plurality of substantially orthogonal coded waveforms that form a composite waveform as the transmitted acoustic waveform toward the target, in which each waveform corresponds to a distinct frequency band and the coded waveforms include at least one of frequency-coded waveforms or phase-coded waveforms, setting the transmit/receive switch in the acoustic imaging device into a receive mode to receive a returned acoustic waveform that returns from at least part of the target, converting the received returned acoustic waveform from analog format to digital format as a received composite waveform comprising information of the target, and processing the received composite waveform to produce an image of at least part of the target.","In another aspect, an acoustic waveform imaging system is provided to include waveform generation unit comprising one or more waveform synthesizers coupled to a waveform generator, wherein the waveform generation unit synthesizes a composite waveform comprising a plurality of substantially orthogonal coded waveforms corresponding to frequency bands that are generated by the one or more waveform synthesizers according to waveform information provided by the waveform generator, the coded waveforms including at least one of frequency-coded waveforms or phase-coded waveforms; a transmit/receive switching unit that switches between a transmit mode and a receive mode; an array of transducer elements in communication with the transmit/receive switching unit that transmits an acoustic waveform based on the composite waveform toward a target and receives a returned acoustic waveform returned from at least part of the target; an array of analog to digital (A/D) converters to convert the received returned acoustic waveform received by the array of transducer elements from analog format to digital format as a received composite waveform comprising information comprising information of the target; a controller unit in communication with the waveform generation unit and the array of A/D converters comprising a processing unit that processes the received composite waveform to produce an image of at least part of the target; and a user interface unit in communication with the controller unit.","In another aspect, a method of creating an image from an acoustic waveform is provided to include setting a transmit/receive switch into transmit mode; selecting a mode of operation from a plurality of operating modes; synthesizing, in one or more waveform synthesizers, a plurality of substantially orthogonal coded waveforms that form a composite waveform, wherein each waveform corresponds to a distinct frequency band, the coded waveforms including at least one of frequency-coded waveforms or phase-coded waveforms; transmitting an acoustic waveform based on the composite waveform toward a target; setting the transmit/receive switch into receive mode; receiving a returned acoustic waveform returned from at least part of the target; converting the received returned acoustic waveform from analog format to digital format as a received composite waveform comprising information of the target; and processing the received composite waveform to produce an image of at least part of the target.","In another aspect, a method of creating an image from an acoustic waveform is provided to include combining a plurality of coded waveforms corresponding to different frequency bands to produce a composite waveform comprising substantially orthogonal wave signals at the different frequency bands, the coded waveforms including at least one of frequency-coded waveforms or phase-coded waveforms; using the composite waveform to produce an acoustic probe wave that includes the different frequency bands toward a target; receiving acoustic energy returned from at least part of the target after the acoustic probe wave is sent to the target; converting the received returned acoustic energy into a digital composite waveform comprising information of the target; and processing the received composite waveform to produce an image of at least part of the target.","In yet another aspect, a device for creating an image from an acoustic waveform is provided to include means for combining a plurality of coded waveforms corresponding to different frequency bands to produce a composite waveform comprising substantially orthogonal wave signals at the different frequency bands, the coded waveforms including at least one of frequency-coded waveforms or phase-coded waveforms; means for using the composite waveform to produce an acoustic probe wave that includes the different frequency bands toward a target; means for receiving acoustic energy returned from at least part of the target after the acoustic probe wave is sent to the target; means for converting the received returned acoustic energy into a digital composite waveform comprising information of the target; and means for processing the received composite waveform to produce an image of at least part of the target.","The subject matter described in this patent document can provide one or more of the following features and be used in many applications.","For example, the disclosed technology can be used during routine primary care screenings to identify and locate early stage malignancies, as well as later stage cancers, which can potentially raise survival rates of hard to diagnose asymptomatic patients.","The disclosed technology can be used by board certified radiologists to diagnose neoplasms as benign or malignant prior to any surgical biopsy or resection intervention, which may also improve patient survival rate while reducing unnecessary biopsies.","The disclosed technology can, when integrated with a fine needle biopsy instrument, be used in medical procedures to confirm noninvasive diagnoses, which can reduce the level of invasiveness of such biopsy procedures.","The disclosed technology can, when integrated with minimally invasive surgical high definition video instrumentation, fuse optical and ultrasound images, which can further give surgeons added abilities to locate and surgically excise diseased tissue without excising excessive healthy tissue.","The disclosed technology can, when integrated with specialized surgical instrumentation, fusing ultrasound images with other data, can give surgeons added abilities to locate and manipulate anatomic areas of interest while minimizing unnecessary damage to nearby structures.","The disclosed technology can reduce the amount of time for the brachytherapy treatment of malignant neoplasms by, for example, precisely guiding the insertion of catheters and sealed radioactive sources into the proper location.","Similarly, the disclosed technology can aid insertion of high dose, localized pharmaceuticals for treatments of diseases."],["CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This patent document is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser.","No.","15/236,229, filed on Aug. 12, 2016, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser.","No.","14/604,612, filed on Jan. 23, 2015, now U.S. Pat.","No.","9,420,999, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser.","No.","13/663,100, filed on Oct. 29, 2012, now U.S. Pat.","No.","8,939,909, which claims the benefit of priority of U.S.","Provisional Patent Application No.","61/553,137, filed on Oct. 28, 2011.The entire contents of the before-mentioned patent applications are incorporated by reference as part of the disclosure of this document.","TECHNICAL FIELD This patent document relates to systems and processes for ultrasound diagnostics.","BACKGROUND Ultrasound imaging is an imaging modality that employs the properties of sound waves traveling through a medium to render a visual image.","Ultrasound imaging has been used as an imaging modality for decades in a variety of biomedical fields to view internal structures and functions of animals and humans.","Ultrasound waves used in biomedical imaging may operate in different frequencies, e.g., between 1 and 20 MHz, or even higher frequencies.","Some factors including inadequate spatial resolution and tissue differentiation can lead to less than desirable image quality using conventional techniques of ultrasound imaging, which can limit its use for many clinical applications.","SUMMARY Techniques, systems, and apparatuses are disclosed for ultrasound diagnostics using spread spectrum, coherent, frequency- and/or phase-coded waveforms that can exhibit wide instantaneous bandwidth.","In one aspect of the disclosed technology, a method of creating an image from an acoustic waveform in an acoustic imaging device includes setting a transmit/receive switch in the acoustic imaging device into a transmit mode to transmit an acoustic waveform toward a target, in transmitting the acoustic waveform, synthesizing, in one or more waveform synthesizers, a plurality of substantially orthogonal coded waveforms that form a composite waveform as the transmitted acoustic waveform toward the target, in which each waveform corresponds to a distinct frequency band and the coded waveforms include at least one of frequency-coded waveforms or phase-coded waveforms, setting the transmit/receive switch in the acoustic imaging device into a receive mode to receive a returned acoustic waveform that returns from at least part of the target, converting the received returned acoustic waveform from analog format to digital format as a received composite waveform comprising information of the target, and processing the received composite waveform to produce an image of at least part of the target.","In another aspect, an acoustic waveform imaging system is provided to include waveform generation unit comprising one or more waveform synthesizers coupled to a waveform generator, wherein the waveform generation unit synthesizes a composite waveform comprising a plurality of substantially orthogonal coded waveforms corresponding to frequency bands that are generated by the one or more waveform synthesizers according to waveform information provided by the waveform generator, the coded waveforms including at least one of frequency-coded waveforms or phase-coded waveforms; a transmit/receive switching unit that switches between a transmit mode and a receive mode; an array of transducer elements in communication with the transmit/receive switching unit that transmits an acoustic waveform based on the composite waveform toward a target and receives a returned acoustic waveform returned from at least part of the target; an array of analog to digital (A/D) converters to convert the received returned acoustic waveform received by the array of transducer elements from analog format to digital format as a received composite waveform comprising information comprising information of the target; a controller unit in communication with the waveform generation unit and the array of A/D converters comprising a processing unit that processes the received composite waveform to produce an image of at least part of the target; and a user interface unit in communication with the controller unit.","In another aspect, a method of creating an image from an acoustic waveform is provided to include setting a transmit/receive switch into transmit mode; selecting a mode of operation from a plurality of operating modes; synthesizing, in one or more waveform synthesizers, a plurality of substantially orthogonal coded waveforms that form a composite waveform, wherein each waveform corresponds to a distinct frequency band, the coded waveforms including at least one of frequency-coded waveforms or phase-coded waveforms; transmitting an acoustic waveform based on the composite waveform toward a target; setting the transmit/receive switch into receive mode; receiving a returned acoustic waveform returned from at least part of the target; converting the received returned acoustic waveform from analog format to digital format as a received composite waveform comprising information of the target; and processing the received composite waveform to produce an image of at least part of the target.","In another aspect, a method of creating an image from an acoustic waveform is provided to include combining a plurality of coded waveforms corresponding to different frequency bands to produce a composite waveform comprising substantially orthogonal wave signals at the different frequency bands, the coded waveforms including at least one of frequency-coded waveforms or phase-coded waveforms; using the composite waveform to produce an acoustic probe wave that includes the different frequency bands toward a target; receiving acoustic energy returned from at least part of the target after the acoustic probe wave is sent to the target; converting the received returned acoustic energy into a digital composite waveform comprising information of the target; and processing the received composite waveform to produce an image of at least part of the target.","In yet another aspect, a device for creating an image from an acoustic waveform is provided to include means for combining a plurality of coded waveforms corresponding to different frequency bands to produce a composite waveform comprising substantially orthogonal wave signals at the different frequency bands, the coded waveforms including at least one of frequency-coded waveforms or phase-coded waveforms; means for using the composite waveform to produce an acoustic probe wave that includes the different frequency bands toward a target; means for receiving acoustic energy returned from at least part of the target after the acoustic probe wave is sent to the target; means for converting the received returned acoustic energy into a digital composite waveform comprising information of the target; and means for processing the received composite waveform to produce an image of at least part of the target.","The subject matter described in this patent document can provide one or more of the following features and be used in many applications.","For example, the disclosed technology can be used during routine primary care screenings to identify and locate early stage malignancies, as well as later stage cancers, which can potentially raise survival rates of hard to diagnose asymptomatic patients.","The disclosed technology can be used by board certified radiologists to diagnose neoplasms as benign or malignant prior to any surgical biopsy or resection intervention, which may also improve patient survival rate while reducing unnecessary biopsies.","The disclosed technology can, when integrated with a fine needle biopsy instrument, be used in medical procedures to confirm noninvasive diagnoses, which can reduce the level of invasiveness of such biopsy procedures.","The disclosed technology can, when integrated with minimally invasive surgical high definition video instrumentation, fuse optical and ultrasound images, which can further give surgeons added abilities to locate and surgically excise diseased tissue without excising excessive healthy tissue.","The disclosed technology can, when integrated with specialized surgical instrumentation, fusing ultrasound images with other data, can give surgeons added abilities to locate and manipulate anatomic areas of interest while minimizing unnecessary damage to nearby structures.","The disclosed technology can reduce the amount of time for the brachytherapy treatment of malignant neoplasms by, for example, precisely guiding the insertion of catheters and sealed radioactive sources into the proper location.","Similarly, the disclosed technology can aid insertion of high dose, localized pharmaceuticals for treatments of diseases.","BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG.","1A shows a block diagram of an exemplary ultrasound imaging system using spread spectrum coded waveforms.","FIG.","1B shows a chart for operation of an exemplary ultrasound imaging system using spread spectrum coded waveforms.","FIG.","2 shows a graph of an exemplary spread spectrum, wide instantaneous bandwidth, frequency- and/or phase-coded waveform featuring a plurality of waveforms.","FIG.","3 shows ambiguity function characteristics of an exemplary spread spectrum coded waveform.","FIGS.","4A-4C show an exemplary diagram for beam steering, dynamic focusing, and forming.","FIG.","5 shows an exemplary block diagram for correlation processing of a spread spectrum coded waveform.","Like reference symbols and designations in the various drawings indicate like elements.","DETAILED DESCRIPTION Techniques, systems, and apparatuses are described for generating, transmitting, receiving, and processing coherent spread spectrum frequency- and/or phase-coded waveforms used in ultrasound diagnostics.","Ultrasound imaging can be performed by emitting a time-gated, single frequency or narrow instantaneous bandwidth acoustic waveform (pulse), which is partly reflected from a boundary between two mediums (e.g., biological tissue structures) and partially transmitted.","The reflection can depend on the acoustic impedance difference between the two mediums.","Ultrasound imaging by some techniques may only use amplitude information from the reflected signal.","For example, when one pulse is emitted, the reflected signal can be sampled continuously.","In biological tissue, sound velocity can be considered fairly constant, in which the time between the emission of a waveform and the reception of a reflected signal is dependent on the distance the waveform travels in that tissue structure (e.g., the depth of the reflecting structure).","Therefore, reflected signals may be sampled at multiple time intervals to receive the reflected signals being reflected from multiple depths.","Also, different tissues at the different depths can partially reflect the incident waveform with different amounts of energy, and thus the reflected signal from different mediums can have different amplitudes.","A corresponding ultrasound image can be constructed based on depth.","The time before a new waveform is emitted can therefore be dependent of the maximum depth that is desired to image.","Ultrasound imaging techniques employing pulsed monochromatic and/or narrow instantaneous bandwidth waveforms can suffer from poor resolution of image processing and production.","Yet, waveforms with spread spectrum, wide instantaneous bandwidth characteristics that can be coded (e.g., by frequency and/or phase) can enable real-time control of ultrasound imaging and higher quality resultant images.","FIG.","1A shows a block diagram of an exemplary ultrasound system (100) that can produce acoustic waveforms with enhanced waveform properties that include a spread-spectrum, wide instantaneous bandwidth, coherency, pseudo-random noise characteristics, and frequency- and/or phase-coding.","System (100) can be configured in one of many system designs.","In one example, system (100) can include a Master Clock (101) for time synchronization.","The Master Clock (101) can be interfaced with a System Controller (102).","System Controller (102) can include a processing unit, e.g., a central processing unit (CPU) of RISC-based or other types of CPU architectures.","System Controller (102) can also include at least one input/output (I/O) unit(s) and/or memory unit(s), which are in communication with the processing unit, to support various functions of the System Controller (102).","For example, the processing unit can be associated with a system control bus, e.g., Data & Control Bus (103).","System Controller (102) can be implemented as one of various data processing architectures, such as a personal computer (PC), laptop, tablet, and mobile communication device architectures.","The memory unit(s) can store other information and data, such as instructions, software, values, images, and other data processed or referenced by the processing unit.","Various types of Random Access Memory (RAM) devices, Read Only Memory (ROM) devices, Flash Memory devices, and other suitable storage media can be used to implement storage functions of the memory unit(s).","The memory unit(s) can store pre-stored waveforms and coefficient data and information, which can be used in the implementation of generating a waveform, e.g., such as a spread-spectrum, wide instantaneous bandwidth, coherent, pseudo-random noise, and frequency and/or phase-coded waveform.","The memory unit(s) can store data and information obtained from received and processed waveforms, which can be used to generate and transmit new waveforms.","The memory unit(s) can be associated with a system control bus, e.g., Data & Control Bus (103).","The I/O unit(s) can be connected to an external interface, source of data storage, and/or display device.","The I/O unit(s) can be associated with a system control bus, e.g., Data & Control Bus (103).","Various types of wired or wireless interfaces compatible with typical data communication standards, such as but not limited to Universal Serial Bus (USB), IEEE 1394 (FireWire), Bluetooth, IEEE 802.111, Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN), Wireless Personal Area Network (WPAN), Wireless Wide Area Network (WWAN), WiMAX, IEEE 802.16 (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX)), and parallel interfaces, can be used to implement the I/O unit.","The I/O unit can interface with an external interface, source of data storage, or display device to retrieve and transfer data and information that can be processed by the processor unit, stored in the memory unit, or exhibited on an output unit.","System Controller (102) can control all of the modules of system (100), e.g., through connection via Data & Control Bus (103).","For example, Data & Control Bus (103) can link System Controller (102) to one or more attached digital signal processors, e.g., Digital Signal Processor (104), for processing waveforms for their functional control.","Digital Signal Processor (104) can include one or many processors, such as but not limited to ASIC (application-specific integrated circuit), FPGA (field-programmable gate array), DSP (digital signal processor), AsAP (asynchronous array of simple processors), and other types of data processing architectures.","Data & Control Bus (103) can also link System Controller (102), as well as Digital Signal Processor (104), to one or more display units with modules for user interfaces, e.g., Display (105) with a module User Interface (106) to provide information to a user or operator and to receive input/commands from the user or operator.","Display (105) can include many suitable display units, such as but not limited to cathode ray tube (CRT), light emitting diode (LED), and liquid crystal display (LCD) monitor and/or screen as a visual display.","Display (105) can also include various types of display, speaker, or printing interfaces.","In other examples, Display (105) can include other output apparatuses, such as toner, liquid inkjet, solid ink, dye sublimation, inkless (such as thermal or UV) printing apparatuses and various types of audio signal transducer apparatuses.","User Interface (106) can include many suitable interfaces including various types of keyboard, mouse, voice command, touch pad, and brain-machine interface apparatuses.","The exemplary system (100) can include Waveform Generator (107), which can be controlled by System Controller (102) for producing one or more digital waveforms.","The one or more digital waveforms can be generated as analog electronic signals (e.g., analog waveforms) by at least one element in an array of waveform synthesizers and beam controllers, e.g., represented in this example as Waveform Synthesizer and Beam Controller (108).","Waveform Generator (107) can be at least one of a function generator and an arbitrary waveform generator (AWG).","For example, Waveform Generator (107) can be configured as an AWG to generate arbitrary digital waveforms for Waveform Synthesizer and Beam Controller (108) to synthesize as individual analog waveforms and/or a composite analog waveform.","Waveform Generator (107) can also include at least one memory unit(s) that can store pre-stored waveforms and coefficient data and information used in the generation of a digital waveform.","The exemplary system (100) shown in FIG.","1A includes Waveform Synthesizer and Beam Controller (108) comprising I number of array elements.","In one example, Waveform Synthesizer and Beam Controller (108) can be configured to include at least one waveform synthesizer element on each line of the I number of array waveform synthesizers.","In another example, Waveform Synthesizer and Beam Controller (108) can include at least one beam controller element on each line of the I number of array beam controllers.","In another example, Waveform Synthesizer and Beam Controller (108) can include at least one waveform synthesizer element and beam controller element on each line of the I number of array waveform synthesizers and beam controllers.","Waveform Synthesizer and Beam Controller (108) can include a phase-lock loop system for generation of an electronic signal, e.g., a radio frequency (RF) waveform.","An exemplary RF waveform can be synthesized by Waveform Synthesizer and Beam Controller (108) from individual waveforms generated in the array elements of Waveform Synthesizer and Beam Controller (108), e.g., one individual RF waveform can be generated in one array element substantially simultaneously to all other individual waveforms generated by the other array elements of Waveform Synthesizer and Beam Controller (108).","Each individual RF waveform can be defined for a particular frequency band, also referred to as a frequency component or ‘chip’, and the waveform properties of each individual waveform can be determined by Waveform Generator (107), which can include at least one amplitude value and at least one phase value corresponding to the chip.","Waveform Generator (107) can issue commands and send waveform data including information about each individual waveform's properties to Waveform Synthesizer and Beam Controller (108) for generation of individual RF waveforms that can be composited into a composite RF waveform.","The individual RF waveforms and/or the composite RF waveform generated by Waveform Synthesizer and Beam Controller (108) can be modified by Output Amplifiers (109), which includes an array of I number of amplifiers, e.g., by amplifying the gain and/or shifting the phase of a waveform.","Output Amplifiers (109) can be used as transducer drivers.","The individual RF waveforms and/or the composite RF waveform can be passed to Transmit/Receive (T/R) switch (110), e.g., an N-pole double-throw transmit/receive switch.","T/R Switch (110) that can be interfaced with a transducer module.","A generated RF waveform, e.g., the composite RF waveform and/or at least one individual RF waveform, that is to be transmitted into a target medium can be transduced into, for example, an acoustic wave by the transducer module that can include an array of transducer elements, e.g., Transducer Array (111) comprising I number of elements.","For example, the transduced acoustic wave can be emitted in the form of an acoustic waveform pulse.","Each array element of the Transducer Array (111) may generate one or more acoustic waveforms that correspond to the individual waveform chips determined by the Waveform Generator (107).","The exemplary transduced transmitted acoustic waveform can be transmitted toward a target area, e.g., biological tissue, and form a spatially combined acoustic waveform.","The transmitted waveform can propagate into the target medium, which for example, can have one or more inhomogeneous mediums that partially transmit and partially reflect the transmitted acoustic waveform.","Exemplary acoustic waveforms that are partially reflected, also referred to as returned acoustic waveforms, can be received by Transducer Array (111).","For example, each array element of I array elements of Transducer Array (111) can be configured to receive a returned acoustic waveform corresponding to the frequency chip and convert it to an analog RF waveform.","The individual received (analog) RF waveforms can be modified by Pre-Amplifier module (112), which includes an array of I number of amplifiers, e.g., by amplifying the gain and/or shifting the phase of a waveform.","The individual received waveforms can be converted from analog format to digital format by analog to digital (A/D) Converter module (113), which includes an array of I number of A/D converters.","A/D Converter module (113) can include A/D converters that have low least significant bit (LSB) jitter, spurious-free dynamic range (SFDR) and waveform dependency, such that the exemplary waveforms can be adequately decoded.","The converted digital representations of the individual received waveforms can be processed by a processor, e.g., Digital Signal Processor (104), in manner that creates and forms a representative image of the target medium.","The exemplary system (100) can be operated in one of many operation modes.","In one example, Master Clock (101) can provide the time base for synchronizing the system (100), e.g., as a time base for the Waveform Synthesizers (108).","Master Clock (101) can be configured as a low phase noise clock such that the exemplary waveforms can be phase encoded.","An operator can select the mode of operation at User Interface (106).","Exemplary modes of operation provided for the user to select at the User Interface (106) include Conventional A-Mode (e.g., 1D Depth only image), Conventional B-Mode (e.g., 2D Plane image—transverse vs. depth), Conventional C-Mode (e.g., 2D Plane image at selected depth), and Conventional D-Modes (e.g., Doppler Modes).","Exemplary Doppler modes include Color Doppler (e.g.","superposition of color coded Doppler and B-mode images), Continuous Doppler (e.g., 1D Doppler profile vs. depth), Pulsed Wave Doppler (e.g., Doppler vs. time for selected volume), and Duplex/Triplex Doppler (e.g., superposition of Conventional B-Mode, Conventional C-Mode or Color Doppler, and Pulsed Wave Doppler).","Some other exemplary modes of operations can include Conventional 3D and 4D (“real time” 3D) volume renderings of the previously described modes of operations.","The exemplary system (100) can implement new modes of operation that can generate spread spectrum, wide instantaneous bandwidth, frequency- and/or phase-coded waveforms.","For example, a user can select exemplary ATS-Modes (Artificial Tissue Staining Modes) that can comprise a B-Mode, a C-Mode, a D-Mode, or other mode combined with image color coding to aid tissue differentiation—analogous to tissue staining for microscopic histological studies; and exemplary CAD-Modes (Computer Aided Diagnostic Modes) that differentiate and identify tissue type.","ATS-Modes can employ the use of features for image color coding in image processing based on one or more of a number of measured properties that are obtained from the returned echo waveform from the target area, e.g., the returned echo from an exemplary transmitted spread spectrum, wide instantaneous bandwidth, coded acoustic waveform.","CAD-Modes can use classifiers (algorithms) to classify, for example, tissue types based on features of the measured properties of the returned echo from the target area, e.g., the returned echo from an exemplary spread spectrum, wide instantaneous bandwidth, coded acoustic waveforms.","The features properties can include differing impedances, amplitude reflections (as a function of wavelength), group delay, etc.","Some exemplary classifiers that can be employed using CAD-Modes can include deterministic classifiers, stochastic classifiers (e.g., Bayesian classifiers), and neural network classifiers.","FIG.","1B shows an exemplary operation process (150) for operating the system (100) for ultrasound imaging.","For each time epoch, process (150) can begin by implementing process (151) to switch system (100) in transmit mode.","For example, the System Controller (102) can command an N-pole double-throw T/R switch, e.g., T/R Switch (110), to transmit position.","Process (150) includes a process (152) to check a user-defined mode of operation.","For example, mode of operation can be selected by a user using User Interface (106), or the mode of operation can be selected by another entity or internally within system (100).","Based on the selected operation mode, System Controller (102) can command Waveform Generator (107) to issue a digital message (data) to one or more elements in Waveform Synthesizers and Beam Controllers (108) that defines the frequency, amplitude and phase of each of the frequency chips that form a desired wideband composite RF waveform commanded, e.g., implemented in a process (153).","Process (152) can occur anywhere and implemented in multiple instances during process (150).","Process (150) includes a process (153) to issue waveform data (e.g., the exemplary digital message/data) to waveform synthesizers and beam formers, such as the Waveform Synthesizers and Beam Controllers (108).","The issued waveform data can include the frequency, amplitude and phase information of the desired frequency chips that are synthesized as frequency- and/or phase-coded waveforms, in which each coded waveform corresponds to a distinct frequency band.","Process (150) includes a process (154) to generate individual analog RF waveforms that correspond to defined frequency chips.","For example, each element in the array of Waveform Synthesizers and Beam Controllers (108) can convert the digital message/data from the Waveform Generator (107) into individual analog waveforms that can make up a coherent analog wideband composite waveform.","Process (150) includes a process (155) to amplify the individual analog waveforms that can make up a coherent analog wideband composite waveform.","For example, each analog waveform and/or wideband composite waveform can be amplified by an array element in Output Amplifier (109).","The amplified analog wideband composite waveform can then pass through the T/R Switch (110) and excite its respective array element of the Transducer Array (111) (e.g., in an ultrasound probe).","Process (150) includes a process (156) to transduce the composite analog waveform to an acoustic waveform that can propagate throughout the scanned volume.","For example, each element of the Transducer Array (111) can provide an acoustic waveform from each of the individual analog waveform corresponding to the frequency chip generated in Waveform Synthesizer and Beam Controller (108) that makes up the wideband composite acoustic waveform.","Transducer Array (111) can form the acoustic beam that propagates into the target medium, e.g., biological tissue volume under study.","At the end of process (156), process (150) can implement process (157) to switch system (100) in receive mode.","For example, the System Controller (102) can command the N-pole double-throw T/R Switch (110) to receive position.","Process (150) includes a process (158) to receive a returned acoustic waveform, which can be in the form of one or more returned acoustic waveforms (also referred to as acoustic waveform echoes).","Process (158) can also include transducing the returned acoustic waveform echo(es) into individual received analog waveforms, e.g., corresponding to the frequency chips of the generated individual waveforms.","For example, the returned acoustic waveform propagates back to and is received by Transducer Array (111).","Each element of Transducer Array (111) can convert the received acoustic waveform it receives into an analog signal (waveform).","Process (150) includes a process (159) to amplify the individual received analog waveforms.","For example, each received analog waveform can be amplified by its respective low noise pre-amplifier element in Pre-Amplifier module (112).","Process (150) includes a process (160) to convert the individual received analog waveforms into digital waveform data.","For example, each received (and amplified) analog waveform signal can be converted into a digital word by each respective A/D element in A/D Converter module (113).","The digital format data can be sent to Digital Signal Processor (104) for signal processing.","Process (150) includes a process (161) to process the digital waveform data into image frames representative of the target medium.","Process (161) can also include compositing the digital waveform data into a composite digital signal representing the individual and composite received analog waveform.","For example, Digital Signal Processor (104) can detect the amplitude and phase of each of the frequency chips that comprise the wideband composite acoustic waveform received by each of the transducer array elements.","Digital Signal Processor (104) can form the received beam and separate the amplitude and Doppler components of each resolution element of the beam, and can form an image frame associated with mode previously selected by operator.","The image frame formed by Digital Signal Processor (104) can be displayed on Display (105) to the user.","For other subsequent time epochs, System Controller (102) can repeat this exemplary process, e.g., by commanding Waveform Generator (107) to issue to each element in Waveform Synthesizers (108) another digital message that defines the amplitude and phase of each of the frequency chips that comprise the wideband composite waveform and by commanding T/R Switch (110) back to transmit position, etc.","The system (100) can be implemented to produce spread-spectrum, wide instantaneous bandwidth (e.g., up to 100% or more of fractional bandwidth), coherent, pseudo-random noise (PRN), frequency- and/or phase-coded waveforms for ultrasound imaging.","There are limitless embodiments of such waveforms.","One example is featured in FIG.","2, which shows an exemplary plot of a generated composite waveform (200) that is comprised of a plurality of individual waveforms (e.g., frequency chips).","In some implementations, the individual waveforms of the composite waveform (200) can be PRN waveforms including a sequence of pulses for each frequency chip that repeats itself after a sequence or code period (T), e.g., such that the sequence has a very low correlation with any other sequence in the set of frequency chips, or with the same sequence at a significantly different time frame, or with narrow band interference or thermal noise.","For example, the system (100) can generate exactly the same sequences of the exemplary PRN waveforms at both the transmitter and the receiver ends, so a received signal sequence (based on the transmitted signal sequence) can exhibit a high correlation for signal processing to produce an acoustic image of the target.","As shown in FIG.","2, an exemplary individual waveform or chip (201) of the composite waveform (200) corresponds to the frequency chip fN−2 that is transmitted during a transmit period T beginning at time frame to, e.g., as described in the process (156) in FIG.","1B.","As shown in FIG.","2, following the transmit period T, a receive time interval TR is exhibited, in which returned acoustic waveform echoes are received as described in the process (158) in FIG.","1B.","The transmit period T and the receive time interval TR form a frame period Tf, which can be repeated in subsequent time frames (t1, t2, t3, .",".",".",").","The exemplary composite waveform (200) can be represented by an equation for waveform, W, which can be represented in the time domain as a complex number, given by Equation (1): W ( t ) = ∑ k ∑ n A n e j ( 2 π n f 0 t + Φ nk + C n ) U ( t - kT f ) ( 1 ) W is comprised of M individual orthogonal waveforms (e.g., orthogonal frequency chips), where j=−√{square root over (−1)}.","In Equation (1), T represents the chip duration or period of the coded sequence, and f0 represents the fundamental chip frequency, such that f0=1/NT, and in which Nf0 is the maximum frequency and (M−N+1)f0 is the minimum frequency.","n represents a sequence of positive integers from N−M+1 to N. The waveform repetition frequency is 1/Tf, with Tf being the duration of a frame or epoch, and U(x)=1 for 0≤x≤Tf.","Φnk represents the frequency chip phase term of the nth chip in the kth time epoch, and An is the amplitude of the nth chip.","The frequency chip phase term Φnk can be a pseudo-random phase term, in which a pseudo-randomly scrambled starting phase Φnk is a random number in the set {Ink2π/N}, where Ink is a sequence of random, positive integers selected without replacement from the series I=0, 1, 2, 3, .",".",".",", N, with N being a large number.","Cn, which is an additive phase term, is a number between 0 and 2π.","For example, the frequency chip phase pseudo-random values Φnk can be pre-stored in an exemplary database within a memory unit of System Controller (102) and/or Waveform Generator (107).","The composite waveform, W, can be formed by synthesizing substantially orthogonal coded waveforms (e.g., frequency chips), in which each coded waveform corresponds to a distinct frequency band, and the coded waveforms includes at least one of frequency-coded waveforms or phase-coded waveforms, e.g., the coded waveforms synthesized in the Waveform Synthesizers (108).","The coded waveforms can be synthesized as frequency-coded waveforms by selecting two or more frequencies that define the carrier frequencies of the frequency chips (e.g., including selecting the minimum and maximum frequency) and determining the An amplitude values of the frequency chips.","The synthesis of the frequency-coded can also include determining a time-bandwidth product (Mf0T) parameter of each waveform of the coded waveforms.","In some implementations, the amplitude for a particular frequency chip can be determined as a single value for that frequency chip during a particular time epoch and repeated in subsequent time epochs for the particular frequency chip.","In other implementations, the amplitude for a particular frequency chip can be determined as a single value for that frequency chip during a particular time epoch and assigned a different single value in subsequent time epochs for the particular frequency chip.","And in other implementations, the amplitude for a particular frequency chip can be determined to include multiple amplitude values for that frequency chip during a particular time epoch, in which the multiple values of the An can be repeated or varied in subsequent time epochs for the particular frequency chip.","The selection of the range of frequencies from the maximum frequency (Nf0) to the minimum frequency ((M-N+1)f0) plus the set of individual waveform amplitude terms (An) can utilize one of many known code sequences (e.g.","including pushing sequences, Barker Codes, etc.)","or, for example, utilize a numerical search on pseudo-random codes or any other codes for minimum ambiguity sidelobes.","The coded waveforms can additionally or alternatively be synthesized as phase-coded waveforms by determining individual waveform phase terms (Φnk) of each waveform of the coded waveforms.","For example, to provide variation of the composite waveform, W, the phase Φnk can include one or more phase values for a frequency chip within the transmit period T. In some implementations, the phase Φnk for a particular frequency chip can be determined as a single value for that frequency chip during a particular time epoch and repeated in subsequent time epochs for the particular frequency chip.","In other implementations, the phase Φnk for a particular frequency chip can be determined as a single value for that frequency chip during a particular time epoch and assigned a different single value in subsequent time epochs for the particular frequency chip.","And in other implementations, the phase Φnk for a particular frequency chip can be determined to include multiple values for that frequency chip during a particular time epoch, in which the multiple values of the Φnk can be repeated or varied in subsequent time epochs for the particular frequency chip.","For example, the waveform (201) in the first time epoch (t0) can include a first phase ΦA, for example, as its phase shift for the beginning portion of the transmit period T and a second phase ΦB, for example, as its phase shift for the latter portion of the transmit period T. The waveform (201) in the next time epoch (t1) can repeat the exemplary phases ΦA and ΦB as its beginning and latter phase shifts or include another phase shift sequence (e.g., such as ΦA, ΦB, ΦC, or such as ΦB and ΦA, or other configurations).","The synthesis of the frequency-coded can also include determining a time-bandwidth product (Mf0T) parameter of each waveform of the coded waveforms.","An exemplary transmitted waveform, W, can be comprised of the set of M individual waveforms that are orthogonal and completely span the frequency range fN−M+1 to fN, as seen in FIG.","2.The parameter N can be chosen to be a large number to give W a wide instantaneous bandwidth.","In the special case when the lowest frequency fN−M+1=1/T, then W can describe any wideband waveform that may be contained within this range of frequencies.","For any waveform among the M individual waveforms, one or more phases (e.g., Φnk) can be encoded in a single waveform during the interval T. Additionally, any waveform among the M individual waveforms can include multiple amplitudes encoded in a single waveform.","This can be implemented by amplitude weighting and phase weighting.","The family of individual waveforms described by Equation (1) can form a coherent, pseudo-random noise, frequency- and/or phase-coded, spread spectrum composite waveform.","Based on the selection of parameters, the individual waveforms can be made to be statistically orthogonal to any degree desired.","For example, the sidelobe levels of the ambiguity function, described later in Equation (2), for a given waveform represents the degree of orthogonality of that waveform.","By determining particular parameters of the waveforms, medical ultrasound image resolution can be significantly improved.","For example, parameters that affect the resolution of medical ultrasound images include the time-bandwidth product (Mf0T) parameter, which determines the inherent combined axial range (e.g., Doppler resolution) and the speckle reduction ability of the waveform, and the individual waveform phase terms (Φnk), which determine the statistical degree of orthogonality, e.g., which in turn determines the degree that the waveform can function in inhomogeneous media of biological tissues.","For example, the lower the sidelobes, the greater the orthogonality and greater the resolution (less noise).","The selection of the set of individual waveform phase terms (Φnk) can utilize one of many known code sequences (e.g.","including Barker, Frank, Golay, etc.)","or, for example, utilize a numerical search on pseudo-random codes or any other codes for minimum ambiguity sidelobes.","In some implementations, the composite waveform (200), e.g., described by Equation (1), can be a single wideband, coherent, frequency- and/or phase-coded waveform.","For example, based on the selection of parameters, the single waveform can be made to be statistically orthogonal to any other signal waveform or noise signal present in the target medium.","The parameter An, which is the amplitude of the nth chip, and Cn, which is an additive phase term, in combination can provide pre-emphasis of the analog signal that excites each individual element of Transducer Array (111) to produce a transmitted acoustic waveform that has the desired amplitude and phase characteristics over the frequency range of W. Pre-emphasis of the transmitted waveform can compensate for both the non-constant amplitude and phase response of transducer elements as a function of frequency, and the non-uniform propagation characteristics of intervening tissue layers.","For example, the pre-emphasis terms can provide an acoustic waveform that has equal amplitude chips with constant (e.g., flat) amplitude and a known phase versus frequency characteristic.","Such constant amplitude versus frequency acoustic waveforms can be referred to as ‘white’ waveforms.","Alternatively, if pre-emphasis is not provided, then the transmitted acoustic waveform can replicate the frequency response of the transducer, and such waveforms are referred to as ‘colored’ waveforms.","De-emphasis of the received waveform can permit determination of the reflection characteristic of the target medium's volume, e.g., biological tissue volume.","By inspection, single frequency modes (e.g., Conventional A-, B- and C-Mode), due to their monochromatic nature, do not need pre-emphasis.","Such single frequency waveforms may require amplitude control, for example, to ensure biologically safe sound intensity limits.","If the phase of each chip is random, the transmitted waveform, W, can have random noise-like characteristics.","If the phases (Φnk+Cn) of each chip are uniquely determined, repeatable and synchronized to the Master Clock (as shown in FIG.","1A), the transmitted waveform, W, can be classified as pseudo-random noise.","Such pseudo-random noise waveforms are coherent permitting implementation of coherent receivers.","Image processing advantages of wide instantaneous bandwidth, pseudo-random noise waveforms can include reduction, with proper waveform selection, and potential elimination of speckle, e.g., speckles/speckle patterns, which are random intensity patterns produced by the mutual interference waveforms, which are commonly associated with conventional medical ultrasound images.","This exemplary reduction in speckle can be an analogous comparison of a scene illuminated by wide band, Gaussian noise-like white light, which has no observable speckle to narrow band laser illumination with exhibits strong speckle of the same scene.","Signal processing advantages of coherent, pseudo-random noise, frequency- and phase-coded waveforms can include waveforms having very low time and Doppler sidelobes.","For example, an ambiguity function, A(τ,υ), can be a two-dimensional representation that shows the distortion of a received waveform processed by a matched filter in the receiver due to the effect of Doppler shift (υ) or propagation delay (τ).","Specifically, the exemplary ambiguity function A(τ,υ) is defined by Equation (2) and is determined solely by the waveform properties and the receiver characteristics and not by the scenario.","The ambiguity function of A(τ,υ) is defined by A ( τ , υ ) = ∫ - ∞ + ∞ X a ( t ) X b * ( t - τ ) e j 2 π υ t where X k ( t ) = 1 T e j [ 2 π f k ( t - t k ) + Φ k ] , for 0 ≤ t ≤ T , X k ( t ) = 0 otherwise .","( 2 ) For waveforms of the type described by Equation (1), the following equation can be obtained: A ( τ , υ , t , f n , Φ n , f m , Φ m , T ) = ( 1 - τ - ( Δ t ) T ) Sin [ 2 π ( Δ f ) ( T - Δ t ) ] [ 2 π ( Δ f ) ( T - Δ t ) ] e j 2 π [ Δ f ( T + Δ t ) - f n Δ t + υ t + ΔΦ ] ( 3 ) where Δt=τ−t, Δf=υ−(fn−fm), and ΔΦ=Φn−Φm, which can result in the complete ambiguity equation shown in Equation (4): x ( τ , υ ) = 1 M ∑ n ∑ m A ( τ , υ , t , f n , Φ n , f m , Φ m , T ) ( 4 ) where both n and m are a sequence of positive integers from N−M+1 to N. FIG.","3 shows exemplary ambiguity function characteristics of a pseudo-random noise, frequency-coded waveform (301), represented by an equation for waveform, W. The exemplary coded waveform (301) includes a code length of 128.As shown in FIG.","3, the sidelobes (302) of this ambiguity function are due to chip-to-chip phase interactions and have a plateau level below the peak that is a function of N2.By inspection, many waveforms (W) are possible depending on the specific random number codes (Ink) selected.","However, the sidelobe performance cannot be guaranteed for every waveform defined, and therefore only those codes which give sufficiently low sidelobes as determined by a numerical search of a set of possible codes should be used.","For example, in medical ultrasound applications, living tissue as a propagation medium is inhomogeneous.","Propagation medium inhomogeneity can introduce differential time delays, and living tissue can introduce unwanted motion induced Doppler.","Ultrasound transducer arrays also can have undesirable side lobes and grating lobes (e.g., due to physical size limitations) in the off axis portions of ultrasound beam that add unwanted time delay and Doppler returns to the returns of the main lobe.","Waveforms that exhibit low ambiguity function sidelobes can significantly improve focusing and target contrast due through the reduction interference from differential time delays, motion induced Doppler, transducer side lobe effects.","Coherent pseudo-random noise, frequency- and/or phase-coded waveforms can enable higher order cross range focusing techniques to be employed that can improve the lateral resolution of size limited ultrasound transducer arrays, e.g., medical ultrasound transducer arrays.","For example, each biological tissue type and each diseased tissue types may exhibit their own unique ultrasound echo return as a function of frequency and spatial morphology.","Using conventional Elastograph-Mode (E-Mode) modalities, it can be difficult to take advantage of such properties to classify tissues, e.g., due to measurement errors such as the inability to accurately characterize the ultrasound wave propagation through overlaying inhomogeneous media.","Exemplary waveforms produced by the exemplary system (100), e.g., wide instantaneous bandwidth, coherent pseudo-random noise, frequency- and/or phase-coded waveforms, can enable tissue differentiation by simultaneously determining the propagation delay for each acoustic ray through intervening tissue layers and accurately determining the spatial echo features of the target volume under investigation.","Classifiers, one example being Bayesian inference Classifiers among others, can be applied to the feature data obtained from the measured characteristics of the received echo to automatically classify tissue types observed in the target volume providing a Computer Aided Diagnostic-Mode (CAD-Mode).","Unlike conventional E-Modes, which inherently have significantly reduced image quality and rely on individual operator technique, the exemplary waveforms described by Equation (1) can inherently provide improved image quality while simultaneously colorizing the resultant image by tissue type in the ATS and/or CAD-Modes.","With this advantage, user technique can be mitigated and the margins of a lesion are discernible thus permitting improved diagnoses.","In addition, Waveform Synthesizers (108) positioned on transmit and Digital Signal Processor (104) positioned on receive (as shown in FIG.","1A), can also perform beam control (e.g., beam steering, dynamic beam focusing, and beam forming) functions.","FIGS.","4A-4C show the basics of these digital electronic functions by introducing a differential time delay, or equivalently a phase shift, and amplitude weighting between each of the elements of the phased array.","As can be seen in FIG.","4A, the differential phase shift can compensate for the differential change in distance (d) each acoustic ray (r1, r2, .",".",".","ri, .",".",". )","travels from ith element to the point of focus (p).","An angle (θ) is formed as the point of focus (p) is not along the z-axis direction of direct aim/alignment of the Transducer Array (111) toward a target in the target medium.","Additionally, a differential amplitude weight can be applied to each element to control the beam shape and suppress side and grating lobes.","Also, for one or more chips in an exemplary waveform, Waveform Generator (107) can pre-encode a phase delay to delay the phase of the one or more chips transmitted at each transducer element in Transducer Array (111).","An exemplary result of this feature can be seen in FIGS.","4B and 4C.","The exemplary phase delay values for the one or more chips can be communicated to Digital Signal Processor (104) and/or System Controller (102) to incorporate the phase delay values in the signal processing of the received composite waveform.","For narrow instantaneous bandwidth ultrasound devices, this function can be accomplished by introducing phase shift and amplitude attenuation on the composite analog signal driving each element.","However, for the exemplary spread-spectrum, wide instantaneous bandwidth, frequency- and phase-coded waveforms generated by system (100), each individual chip of the waveform (Wi) is individually amplitude weighted (Bni) and phase weighted (Dni) as a function of frequency (n) for each array element (i) individually for all I elements, as indicated by Equation (5).","W i ( t ) = ∑ k ∑ n A n B ni e j ( 2 π nf 0 t + Φ nk + C n + D ni ) U ( t - kT f ) ( 5 ) On transmit, the amplitude and phase weighting required of each chip can be computed by the System Controller (102) and can be sent as an instruction to the Waveform Generator (107).","Waveform Generator (107) can then send the digital words (real and imaginary components) to the Waveform Synthesizers and Beam Controller (108) that produces the analog drive signal that is amplified by Amplifier (109) and sent to each element of the array of Transducer Array (111).","On receive, the reverse process takes place.","The A/D Converter module (113) can send the digital words that represent the amplitude and phase information of each chip for each array element to the Digital Signal Processor (104), which in turn can digitally form the receive beam for each chip.","A multitude of ways can be used to process the received waveforms, e.g., wide-bandwidth, spread-spectrum, frequency and/or phase-coded waveforms.","FIG.","5 shows an exemplary correlation processing technique.","For example, an input to the exemplary correlation processing technique can include a digitized received signal, Yi(τ,υ), which can be multiplied by the complex conjugate replica of the transmitted digital waveform, Wi*(τ).","The complex conjugate replica Wi*(τ) can be time shifted by 1·τ0 to prior to multiplication.","This multiplication operation can be repeated multiple times for multiple time shifts, e.g., J times, as seen in FIG.","5.The multiple multiplication operations for the multiple time shifts can be repeated in parallel, but for each operation the replica is shifted in time by an increment, τ0, from the previous one, as shown in the figure.","For each time step, the resultant products can be filtered with a window function, such as a Hann, Hamming, Tukey, Kaiser Bessel, Dolph-Chebyshev, Blackman-Harris window, etc., a fast Fourier Transform (FFT) integrator, and passed through a digital filter.","For example, a digital filter of a type that is dependent of the specific waveform, W, can be employed to filter and decimate the inputted signal.","The exemplary process can result in the range-Doppler return for each individual ith element of the transducer array.","The output data stream from the exemplary detection algorithm can then be processed using conventional techniques to form an image for display.","The processed range and Doppler data and/or waveforms can be further processed by partitioning the I number of transducer elements into two or more subarrays.","The processed range-Doppler return for the ith element can be weighted in amplitude and/or phase depending on which subarray that ith element belongs.","These weighted returns can then be summed and differenced.","These sum and differences can then be processed to improve the cross range image resolution of the system.","Several applications and uses of the disclosed technology can be implemented to exploit the described features of the aforementioned systems, methods, and devices.","Some examples are described for clinical use of the disclosed technology.","In one exemplary application, the resultant image quality, the ATS and CAD modes of an exemplary spread spectrum ultrasound device can enable the primary care physician to incorporate this modality into a routine examination screening protocol to locate early stage malignancies (e.g., Stage 0 or 1), as well as later stage cancers.","As the result of this application, the device can potentially, for example, enhance the survival rate of hard to diagnose asymptomatic patients suffering from such malignancies such as stomach, pancreatic, bladder cancers, etc.","In another exemplary application, the resultant image quality, ATS and CAD modes of an exemplary spread spectrum ultrasound device can permit board certified radiologists to diagnose neoplasms as benign or malignant prior to any surgical biopsy or resection intervention.","As a result of this application, the ability of radiologists to locate and diagnose early stage malignancies (e.g., Stage 0 or 1) can potentially improve patient survival rate.","Additionally, unnecessary biopsies can potentially be avoided, along with their attendant risk of hard to treat or even lethal complications such as, for example, methicillin resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA staph) infections.","In another exemplary application, the resultant 3D image quality of an exemplary spread spectrum ultrasound device and its 4D imaging capability can be used in fine needle biopsy and other medical procedures.","For example, the exemplary spread spectrum ultrasound device can be integrated into an exemplary fine needle biopsy instrument (e.g., with the device's transducer probe), which can permit the fine needle biopsy of very small, early stage (e.g., Stage 0 or 1) neoplasms to confirm noninvasive diagnoses.","As a result of this application, the ability of surgeons to avoid open biopsies and the potential for hard to treat and lethal complications that may result is clearly beneficial to the patient.","In another exemplary application, the integration of this device's spread spectrum transducer probe with minimally invasive surgical high definition video instrumentation can permit the fusing of the optical and ultrasound images.","Given the improved 3D image quality of this spread spectrum ultrasound device, its 4D imaging capability, the ATS and CAD modes, such fused video and ultrasound images can give surgeons the added ability to locate and surgically excise diseased tissue without excising excessive healthy tissue.","In another exemplary application, given the improved 3D image quality of this spread spectrum ultrasound device, its 4D imaging capability, and its ATS modes, an exemplary spread spectrum ultrasound device can reduce the amount of time for the brachytherapy treatment of malignant neoplasms by precisely guiding the insertion of catheters and sealed radioactive sources into the proper location.","The application of this spread spectrum ultrasound device to brachytherapy can be especially useful for the treatment of small, hard to locate neoplasms and their margins.","In another exemplary application, given the improved 3D image quality of this spread spectrum ultrasound device, its 4D imaging capability, and its ATS modes, an exemplary spread spectrum ultrasound device can enable the effective insertion of high dose, localized pharmaceutical treatments of diseases by precisely guiding the insertion of catheters and pharmaceuticals into the proper location.","The application of this spread spectrum ultrasound device to brachytherapy can be especially useful for the treatment of small, hard to locate neoplasms.","Implementations of the subject matter and the functional operations described in this specification, such as various modules, can be implemented in digital electronic circuitry, or in computer software, firmware, or hardware, including the structures disclosed in this specification and their structural equivalents, or in combinations of one or more of them.","Implementations of the subject matter described in this specification can be implemented as one or more computer program products, e.g., one or more modules of computer program instructions encoded on a tangible and non-transitory computer readable medium for execution by, or to control the operation of, data processing apparatus.","The computer readable medium can be a machine-readable storage device, a machine-readable storage substrate, a memory device, a composition of matter affecting a machine-readable propagated signal, or a combination of one or more of them.","The term “data processing apparatus” encompasses all apparatus, devices, and machines for processing data, including by way of example a programmable processor, a computer, or multiple processors or computers.","The apparatus can include, in addition to hardware, code that creates an execution environment for the computer program in question, e.g., code that constitutes processor firmware, a protocol stack, a database management system, an operating system, or a combination of one or more of them.","A computer program (also known as a program, software, software application, script, or code) can be written in any form of programming language, including compiled or interpreted languages, and it can be deployed in any form, including as a stand alone program or as a module, component, subroutine, or other unit suitable for use in a computing environment.","A computer program does not necessarily correspond to a file in a file system.","A program can be stored in a portion of a file that holds other programs or data (e.g., one or more scripts stored in a markup language document), in a single file dedicated to the program in question, or in multiple coordinated files (e.g., files that store one or more modules, sub programs, or portions of code).","A computer program can be deployed to be executed on one computer or on multiple computers that are located at one site or distributed across multiple sites and interconnected by a communication network.","The processes and logic flows described in this specification can be performed by one or more programmable processors executing one or more computer programs to perform functions by operating on input data and generating output.","The processes and logic flows can also be performed by, and apparatus can also be implemented as, special purpose logic circuitry, e.g., an FPGA (field programmable gate array) or an ASIC (application specific integrated circuit).","Processors suitable for the execution of a computer program include, by way of example, both general and special purpose microprocessors, such as, for example, digital signal processors (DSP), and any one or more processors of any kind of digital computer.","Generally, a processor will receive instructions and data from a read only memory or a random access memory or both.","The essential elements of a computer are a processor for performing instructions and one or more memory devices for storing instructions and data.","Generally, a computer will also include, or be operatively coupled to receive data from or transfer data to, or both, one or more mass storage devices for storing data, e.g., magnetic, magneto optical disks, or optical disks.","However, a computer need not have such devices.","Computer readable media suitable for storing computer program instructions and data include all forms of non volatile memory, media and memory devices, including by way of example semiconductor memory devices, e.g., EPROM, EEPROM, and flash memory devices.","The processor and the memory can be supplemented by, or incorporated in, special purpose logic circuitry.","While this patent document contains many specifics, these should not be construed as limitations on the scope of any invention or of what may be claimed, but rather as descriptions of features that may be specific to particular embodiments of particular inventions.","Certain features that are described in this patent document in the context of separate embodiments can also be implemented in combination in a single embodiment.","Conversely, various features that are described in the context of a single embodiment can also be implemented in multiple embodiments separately or in any suitable subcombination.","Moreover, although features may be described above as acting in certain combinations and even initially claimed as such, one or more features from a claimed combination can in some cases be excised from the combination, and the claimed combination may be directed to a subcombination or variation of a subcombination.","Similarly, while operations are depicted in the drawings in a particular order, this should not be understood as requiring that such operations be performed in the particular order shown or in sequential order, or that all illustrated operations be performed, to achieve desirable results.","In certain circumstances, multitasking and parallel processing may be advantageous.","Moreover, the separation of various system components in the embodiments described above should not be understood as requiring such separation in all embodiments.","Only a few implementations and examples are described and other implementations, enhancements and variations can be made based on what is described and illustrated in this patent document."]],"string":"[\n [\n \"SPREAD SPECTRUM CODED WAVEFORMS IN ULTRASOUND DIAGNOSTICS\",\n \"Techniques, systems, and devices are disclosed for ultrasound diagnostics using spread spectrum, coherent, frequency- and/or phase-coded waveforms.\",\n \"In one aspect, a method includes synthesizing individual orthogonal coded waveforms to form a composite waveform for transmission toward a biological material of interest, in which the synthesized individual orthogonal coded waveforms correspond to distinct frequency bands and include one or both of frequency-coded or phase-coded waveforms; transmitting a composite acoustic waveform toward the biological material of interest, where the transmitting includes transducing the individual orthogonal coded waveforms into corresponding acoustic waveforms to form the composite acoustic waveform; receiving acoustic waveforms returned from at least part of the biological material of interest corresponding to at least some of the transmitted acoustic waveforms that form the composite acoustic waveform; and processing the received returned acoustic waveforms to produce an image of at least part of the biological material of interest.\"\n ],\n [\n \"1.An acoustic imaging system, comprising: a waveform generation unit comprising one or more waveform synthesizers and amplifiers coupled to a waveform generator, wherein the waveform generation unit synthesizes a composite waveform comprising individual orthogonal coded waveforms corresponding to distinct frequency bands that are generated by the one or more waveform synthesizers according to waveform information provided by the waveform generator, wherein the individual orthogonal coded waveforms include one or both of frequency-coded or phase-coded waveforms; a transmitter array of transducer elements in communication with the waveform generation unit to transmit acoustic waveforms forming a composite acoustic waveform based on drive signals produced from the individual orthogonal coded waveforms toward a biological material, wherein the transmitter array of transducer elements is partitioned into two or more subarrays such that at least one of the two or more subarrays is individually amplitude weighted and at least one of the two or more subarrays is individually phase weighted for at least one frequency band of the frequency bands corresponding to the transmitted acoustic waveforms and combined, thereby providing enhanced cross-range resolution; a receiver array of transducer elements to receive returned acoustic waveforms returned from at least part of the biological material, wherein the received returned acoustic waveforms correspond to at least some of the transmitted acoustic waveforms of the composite acoustic waveform, wherein the receiver array of transducer elements is partitioned into two or more subarrays such that at least one of the two or more subarrays is individually amplitude weighted and at least one of the two or more subarrays is individually phase weighted for at least one frequency band of the frequency bands corresponding to the received returned acoustic waveforms and combined, thereby providing enhanced cross-range resolution; and a controller unit in communication with the waveform generation unit and the transmitter and receiver arrays, the controller unit including a processing unit to process the received returned acoustic waveforms to produce an image of at least part of the biological material.\",\n \"2.The system of claim 1, further comprising: a user interface unit including a display and in communication with the controller unit to display the produced image.\",\n \"3.The system of claim 2, wherein the user interface unit includes one or more user interface devices in communication with the controller unit to receive input from an operator of the system.\",\n \"4.The system of claim 3, wherein the input includes a mode of operation, including: an ATS-Mode (Artificial Tissue Staining Mode) for imaging biological tissue that enables image color coding based on at least one feature of one or more measured properties that are obtained from the returned acoustic waveforms, or a CAD-Mode (Computer Aided Diagnostic Mode) for imaging biological tissue that uses one or more algorithmic classifiers to classify biological tissue types using at least one feature of one or more measured properties that are obtained from the returned acoustic waveforms.\",\n \"5.The system of claim 2, wherein the display of the user interface unit is operable to display a color coded image of the biological tissue based on the classified biological tissue types.\",\n \"6.The system of claim 1, further comprising: an array of analog to digital (A/D) converters in communication with the receiver array and the controller unit to convert the received returned acoustic waveforms from analog format to digital format.\",\n \"7.The system of claim 2, wherein the transmitter array and the receiver array include the same transducer elements, and the system further comprises: a transmit/receive switching unit in communication with the waveform generation unit and the transmitter and receiver arrays to switch between a transmit mode to transmit the acoustic waveforms and a receive mode to receive the returned acoustic waveforms.\",\n \"8.The system of claim 7, wherein the one or more amplifiers of the waveform generation unit are communicatively coupled between the transmit/receive switching unit and the one or more waveform synthesizers to modify the individual orthogonal coded waveforms of the composite waveform.\",\n \"9.The system of claim 7, further comprising: an array of analog to digital (A/D) converters in communication with the receiver array and the controller unit to convert the received returned acoustic waveforms from analog format to digital format; and an array of one or more pre-amplifiers configured between the transmit/receive switching unit and the array of A/D converters that modifies the received returned acoustic waveforms.\",\n \"10.The system of claim 1, wherein each of the phase-coded waveforms includes a frequency chip phase component that a pseudo-random number.\"\n ],\n [\n \" BACKGROUND Ultrasound imaging is an imaging modality that employs the properties of sound waves traveling through a medium to render a visual image.\",\n \"Ultrasound imaging has been used as an imaging modality for decades in a variety of biomedical fields to view internal structures and functions of animals and humans.\",\n \"Ultrasound waves used in biomedical imaging may operate in different frequencies, e.g., between 1 and 20 MHz, or even higher frequencies.\",\n \"Some factors including inadequate spatial resolution and tissue differentiation can lead to less than desirable image quality using conventional techniques of ultrasound imaging, which can limit its use for many clinical applications.\"\n ],\n [\n \" SUMMARY Techniques, systems, and apparatuses are disclosed for ultrasound diagnostics using spread spectrum, coherent, frequency- and/or phase-coded waveforms that can exhibit wide instantaneous bandwidth.\",\n \"In one aspect of the disclosed technology, a method of creating an image from an acoustic waveform in an acoustic imaging device includes setting a transmit/receive switch in the acoustic imaging device into a transmit mode to transmit an acoustic waveform toward a target, in transmitting the acoustic waveform, synthesizing, in one or more waveform synthesizers, a plurality of substantially orthogonal coded waveforms that form a composite waveform as the transmitted acoustic waveform toward the target, in which each waveform corresponds to a distinct frequency band and the coded waveforms include at least one of frequency-coded waveforms or phase-coded waveforms, setting the transmit/receive switch in the acoustic imaging device into a receive mode to receive a returned acoustic waveform that returns from at least part of the target, converting the received returned acoustic waveform from analog format to digital format as a received composite waveform comprising information of the target, and processing the received composite waveform to produce an image of at least part of the target.\",\n \"In another aspect, an acoustic waveform imaging system is provided to include waveform generation unit comprising one or more waveform synthesizers coupled to a waveform generator, wherein the waveform generation unit synthesizes a composite waveform comprising a plurality of substantially orthogonal coded waveforms corresponding to frequency bands that are generated by the one or more waveform synthesizers according to waveform information provided by the waveform generator, the coded waveforms including at least one of frequency-coded waveforms or phase-coded waveforms; a transmit/receive switching unit that switches between a transmit mode and a receive mode; an array of transducer elements in communication with the transmit/receive switching unit that transmits an acoustic waveform based on the composite waveform toward a target and receives a returned acoustic waveform returned from at least part of the target; an array of analog to digital (A/D) converters to convert the received returned acoustic waveform received by the array of transducer elements from analog format to digital format as a received composite waveform comprising information comprising information of the target; a controller unit in communication with the waveform generation unit and the array of A/D converters comprising a processing unit that processes the received composite waveform to produce an image of at least part of the target; and a user interface unit in communication with the controller unit.\",\n \"In another aspect, a method of creating an image from an acoustic waveform is provided to include setting a transmit/receive switch into transmit mode; selecting a mode of operation from a plurality of operating modes; synthesizing, in one or more waveform synthesizers, a plurality of substantially orthogonal coded waveforms that form a composite waveform, wherein each waveform corresponds to a distinct frequency band, the coded waveforms including at least one of frequency-coded waveforms or phase-coded waveforms; transmitting an acoustic waveform based on the composite waveform toward a target; setting the transmit/receive switch into receive mode; receiving a returned acoustic waveform returned from at least part of the target; converting the received returned acoustic waveform from analog format to digital format as a received composite waveform comprising information of the target; and processing the received composite waveform to produce an image of at least part of the target.\",\n \"In another aspect, a method of creating an image from an acoustic waveform is provided to include combining a plurality of coded waveforms corresponding to different frequency bands to produce a composite waveform comprising substantially orthogonal wave signals at the different frequency bands, the coded waveforms including at least one of frequency-coded waveforms or phase-coded waveforms; using the composite waveform to produce an acoustic probe wave that includes the different frequency bands toward a target; receiving acoustic energy returned from at least part of the target after the acoustic probe wave is sent to the target; converting the received returned acoustic energy into a digital composite waveform comprising information of the target; and processing the received composite waveform to produce an image of at least part of the target.\",\n \"In yet another aspect, a device for creating an image from an acoustic waveform is provided to include means for combining a plurality of coded waveforms corresponding to different frequency bands to produce a composite waveform comprising substantially orthogonal wave signals at the different frequency bands, the coded waveforms including at least one of frequency-coded waveforms or phase-coded waveforms; means for using the composite waveform to produce an acoustic probe wave that includes the different frequency bands toward a target; means for receiving acoustic energy returned from at least part of the target after the acoustic probe wave is sent to the target; means for converting the received returned acoustic energy into a digital composite waveform comprising information of the target; and means for processing the received composite waveform to produce an image of at least part of the target.\",\n \"The subject matter described in this patent document can provide one or more of the following features and be used in many applications.\",\n \"For example, the disclosed technology can be used during routine primary care screenings to identify and locate early stage malignancies, as well as later stage cancers, which can potentially raise survival rates of hard to diagnose asymptomatic patients.\",\n \"The disclosed technology can be used by board certified radiologists to diagnose neoplasms as benign or malignant prior to any surgical biopsy or resection intervention, which may also improve patient survival rate while reducing unnecessary biopsies.\",\n \"The disclosed technology can, when integrated with a fine needle biopsy instrument, be used in medical procedures to confirm noninvasive diagnoses, which can reduce the level of invasiveness of such biopsy procedures.\",\n \"The disclosed technology can, when integrated with minimally invasive surgical high definition video instrumentation, fuse optical and ultrasound images, which can further give surgeons added abilities to locate and surgically excise diseased tissue without excising excessive healthy tissue.\",\n \"The disclosed technology can, when integrated with specialized surgical instrumentation, fusing ultrasound images with other data, can give surgeons added abilities to locate and manipulate anatomic areas of interest while minimizing unnecessary damage to nearby structures.\",\n \"The disclosed technology can reduce the amount of time for the brachytherapy treatment of malignant neoplasms by, for example, precisely guiding the insertion of catheters and sealed radioactive sources into the proper location.\",\n \"Similarly, the disclosed technology can aid insertion of high dose, localized pharmaceuticals for treatments of diseases.\"\n ],\n [\n \"CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This patent document is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"15/236,229, filed on Aug. 12, 2016, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"14/604,612, filed on Jan. 23, 2015, now U.S. Pat.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"9,420,999, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"13/663,100, filed on Oct. 29, 2012, now U.S. Pat.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"8,939,909, which claims the benefit of priority of U.S.\",\n \"Provisional Patent Application No.\",\n \"61/553,137, filed on Oct. 28, 2011.The entire contents of the before-mentioned patent applications are incorporated by reference as part of the disclosure of this document.\",\n \"TECHNICAL FIELD This patent document relates to systems and processes for ultrasound diagnostics.\",\n \"BACKGROUND Ultrasound imaging is an imaging modality that employs the properties of sound waves traveling through a medium to render a visual image.\",\n \"Ultrasound imaging has been used as an imaging modality for decades in a variety of biomedical fields to view internal structures and functions of animals and humans.\",\n \"Ultrasound waves used in biomedical imaging may operate in different frequencies, e.g., between 1 and 20 MHz, or even higher frequencies.\",\n \"Some factors including inadequate spatial resolution and tissue differentiation can lead to less than desirable image quality using conventional techniques of ultrasound imaging, which can limit its use for many clinical applications.\",\n \"SUMMARY Techniques, systems, and apparatuses are disclosed for ultrasound diagnostics using spread spectrum, coherent, frequency- and/or phase-coded waveforms that can exhibit wide instantaneous bandwidth.\",\n \"In one aspect of the disclosed technology, a method of creating an image from an acoustic waveform in an acoustic imaging device includes setting a transmit/receive switch in the acoustic imaging device into a transmit mode to transmit an acoustic waveform toward a target, in transmitting the acoustic waveform, synthesizing, in one or more waveform synthesizers, a plurality of substantially orthogonal coded waveforms that form a composite waveform as the transmitted acoustic waveform toward the target, in which each waveform corresponds to a distinct frequency band and the coded waveforms include at least one of frequency-coded waveforms or phase-coded waveforms, setting the transmit/receive switch in the acoustic imaging device into a receive mode to receive a returned acoustic waveform that returns from at least part of the target, converting the received returned acoustic waveform from analog format to digital format as a received composite waveform comprising information of the target, and processing the received composite waveform to produce an image of at least part of the target.\",\n \"In another aspect, an acoustic waveform imaging system is provided to include waveform generation unit comprising one or more waveform synthesizers coupled to a waveform generator, wherein the waveform generation unit synthesizes a composite waveform comprising a plurality of substantially orthogonal coded waveforms corresponding to frequency bands that are generated by the one or more waveform synthesizers according to waveform information provided by the waveform generator, the coded waveforms including at least one of frequency-coded waveforms or phase-coded waveforms; a transmit/receive switching unit that switches between a transmit mode and a receive mode; an array of transducer elements in communication with the transmit/receive switching unit that transmits an acoustic waveform based on the composite waveform toward a target and receives a returned acoustic waveform returned from at least part of the target; an array of analog to digital (A/D) converters to convert the received returned acoustic waveform received by the array of transducer elements from analog format to digital format as a received composite waveform comprising information comprising information of the target; a controller unit in communication with the waveform generation unit and the array of A/D converters comprising a processing unit that processes the received composite waveform to produce an image of at least part of the target; and a user interface unit in communication with the controller unit.\",\n \"In another aspect, a method of creating an image from an acoustic waveform is provided to include setting a transmit/receive switch into transmit mode; selecting a mode of operation from a plurality of operating modes; synthesizing, in one or more waveform synthesizers, a plurality of substantially orthogonal coded waveforms that form a composite waveform, wherein each waveform corresponds to a distinct frequency band, the coded waveforms including at least one of frequency-coded waveforms or phase-coded waveforms; transmitting an acoustic waveform based on the composite waveform toward a target; setting the transmit/receive switch into receive mode; receiving a returned acoustic waveform returned from at least part of the target; converting the received returned acoustic waveform from analog format to digital format as a received composite waveform comprising information of the target; and processing the received composite waveform to produce an image of at least part of the target.\",\n \"In another aspect, a method of creating an image from an acoustic waveform is provided to include combining a plurality of coded waveforms corresponding to different frequency bands to produce a composite waveform comprising substantially orthogonal wave signals at the different frequency bands, the coded waveforms including at least one of frequency-coded waveforms or phase-coded waveforms; using the composite waveform to produce an acoustic probe wave that includes the different frequency bands toward a target; receiving acoustic energy returned from at least part of the target after the acoustic probe wave is sent to the target; converting the received returned acoustic energy into a digital composite waveform comprising information of the target; and processing the received composite waveform to produce an image of at least part of the target.\",\n \"In yet another aspect, a device for creating an image from an acoustic waveform is provided to include means for combining a plurality of coded waveforms corresponding to different frequency bands to produce a composite waveform comprising substantially orthogonal wave signals at the different frequency bands, the coded waveforms including at least one of frequency-coded waveforms or phase-coded waveforms; means for using the composite waveform to produce an acoustic probe wave that includes the different frequency bands toward a target; means for receiving acoustic energy returned from at least part of the target after the acoustic probe wave is sent to the target; means for converting the received returned acoustic energy into a digital composite waveform comprising information of the target; and means for processing the received composite waveform to produce an image of at least part of the target.\",\n \"The subject matter described in this patent document can provide one or more of the following features and be used in many applications.\",\n \"For example, the disclosed technology can be used during routine primary care screenings to identify and locate early stage malignancies, as well as later stage cancers, which can potentially raise survival rates of hard to diagnose asymptomatic patients.\",\n \"The disclosed technology can be used by board certified radiologists to diagnose neoplasms as benign or malignant prior to any surgical biopsy or resection intervention, which may also improve patient survival rate while reducing unnecessary biopsies.\",\n \"The disclosed technology can, when integrated with a fine needle biopsy instrument, be used in medical procedures to confirm noninvasive diagnoses, which can reduce the level of invasiveness of such biopsy procedures.\",\n \"The disclosed technology can, when integrated with minimally invasive surgical high definition video instrumentation, fuse optical and ultrasound images, which can further give surgeons added abilities to locate and surgically excise diseased tissue without excising excessive healthy tissue.\",\n \"The disclosed technology can, when integrated with specialized surgical instrumentation, fusing ultrasound images with other data, can give surgeons added abilities to locate and manipulate anatomic areas of interest while minimizing unnecessary damage to nearby structures.\",\n \"The disclosed technology can reduce the amount of time for the brachytherapy treatment of malignant neoplasms by, for example, precisely guiding the insertion of catheters and sealed radioactive sources into the proper location.\",\n \"Similarly, the disclosed technology can aid insertion of high dose, localized pharmaceuticals for treatments of diseases.\",\n \"BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG.\",\n \"1A shows a block diagram of an exemplary ultrasound imaging system using spread spectrum coded waveforms.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"1B shows a chart for operation of an exemplary ultrasound imaging system using spread spectrum coded waveforms.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"2 shows a graph of an exemplary spread spectrum, wide instantaneous bandwidth, frequency- and/or phase-coded waveform featuring a plurality of waveforms.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"3 shows ambiguity function characteristics of an exemplary spread spectrum coded waveform.\",\n \"FIGS.\",\n \"4A-4C show an exemplary diagram for beam steering, dynamic focusing, and forming.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"5 shows an exemplary block diagram for correlation processing of a spread spectrum coded waveform.\",\n \"Like reference symbols and designations in the various drawings indicate like elements.\",\n \"DETAILED DESCRIPTION Techniques, systems, and apparatuses are described for generating, transmitting, receiving, and processing coherent spread spectrum frequency- and/or phase-coded waveforms used in ultrasound diagnostics.\",\n \"Ultrasound imaging can be performed by emitting a time-gated, single frequency or narrow instantaneous bandwidth acoustic waveform (pulse), which is partly reflected from a boundary between two mediums (e.g., biological tissue structures) and partially transmitted.\",\n \"The reflection can depend on the acoustic impedance difference between the two mediums.\",\n \"Ultrasound imaging by some techniques may only use amplitude information from the reflected signal.\",\n \"For example, when one pulse is emitted, the reflected signal can be sampled continuously.\",\n \"In biological tissue, sound velocity can be considered fairly constant, in which the time between the emission of a waveform and the reception of a reflected signal is dependent on the distance the waveform travels in that tissue structure (e.g., the depth of the reflecting structure).\",\n \"Therefore, reflected signals may be sampled at multiple time intervals to receive the reflected signals being reflected from multiple depths.\",\n \"Also, different tissues at the different depths can partially reflect the incident waveform with different amounts of energy, and thus the reflected signal from different mediums can have different amplitudes.\",\n \"A corresponding ultrasound image can be constructed based on depth.\",\n \"The time before a new waveform is emitted can therefore be dependent of the maximum depth that is desired to image.\",\n \"Ultrasound imaging techniques employing pulsed monochromatic and/or narrow instantaneous bandwidth waveforms can suffer from poor resolution of image processing and production.\",\n \"Yet, waveforms with spread spectrum, wide instantaneous bandwidth characteristics that can be coded (e.g., by frequency and/or phase) can enable real-time control of ultrasound imaging and higher quality resultant images.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"1A shows a block diagram of an exemplary ultrasound system (100) that can produce acoustic waveforms with enhanced waveform properties that include a spread-spectrum, wide instantaneous bandwidth, coherency, pseudo-random noise characteristics, and frequency- and/or phase-coding.\",\n \"System (100) can be configured in one of many system designs.\",\n \"In one example, system (100) can include a Master Clock (101) for time synchronization.\",\n \"The Master Clock (101) can be interfaced with a System Controller (102).\",\n \"System Controller (102) can include a processing unit, e.g., a central processing unit (CPU) of RISC-based or other types of CPU architectures.\",\n \"System Controller (102) can also include at least one input/output (I/O) unit(s) and/or memory unit(s), which are in communication with the processing unit, to support various functions of the System Controller (102).\",\n \"For example, the processing unit can be associated with a system control bus, e.g., Data & Control Bus (103).\",\n \"System Controller (102) can be implemented as one of various data processing architectures, such as a personal computer (PC), laptop, tablet, and mobile communication device architectures.\",\n \"The memory unit(s) can store other information and data, such as instructions, software, values, images, and other data processed or referenced by the processing unit.\",\n \"Various types of Random Access Memory (RAM) devices, Read Only Memory (ROM) devices, Flash Memory devices, and other suitable storage media can be used to implement storage functions of the memory unit(s).\",\n \"The memory unit(s) can store pre-stored waveforms and coefficient data and information, which can be used in the implementation of generating a waveform, e.g., such as a spread-spectrum, wide instantaneous bandwidth, coherent, pseudo-random noise, and frequency and/or phase-coded waveform.\",\n \"The memory unit(s) can store data and information obtained from received and processed waveforms, which can be used to generate and transmit new waveforms.\",\n \"The memory unit(s) can be associated with a system control bus, e.g., Data & Control Bus (103).\",\n \"The I/O unit(s) can be connected to an external interface, source of data storage, and/or display device.\",\n \"The I/O unit(s) can be associated with a system control bus, e.g., Data & Control Bus (103).\",\n \"Various types of wired or wireless interfaces compatible with typical data communication standards, such as but not limited to Universal Serial Bus (USB), IEEE 1394 (FireWire), Bluetooth, IEEE 802.111, Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN), Wireless Personal Area Network (WPAN), Wireless Wide Area Network (WWAN), WiMAX, IEEE 802.16 (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX)), and parallel interfaces, can be used to implement the I/O unit.\",\n \"The I/O unit can interface with an external interface, source of data storage, or display device to retrieve and transfer data and information that can be processed by the processor unit, stored in the memory unit, or exhibited on an output unit.\",\n \"System Controller (102) can control all of the modules of system (100), e.g., through connection via Data & Control Bus (103).\",\n \"For example, Data & Control Bus (103) can link System Controller (102) to one or more attached digital signal processors, e.g., Digital Signal Processor (104), for processing waveforms for their functional control.\",\n \"Digital Signal Processor (104) can include one or many processors, such as but not limited to ASIC (application-specific integrated circuit), FPGA (field-programmable gate array), DSP (digital signal processor), AsAP (asynchronous array of simple processors), and other types of data processing architectures.\",\n \"Data & Control Bus (103) can also link System Controller (102), as well as Digital Signal Processor (104), to one or more display units with modules for user interfaces, e.g., Display (105) with a module User Interface (106) to provide information to a user or operator and to receive input/commands from the user or operator.\",\n \"Display (105) can include many suitable display units, such as but not limited to cathode ray tube (CRT), light emitting diode (LED), and liquid crystal display (LCD) monitor and/or screen as a visual display.\",\n \"Display (105) can also include various types of display, speaker, or printing interfaces.\",\n \"In other examples, Display (105) can include other output apparatuses, such as toner, liquid inkjet, solid ink, dye sublimation, inkless (such as thermal or UV) printing apparatuses and various types of audio signal transducer apparatuses.\",\n \"User Interface (106) can include many suitable interfaces including various types of keyboard, mouse, voice command, touch pad, and brain-machine interface apparatuses.\",\n \"The exemplary system (100) can include Waveform Generator (107), which can be controlled by System Controller (102) for producing one or more digital waveforms.\",\n \"The one or more digital waveforms can be generated as analog electronic signals (e.g., analog waveforms) by at least one element in an array of waveform synthesizers and beam controllers, e.g., represented in this example as Waveform Synthesizer and Beam Controller (108).\",\n \"Waveform Generator (107) can be at least one of a function generator and an arbitrary waveform generator (AWG).\",\n \"For example, Waveform Generator (107) can be configured as an AWG to generate arbitrary digital waveforms for Waveform Synthesizer and Beam Controller (108) to synthesize as individual analog waveforms and/or a composite analog waveform.\",\n \"Waveform Generator (107) can also include at least one memory unit(s) that can store pre-stored waveforms and coefficient data and information used in the generation of a digital waveform.\",\n \"The exemplary system (100) shown in FIG.\",\n \"1A includes Waveform Synthesizer and Beam Controller (108) comprising I number of array elements.\",\n \"In one example, Waveform Synthesizer and Beam Controller (108) can be configured to include at least one waveform synthesizer element on each line of the I number of array waveform synthesizers.\",\n \"In another example, Waveform Synthesizer and Beam Controller (108) can include at least one beam controller element on each line of the I number of array beam controllers.\",\n \"In another example, Waveform Synthesizer and Beam Controller (108) can include at least one waveform synthesizer element and beam controller element on each line of the I number of array waveform synthesizers and beam controllers.\",\n \"Waveform Synthesizer and Beam Controller (108) can include a phase-lock loop system for generation of an electronic signal, e.g., a radio frequency (RF) waveform.\",\n \"An exemplary RF waveform can be synthesized by Waveform Synthesizer and Beam Controller (108) from individual waveforms generated in the array elements of Waveform Synthesizer and Beam Controller (108), e.g., one individual RF waveform can be generated in one array element substantially simultaneously to all other individual waveforms generated by the other array elements of Waveform Synthesizer and Beam Controller (108).\",\n \"Each individual RF waveform can be defined for a particular frequency band, also referred to as a frequency component or ‘chip’, and the waveform properties of each individual waveform can be determined by Waveform Generator (107), which can include at least one amplitude value and at least one phase value corresponding to the chip.\",\n \"Waveform Generator (107) can issue commands and send waveform data including information about each individual waveform's properties to Waveform Synthesizer and Beam Controller (108) for generation of individual RF waveforms that can be composited into a composite RF waveform.\",\n \"The individual RF waveforms and/or the composite RF waveform generated by Waveform Synthesizer and Beam Controller (108) can be modified by Output Amplifiers (109), which includes an array of I number of amplifiers, e.g., by amplifying the gain and/or shifting the phase of a waveform.\",\n \"Output Amplifiers (109) can be used as transducer drivers.\",\n \"The individual RF waveforms and/or the composite RF waveform can be passed to Transmit/Receive (T/R) switch (110), e.g., an N-pole double-throw transmit/receive switch.\",\n \"T/R Switch (110) that can be interfaced with a transducer module.\",\n \"A generated RF waveform, e.g., the composite RF waveform and/or at least one individual RF waveform, that is to be transmitted into a target medium can be transduced into, for example, an acoustic wave by the transducer module that can include an array of transducer elements, e.g., Transducer Array (111) comprising I number of elements.\",\n \"For example, the transduced acoustic wave can be emitted in the form of an acoustic waveform pulse.\",\n \"Each array element of the Transducer Array (111) may generate one or more acoustic waveforms that correspond to the individual waveform chips determined by the Waveform Generator (107).\",\n \"The exemplary transduced transmitted acoustic waveform can be transmitted toward a target area, e.g., biological tissue, and form a spatially combined acoustic waveform.\",\n \"The transmitted waveform can propagate into the target medium, which for example, can have one or more inhomogeneous mediums that partially transmit and partially reflect the transmitted acoustic waveform.\",\n \"Exemplary acoustic waveforms that are partially reflected, also referred to as returned acoustic waveforms, can be received by Transducer Array (111).\",\n \"For example, each array element of I array elements of Transducer Array (111) can be configured to receive a returned acoustic waveform corresponding to the frequency chip and convert it to an analog RF waveform.\",\n \"The individual received (analog) RF waveforms can be modified by Pre-Amplifier module (112), which includes an array of I number of amplifiers, e.g., by amplifying the gain and/or shifting the phase of a waveform.\",\n \"The individual received waveforms can be converted from analog format to digital format by analog to digital (A/D) Converter module (113), which includes an array of I number of A/D converters.\",\n \"A/D Converter module (113) can include A/D converters that have low least significant bit (LSB) jitter, spurious-free dynamic range (SFDR) and waveform dependency, such that the exemplary waveforms can be adequately decoded.\",\n \"The converted digital representations of the individual received waveforms can be processed by a processor, e.g., Digital Signal Processor (104), in manner that creates and forms a representative image of the target medium.\",\n \"The exemplary system (100) can be operated in one of many operation modes.\",\n \"In one example, Master Clock (101) can provide the time base for synchronizing the system (100), e.g., as a time base for the Waveform Synthesizers (108).\",\n \"Master Clock (101) can be configured as a low phase noise clock such that the exemplary waveforms can be phase encoded.\",\n \"An operator can select the mode of operation at User Interface (106).\",\n \"Exemplary modes of operation provided for the user to select at the User Interface (106) include Conventional A-Mode (e.g., 1D Depth only image), Conventional B-Mode (e.g., 2D Plane image—transverse vs. depth), Conventional C-Mode (e.g., 2D Plane image at selected depth), and Conventional D-Modes (e.g., Doppler Modes).\",\n \"Exemplary Doppler modes include Color Doppler (e.g.\",\n \"superposition of color coded Doppler and B-mode images), Continuous Doppler (e.g., 1D Doppler profile vs. depth), Pulsed Wave Doppler (e.g., Doppler vs. time for selected volume), and Duplex/Triplex Doppler (e.g., superposition of Conventional B-Mode, Conventional C-Mode or Color Doppler, and Pulsed Wave Doppler).\",\n \"Some other exemplary modes of operations can include Conventional 3D and 4D (“real time” 3D) volume renderings of the previously described modes of operations.\",\n \"The exemplary system (100) can implement new modes of operation that can generate spread spectrum, wide instantaneous bandwidth, frequency- and/or phase-coded waveforms.\",\n \"For example, a user can select exemplary ATS-Modes (Artificial Tissue Staining Modes) that can comprise a B-Mode, a C-Mode, a D-Mode, or other mode combined with image color coding to aid tissue differentiation—analogous to tissue staining for microscopic histological studies; and exemplary CAD-Modes (Computer Aided Diagnostic Modes) that differentiate and identify tissue type.\",\n \"ATS-Modes can employ the use of features for image color coding in image processing based on one or more of a number of measured properties that are obtained from the returned echo waveform from the target area, e.g., the returned echo from an exemplary transmitted spread spectrum, wide instantaneous bandwidth, coded acoustic waveform.\",\n \"CAD-Modes can use classifiers (algorithms) to classify, for example, tissue types based on features of the measured properties of the returned echo from the target area, e.g., the returned echo from an exemplary spread spectrum, wide instantaneous bandwidth, coded acoustic waveforms.\",\n \"The features properties can include differing impedances, amplitude reflections (as a function of wavelength), group delay, etc.\",\n \"Some exemplary classifiers that can be employed using CAD-Modes can include deterministic classifiers, stochastic classifiers (e.g., Bayesian classifiers), and neural network classifiers.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"1B shows an exemplary operation process (150) for operating the system (100) for ultrasound imaging.\",\n \"For each time epoch, process (150) can begin by implementing process (151) to switch system (100) in transmit mode.\",\n \"For example, the System Controller (102) can command an N-pole double-throw T/R switch, e.g., T/R Switch (110), to transmit position.\",\n \"Process (150) includes a process (152) to check a user-defined mode of operation.\",\n \"For example, mode of operation can be selected by a user using User Interface (106), or the mode of operation can be selected by another entity or internally within system (100).\",\n \"Based on the selected operation mode, System Controller (102) can command Waveform Generator (107) to issue a digital message (data) to one or more elements in Waveform Synthesizers and Beam Controllers (108) that defines the frequency, amplitude and phase of each of the frequency chips that form a desired wideband composite RF waveform commanded, e.g., implemented in a process (153).\",\n \"Process (152) can occur anywhere and implemented in multiple instances during process (150).\",\n \"Process (150) includes a process (153) to issue waveform data (e.g., the exemplary digital message/data) to waveform synthesizers and beam formers, such as the Waveform Synthesizers and Beam Controllers (108).\",\n \"The issued waveform data can include the frequency, amplitude and phase information of the desired frequency chips that are synthesized as frequency- and/or phase-coded waveforms, in which each coded waveform corresponds to a distinct frequency band.\",\n \"Process (150) includes a process (154) to generate individual analog RF waveforms that correspond to defined frequency chips.\",\n \"For example, each element in the array of Waveform Synthesizers and Beam Controllers (108) can convert the digital message/data from the Waveform Generator (107) into individual analog waveforms that can make up a coherent analog wideband composite waveform.\",\n \"Process (150) includes a process (155) to amplify the individual analog waveforms that can make up a coherent analog wideband composite waveform.\",\n \"For example, each analog waveform and/or wideband composite waveform can be amplified by an array element in Output Amplifier (109).\",\n \"The amplified analog wideband composite waveform can then pass through the T/R Switch (110) and excite its respective array element of the Transducer Array (111) (e.g., in an ultrasound probe).\",\n \"Process (150) includes a process (156) to transduce the composite analog waveform to an acoustic waveform that can propagate throughout the scanned volume.\",\n \"For example, each element of the Transducer Array (111) can provide an acoustic waveform from each of the individual analog waveform corresponding to the frequency chip generated in Waveform Synthesizer and Beam Controller (108) that makes up the wideband composite acoustic waveform.\",\n \"Transducer Array (111) can form the acoustic beam that propagates into the target medium, e.g., biological tissue volume under study.\",\n \"At the end of process (156), process (150) can implement process (157) to switch system (100) in receive mode.\",\n \"For example, the System Controller (102) can command the N-pole double-throw T/R Switch (110) to receive position.\",\n \"Process (150) includes a process (158) to receive a returned acoustic waveform, which can be in the form of one or more returned acoustic waveforms (also referred to as acoustic waveform echoes).\",\n \"Process (158) can also include transducing the returned acoustic waveform echo(es) into individual received analog waveforms, e.g., corresponding to the frequency chips of the generated individual waveforms.\",\n \"For example, the returned acoustic waveform propagates back to and is received by Transducer Array (111).\",\n \"Each element of Transducer Array (111) can convert the received acoustic waveform it receives into an analog signal (waveform).\",\n \"Process (150) includes a process (159) to amplify the individual received analog waveforms.\",\n \"For example, each received analog waveform can be amplified by its respective low noise pre-amplifier element in Pre-Amplifier module (112).\",\n \"Process (150) includes a process (160) to convert the individual received analog waveforms into digital waveform data.\",\n \"For example, each received (and amplified) analog waveform signal can be converted into a digital word by each respective A/D element in A/D Converter module (113).\",\n \"The digital format data can be sent to Digital Signal Processor (104) for signal processing.\",\n \"Process (150) includes a process (161) to process the digital waveform data into image frames representative of the target medium.\",\n \"Process (161) can also include compositing the digital waveform data into a composite digital signal representing the individual and composite received analog waveform.\",\n \"For example, Digital Signal Processor (104) can detect the amplitude and phase of each of the frequency chips that comprise the wideband composite acoustic waveform received by each of the transducer array elements.\",\n \"Digital Signal Processor (104) can form the received beam and separate the amplitude and Doppler components of each resolution element of the beam, and can form an image frame associated with mode previously selected by operator.\",\n \"The image frame formed by Digital Signal Processor (104) can be displayed on Display (105) to the user.\",\n \"For other subsequent time epochs, System Controller (102) can repeat this exemplary process, e.g., by commanding Waveform Generator (107) to issue to each element in Waveform Synthesizers (108) another digital message that defines the amplitude and phase of each of the frequency chips that comprise the wideband composite waveform and by commanding T/R Switch (110) back to transmit position, etc.\",\n \"The system (100) can be implemented to produce spread-spectrum, wide instantaneous bandwidth (e.g., up to 100% or more of fractional bandwidth), coherent, pseudo-random noise (PRN), frequency- and/or phase-coded waveforms for ultrasound imaging.\",\n \"There are limitless embodiments of such waveforms.\",\n \"One example is featured in FIG.\",\n \"2, which shows an exemplary plot of a generated composite waveform (200) that is comprised of a plurality of individual waveforms (e.g., frequency chips).\",\n \"In some implementations, the individual waveforms of the composite waveform (200) can be PRN waveforms including a sequence of pulses for each frequency chip that repeats itself after a sequence or code period (T), e.g., such that the sequence has a very low correlation with any other sequence in the set of frequency chips, or with the same sequence at a significantly different time frame, or with narrow band interference or thermal noise.\",\n \"For example, the system (100) can generate exactly the same sequences of the exemplary PRN waveforms at both the transmitter and the receiver ends, so a received signal sequence (based on the transmitted signal sequence) can exhibit a high correlation for signal processing to produce an acoustic image of the target.\",\n \"As shown in FIG.\",\n \"2, an exemplary individual waveform or chip (201) of the composite waveform (200) corresponds to the frequency chip fN−2 that is transmitted during a transmit period T beginning at time frame to, e.g., as described in the process (156) in FIG.\",\n \"1B.\",\n \"As shown in FIG.\",\n \"2, following the transmit period T, a receive time interval TR is exhibited, in which returned acoustic waveform echoes are received as described in the process (158) in FIG.\",\n \"1B.\",\n \"The transmit period T and the receive time interval TR form a frame period Tf, which can be repeated in subsequent time frames (t1, t2, t3, .\",\n \".\",\n \".\",\n \").\",\n \"The exemplary composite waveform (200) can be represented by an equation for waveform, W, which can be represented in the time domain as a complex number, given by Equation (1): W ( t ) = ∑ k ∑ n A n e j ( 2 π n f 0 t + Φ nk + C n ) U ( t - kT f ) ( 1 ) W is comprised of M individual orthogonal waveforms (e.g., orthogonal frequency chips), where j=−√{square root over (−1)}.\",\n \"In Equation (1), T represents the chip duration or period of the coded sequence, and f0 represents the fundamental chip frequency, such that f0=1/NT, and in which Nf0 is the maximum frequency and (M−N+1)f0 is the minimum frequency.\",\n \"n represents a sequence of positive integers from N−M+1 to N. The waveform repetition frequency is 1/Tf, with Tf being the duration of a frame or epoch, and U(x)=1 for 0≤x≤Tf.\",\n \"Φnk represents the frequency chip phase term of the nth chip in the kth time epoch, and An is the amplitude of the nth chip.\",\n \"The frequency chip phase term Φnk can be a pseudo-random phase term, in which a pseudo-randomly scrambled starting phase Φnk is a random number in the set {Ink2π/N}, where Ink is a sequence of random, positive integers selected without replacement from the series I=0, 1, 2, 3, .\",\n \".\",\n \".\",\n \", N, with N being a large number.\",\n \"Cn, which is an additive phase term, is a number between 0 and 2π.\",\n \"For example, the frequency chip phase pseudo-random values Φnk can be pre-stored in an exemplary database within a memory unit of System Controller (102) and/or Waveform Generator (107).\",\n \"The composite waveform, W, can be formed by synthesizing substantially orthogonal coded waveforms (e.g., frequency chips), in which each coded waveform corresponds to a distinct frequency band, and the coded waveforms includes at least one of frequency-coded waveforms or phase-coded waveforms, e.g., the coded waveforms synthesized in the Waveform Synthesizers (108).\",\n \"The coded waveforms can be synthesized as frequency-coded waveforms by selecting two or more frequencies that define the carrier frequencies of the frequency chips (e.g., including selecting the minimum and maximum frequency) and determining the An amplitude values of the frequency chips.\",\n \"The synthesis of the frequency-coded can also include determining a time-bandwidth product (Mf0T) parameter of each waveform of the coded waveforms.\",\n \"In some implementations, the amplitude for a particular frequency chip can be determined as a single value for that frequency chip during a particular time epoch and repeated in subsequent time epochs for the particular frequency chip.\",\n \"In other implementations, the amplitude for a particular frequency chip can be determined as a single value for that frequency chip during a particular time epoch and assigned a different single value in subsequent time epochs for the particular frequency chip.\",\n \"And in other implementations, the amplitude for a particular frequency chip can be determined to include multiple amplitude values for that frequency chip during a particular time epoch, in which the multiple values of the An can be repeated or varied in subsequent time epochs for the particular frequency chip.\",\n \"The selection of the range of frequencies from the maximum frequency (Nf0) to the minimum frequency ((M-N+1)f0) plus the set of individual waveform amplitude terms (An) can utilize one of many known code sequences (e.g.\",\n \"including pushing sequences, Barker Codes, etc.)\",\n \"or, for example, utilize a numerical search on pseudo-random codes or any other codes for minimum ambiguity sidelobes.\",\n \"The coded waveforms can additionally or alternatively be synthesized as phase-coded waveforms by determining individual waveform phase terms (Φnk) of each waveform of the coded waveforms.\",\n \"For example, to provide variation of the composite waveform, W, the phase Φnk can include one or more phase values for a frequency chip within the transmit period T. In some implementations, the phase Φnk for a particular frequency chip can be determined as a single value for that frequency chip during a particular time epoch and repeated in subsequent time epochs for the particular frequency chip.\",\n \"In other implementations, the phase Φnk for a particular frequency chip can be determined as a single value for that frequency chip during a particular time epoch and assigned a different single value in subsequent time epochs for the particular frequency chip.\",\n \"And in other implementations, the phase Φnk for a particular frequency chip can be determined to include multiple values for that frequency chip during a particular time epoch, in which the multiple values of the Φnk can be repeated or varied in subsequent time epochs for the particular frequency chip.\",\n \"For example, the waveform (201) in the first time epoch (t0) can include a first phase ΦA, for example, as its phase shift for the beginning portion of the transmit period T and a second phase ΦB, for example, as its phase shift for the latter portion of the transmit period T. The waveform (201) in the next time epoch (t1) can repeat the exemplary phases ΦA and ΦB as its beginning and latter phase shifts or include another phase shift sequence (e.g., such as ΦA, ΦB, ΦC, or such as ΦB and ΦA, or other configurations).\",\n \"The synthesis of the frequency-coded can also include determining a time-bandwidth product (Mf0T) parameter of each waveform of the coded waveforms.\",\n \"An exemplary transmitted waveform, W, can be comprised of the set of M individual waveforms that are orthogonal and completely span the frequency range fN−M+1 to fN, as seen in FIG.\",\n \"2.The parameter N can be chosen to be a large number to give W a wide instantaneous bandwidth.\",\n \"In the special case when the lowest frequency fN−M+1=1/T, then W can describe any wideband waveform that may be contained within this range of frequencies.\",\n \"For any waveform among the M individual waveforms, one or more phases (e.g., Φnk) can be encoded in a single waveform during the interval T. Additionally, any waveform among the M individual waveforms can include multiple amplitudes encoded in a single waveform.\",\n \"This can be implemented by amplitude weighting and phase weighting.\",\n \"The family of individual waveforms described by Equation (1) can form a coherent, pseudo-random noise, frequency- and/or phase-coded, spread spectrum composite waveform.\",\n \"Based on the selection of parameters, the individual waveforms can be made to be statistically orthogonal to any degree desired.\",\n \"For example, the sidelobe levels of the ambiguity function, described later in Equation (2), for a given waveform represents the degree of orthogonality of that waveform.\",\n \"By determining particular parameters of the waveforms, medical ultrasound image resolution can be significantly improved.\",\n \"For example, parameters that affect the resolution of medical ultrasound images include the time-bandwidth product (Mf0T) parameter, which determines the inherent combined axial range (e.g., Doppler resolution) and the speckle reduction ability of the waveform, and the individual waveform phase terms (Φnk), which determine the statistical degree of orthogonality, e.g., which in turn determines the degree that the waveform can function in inhomogeneous media of biological tissues.\",\n \"For example, the lower the sidelobes, the greater the orthogonality and greater the resolution (less noise).\",\n \"The selection of the set of individual waveform phase terms (Φnk) can utilize one of many known code sequences (e.g.\",\n \"including Barker, Frank, Golay, etc.)\",\n \"or, for example, utilize a numerical search on pseudo-random codes or any other codes for minimum ambiguity sidelobes.\",\n \"In some implementations, the composite waveform (200), e.g., described by Equation (1), can be a single wideband, coherent, frequency- and/or phase-coded waveform.\",\n \"For example, based on the selection of parameters, the single waveform can be made to be statistically orthogonal to any other signal waveform or noise signal present in the target medium.\",\n \"The parameter An, which is the amplitude of the nth chip, and Cn, which is an additive phase term, in combination can provide pre-emphasis of the analog signal that excites each individual element of Transducer Array (111) to produce a transmitted acoustic waveform that has the desired amplitude and phase characteristics over the frequency range of W. Pre-emphasis of the transmitted waveform can compensate for both the non-constant amplitude and phase response of transducer elements as a function of frequency, and the non-uniform propagation characteristics of intervening tissue layers.\",\n \"For example, the pre-emphasis terms can provide an acoustic waveform that has equal amplitude chips with constant (e.g., flat) amplitude and a known phase versus frequency characteristic.\",\n \"Such constant amplitude versus frequency acoustic waveforms can be referred to as ‘white’ waveforms.\",\n \"Alternatively, if pre-emphasis is not provided, then the transmitted acoustic waveform can replicate the frequency response of the transducer, and such waveforms are referred to as ‘colored’ waveforms.\",\n \"De-emphasis of the received waveform can permit determination of the reflection characteristic of the target medium's volume, e.g., biological tissue volume.\",\n \"By inspection, single frequency modes (e.g., Conventional A-, B- and C-Mode), due to their monochromatic nature, do not need pre-emphasis.\",\n \"Such single frequency waveforms may require amplitude control, for example, to ensure biologically safe sound intensity limits.\",\n \"If the phase of each chip is random, the transmitted waveform, W, can have random noise-like characteristics.\",\n \"If the phases (Φnk+Cn) of each chip are uniquely determined, repeatable and synchronized to the Master Clock (as shown in FIG.\",\n \"1A), the transmitted waveform, W, can be classified as pseudo-random noise.\",\n \"Such pseudo-random noise waveforms are coherent permitting implementation of coherent receivers.\",\n \"Image processing advantages of wide instantaneous bandwidth, pseudo-random noise waveforms can include reduction, with proper waveform selection, and potential elimination of speckle, e.g., speckles/speckle patterns, which are random intensity patterns produced by the mutual interference waveforms, which are commonly associated with conventional medical ultrasound images.\",\n \"This exemplary reduction in speckle can be an analogous comparison of a scene illuminated by wide band, Gaussian noise-like white light, which has no observable speckle to narrow band laser illumination with exhibits strong speckle of the same scene.\",\n \"Signal processing advantages of coherent, pseudo-random noise, frequency- and phase-coded waveforms can include waveforms having very low time and Doppler sidelobes.\",\n \"For example, an ambiguity function, A(τ,υ), can be a two-dimensional representation that shows the distortion of a received waveform processed by a matched filter in the receiver due to the effect of Doppler shift (υ) or propagation delay (τ).\",\n \"Specifically, the exemplary ambiguity function A(τ,υ) is defined by Equation (2) and is determined solely by the waveform properties and the receiver characteristics and not by the scenario.\",\n \"The ambiguity function of A(τ,υ) is defined by A ( τ , υ ) = ∫ - ∞ + ∞ X a ( t ) X b * ( t - τ ) e j 2 π υ t where X k ( t ) = 1 T e j [ 2 π f k ( t - t k ) + Φ k ] , for 0 ≤ t ≤ T , X k ( t ) = 0 otherwise .\",\n \"( 2 ) For waveforms of the type described by Equation (1), the following equation can be obtained: A ( τ , υ , t , f n , Φ n , f m , Φ m , T ) = ( 1 - τ - ( Δ t ) T ) Sin [ 2 π ( Δ f ) ( T - Δ t ) ] [ 2 π ( Δ f ) ( T - Δ t ) ] e j 2 π [ Δ f ( T + Δ t ) - f n Δ t + υ t + ΔΦ ] ( 3 ) where Δt=τ−t, Δf=υ−(fn−fm), and ΔΦ=Φn−Φm, which can result in the complete ambiguity equation shown in Equation (4): x ( τ , υ ) = 1 M ∑ n ∑ m A ( τ , υ , t , f n , Φ n , f m , Φ m , T ) ( 4 ) where both n and m are a sequence of positive integers from N−M+1 to N. FIG.\",\n \"3 shows exemplary ambiguity function characteristics of a pseudo-random noise, frequency-coded waveform (301), represented by an equation for waveform, W. The exemplary coded waveform (301) includes a code length of 128.As shown in FIG.\",\n \"3, the sidelobes (302) of this ambiguity function are due to chip-to-chip phase interactions and have a plateau level below the peak that is a function of N2.By inspection, many waveforms (W) are possible depending on the specific random number codes (Ink) selected.\",\n \"However, the sidelobe performance cannot be guaranteed for every waveform defined, and therefore only those codes which give sufficiently low sidelobes as determined by a numerical search of a set of possible codes should be used.\",\n \"For example, in medical ultrasound applications, living tissue as a propagation medium is inhomogeneous.\",\n \"Propagation medium inhomogeneity can introduce differential time delays, and living tissue can introduce unwanted motion induced Doppler.\",\n \"Ultrasound transducer arrays also can have undesirable side lobes and grating lobes (e.g., due to physical size limitations) in the off axis portions of ultrasound beam that add unwanted time delay and Doppler returns to the returns of the main lobe.\",\n \"Waveforms that exhibit low ambiguity function sidelobes can significantly improve focusing and target contrast due through the reduction interference from differential time delays, motion induced Doppler, transducer side lobe effects.\",\n \"Coherent pseudo-random noise, frequency- and/or phase-coded waveforms can enable higher order cross range focusing techniques to be employed that can improve the lateral resolution of size limited ultrasound transducer arrays, e.g., medical ultrasound transducer arrays.\",\n \"For example, each biological tissue type and each diseased tissue types may exhibit their own unique ultrasound echo return as a function of frequency and spatial morphology.\",\n \"Using conventional Elastograph-Mode (E-Mode) modalities, it can be difficult to take advantage of such properties to classify tissues, e.g., due to measurement errors such as the inability to accurately characterize the ultrasound wave propagation through overlaying inhomogeneous media.\",\n \"Exemplary waveforms produced by the exemplary system (100), e.g., wide instantaneous bandwidth, coherent pseudo-random noise, frequency- and/or phase-coded waveforms, can enable tissue differentiation by simultaneously determining the propagation delay for each acoustic ray through intervening tissue layers and accurately determining the spatial echo features of the target volume under investigation.\",\n \"Classifiers, one example being Bayesian inference Classifiers among others, can be applied to the feature data obtained from the measured characteristics of the received echo to automatically classify tissue types observed in the target volume providing a Computer Aided Diagnostic-Mode (CAD-Mode).\",\n \"Unlike conventional E-Modes, which inherently have significantly reduced image quality and rely on individual operator technique, the exemplary waveforms described by Equation (1) can inherently provide improved image quality while simultaneously colorizing the resultant image by tissue type in the ATS and/or CAD-Modes.\",\n \"With this advantage, user technique can be mitigated and the margins of a lesion are discernible thus permitting improved diagnoses.\",\n \"In addition, Waveform Synthesizers (108) positioned on transmit and Digital Signal Processor (104) positioned on receive (as shown in FIG.\",\n \"1A), can also perform beam control (e.g., beam steering, dynamic beam focusing, and beam forming) functions.\",\n \"FIGS.\",\n \"4A-4C show the basics of these digital electronic functions by introducing a differential time delay, or equivalently a phase shift, and amplitude weighting between each of the elements of the phased array.\",\n \"As can be seen in FIG.\",\n \"4A, the differential phase shift can compensate for the differential change in distance (d) each acoustic ray (r1, r2, .\",\n \".\",\n \".\",\n \"ri, .\",\n \".\",\n \". )\",\n \"travels from ith element to the point of focus (p).\",\n \"An angle (θ) is formed as the point of focus (p) is not along the z-axis direction of direct aim/alignment of the Transducer Array (111) toward a target in the target medium.\",\n \"Additionally, a differential amplitude weight can be applied to each element to control the beam shape and suppress side and grating lobes.\",\n \"Also, for one or more chips in an exemplary waveform, Waveform Generator (107) can pre-encode a phase delay to delay the phase of the one or more chips transmitted at each transducer element in Transducer Array (111).\",\n \"An exemplary result of this feature can be seen in FIGS.\",\n \"4B and 4C.\",\n \"The exemplary phase delay values for the one or more chips can be communicated to Digital Signal Processor (104) and/or System Controller (102) to incorporate the phase delay values in the signal processing of the received composite waveform.\",\n \"For narrow instantaneous bandwidth ultrasound devices, this function can be accomplished by introducing phase shift and amplitude attenuation on the composite analog signal driving each element.\",\n \"However, for the exemplary spread-spectrum, wide instantaneous bandwidth, frequency- and phase-coded waveforms generated by system (100), each individual chip of the waveform (Wi) is individually amplitude weighted (Bni) and phase weighted (Dni) as a function of frequency (n) for each array element (i) individually for all I elements, as indicated by Equation (5).\",\n \"W i ( t ) = ∑ k ∑ n A n B ni e j ( 2 π nf 0 t + Φ nk + C n + D ni ) U ( t - kT f ) ( 5 ) On transmit, the amplitude and phase weighting required of each chip can be computed by the System Controller (102) and can be sent as an instruction to the Waveform Generator (107).\",\n \"Waveform Generator (107) can then send the digital words (real and imaginary components) to the Waveform Synthesizers and Beam Controller (108) that produces the analog drive signal that is amplified by Amplifier (109) and sent to each element of the array of Transducer Array (111).\",\n \"On receive, the reverse process takes place.\",\n \"The A/D Converter module (113) can send the digital words that represent the amplitude and phase information of each chip for each array element to the Digital Signal Processor (104), which in turn can digitally form the receive beam for each chip.\",\n \"A multitude of ways can be used to process the received waveforms, e.g., wide-bandwidth, spread-spectrum, frequency and/or phase-coded waveforms.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"5 shows an exemplary correlation processing technique.\",\n \"For example, an input to the exemplary correlation processing technique can include a digitized received signal, Yi(τ,υ), which can be multiplied by the complex conjugate replica of the transmitted digital waveform, Wi*(τ).\",\n \"The complex conjugate replica Wi*(τ) can be time shifted by 1·τ0 to prior to multiplication.\",\n \"This multiplication operation can be repeated multiple times for multiple time shifts, e.g., J times, as seen in FIG.\",\n \"5.The multiple multiplication operations for the multiple time shifts can be repeated in parallel, but for each operation the replica is shifted in time by an increment, τ0, from the previous one, as shown in the figure.\",\n \"For each time step, the resultant products can be filtered with a window function, such as a Hann, Hamming, Tukey, Kaiser Bessel, Dolph-Chebyshev, Blackman-Harris window, etc., a fast Fourier Transform (FFT) integrator, and passed through a digital filter.\",\n \"For example, a digital filter of a type that is dependent of the specific waveform, W, can be employed to filter and decimate the inputted signal.\",\n \"The exemplary process can result in the range-Doppler return for each individual ith element of the transducer array.\",\n \"The output data stream from the exemplary detection algorithm can then be processed using conventional techniques to form an image for display.\",\n \"The processed range and Doppler data and/or waveforms can be further processed by partitioning the I number of transducer elements into two or more subarrays.\",\n \"The processed range-Doppler return for the ith element can be weighted in amplitude and/or phase depending on which subarray that ith element belongs.\",\n \"These weighted returns can then be summed and differenced.\",\n \"These sum and differences can then be processed to improve the cross range image resolution of the system.\",\n \"Several applications and uses of the disclosed technology can be implemented to exploit the described features of the aforementioned systems, methods, and devices.\",\n \"Some examples are described for clinical use of the disclosed technology.\",\n \"In one exemplary application, the resultant image quality, the ATS and CAD modes of an exemplary spread spectrum ultrasound device can enable the primary care physician to incorporate this modality into a routine examination screening protocol to locate early stage malignancies (e.g., Stage 0 or 1), as well as later stage cancers.\",\n \"As the result of this application, the device can potentially, for example, enhance the survival rate of hard to diagnose asymptomatic patients suffering from such malignancies such as stomach, pancreatic, bladder cancers, etc.\",\n \"In another exemplary application, the resultant image quality, ATS and CAD modes of an exemplary spread spectrum ultrasound device can permit board certified radiologists to diagnose neoplasms as benign or malignant prior to any surgical biopsy or resection intervention.\",\n \"As a result of this application, the ability of radiologists to locate and diagnose early stage malignancies (e.g., Stage 0 or 1) can potentially improve patient survival rate.\",\n \"Additionally, unnecessary biopsies can potentially be avoided, along with their attendant risk of hard to treat or even lethal complications such as, for example, methicillin resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA staph) infections.\",\n \"In another exemplary application, the resultant 3D image quality of an exemplary spread spectrum ultrasound device and its 4D imaging capability can be used in fine needle biopsy and other medical procedures.\",\n \"For example, the exemplary spread spectrum ultrasound device can be integrated into an exemplary fine needle biopsy instrument (e.g., with the device's transducer probe), which can permit the fine needle biopsy of very small, early stage (e.g., Stage 0 or 1) neoplasms to confirm noninvasive diagnoses.\",\n \"As a result of this application, the ability of surgeons to avoid open biopsies and the potential for hard to treat and lethal complications that may result is clearly beneficial to the patient.\",\n \"In another exemplary application, the integration of this device's spread spectrum transducer probe with minimally invasive surgical high definition video instrumentation can permit the fusing of the optical and ultrasound images.\",\n \"Given the improved 3D image quality of this spread spectrum ultrasound device, its 4D imaging capability, the ATS and CAD modes, such fused video and ultrasound images can give surgeons the added ability to locate and surgically excise diseased tissue without excising excessive healthy tissue.\",\n \"In another exemplary application, given the improved 3D image quality of this spread spectrum ultrasound device, its 4D imaging capability, and its ATS modes, an exemplary spread spectrum ultrasound device can reduce the amount of time for the brachytherapy treatment of malignant neoplasms by precisely guiding the insertion of catheters and sealed radioactive sources into the proper location.\",\n \"The application of this spread spectrum ultrasound device to brachytherapy can be especially useful for the treatment of small, hard to locate neoplasms and their margins.\",\n \"In another exemplary application, given the improved 3D image quality of this spread spectrum ultrasound device, its 4D imaging capability, and its ATS modes, an exemplary spread spectrum ultrasound device can enable the effective insertion of high dose, localized pharmaceutical treatments of diseases by precisely guiding the insertion of catheters and pharmaceuticals into the proper location.\",\n \"The application of this spread spectrum ultrasound device to brachytherapy can be especially useful for the treatment of small, hard to locate neoplasms.\",\n \"Implementations of the subject matter and the functional operations described in this specification, such as various modules, can be implemented in digital electronic circuitry, or in computer software, firmware, or hardware, including the structures disclosed in this specification and their structural equivalents, or in combinations of one or more of them.\",\n \"Implementations of the subject matter described in this specification can be implemented as one or more computer program products, e.g., one or more modules of computer program instructions encoded on a tangible and non-transitory computer readable medium for execution by, or to control the operation of, data processing apparatus.\",\n \"The computer readable medium can be a machine-readable storage device, a machine-readable storage substrate, a memory device, a composition of matter affecting a machine-readable propagated signal, or a combination of one or more of them.\",\n \"The term “data processing apparatus” encompasses all apparatus, devices, and machines for processing data, including by way of example a programmable processor, a computer, or multiple processors or computers.\",\n \"The apparatus can include, in addition to hardware, code that creates an execution environment for the computer program in question, e.g., code that constitutes processor firmware, a protocol stack, a database management system, an operating system, or a combination of one or more of them.\",\n \"A computer program (also known as a program, software, software application, script, or code) can be written in any form of programming language, including compiled or interpreted languages, and it can be deployed in any form, including as a stand alone program or as a module, component, subroutine, or other unit suitable for use in a computing environment.\",\n \"A computer program does not necessarily correspond to a file in a file system.\",\n \"A program can be stored in a portion of a file that holds other programs or data (e.g., one or more scripts stored in a markup language document), in a single file dedicated to the program in question, or in multiple coordinated files (e.g., files that store one or more modules, sub programs, or portions of code).\",\n \"A computer program can be deployed to be executed on one computer or on multiple computers that are located at one site or distributed across multiple sites and interconnected by a communication network.\",\n \"The processes and logic flows described in this specification can be performed by one or more programmable processors executing one or more computer programs to perform functions by operating on input data and generating output.\",\n \"The processes and logic flows can also be performed by, and apparatus can also be implemented as, special purpose logic circuitry, e.g., an FPGA (field programmable gate array) or an ASIC (application specific integrated circuit).\",\n \"Processors suitable for the execution of a computer program include, by way of example, both general and special purpose microprocessors, such as, for example, digital signal processors (DSP), and any one or more processors of any kind of digital computer.\",\n \"Generally, a processor will receive instructions and data from a read only memory or a random access memory or both.\",\n \"The essential elements of a computer are a processor for performing instructions and one or more memory devices for storing instructions and data.\",\n \"Generally, a computer will also include, or be operatively coupled to receive data from or transfer data to, or both, one or more mass storage devices for storing data, e.g., magnetic, magneto optical disks, or optical disks.\",\n \"However, a computer need not have such devices.\",\n \"Computer readable media suitable for storing computer program instructions and data include all forms of non volatile memory, media and memory devices, including by way of example semiconductor memory devices, e.g., EPROM, EEPROM, and flash memory devices.\",\n \"The processor and the memory can be supplemented by, or incorporated in, special purpose logic circuitry.\",\n \"While this patent document contains many specifics, these should not be construed as limitations on the scope of any invention or of what may be claimed, but rather as descriptions of features that may be specific to particular embodiments of particular inventions.\",\n \"Certain features that are described in this patent document in the context of separate embodiments can also be implemented in combination in a single embodiment.\",\n \"Conversely, various features that are described in the context of a single embodiment can also be implemented in multiple embodiments separately or in any suitable subcombination.\",\n \"Moreover, although features may be described above as acting in certain combinations and even initially claimed as such, one or more features from a claimed combination can in some cases be excised from the combination, and the claimed combination may be directed to a subcombination or variation of a subcombination.\",\n \"Similarly, while operations are depicted in the drawings in a particular order, this should not be understood as requiring that such operations be performed in the particular order shown or in sequential order, or that all illustrated operations be performed, to achieve desirable results.\",\n \"In certain circumstances, multitasking and parallel processing may be advantageous.\",\n \"Moreover, the separation of various system components in the embodiments described above should not be understood as requiring such separation in all embodiments.\",\n \"Only a few implementations and examples are described and other implementations, enhancements and variations can be made based on what is described and illustrated in this patent document.\"\n ]\n]"},"source":{"kind":"string","value":"Patent_15876081"}}},{"rowIdx":4495074,"cells":{"text":{"kind":"list like","value":[["Electronic Gaming Die","An electronic gaming die includes an enclosure, a flexible substrate, a number of light emitting diodes, a sensor, a processor and a battery.","The enclosure has N sides where N is equal to or greater than 4.","The flexible substrate folds into N sides and fits into an interior of the enclosure, wherein each side has an inner face, an outer face and is assigned an integer from 1 to N. The light emitting diodes are disposed on the outer face of each side of the flexible substrate, wherein the number of light emitting diodes equals the integer assigned to the side of the flexible substrate.","The sensor, processor and battery are disposed on one of the inner faces of the flexible substrate."],["1.An electronic gaming die comprising: an enclosure having N sides where N is equal to or greater than 4; a flexible substrate that folds into N sides and fits into an interior of the enclosure, wherein each side has an inner face, an outer face and is assigned an integer from 1 to N; a number of light emitting diodes disposed on the outer face of each side of the flexible substrate, wherein the number of light emitting diodes equals the integer assigned to the side of the flexible substrate; a sensor disposed on one of the inner faces of the flexible substrate; a processor disposed on one of the inner faces of the flexible substrate and communicably coupled to the sensor and the one or more light emitting diodes; and a battery disposed on one of the inner faces of the flexible substrate and electrically connected to the one or more light emitting diodes, the sensor and the processor.","2.The electronic gaming die as recited in claim 1, wherein the sensor, the processor and the battery are disposed on an outer face of one or more additional sides of the flexible substrate that fold inside the N sides.","3.The electronic gaming die as recited in claim 1, further comprising an insert disposed within an interior of the folded flexible substrate and sized to maintain a position of the flexible substrate against the interior of the enclosure.","4.The electronic gaming die as recited in claim 3, wherein the insert is rigid, semi-rigid, hollow.","5.The electronic gaming die as recited in claim 1, further comprising an adhesive or one or more connectors that attach one or more edges of the sides of the flexible substrate together to maintain a shape of the folded flexible substrate.","6.The electronic gaming die as recited in claim 1, further comprising an expanding foam sealant disposed within an interior of the folded flexible substrate.","7.The electronic gaming die as recited in claim 1, wherein N equals 4, 6, 8, 10 or 20.8.The electronic gaming die as recited m claim 1, wherein each light emitting diode represents a pip of the electronic gaming die.","9.The electronic gaming die as recited in claim 1, wherein the number of light emitting diodes are greater than the number of the integer assigned to the side of the flexible substrate such that the number of light emitting diodes are arranged to display a numeric character corresponding to the integer.","10.The electronic gaming die as recited in claim 1, wherein the enclosure is transparent or semi-transparent.","11-30.","(canceled) 31.A method for manufacturing an electronic gaming die comprising the steps of: fabricating a flexible substrate that folds into N sides where N is equal to or greater than 4, wherein each side has an inner face, an outer face and is assigned an integer from 1 to N, a number of light emitting diodes disposed on the outer face of each side of the flexible substrate such that the number of light emitting diodes equals the integer assigned to the side of the flexible substrate, a sensor is disposed on one of the inner faces of the flexible substrate, a processor is disposed on one of the inner faces of the flexible substrate and communicably coupled to the sensor and the one or more light emitting diodes, and a battery is disposed on one of the inner faces of the flexible substrate and electrically connected to the one or more light emitting diodes, the sensor and the processor; providing an enclosure having N sides; folding the flexible substrate such that the folded flexible substrate fits into an interior of the enclosure; inserting the folded flexible substrate into the interior of the enclosure; and sealing the enclosure.","32.The method as recited in claim 31, wherein the sensor, the processor and the battery are disposed on an outer face of one or more additional sides of the flexible substrate that fold inside the N sides.","33.The method as recited in claim 31, further comprising the step of placing an insert within an interior of the folded flexible substrate, wherein the insert is sized to maintain a position of the flexible substrate against the interior of the enclosure.","34.The method as recited in claim 33, wherein the insert is rigid, semi-rigid, or hollow.","35.The method as recited in claim 31, further comprising the step of attaching one or more edges of the sides of the flexible substrate together to maintain a shape of the folded flexible substrate using an adhesive or one or more connectors.","36.The method as recited in claim 31, further comprising the step of depositing an expanding foam sealant within an interior of the folded flexible substrate.","37.The method as recited in claim 31, wherein N equals 4, 6, 8, 10 or 20.38.The method as recited in claim 31, wherein each light emitting diode represents a pip of the electronic gaming die.","39.The method as recited in claim 31, wherein the number of light emitting diodes are greater than the number of the integer assigned to the side of the flexible substrate such that the number of light emitting diodes are arranged to display a numeric character corresponding to the integer.","40.The method as recited m claim 31, wherein the enclosure is transparent or semitransparent.","41-59.","(canceled)"],[" BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Without limiting the scope of the invention, its background is described in connection with methods for manufacturing 3D objects and structures, more specifically 3D structural electronic, electromagnetic and electromechanical components and devices.","The recent introduction of MEMs-based accelerometers has enabled many new gaming and commercial electronics applications like enhanced features in cell phones and the Nintendo Wiimote.","The introduction of the accelerometry into gaming dice has only recently been made possible by this new technology.","Although a LED-lit 20 sided dice has been sold on websites like Thinkgeek, the electronics involved are basic and only involve one side (the 20) with a pressure sensor."],[" SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention makes gaming dice more visually stunning and makes the dice outcome more obvious—an important feature in a color and lighting-rich environment such as a casino.","The present invention is manufactured using 3D printing of dielectric structures with conductive traces serving as electrical interconnects.","More specifically, the present invention provides an electronic gaming die that includes an enclosure, a flexible substrate, a number of light emitting diodes, a sensor, a processor and a battery.","The enclosure has N sides where N is equal to or greater than 4.The flexible substrate folds in a manner that leaves it with N sides and fits into an interior of the enclosure, wherein each side has an inner face, an outer face and is assigned an integer from 1 to N. The light emitting diodes are disposed on the outer face of each side of the flexible substrate, wherein the number of light emitting diodes equals the integer assigned to the side of the flexible substrate.","The sensor is disposed on one of the inner faces of the flexible substrate.","The processor is disposed on one of the inner faces of the flexible substrate and communicably coupled to the sensor and the one or more light emitting diodes.","The battery is disposed on one of the inner faces of the flexible substrate and electrically connected to the one or more light emitting diodes, the sensor and the processor.","In addition, the present invention provides a method for manufacturing an electronic gaming die by first fabricating a flexible substrate.","The flexible substrate folds into N sides where N is equal to or greater than 4, wherein each side has an inner face, an outer face and is assigned an integer from 1 to N. A number of light emitting diodes disposed on the outer face of each side of the flexible substrate such that the number of light emitting diodes equals the integer assigned to the side of the flexible substrate.","A sensor is disposed on one of the inner faces of the flexible substrate.","A processor is disposed on one of the inner faces of the flexible substrate and communicably coupled to the sensor and the one or more light emitting diodes.","A battery is disposed on one of the inner faces of the flexible substrate and electrically connected to the one or more light emitting diodes, the sensor and the processor.","Next, an enclosure having N sides is provided and the flexible substrate is folded such that the folded flexible substrate fits into an interior of the enclosure.","The folded flexible substrate is inserted into the interior of the enclosure and the enclosure is sealed.","This method can be implemented as a computer program embodied on a non-transitory computer readable medium wherein the steps are preformed using one or more code segments."],["CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application claims priority to U.S.","Provisional Application Ser.","No.","61/845,334, filed Jul.","11, 2013, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.","STATEMENT OF FEDERALLY FUNDED RESEARCH Not Applicable.","REFERENCE TO A SEQUENCE LISTING Not Applicable.","TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates in general to the manufacture of electronic, electromagnetic and electromechanical components and devices, and more particularly to an electronic gaming die.","BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Without limiting the scope of the invention, its background is described in connection with methods for manufacturing 3D objects and structures, more specifically 3D structural electronic, electromagnetic and electromechanical components and devices.","The recent introduction of MEMs-based accelerometers has enabled many new gaming and commercial electronics applications like enhanced features in cell phones and the Nintendo Wiimote.","The introduction of the accelerometry into gaming dice has only recently been made possible by this new technology.","Although a LED-lit 20 sided dice has been sold on websites like Thinkgeek, the electronics involved are basic and only involve one side (the 20) with a pressure sensor.","SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention makes gaming dice more visually stunning and makes the dice outcome more obvious—an important feature in a color and lighting-rich environment such as a casino.","The present invention is manufactured using 3D printing of dielectric structures with conductive traces serving as electrical interconnects.","More specifically, the present invention provides an electronic gaming die that includes an enclosure, a flexible substrate, a number of light emitting diodes, a sensor, a processor and a battery.","The enclosure has N sides where N is equal to or greater than 4.The flexible substrate folds in a manner that leaves it with N sides and fits into an interior of the enclosure, wherein each side has an inner face, an outer face and is assigned an integer from 1 to N. The light emitting diodes are disposed on the outer face of each side of the flexible substrate, wherein the number of light emitting diodes equals the integer assigned to the side of the flexible substrate.","The sensor is disposed on one of the inner faces of the flexible substrate.","The processor is disposed on one of the inner faces of the flexible substrate and communicably coupled to the sensor and the one or more light emitting diodes.","The battery is disposed on one of the inner faces of the flexible substrate and electrically connected to the one or more light emitting diodes, the sensor and the processor.","In addition, the present invention provides a method for manufacturing an electronic gaming die by first fabricating a flexible substrate.","The flexible substrate folds into N sides where N is equal to or greater than 4, wherein each side has an inner face, an outer face and is assigned an integer from 1 to N. A number of light emitting diodes disposed on the outer face of each side of the flexible substrate such that the number of light emitting diodes equals the integer assigned to the side of the flexible substrate.","A sensor is disposed on one of the inner faces of the flexible substrate.","A processor is disposed on one of the inner faces of the flexible substrate and communicably coupled to the sensor and the one or more light emitting diodes.","A battery is disposed on one of the inner faces of the flexible substrate and electrically connected to the one or more light emitting diodes, the sensor and the processor.","Next, an enclosure having N sides is provided and the flexible substrate is folded such that the folded flexible substrate fits into an interior of the enclosure.","The folded flexible substrate is inserted into the interior of the enclosure and the enclosure is sealed.","This method can be implemented as a computer program embodied on a non-transitory computer readable medium wherein the steps are preformed using one or more code segments.","BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS For a more complete understanding of the features and advantages of the present invention, reference is now made to the detailed description of the invention along with the accompanying figures and in which: FIGS.","1A and 1B are images showing an exploded view of an electronic gaming die in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention; FIG.","2 is an image showing the folds of the inner sides of a flexible substrate for an electronic gaming die in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention; FIGS.","3A and 3B are exploded drawings of an enclosure and insert for an electronic gaming die in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention; FIGS.","4A and 4B are images showing the outer sides and inner sides, respectively, of a flexible substrate for an electronic gaming die in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention; FIG.","5 is an image of an enclosure for an electronic gaming die in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention; FIGS.","6A and 6B are images showing an assembled electronic gaming die with a transparent enclosure in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention; FIG.","7 is a series of images showing the assembly process for an electronic gaming die in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention; FIG.","8 is an image of an electronic gaming die in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention fabricated with 3D Printing; FIGS.","9A and 9B are images showing the outer sides and inner sides, respectively, of a flexible substrate for an electronic gaming die in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention; FIGS.","10A and 10B are images showing the outer sides and inner sides, respectively, of a flexible substrate for an electronic gaming die in accordance with yet another embodiment of the present invention; FIG.","11 is a flow chart of a method for manufacturing an electronic gaming die in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention; FIG.","12 is an image of an electronic gaming die in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention; and FIG.","13 is an image of a wireless battery charging device with two electronic gaming dice in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention.","DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION While the making and using of various embodiments of the present invention are discussed in detail below, it should be appreciated that the present invention provides many applicable inventive concepts that can be embodied in a wide variety of specific contexts.","The specific embodiments discussed herein are merely illustrative of specific ways to make and use the invention and do not delimit the scope of the invention.","For example, the present invention is described with respect to the design of a six sided gaming die that includes a microprocessor and accelerometer in order to detect a roll, measure the direction of gravity and illuminate light emitting diodes (LED) on the upward face.","The present invention, however, is not limited to a six sided gaming die or the specific design examples described herein.","To facilitate the understanding of this invention, a number of terms are defined below.","Terms defined herein have meanings as commonly understood by a person of ordinary skill in the areas relevant to the present invention.","Terms such as “a”, “an,” and “the” are not intended to refer to only a singular entity, but include the general class of which a specific example may be used for illustration.","The terminology herein is used to describe specific embodiments of the invention, but their usage does not delimit the invention, except as outlined in the claims.","Now referring to FIGS.","1A and 1B, images showing an exploded view of an electronic gaming die 100 in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention are shown.","The electronic gaming die 100 includes an enclosure 102, a flexible substrate 104, light emitting diodes 106, a sensor 108, a processor 110, a battery 112 and an insert 114.The enclosure 102 (made up of main enclosure 102a and enclosure lid or cap 102b) has N sides (1021 to 102N) where N is equal to or greater than 4.In the example shown, N=6.In other embodiments of the present invention, N can equal 4, 6, 8, 10, 20 or more.","The enclosure 102 can be transparent or semi-transparent.","Likewise, a portion of the enclosure 102 proximate to the one or more light emitting diodes 106 can be transparent or semi-transparent, and the remainder of the enclosure 102 can be opaque.","The flexible substrate 104 folds into N sides (see also FIG.","2) and fits into an interior 116 of the enclosure 102.Each side of the flexible substrate 104 has an inner face (FIG.","1A; see also FIG.","4B) and an outer face (FIG.","1B; see also FIG.","4A).","The sensor 108 (preferably a three-axis accelerometer) is disposed on one of the inner faces of the flexible substrate 104.The processor 110 is disposed on one of the inner faces of the flexible substrate 104 and is communicably coupled to the sensor 108 and the one or more light emitting diodes 106.The sensor 108 and processor 110 detect a roll, measure a direction of gravity and illuminate the light emitting diode(s) 106 on the upward face.","The processor 108 can operate the light emitting diodes 106 is various modes, which can be user configurable.","For example, the light emitting diodes 106 can stay lit for a specified period of time, or flash to show which side of the enclosure 102 is up when the electronic gaming die 100 stops rolling, etc.","The battery 112 is disposed on one of the inner faces of the flexible substrate 104 and electrically connected to the one or more light emitting diodes 106, the sensor 108 and the processor 110.The battery 112 can be replaceable or rechargeable.","For example, an interface 118 (e.g., mini USB-A, mini USB-b, micro USB-A, micro USB-b, etc.)","can be electrically connected to the battery 112 and accessible from an exterior of the enclosure 102 to recharge the battery 112.Alternatively, a wireless battery recharging circuit (not shown) can be electrically connected to the battery 112 and disposed on one of the inner faces of the flexible substrate 104.Likewise, one or more photovoltaic cells (not shown) can be electrically connected to the battery 112 and disposed on or within the enclosure 102 or the flexible substrate 104.The electronic gaming die 100 may automatically enter a sleep mode whenever one or more sleep conditions occur and remain in the sleep mode until one or more wakeup conditions occur.","For example, the one or more sleep conditions may include the sensor 108 not detecting motion for a specified period of time, the sensor 108 detecting a specified sleep sequence, the electronic gaming die 100 remains stationary for a specified period of time, etc.","The sleep sequence can be orienting the dice for at least two seconds with the “one” side held up, followed by the “two”, followed by the “three” and so on, or any other desired sequence.","The low power mode may involve a staged power down of the electronic gaming die 100 (e.g., component-by-component starting with deactivating the light emitting diodes 106).","The one or more wakeup conditions may include the sensor 108 detecting motion after the sleep mode has been entered or a specific time period thereafter, the sensor 108 detecting a specified wakeup sequence, the electronic gaming die 100 being “rolled” after the sleep mode has been entered or a specified time period thereafter, etc.","Now also referring to FIGS.","3A and 3B, exploded drawings of an enclosure 102 and insert 114 for an electronic gaming die 100 in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention are shown.","The insert 114 is disposed within an interior 116 of the folded flexible substrate 104 and sized to maintain a position of the flexible substrate 104 against the interior of the enclosure 102.The enclosure 102 may include slots, channels, cavities, recesses, depressions or other inner surface features to accommodate the light emitting diodes 106 or other components disposed on the outer faces of the flexible substrate 104.For example, the enclosure lid or cap 102a in FIGS.","1A and 1B includes an opening to accommodate the interface 118.Alternatively, the lid or cap 102a can be removable in order to change out the battery 112.Note that that one or more inscriptions can be engraved on the enclosure 102.The insert 114 can be rigid, semi-rigid, or hollow.","Alternatively, the insert 114 can be eliminated and replace by: (1) an adhesive or one or more connectors that attach one or more edges of the sides of the flexible substrate 104 together to maintain a shape of the folded flexible substrate 104; (2) an expanding foam sealant disposed within an interior of the folded flexible substrate 104; or (3) any other suitable method of maintain a shape of the folded flexible substrate 104.Moreover, the insert 114 can be weighted to balance a weight of the die 100, or unbalance the die 100 to favor a specified orientation (i.e., a loaded die or “cheating” die).","Referring now to FIGS.","4A and 4B, images showing the outer faces (4201 to 420N) and inner faces (4401 to 440N), respectively, of a flexible substrate 104 for an electronic gaming die 100 in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention are shown.","This embodiment and the embodiment shown in FIGS.","9A and 9B have components on both the outer faces 400 and the inner faces 420 of the flexible substrate 104.In contrast, the embodiment shown in FIGS.","10A and 10B only has components on the inner faces 420 of the flexible substrate 104, which substantially reduces the manufacturing cost.","Each side 400 of the flexible substrate 104 is assigned an integer from 1 to N (e.g., 4001 to 4006).","A number of light emitting diodes 106 are disposed on the outer face 420 of each side 400 of the flexible substrate 104.The number of light emitting diodes 106 equals the integer assigned to the side 400 of the flexible substrate 104 and the corresponding side of the enclosure 102.For example and as shown in FIG.","4A, the first outer face 4201 of the first side 4001 of the flexible substrate 104 has one light emitting diode D1, the second outer face 4202 of the second side 4002 of the flexible substrate 104 has two light emitting diodes D2-D3, the third outer face 4203 of the third side 4003 of the flexible substrate 104 has three light emitting diodes D4-D6, the fourth outer face 4204 of the fourth side 4004 of the flexible substrate 104 has four light emitting diodes D7-D10, the fifth outer face 4205 of the fifth side 4005 of the flexible substrate 104 has five light emitting diodes D11-D15, and the sixth outer face 4206 of the sixth side 4006 of the flexible substrate 104 has six light emitting diodes D16-D21.Each light emitting diode D1-D21 represents a pip of the electronic gaming die 100.Alternatively, the number of light emitting diodes 106 can be greater than the number of the integer assigned to the side 400 of the flexible substrate 104 such that the number of light emitting diodes 106 are arranged to display a numeric character corresponding to the integer.","As shown in FIG.","4B, the sensor 108 and processor 110 are disposed on one of the inner faces (e.g., 4401) of the flexible substrate 104.Two leads 402 are used to connect the circuit to the battery 112 (not shown).","An additional side 404 is used to mount the interface 118 (e.g., mini USB-A, mini USB-b, micro USB-A, micro USB-b, etc.)","and orient the interface 118 to be accessible via the opening 406 in side 4002.As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, the circuit includes various capacitors Cx, resistors Rx, electrical traces (conductors) and other desired components.","In addition, one or more inner faces 420 or one or more outer faces 440 of the flexible substrate 104 can be coated with an ultraviolet photocurable polymer to further protect the various components and the flexible substrate 104.The flexible substrate 104 can be fabricated using traditional flexible circuit board methodologies or fabricated using 3D printing process wherein the electrical conductors that connect the various components are printed conductive traces that can traverse one or more folds of the flexible substrate 104.An example of such a 3D printing system is described in U.S. patent application Ser.","No.","13/343,651, which is incorporated by reference in its entirety.","The three-dimensional printing device creates one or more layers of a three-dimensional substrate by depositing a substrate material in a layer-by-layer fashion.","The three-dimensional printing device can be a fused deposition modeling machine, a selective laser sintering machine or other suitable device.","FIG.","5 is an image of an enclosure 102 for an electronic gaming die 100 in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention.","FIGS.","6A and 6B are images showing an assembled electronic gaming die 100 with a transparent enclosure 102 in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention.","FIG.","7 is a series of images showing the assembly process for an electronic gaming die 100 in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention.","FIG.","8 is an image of an electronic gaming die 100 in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention.","As shown in FIG.","8, the electronic gaming die 100 can also be fabricated with 3D Printing technology in conjunction with micro-dispensing of conductive inks serving as electrical interconnect.","3D Printing of the structure can allow for rapid prototyping not just of the structure but also for the electronic functionality as demonstrated in FIG.","8.3D Printing can thus allow for faster evaluation of form and function at an unprecedented level.","Referring now to FIGS.","9A and 9B, images showing the outer faces (4201 to 420N) and inner faces (4401 to 440N), respectively, of a flexible substrate 104 for an electronic gaming die 100 in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention are shown.","Like FIGS.","4A and 4B, this embodiment has components on both the outer faces 400 and the inner faces 420 of the flexible substrate 104.This embodiment does, not however, show the battery leads 402 or interface 118 (e.g., mini USB-A, mini USB-b, micro USB-A, micro USB-b, etc.).","Each side 400 of the flexible substrate 104 is assigned an integer from 1 to N (e.g., 4001 to 4006).","A number of light emitting diodes 106 are disposed on the outer face 420 of each side 400 of the flexible substrate 104.The number of light emitting diodes 106 equals the integer assigned to the side 400 of the flexible substrate 104 and the corresponding side of the enclosure 102.For example and as shown in FIG.","9A, the first outer face 4201 of the first side 4001 of the flexible substrate 104 has one light emitting diode D1, the second outer face 4202 of the second side 4002 of the flexible substrate 104 has two light emitting diodes D2-D3, the third outer face 4203 of the third side 4003 of the flexible substrate 104 has three light emitting diodes D4-D6, the fourth outer face 4204 of the fourth side 4004 of the flexible substrate 104 has four light emitting diodes D7-D10, the fifth outer face 4205 of the fifth side 4005 of the flexible substrate 104 has five light emitting diodes D11-D15, and the sixth outer face 4206 of the sixth side 4006 of the flexible substrate 104 has six light emitting diodes D16-D21.Each light emitting diode D1-D21 represents a pip of the electronic gaming die 100.Alternatively, the number of light emitting diodes 106 can be greater than the number of the integer assigned to the side 400 of the flexible substrate 104 such that the number of light emitting diodes 106 are arranged to display a numeric character corresponding to the integer.","As shown in FIG.","9B, the sensor 108 and processor 110 are disposed on one of the inner faces (e.g., 4401) of the flexible substrate 104.As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, the circuit includes various capacitors Cx, resistors Rx, electrical traces (conductors) and other desired components.","In addition, one or more inner faces 420 or one or more outer faces 440 of the flexible substrate 104 can be coated with an ultraviolet photocurable polymer to further protect the various components and the flexible substrate 104.The flexible substrate 104 can be fabricated using traditional flexible circuit board methodologies or fabricated using 3D printing process wherein the electrical conductors that connect the various components are printed conductive traces that can traverse one or more folds of the flexible substrate 104.An example of such a 3D printing system is described in U.S. patent application Ser.","No.","13/343,651, which is incorporated by reference in its entirety.","The three-dimensional printing device creates one or more layers of a three-dimensional substrate by depositing a substrate material in a layer-by-layer fashion.","The three-dimensional printing device can be a fused deposition modeling machine, a selective laser sintering machine or other suitable device.","Now referring to FIGS.","10A and 10B, images showing the outer faces (4201 to 420N) and inner faces (4401 to 440N), respectively, of a flexible substrate 104 for an electronic gaming die 100 in accordance with yet another embodiment of the present invention are shown.","Unlike FIGS.","4A-B and 9A-B, this embodiment has components only on the outer faces 420 of the flexible substrate 104.This embodiment uses three additional squares or sides 1002, 1004 and 1006 to mount the various components on, such that these three sides 1002, 1004 and 1006 are bent towards the back of the completed flexible substrate 104, leaving the components effectively in the back side again.","By doing this, the folded flexible substrate inserted into the inside of the cavity 116 of the dice case 102a just like the other embodiments.","This embodiment greatly reduces the manufacturing price of the flexible substrate 104 (e.g., 40% or more).","Some of these savings would be offset by the increased handling of the flexible substrate 104 during manufacture, increased time to build each part and increased risk of damaging it through handling.","Each side 400 of the flexible substrate 104 is assigned an integer from 1 to N (e.g., 4001 to 4006).","A number of light emitting diodes 106 are disposed on the outer face 420 of each side 400 of the flexible substrate 104.The number of light emitting diodes 106 equals the integer assigned to the side 400 of the flexible substrate 104 and the corresponding side of the enclosure 102.For example and as shown in FIG.","10A, the first outer face 4201 of the first side 4001 of the flexible substrate 104 has one light emitting diode D1, the second outer face 4202 of the second side 4002 of the flexible substrate 104 has two light emitting diodes D2-D3, the third outer face 4203 of the third side 4003 of the flexible substrate 104 has three light emitting diodes D4-D6, the fourth outer face 4204 of the fourth side 4004 of the flexible substrate 104 has four light emitting diodes D7-D10, the fifth outer face 4205 of the fifth side 4005 of the flexible substrate 104 has five light emitting diodes D11-D15, and the sixth outer face 4206 of the sixth side 4006 of the flexible substrate 104 has six light emitting diodes D16-D21.Each light emitting diode D1-D21 represents a pip of the electronic gaming die 100.Alternatively, the number of light emitting diodes 106 can be greater than the number of the integer assigned to the side 400 of the flexible substrate 104 such that the number of light emitting diodes 106 are arranged to display a numeric character corresponding to the integer.","The sensor 108 is disposed the outer face (e.g., 4207) of one of the added sides 1002.The processor 110 is disposed on outer face (e.g., 4208) of the one of the added sides 1004.Additional components, such as resistors R4, R5, R7 and R8 are disposed on the outer face (e.g., 4209) of one of the added sides 1006.Two leads 402 are used to connect the circuit to the battery 112 (not shown).","An additional side 404 is used to mount the interface 118 (e.g., mini USB-A, mini USB-b, micro USB-A, micro USB-b, etc.)","and orient the interface 118 to be accessible via the opening 406 in side 4002.As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, the circuit includes various capacitors Cx, resistors Rx, electrical traces (conductors) and other desired components.","In addition, one or more inner faces 420 or one or more outer faces 440 of the flexible substrate 104 can be coated with an ultraviolet photocurable polymer to further protect the various components and the flexible substrate 104.The flexible substrate 104 can be fabricated using traditional flexible circuit board methodologies or fabricated using 3D printing process wherein the electrical conductors that connect the various components are printed conductive traces that can traverse one or more folds of the flexible substrate 104.An example of such a 3D printing system is described in U.S. patent application Ser.","No.","13/343,651, which is incorporated by reference in its entirety.","The three-dimensional printing device creates one or more layers of a three-dimensional substrate by depositing a substrate material in a layer-by-layer fashion.","The three-dimensional printing device can be a fused deposition modeling machine, a selective laser sintering machine or other suitable device.","Now referring to FIG.","11, a flow chart of a method 1100 for manufacturing an electronic gaming die 100 in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention is shown.","A flexible substrate is fabricated in block 1102.The flexible substrate folds into N sides where N is equal to or greater than 4, wherein each side has an inner face, an outer face and is assigned an integer from 1 to N (e.g., equals 4, 6, 8, 10, 20, etc.).","A number of light emitting diodes disposed on the outer face of each side of the flexible substrate such that the number of light emitting diodes equals the integer assigned to the side of the flexible substrate.","A sensor is disposed on one of the inner faces of the flexible substrate.","A processor is disposed on one of the inner faces of the flexible substrate and communicably coupled to the sensor and the one or more light emitting diodes.","A battery is disposed on one of the inner faces of the flexible substrate and electrically connected to the one or more light emitting diodes, the sensor and the processor.","An enclosure having N sides in provided in block 1104.The flexible substrate is folded in block 1106 such that the folded flexible substrate fits into an interior of the enclosure.","The folded flexible substrate is inserted into the interior of the enclosure in block 1108 and the enclosure is sealed in block 1110.As previously described, the shape of the folded flexible substrate can be maintained by: placing an insert within an interior of the folded flexible substrate; attaching one or more edges of the sides of the flexible substrate together using an adhesive or one or more connectors; or depositing an expanding foam sealant within an interior of the folded flexible substrate.","In addition, one or more inner faces or one or more outer faces of the flexible substrate can be coated with an ultraviolet photocurable polymer to further protect the various components and the flexible substrate.","Moreover, this method can be implemented as a computer program embodied on a non-transitory computer readable medium wherein the steps are preformed using one or more code segments.","As previously mentioned, the flexible substrate can be fabricated using a conductive ink micro-dispensing process wherein the electrical conductors that connect the various components are printed conductive traces that can traverse one or more folds of the flexible substrate 104.An example of such a 3D printing system is described in U.S. patent application Ser.","No.","13/343,651, which is incorporated by reference in its entirety.","The three-dimensional printing device creates one or more layers of a three-dimensional substrate by depositing a substrate material in a layer-by-layer fashion.","The three-dimensional printing device can be a fused deposition modeling machine, a selective laser sintering machine or other suitable device.","Other machines may include a micro-machining machine, a CNC micro-machining machine, a micro electrical discharge machining machine, an electrochemical machining machine, a direct write proton micro-machining machine, a laser ablation machine, a radiative source, an ultrasonic cutting machine, a hot wire cutting machine, a waterjet machine, an etching machine, a deep reactive ion etching machine, a plasma etching machine, a crystal orientation dependent etching machine, a wet bulk micromachining machine, a UV-lithography or X-ray lithography (LIGA) machine, a hot embossing lithography machine, a precision mechanical sawing machine, a chemically assisted ion milling machine, a sand blasting machine or a cutting machine.","A component placement machine can be used to place and assemble the various components.","In addition, the system may include a slide, a conveyor or a robotic device that transports the components and electronic gaming die to each machine.","Note that all of the machines can be integrated into a single machine.","The substrate material can be a thermoplastic material, another polymer material, a ceramic material, a metallic material, a mineral material, a glass ceramic material, a semi-conductor material, a nanomaterial, a biomaterial, an organic material, an inorganic material or any combination thereof.","The thermoplastic material can be acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS), ABSi, ABSplus, ABS-M30, ABS-M30i, polycarbonate (PC), PC-ABS, PC-ISO, polyphenylsulfone (PPSF/PPSU), ULTEM 9085 or any combination thereof.","The another polymer material can be poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA), polypropylene, polyolefin, LL-PE, HDPE, polyvinyl acetate, polyester, polyamides, nylon, polyimides, polyketone, polyether ethyl ketone (PEEK), polybutadiene, polylactic acid, polycaprolactone, polyethylene terephthalate, liquid crystalline polymer (LCP), polystyrene, polyvinyl chloride, polyfluoroethylene, polydifluoroethylene, polytetrafluoroethylene, ZEONEX RS420, Eccostock HIK-TPO, co-polymers and block co-polymers of the previous, or any combination thereof.","FIG.","12 is an image of an electronic gaming die 100 in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention.","FIG.","13 is an image of a wireless battery charging device 1300 with two electronic gaming dice 100a and 100b in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention.","It may be understood that particular embodiments described herein are shown by way of illustration and not as limitations of the invention.","The principal features of this invention can be employed in various embodiments without departing from the scope of the invention.","Those skilled in the art will recognize, or be able to ascertain using no more than routine experimentation, numerous equivalents to the specific procedures described herein.","Such equivalents are considered to be within the scope of this invention and are covered by the claims.","All publications, patents and patent applications mentioned in the specification are indicative of the level of skill of those skilled in the art to which this invention pertains.","All publications, patents and patent applications are herein incorporated by reference to the same extent as if each individual publication, patent or patent application was specifically and individually indicated to be incorporated by reference.","The use of the word “a” or “an” when used in conjunction with the term “comprising” in the claims and/or the specification may mean “one,” but it is also consistent with the meaning of “one or more,” “at least one,” and “one or more than one.” The use of the term “or” in the claims is used to mean “and/or” unless explicitly indicated to refer to alternatives only or the alternatives are mutually exclusive, although the disclosure supports a definition that refers to only alternatives and “and/or.” Throughout this application, the term “about” is used to indicate that a value includes the inherent variation of error for the device, the method being employed to determine the value, or the variation that exists among the study subjects.","As used in this specification and claim(s), the words “comprising” (and any form of comprising, such as “comprise” and “comprises”), “having” (and any form of having, such as “have” and “has”), “including” (and any form of including, such as “includes” and “include”) or “containing” (and any form of containing, such as “contains” and “contain”) are inclusive or open-ended and do not exclude additional, unrecited elements or method steps.","The term “or combinations thereof” as used herein refers to all permutations and combinations of the listed items preceding the term.","For example, “A, B, C, or combinations thereof” is intended to include at least one of: A, B, C, AB, AC, BC, or ABC, and if order is important in a particular context, also BA, CA, CB, CBA, BCA, ACB, BAC, or CAB.","Continuing with this example, expressly included are combinations that contain repeats of one or more item or term, such as BB, AAA, AB, BBC, AAABCCCC, CBBAAA, CABABB, and so forth.","The skilled artisan will understand that typically there is no limit on the number of items or terms in any combination, unless otherwise apparent from the context.","All of the compositions and/or methods disclosed and claimed herein can be made and executed without undue experimentation in light of the present disclosure.","While the compositions and methods of this invention have been described in terms of preferred embodiments, it may be apparent to those of skill in the art that variations may be applied to the compositions and/or methods and in the steps or in the sequence of steps of the method described herein without departing from the concept, spirit and scope of the invention.","All such similar substitutes and modifications apparent to those skilled in the art are deemed to be within the spirit, scope and concept of the invention as defined by the appended claims."]],"string":"[\n [\n \"Electronic Gaming Die\",\n \"An electronic gaming die includes an enclosure, a flexible substrate, a number of light emitting diodes, a sensor, a processor and a battery.\",\n \"The enclosure has N sides where N is equal to or greater than 4.\",\n \"The flexible substrate folds into N sides and fits into an interior of the enclosure, wherein each side has an inner face, an outer face and is assigned an integer from 1 to N. The light emitting diodes are disposed on the outer face of each side of the flexible substrate, wherein the number of light emitting diodes equals the integer assigned to the side of the flexible substrate.\",\n \"The sensor, processor and battery are disposed on one of the inner faces of the flexible substrate.\"\n ],\n [\n \"1.An electronic gaming die comprising: an enclosure having N sides where N is equal to or greater than 4; a flexible substrate that folds into N sides and fits into an interior of the enclosure, wherein each side has an inner face, an outer face and is assigned an integer from 1 to N; a number of light emitting diodes disposed on the outer face of each side of the flexible substrate, wherein the number of light emitting diodes equals the integer assigned to the side of the flexible substrate; a sensor disposed on one of the inner faces of the flexible substrate; a processor disposed on one of the inner faces of the flexible substrate and communicably coupled to the sensor and the one or more light emitting diodes; and a battery disposed on one of the inner faces of the flexible substrate and electrically connected to the one or more light emitting diodes, the sensor and the processor.\",\n \"2.The electronic gaming die as recited in claim 1, wherein the sensor, the processor and the battery are disposed on an outer face of one or more additional sides of the flexible substrate that fold inside the N sides.\",\n \"3.The electronic gaming die as recited in claim 1, further comprising an insert disposed within an interior of the folded flexible substrate and sized to maintain a position of the flexible substrate against the interior of the enclosure.\",\n \"4.The electronic gaming die as recited in claim 3, wherein the insert is rigid, semi-rigid, hollow.\",\n \"5.The electronic gaming die as recited in claim 1, further comprising an adhesive or one or more connectors that attach one or more edges of the sides of the flexible substrate together to maintain a shape of the folded flexible substrate.\",\n \"6.The electronic gaming die as recited in claim 1, further comprising an expanding foam sealant disposed within an interior of the folded flexible substrate.\",\n \"7.The electronic gaming die as recited in claim 1, wherein N equals 4, 6, 8, 10 or 20.8.The electronic gaming die as recited m claim 1, wherein each light emitting diode represents a pip of the electronic gaming die.\",\n \"9.The electronic gaming die as recited in claim 1, wherein the number of light emitting diodes are greater than the number of the integer assigned to the side of the flexible substrate such that the number of light emitting diodes are arranged to display a numeric character corresponding to the integer.\",\n \"10.The electronic gaming die as recited in claim 1, wherein the enclosure is transparent or semi-transparent.\",\n \"11-30.\",\n \"(canceled) 31.A method for manufacturing an electronic gaming die comprising the steps of: fabricating a flexible substrate that folds into N sides where N is equal to or greater than 4, wherein each side has an inner face, an outer face and is assigned an integer from 1 to N, a number of light emitting diodes disposed on the outer face of each side of the flexible substrate such that the number of light emitting diodes equals the integer assigned to the side of the flexible substrate, a sensor is disposed on one of the inner faces of the flexible substrate, a processor is disposed on one of the inner faces of the flexible substrate and communicably coupled to the sensor and the one or more light emitting diodes, and a battery is disposed on one of the inner faces of the flexible substrate and electrically connected to the one or more light emitting diodes, the sensor and the processor; providing an enclosure having N sides; folding the flexible substrate such that the folded flexible substrate fits into an interior of the enclosure; inserting the folded flexible substrate into the interior of the enclosure; and sealing the enclosure.\",\n \"32.The method as recited in claim 31, wherein the sensor, the processor and the battery are disposed on an outer face of one or more additional sides of the flexible substrate that fold inside the N sides.\",\n \"33.The method as recited in claim 31, further comprising the step of placing an insert within an interior of the folded flexible substrate, wherein the insert is sized to maintain a position of the flexible substrate against the interior of the enclosure.\",\n \"34.The method as recited in claim 33, wherein the insert is rigid, semi-rigid, or hollow.\",\n \"35.The method as recited in claim 31, further comprising the step of attaching one or more edges of the sides of the flexible substrate together to maintain a shape of the folded flexible substrate using an adhesive or one or more connectors.\",\n \"36.The method as recited in claim 31, further comprising the step of depositing an expanding foam sealant within an interior of the folded flexible substrate.\",\n \"37.The method as recited in claim 31, wherein N equals 4, 6, 8, 10 or 20.38.The method as recited in claim 31, wherein each light emitting diode represents a pip of the electronic gaming die.\",\n \"39.The method as recited in claim 31, wherein the number of light emitting diodes are greater than the number of the integer assigned to the side of the flexible substrate such that the number of light emitting diodes are arranged to display a numeric character corresponding to the integer.\",\n \"40.The method as recited m claim 31, wherein the enclosure is transparent or semitransparent.\",\n \"41-59.\",\n \"(canceled)\"\n ],\n [\n \" BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Without limiting the scope of the invention, its background is described in connection with methods for manufacturing 3D objects and structures, more specifically 3D structural electronic, electromagnetic and electromechanical components and devices.\",\n \"The recent introduction of MEMs-based accelerometers has enabled many new gaming and commercial electronics applications like enhanced features in cell phones and the Nintendo Wiimote.\",\n \"The introduction of the accelerometry into gaming dice has only recently been made possible by this new technology.\",\n \"Although a LED-lit 20 sided dice has been sold on websites like Thinkgeek, the electronics involved are basic and only involve one side (the 20) with a pressure sensor.\"\n ],\n [\n \" SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention makes gaming dice more visually stunning and makes the dice outcome more obvious—an important feature in a color and lighting-rich environment such as a casino.\",\n \"The present invention is manufactured using 3D printing of dielectric structures with conductive traces serving as electrical interconnects.\",\n \"More specifically, the present invention provides an electronic gaming die that includes an enclosure, a flexible substrate, a number of light emitting diodes, a sensor, a processor and a battery.\",\n \"The enclosure has N sides where N is equal to or greater than 4.The flexible substrate folds in a manner that leaves it with N sides and fits into an interior of the enclosure, wherein each side has an inner face, an outer face and is assigned an integer from 1 to N. The light emitting diodes are disposed on the outer face of each side of the flexible substrate, wherein the number of light emitting diodes equals the integer assigned to the side of the flexible substrate.\",\n \"The sensor is disposed on one of the inner faces of the flexible substrate.\",\n \"The processor is disposed on one of the inner faces of the flexible substrate and communicably coupled to the sensor and the one or more light emitting diodes.\",\n \"The battery is disposed on one of the inner faces of the flexible substrate and electrically connected to the one or more light emitting diodes, the sensor and the processor.\",\n \"In addition, the present invention provides a method for manufacturing an electronic gaming die by first fabricating a flexible substrate.\",\n \"The flexible substrate folds into N sides where N is equal to or greater than 4, wherein each side has an inner face, an outer face and is assigned an integer from 1 to N. A number of light emitting diodes disposed on the outer face of each side of the flexible substrate such that the number of light emitting diodes equals the integer assigned to the side of the flexible substrate.\",\n \"A sensor is disposed on one of the inner faces of the flexible substrate.\",\n \"A processor is disposed on one of the inner faces of the flexible substrate and communicably coupled to the sensor and the one or more light emitting diodes.\",\n \"A battery is disposed on one of the inner faces of the flexible substrate and electrically connected to the one or more light emitting diodes, the sensor and the processor.\",\n \"Next, an enclosure having N sides is provided and the flexible substrate is folded such that the folded flexible substrate fits into an interior of the enclosure.\",\n \"The folded flexible substrate is inserted into the interior of the enclosure and the enclosure is sealed.\",\n \"This method can be implemented as a computer program embodied on a non-transitory computer readable medium wherein the steps are preformed using one or more code segments.\"\n ],\n [\n \"CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application claims priority to U.S.\",\n \"Provisional Application Ser.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"61/845,334, filed Jul.\",\n \"11, 2013, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.\",\n \"STATEMENT OF FEDERALLY FUNDED RESEARCH Not Applicable.\",\n \"REFERENCE TO A SEQUENCE LISTING Not Applicable.\",\n \"TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates in general to the manufacture of electronic, electromagnetic and electromechanical components and devices, and more particularly to an electronic gaming die.\",\n \"BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Without limiting the scope of the invention, its background is described in connection with methods for manufacturing 3D objects and structures, more specifically 3D structural electronic, electromagnetic and electromechanical components and devices.\",\n \"The recent introduction of MEMs-based accelerometers has enabled many new gaming and commercial electronics applications like enhanced features in cell phones and the Nintendo Wiimote.\",\n \"The introduction of the accelerometry into gaming dice has only recently been made possible by this new technology.\",\n \"Although a LED-lit 20 sided dice has been sold on websites like Thinkgeek, the electronics involved are basic and only involve one side (the 20) with a pressure sensor.\",\n \"SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention makes gaming dice more visually stunning and makes the dice outcome more obvious—an important feature in a color and lighting-rich environment such as a casino.\",\n \"The present invention is manufactured using 3D printing of dielectric structures with conductive traces serving as electrical interconnects.\",\n \"More specifically, the present invention provides an electronic gaming die that includes an enclosure, a flexible substrate, a number of light emitting diodes, a sensor, a processor and a battery.\",\n \"The enclosure has N sides where N is equal to or greater than 4.The flexible substrate folds in a manner that leaves it with N sides and fits into an interior of the enclosure, wherein each side has an inner face, an outer face and is assigned an integer from 1 to N. The light emitting diodes are disposed on the outer face of each side of the flexible substrate, wherein the number of light emitting diodes equals the integer assigned to the side of the flexible substrate.\",\n \"The sensor is disposed on one of the inner faces of the flexible substrate.\",\n \"The processor is disposed on one of the inner faces of the flexible substrate and communicably coupled to the sensor and the one or more light emitting diodes.\",\n \"The battery is disposed on one of the inner faces of the flexible substrate and electrically connected to the one or more light emitting diodes, the sensor and the processor.\",\n \"In addition, the present invention provides a method for manufacturing an electronic gaming die by first fabricating a flexible substrate.\",\n \"The flexible substrate folds into N sides where N is equal to or greater than 4, wherein each side has an inner face, an outer face and is assigned an integer from 1 to N. A number of light emitting diodes disposed on the outer face of each side of the flexible substrate such that the number of light emitting diodes equals the integer assigned to the side of the flexible substrate.\",\n \"A sensor is disposed on one of the inner faces of the flexible substrate.\",\n \"A processor is disposed on one of the inner faces of the flexible substrate and communicably coupled to the sensor and the one or more light emitting diodes.\",\n \"A battery is disposed on one of the inner faces of the flexible substrate and electrically connected to the one or more light emitting diodes, the sensor and the processor.\",\n \"Next, an enclosure having N sides is provided and the flexible substrate is folded such that the folded flexible substrate fits into an interior of the enclosure.\",\n \"The folded flexible substrate is inserted into the interior of the enclosure and the enclosure is sealed.\",\n \"This method can be implemented as a computer program embodied on a non-transitory computer readable medium wherein the steps are preformed using one or more code segments.\",\n \"BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS For a more complete understanding of the features and advantages of the present invention, reference is now made to the detailed description of the invention along with the accompanying figures and in which: FIGS.\",\n \"1A and 1B are images showing an exploded view of an electronic gaming die in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention; FIG.\",\n \"2 is an image showing the folds of the inner sides of a flexible substrate for an electronic gaming die in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention; FIGS.\",\n \"3A and 3B are exploded drawings of an enclosure and insert for an electronic gaming die in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention; FIGS.\",\n \"4A and 4B are images showing the outer sides and inner sides, respectively, of a flexible substrate for an electronic gaming die in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention; FIG.\",\n \"5 is an image of an enclosure for an electronic gaming die in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention; FIGS.\",\n \"6A and 6B are images showing an assembled electronic gaming die with a transparent enclosure in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention; FIG.\",\n \"7 is a series of images showing the assembly process for an electronic gaming die in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention; FIG.\",\n \"8 is an image of an electronic gaming die in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention fabricated with 3D Printing; FIGS.\",\n \"9A and 9B are images showing the outer sides and inner sides, respectively, of a flexible substrate for an electronic gaming die in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention; FIGS.\",\n \"10A and 10B are images showing the outer sides and inner sides, respectively, of a flexible substrate for an electronic gaming die in accordance with yet another embodiment of the present invention; FIG.\",\n \"11 is a flow chart of a method for manufacturing an electronic gaming die in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention; FIG.\",\n \"12 is an image of an electronic gaming die in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention; and FIG.\",\n \"13 is an image of a wireless battery charging device with two electronic gaming dice in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention.\",\n \"DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION While the making and using of various embodiments of the present invention are discussed in detail below, it should be appreciated that the present invention provides many applicable inventive concepts that can be embodied in a wide variety of specific contexts.\",\n \"The specific embodiments discussed herein are merely illustrative of specific ways to make and use the invention and do not delimit the scope of the invention.\",\n \"For example, the present invention is described with respect to the design of a six sided gaming die that includes a microprocessor and accelerometer in order to detect a roll, measure the direction of gravity and illuminate light emitting diodes (LED) on the upward face.\",\n \"The present invention, however, is not limited to a six sided gaming die or the specific design examples described herein.\",\n \"To facilitate the understanding of this invention, a number of terms are defined below.\",\n \"Terms defined herein have meanings as commonly understood by a person of ordinary skill in the areas relevant to the present invention.\",\n \"Terms such as “a”, “an,” and “the” are not intended to refer to only a singular entity, but include the general class of which a specific example may be used for illustration.\",\n \"The terminology herein is used to describe specific embodiments of the invention, but their usage does not delimit the invention, except as outlined in the claims.\",\n \"Now referring to FIGS.\",\n \"1A and 1B, images showing an exploded view of an electronic gaming die 100 in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention are shown.\",\n \"The electronic gaming die 100 includes an enclosure 102, a flexible substrate 104, light emitting diodes 106, a sensor 108, a processor 110, a battery 112 and an insert 114.The enclosure 102 (made up of main enclosure 102a and enclosure lid or cap 102b) has N sides (1021 to 102N) where N is equal to or greater than 4.In the example shown, N=6.In other embodiments of the present invention, N can equal 4, 6, 8, 10, 20 or more.\",\n \"The enclosure 102 can be transparent or semi-transparent.\",\n \"Likewise, a portion of the enclosure 102 proximate to the one or more light emitting diodes 106 can be transparent or semi-transparent, and the remainder of the enclosure 102 can be opaque.\",\n \"The flexible substrate 104 folds into N sides (see also FIG.\",\n \"2) and fits into an interior 116 of the enclosure 102.Each side of the flexible substrate 104 has an inner face (FIG.\",\n \"1A; see also FIG.\",\n \"4B) and an outer face (FIG.\",\n \"1B; see also FIG.\",\n \"4A).\",\n \"The sensor 108 (preferably a three-axis accelerometer) is disposed on one of the inner faces of the flexible substrate 104.The processor 110 is disposed on one of the inner faces of the flexible substrate 104 and is communicably coupled to the sensor 108 and the one or more light emitting diodes 106.The sensor 108 and processor 110 detect a roll, measure a direction of gravity and illuminate the light emitting diode(s) 106 on the upward face.\",\n \"The processor 108 can operate the light emitting diodes 106 is various modes, which can be user configurable.\",\n \"For example, the light emitting diodes 106 can stay lit for a specified period of time, or flash to show which side of the enclosure 102 is up when the electronic gaming die 100 stops rolling, etc.\",\n \"The battery 112 is disposed on one of the inner faces of the flexible substrate 104 and electrically connected to the one or more light emitting diodes 106, the sensor 108 and the processor 110.The battery 112 can be replaceable or rechargeable.\",\n \"For example, an interface 118 (e.g., mini USB-A, mini USB-b, micro USB-A, micro USB-b, etc.)\",\n \"can be electrically connected to the battery 112 and accessible from an exterior of the enclosure 102 to recharge the battery 112.Alternatively, a wireless battery recharging circuit (not shown) can be electrically connected to the battery 112 and disposed on one of the inner faces of the flexible substrate 104.Likewise, one or more photovoltaic cells (not shown) can be electrically connected to the battery 112 and disposed on or within the enclosure 102 or the flexible substrate 104.The electronic gaming die 100 may automatically enter a sleep mode whenever one or more sleep conditions occur and remain in the sleep mode until one or more wakeup conditions occur.\",\n \"For example, the one or more sleep conditions may include the sensor 108 not detecting motion for a specified period of time, the sensor 108 detecting a specified sleep sequence, the electronic gaming die 100 remains stationary for a specified period of time, etc.\",\n \"The sleep sequence can be orienting the dice for at least two seconds with the “one” side held up, followed by the “two”, followed by the “three” and so on, or any other desired sequence.\",\n \"The low power mode may involve a staged power down of the electronic gaming die 100 (e.g., component-by-component starting with deactivating the light emitting diodes 106).\",\n \"The one or more wakeup conditions may include the sensor 108 detecting motion after the sleep mode has been entered or a specific time period thereafter, the sensor 108 detecting a specified wakeup sequence, the electronic gaming die 100 being “rolled” after the sleep mode has been entered or a specified time period thereafter, etc.\",\n \"Now also referring to FIGS.\",\n \"3A and 3B, exploded drawings of an enclosure 102 and insert 114 for an electronic gaming die 100 in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention are shown.\",\n \"The insert 114 is disposed within an interior 116 of the folded flexible substrate 104 and sized to maintain a position of the flexible substrate 104 against the interior of the enclosure 102.The enclosure 102 may include slots, channels, cavities, recesses, depressions or other inner surface features to accommodate the light emitting diodes 106 or other components disposed on the outer faces of the flexible substrate 104.For example, the enclosure lid or cap 102a in FIGS.\",\n \"1A and 1B includes an opening to accommodate the interface 118.Alternatively, the lid or cap 102a can be removable in order to change out the battery 112.Note that that one or more inscriptions can be engraved on the enclosure 102.The insert 114 can be rigid, semi-rigid, or hollow.\",\n \"Alternatively, the insert 114 can be eliminated and replace by: (1) an adhesive or one or more connectors that attach one or more edges of the sides of the flexible substrate 104 together to maintain a shape of the folded flexible substrate 104; (2) an expanding foam sealant disposed within an interior of the folded flexible substrate 104; or (3) any other suitable method of maintain a shape of the folded flexible substrate 104.Moreover, the insert 114 can be weighted to balance a weight of the die 100, or unbalance the die 100 to favor a specified orientation (i.e., a loaded die or “cheating” die).\",\n \"Referring now to FIGS.\",\n \"4A and 4B, images showing the outer faces (4201 to 420N) and inner faces (4401 to 440N), respectively, of a flexible substrate 104 for an electronic gaming die 100 in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention are shown.\",\n \"This embodiment and the embodiment shown in FIGS.\",\n \"9A and 9B have components on both the outer faces 400 and the inner faces 420 of the flexible substrate 104.In contrast, the embodiment shown in FIGS.\",\n \"10A and 10B only has components on the inner faces 420 of the flexible substrate 104, which substantially reduces the manufacturing cost.\",\n \"Each side 400 of the flexible substrate 104 is assigned an integer from 1 to N (e.g., 4001 to 4006).\",\n \"A number of light emitting diodes 106 are disposed on the outer face 420 of each side 400 of the flexible substrate 104.The number of light emitting diodes 106 equals the integer assigned to the side 400 of the flexible substrate 104 and the corresponding side of the enclosure 102.For example and as shown in FIG.\",\n \"4A, the first outer face 4201 of the first side 4001 of the flexible substrate 104 has one light emitting diode D1, the second outer face 4202 of the second side 4002 of the flexible substrate 104 has two light emitting diodes D2-D3, the third outer face 4203 of the third side 4003 of the flexible substrate 104 has three light emitting diodes D4-D6, the fourth outer face 4204 of the fourth side 4004 of the flexible substrate 104 has four light emitting diodes D7-D10, the fifth outer face 4205 of the fifth side 4005 of the flexible substrate 104 has five light emitting diodes D11-D15, and the sixth outer face 4206 of the sixth side 4006 of the flexible substrate 104 has six light emitting diodes D16-D21.Each light emitting diode D1-D21 represents a pip of the electronic gaming die 100.Alternatively, the number of light emitting diodes 106 can be greater than the number of the integer assigned to the side 400 of the flexible substrate 104 such that the number of light emitting diodes 106 are arranged to display a numeric character corresponding to the integer.\",\n \"As shown in FIG.\",\n \"4B, the sensor 108 and processor 110 are disposed on one of the inner faces (e.g., 4401) of the flexible substrate 104.Two leads 402 are used to connect the circuit to the battery 112 (not shown).\",\n \"An additional side 404 is used to mount the interface 118 (e.g., mini USB-A, mini USB-b, micro USB-A, micro USB-b, etc.)\",\n \"and orient the interface 118 to be accessible via the opening 406 in side 4002.As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, the circuit includes various capacitors Cx, resistors Rx, electrical traces (conductors) and other desired components.\",\n \"In addition, one or more inner faces 420 or one or more outer faces 440 of the flexible substrate 104 can be coated with an ultraviolet photocurable polymer to further protect the various components and the flexible substrate 104.The flexible substrate 104 can be fabricated using traditional flexible circuit board methodologies or fabricated using 3D printing process wherein the electrical conductors that connect the various components are printed conductive traces that can traverse one or more folds of the flexible substrate 104.An example of such a 3D printing system is described in U.S. patent application Ser.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"13/343,651, which is incorporated by reference in its entirety.\",\n \"The three-dimensional printing device creates one or more layers of a three-dimensional substrate by depositing a substrate material in a layer-by-layer fashion.\",\n \"The three-dimensional printing device can be a fused deposition modeling machine, a selective laser sintering machine or other suitable device.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"5 is an image of an enclosure 102 for an electronic gaming die 100 in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention.\",\n \"FIGS.\",\n \"6A and 6B are images showing an assembled electronic gaming die 100 with a transparent enclosure 102 in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"7 is a series of images showing the assembly process for an electronic gaming die 100 in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"8 is an image of an electronic gaming die 100 in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention.\",\n \"As shown in FIG.\",\n \"8, the electronic gaming die 100 can also be fabricated with 3D Printing technology in conjunction with micro-dispensing of conductive inks serving as electrical interconnect.\",\n \"3D Printing of the structure can allow for rapid prototyping not just of the structure but also for the electronic functionality as demonstrated in FIG.\",\n \"8.3D Printing can thus allow for faster evaluation of form and function at an unprecedented level.\",\n \"Referring now to FIGS.\",\n \"9A and 9B, images showing the outer faces (4201 to 420N) and inner faces (4401 to 440N), respectively, of a flexible substrate 104 for an electronic gaming die 100 in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention are shown.\",\n \"Like FIGS.\",\n \"4A and 4B, this embodiment has components on both the outer faces 400 and the inner faces 420 of the flexible substrate 104.This embodiment does, not however, show the battery leads 402 or interface 118 (e.g., mini USB-A, mini USB-b, micro USB-A, micro USB-b, etc.).\",\n \"Each side 400 of the flexible substrate 104 is assigned an integer from 1 to N (e.g., 4001 to 4006).\",\n \"A number of light emitting diodes 106 are disposed on the outer face 420 of each side 400 of the flexible substrate 104.The number of light emitting diodes 106 equals the integer assigned to the side 400 of the flexible substrate 104 and the corresponding side of the enclosure 102.For example and as shown in FIG.\",\n \"9A, the first outer face 4201 of the first side 4001 of the flexible substrate 104 has one light emitting diode D1, the second outer face 4202 of the second side 4002 of the flexible substrate 104 has two light emitting diodes D2-D3, the third outer face 4203 of the third side 4003 of the flexible substrate 104 has three light emitting diodes D4-D6, the fourth outer face 4204 of the fourth side 4004 of the flexible substrate 104 has four light emitting diodes D7-D10, the fifth outer face 4205 of the fifth side 4005 of the flexible substrate 104 has five light emitting diodes D11-D15, and the sixth outer face 4206 of the sixth side 4006 of the flexible substrate 104 has six light emitting diodes D16-D21.Each light emitting diode D1-D21 represents a pip of the electronic gaming die 100.Alternatively, the number of light emitting diodes 106 can be greater than the number of the integer assigned to the side 400 of the flexible substrate 104 such that the number of light emitting diodes 106 are arranged to display a numeric character corresponding to the integer.\",\n \"As shown in FIG.\",\n \"9B, the sensor 108 and processor 110 are disposed on one of the inner faces (e.g., 4401) of the flexible substrate 104.As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, the circuit includes various capacitors Cx, resistors Rx, electrical traces (conductors) and other desired components.\",\n \"In addition, one or more inner faces 420 or one or more outer faces 440 of the flexible substrate 104 can be coated with an ultraviolet photocurable polymer to further protect the various components and the flexible substrate 104.The flexible substrate 104 can be fabricated using traditional flexible circuit board methodologies or fabricated using 3D printing process wherein the electrical conductors that connect the various components are printed conductive traces that can traverse one or more folds of the flexible substrate 104.An example of such a 3D printing system is described in U.S. patent application Ser.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"13/343,651, which is incorporated by reference in its entirety.\",\n \"The three-dimensional printing device creates one or more layers of a three-dimensional substrate by depositing a substrate material in a layer-by-layer fashion.\",\n \"The three-dimensional printing device can be a fused deposition modeling machine, a selective laser sintering machine or other suitable device.\",\n \"Now referring to FIGS.\",\n \"10A and 10B, images showing the outer faces (4201 to 420N) and inner faces (4401 to 440N), respectively, of a flexible substrate 104 for an electronic gaming die 100 in accordance with yet another embodiment of the present invention are shown.\",\n \"Unlike FIGS.\",\n \"4A-B and 9A-B, this embodiment has components only on the outer faces 420 of the flexible substrate 104.This embodiment uses three additional squares or sides 1002, 1004 and 1006 to mount the various components on, such that these three sides 1002, 1004 and 1006 are bent towards the back of the completed flexible substrate 104, leaving the components effectively in the back side again.\",\n \"By doing this, the folded flexible substrate inserted into the inside of the cavity 116 of the dice case 102a just like the other embodiments.\",\n \"This embodiment greatly reduces the manufacturing price of the flexible substrate 104 (e.g., 40% or more).\",\n \"Some of these savings would be offset by the increased handling of the flexible substrate 104 during manufacture, increased time to build each part and increased risk of damaging it through handling.\",\n \"Each side 400 of the flexible substrate 104 is assigned an integer from 1 to N (e.g., 4001 to 4006).\",\n \"A number of light emitting diodes 106 are disposed on the outer face 420 of each side 400 of the flexible substrate 104.The number of light emitting diodes 106 equals the integer assigned to the side 400 of the flexible substrate 104 and the corresponding side of the enclosure 102.For example and as shown in FIG.\",\n \"10A, the first outer face 4201 of the first side 4001 of the flexible substrate 104 has one light emitting diode D1, the second outer face 4202 of the second side 4002 of the flexible substrate 104 has two light emitting diodes D2-D3, the third outer face 4203 of the third side 4003 of the flexible substrate 104 has three light emitting diodes D4-D6, the fourth outer face 4204 of the fourth side 4004 of the flexible substrate 104 has four light emitting diodes D7-D10, the fifth outer face 4205 of the fifth side 4005 of the flexible substrate 104 has five light emitting diodes D11-D15, and the sixth outer face 4206 of the sixth side 4006 of the flexible substrate 104 has six light emitting diodes D16-D21.Each light emitting diode D1-D21 represents a pip of the electronic gaming die 100.Alternatively, the number of light emitting diodes 106 can be greater than the number of the integer assigned to the side 400 of the flexible substrate 104 such that the number of light emitting diodes 106 are arranged to display a numeric character corresponding to the integer.\",\n \"The sensor 108 is disposed the outer face (e.g., 4207) of one of the added sides 1002.The processor 110 is disposed on outer face (e.g., 4208) of the one of the added sides 1004.Additional components, such as resistors R4, R5, R7 and R8 are disposed on the outer face (e.g., 4209) of one of the added sides 1006.Two leads 402 are used to connect the circuit to the battery 112 (not shown).\",\n \"An additional side 404 is used to mount the interface 118 (e.g., mini USB-A, mini USB-b, micro USB-A, micro USB-b, etc.)\",\n \"and orient the interface 118 to be accessible via the opening 406 in side 4002.As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, the circuit includes various capacitors Cx, resistors Rx, electrical traces (conductors) and other desired components.\",\n \"In addition, one or more inner faces 420 or one or more outer faces 440 of the flexible substrate 104 can be coated with an ultraviolet photocurable polymer to further protect the various components and the flexible substrate 104.The flexible substrate 104 can be fabricated using traditional flexible circuit board methodologies or fabricated using 3D printing process wherein the electrical conductors that connect the various components are printed conductive traces that can traverse one or more folds of the flexible substrate 104.An example of such a 3D printing system is described in U.S. patent application Ser.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"13/343,651, which is incorporated by reference in its entirety.\",\n \"The three-dimensional printing device creates one or more layers of a three-dimensional substrate by depositing a substrate material in a layer-by-layer fashion.\",\n \"The three-dimensional printing device can be a fused deposition modeling machine, a selective laser sintering machine or other suitable device.\",\n \"Now referring to FIG.\",\n \"11, a flow chart of a method 1100 for manufacturing an electronic gaming die 100 in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention is shown.\",\n \"A flexible substrate is fabricated in block 1102.The flexible substrate folds into N sides where N is equal to or greater than 4, wherein each side has an inner face, an outer face and is assigned an integer from 1 to N (e.g., equals 4, 6, 8, 10, 20, etc.).\",\n \"A number of light emitting diodes disposed on the outer face of each side of the flexible substrate such that the number of light emitting diodes equals the integer assigned to the side of the flexible substrate.\",\n \"A sensor is disposed on one of the inner faces of the flexible substrate.\",\n \"A processor is disposed on one of the inner faces of the flexible substrate and communicably coupled to the sensor and the one or more light emitting diodes.\",\n \"A battery is disposed on one of the inner faces of the flexible substrate and electrically connected to the one or more light emitting diodes, the sensor and the processor.\",\n \"An enclosure having N sides in provided in block 1104.The flexible substrate is folded in block 1106 such that the folded flexible substrate fits into an interior of the enclosure.\",\n \"The folded flexible substrate is inserted into the interior of the enclosure in block 1108 and the enclosure is sealed in block 1110.As previously described, the shape of the folded flexible substrate can be maintained by: placing an insert within an interior of the folded flexible substrate; attaching one or more edges of the sides of the flexible substrate together using an adhesive or one or more connectors; or depositing an expanding foam sealant within an interior of the folded flexible substrate.\",\n \"In addition, one or more inner faces or one or more outer faces of the flexible substrate can be coated with an ultraviolet photocurable polymer to further protect the various components and the flexible substrate.\",\n \"Moreover, this method can be implemented as a computer program embodied on a non-transitory computer readable medium wherein the steps are preformed using one or more code segments.\",\n \"As previously mentioned, the flexible substrate can be fabricated using a conductive ink micro-dispensing process wherein the electrical conductors that connect the various components are printed conductive traces that can traverse one or more folds of the flexible substrate 104.An example of such a 3D printing system is described in U.S. patent application Ser.\",\n \"No.\",\n \"13/343,651, which is incorporated by reference in its entirety.\",\n \"The three-dimensional printing device creates one or more layers of a three-dimensional substrate by depositing a substrate material in a layer-by-layer fashion.\",\n \"The three-dimensional printing device can be a fused deposition modeling machine, a selective laser sintering machine or other suitable device.\",\n \"Other machines may include a micro-machining machine, a CNC micro-machining machine, a micro electrical discharge machining machine, an electrochemical machining machine, a direct write proton micro-machining machine, a laser ablation machine, a radiative source, an ultrasonic cutting machine, a hot wire cutting machine, a waterjet machine, an etching machine, a deep reactive ion etching machine, a plasma etching machine, a crystal orientation dependent etching machine, a wet bulk micromachining machine, a UV-lithography or X-ray lithography (LIGA) machine, a hot embossing lithography machine, a precision mechanical sawing machine, a chemically assisted ion milling machine, a sand blasting machine or a cutting machine.\",\n \"A component placement machine can be used to place and assemble the various components.\",\n \"In addition, the system may include a slide, a conveyor or a robotic device that transports the components and electronic gaming die to each machine.\",\n \"Note that all of the machines can be integrated into a single machine.\",\n \"The substrate material can be a thermoplastic material, another polymer material, a ceramic material, a metallic material, a mineral material, a glass ceramic material, a semi-conductor material, a nanomaterial, a biomaterial, an organic material, an inorganic material or any combination thereof.\",\n \"The thermoplastic material can be acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS), ABSi, ABSplus, ABS-M30, ABS-M30i, polycarbonate (PC), PC-ABS, PC-ISO, polyphenylsulfone (PPSF/PPSU), ULTEM 9085 or any combination thereof.\",\n \"The another polymer material can be poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA), polypropylene, polyolefin, LL-PE, HDPE, polyvinyl acetate, polyester, polyamides, nylon, polyimides, polyketone, polyether ethyl ketone (PEEK), polybutadiene, polylactic acid, polycaprolactone, polyethylene terephthalate, liquid crystalline polymer (LCP), polystyrene, polyvinyl chloride, polyfluoroethylene, polydifluoroethylene, polytetrafluoroethylene, ZEONEX RS420, Eccostock HIK-TPO, co-polymers and block co-polymers of the previous, or any combination thereof.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"12 is an image of an electronic gaming die 100 in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention.\",\n \"FIG.\",\n \"13 is an image of a wireless battery charging device 1300 with two electronic gaming dice 100a and 100b in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention.\",\n \"It may be understood that particular embodiments described herein are shown by way of illustration and not as limitations of the invention.\",\n \"The principal features of this invention can be employed in various embodiments without departing from the scope of the invention.\",\n \"Those skilled in the art will recognize, or be able to ascertain using no more than routine experimentation, numerous equivalents to the specific procedures described herein.\",\n \"Such equivalents are considered to be within the scope of this invention and are covered by the claims.\",\n \"All publications, patents and patent applications mentioned in the specification are indicative of the level of skill of those skilled in the art to which this invention pertains.\",\n \"All publications, patents and patent applications are herein incorporated by reference to the same extent as if each individual publication, patent or patent application was specifically and individually indicated to be incorporated by reference.\",\n \"The use of the word “a” or “an” when used in conjunction with the term “comprising” in the claims and/or the specification may mean “one,” but it is also consistent with the meaning of “one or more,” “at least one,” and “one or more than one.” The use of the term “or” in the claims is used to mean “and/or” unless explicitly indicated to refer to alternatives only or the alternatives are mutually exclusive, although the disclosure supports a definition that refers to only alternatives and “and/or.” Throughout this application, the term “about” is used to indicate that a value includes the inherent variation of error for the device, the method being employed to determine the value, or the variation that exists among the study subjects.\",\n \"As used in this specification and claim(s), the words “comprising” (and any form of comprising, such as “comprise” and “comprises”), “having” (and any form of having, such as “have” and “has”), “including” (and any form of including, such as “includes” and “include”) or “containing” (and any form of containing, such as “contains” and “contain”) are inclusive or open-ended and do not exclude additional, unrecited elements or method steps.\",\n \"The term “or combinations thereof” as used herein refers to all permutations and combinations of the listed items preceding the term.\",\n \"For example, “A, B, C, or combinations thereof” is intended to include at least one of: A, B, C, AB, AC, BC, or ABC, and if order is important in a particular context, also BA, CA, CB, CBA, BCA, ACB, BAC, or CAB.\",\n \"Continuing with this example, expressly included are combinations that contain repeats of one or more item or term, such as BB, AAA, AB, BBC, AAABCCCC, CBBAAA, CABABB, and so forth.\",\n \"The skilled artisan will understand that typically there is no limit on the number of items or terms in any combination, unless otherwise apparent from the context.\",\n \"All of the compositions and/or methods disclosed and claimed herein can be made and executed without undue experimentation in light of the present disclosure.\",\n \"While the compositions and methods of this invention have been described in terms of preferred embodiments, it may be apparent to those of skill in the art that variations may be applied to the compositions and/or methods and in the steps or in the sequence of steps of the method described herein without departing from the concept, spirit and scope of the invention.\",\n \"All such similar substitutes and modifications apparent to those skilled in the art are deemed to be within the spirit, scope and concept of the invention as defined by the appended claims.\"\n ]\n]"},"source":{"kind":"string","value":"Patent_15876084"}}},{"rowIdx":4495075,"cells":{"text":{"kind":"list like","value":[["TREATMENT OF GLYCOGEN STORAGE DISEASE TYPE II","Methods of treating glycogen storage disease type II, by administering acid α-glucosidase, are described, as are compositions for use in treatment of glycogen storage disease type II."],["1.A method of treating glycogen storage disease type II in a human individual having glycogen storage disease type II, comprising administering to the individual a therapeutically effective amount of a precursor form of human acid α-glucosidase produced in Chinese hamster ovary cell culture (CHO GAA) at a regular interval, wherein said precursor form is administered in conjunction with an immunosuppressive or immunotherapeutic regimen, and wherein said immunosuppressive or immunotherapeutic regimen is administered prior to any administration of said precursor form.","2.The method of claim 1, wherein said precursor form is administered monthly, bimonthly, weekly, twice weekly or daily.","3.The method of claim 2, wherein said precursor form is administered bimonthly.","4.The method of claim 1, wherein said precursor form is administered intravenously, intramuscularly, intrathecally or intraventricularly.","5.The method of claim 1, wherein the glycogen storage disease type II is infantile glycogen storage disease type II, juvenile glycogen storage disease type II, or adult-onset glycogen storage disease type II.","6.The method of claim 5, wherein the glycogen storage disease type II is infantile glycogen storage disease type II.","7.The method of claim 1, wherein the method comprises treating cardiomyopathy associated with glycogen storage disease type II in a human in need of such treatment.","8.The method of claim 1, wherein less than 15 mg of said precursor form per kilogram of body weight is administered.","9.The method of claim 5, wherein 1 to 10 mg of said precursor form per kilogram of body weight is administered."],["