Author: claimsbot

1. A method for adjusting provisions of derivative contracts to account for time value of money due to an occurrence of a corporate event that affects the value of the derivative contract, comprising the steps of:
receiving, via a processor based computer, financial information regarding a derivative contract comprising at least a termination claim of the derivative contract and the length of the derivative contract, wherein each derivative contract represents one of a plurality of economic interests of at least two shares of an underlying security: an option with limited stock (OWLS) derivative contract representing a nucleus of said at least two shares of the underlying security, and a residual interest in stock (RISKS) derivative contract representing speculation on future gains on the value of said at least two shares of the underlying security, and wherein the termination claim determines the payout to the OWLS contract at the end of the derivative contract;
receiving, via the computer, information identifying a corporate event that affects the value of the derivative contract;
adjusting, via the computer, the termination claim of the derivative contract by reducing the termination claim by a future value of a payment to the OWLS discounted at an OWLS internal rate of return (IRR) to the termination claim;
adjusting, via the computer, one or more provisions of the derivative contract based on the adjusted termination claim and a predetermined formula for determining the effect of the corporate event on the derivative contract based on a type of distribution to the underlying security; and
storing an adjusted termination claim and an adjusted derivative contract in a database.
2. The method of claim 1, further comprises the step of allocating the value of said at least two shares of the underlying security into the OWLS and RISKS derivative contracts.
3. The method of claim 1, wherein the type of the distribution to the underlying security is a cash distribution; and further comprising the steps of:
allocating entire cash distribution to the OWLS derivative contract if the cash distribution is less than or equal to an average price of the OWLS over a predetermined number of days before the announcement of the corporate event which is referred to as an Average OWLS Price;
allocating a portion of the cash distribution up to the Average OWLS Price to the OWLS derivative contract if the cash distribution is greater than the Average OWLS Price; and
allocating a remaining portion of the cash distribution to the RISKS derivative contract if the cash distribution is greater than the present value of the termination claim.
4. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of reducing the adjusted termination claim to zero for the corporate event involving a full liquidating dividend.
5. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of allocating payment in cash or securities to the OWLS and RISKS derivative contracts based on the adjusted termination claim at termination of the OWLS and RISK derivative contracts.
6. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of forcing premature liquidation of said plurality of derivative contracts by an issuer of said plurality derivative contracts.
7. The method of claim 1, wherein said each derivative contract represents one of at least three economic interests of said at least two shares of an underlying security: the OWLS derivative contract, the RISKS derivative contract, and a dividend value of stock (DIVS) derivative contract representing a stream of dividends distributed to a holder of said at least two shares of the underlying security; and further comprises the step of allocating the value of said at least two shares of the underlying security into the DIVS, OWLS and RISKS derivative contracts.
8. The method of claim 7, wherein the type of the distribution to the underlying security is a cash distribution; and further comprising the steps of:
allocating to the DIVS derivative contract a portion of the cash distribution up to a present value of a reduction of a dividend paid on the underlying security over a remaining term of the DIV derivative contract discounted at a risk free rate;
reducing the cash distribution by a payment to the DIVS derivative contract to obtain an adjusted cash distribution;
allocating entire adjusted cash distribution to the OWLS derivative contract if the adjusted cash distribution is less than or equal to an average price of the OWLS over a predetermined number of days before the announcement of the corporate event which is referred to as an Average OWLS Price;
allocating a portion of the adjusted cash distribution up to the Average OWLS Price to the OWLS derivative contract if the adjusted cash distribution is greater than the Average OWLS Price;
allocating a remaining portion of the adjusted cash distribution to the RISKS derivative contract if the adjusted cash distribution is greater than the present value of the termination claim; and
adjusting the adjusted termination claim to zero for the corporate event involving a full liquidating dividend.
9. The method of claim 7, further comprising the steps of:
allocating a payment equal to present value of dividends discounted at the risk free rate at termination of the DIVS derivative contract; and
allocating payment in cash or securities to the OWLS and RISKS derivative contracts based on the adjusted termination claim at termination of the OWLS and RISK derivative contracts.
10. The method of claim 7, further comprising the step of forcing premature liquidation of said plurality of derivative contracts by an issuer of said plurality derivative contracts.
11. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium comprising computer executable code for adjusting a derivative contract to account for time value of money due to an occurrence of a corporate event that affects the value of the derivative contract, said code comprising instructions for:
receiving, via a processor based computer, financial information regarding a derivative contract comprising at least a termination claim of the derivative contract and the length of the derivative contract, wherein each derivative contract represents one of a plurality of economic interests of at least two shares of an underlying security: an option with limited stock (OWLS) derivative contract representing a nucleus of said at least two shares of the underlying security, and a residual interest in stock (RISKS) derivative contract representing speculation on future gains on the value of said at least two shares of the underlying security, and wherein the termination claim determines the payout to the OWLS contract at the end of the derivative contract;
receiving, via the computer, information identifying a corporate event that affects the value of the derivative contract;
adjusting, via the computer, the termination claim of the derivative contract by reducing the termination claim by a future value of a payment to the OWLS discounted at an OWLS internal rate of return (IRR) to the termination claim;
adjusting, via the computer, one or more provisions of the derivative contract based on the adjusted termination claim and a predetermined formula for determining the effect of the corporate event on the derivative contract based on a type of distribution to the underlying security; and
storing an adjusted termination claim and an adjusted derivative contract in a database.
12. The computer readable storage medium of claim 11, wherein the type of the distribution to the underlying security is a cash distribution; and wherein said code further comprises instructions for:
allocating entire cash distribution to the OWLS derivative contract if the cash distribution is less than or equal to an average price of the OWLS over a predetermined number of days before the announcement of the corporate event which is referred to as an Average OWLS Price;
allocating a portion of the cash distribution up to the Average OWLS Price to the OWLS derivative contract if the cash distribution is greater than the Average OWLS Price;
allocating a remaining portion of the cash distribution to the RISKS derivative contract if the cash distribution is greater than the present value of the termination claim; and
adjusting the adjusted termination claim to zero for the corporate event involving a full liquidating dividend.
13. The computer readable storage medium of claim 11, wherein said code further comprises instructions for allocating payment in cash or securities to the OWLS and RISKS derivative contracts based on the adjusted termination claim at termination of the OWLS and RISK derivative contracts.
14. The computer readable storage medium of claim 11, wherein said each derivative contract represents one of at least three economic interests of said at least two shares of an underlying security: the OWLS derivative contract, the RISKS derivative contract, and a dividend value of stock (DIVS) derivative contract representing a stream of dividends distributed to a holder of said at least two shares of the underlying security; wherein the type of the distribution to the underlying security is a cash distribution; and wherein said code further comprises instructions for:
allocating to the DIVS derivative contract a portion of the cash distribution up to a present value of a reduction of a dividend paid on the underlying security over a remaining term of the DIVS derivative contract discounted at a risk free rate;
reducing the cash distribution by a payment to the DIVS derivative contract to obtain an adjusted cash distribution;
allocating entire adjusted cash distribution to the OWLS derivative contract if the adjusted cash distribution is less than or equal to an average price of the OWLS over a predetermined number of days before the announcement of the corporate event which is referred to as an Average OWLS Price;
allocating a portion of the adjusted cash distribution up to the Average OWLS Price to the OWLS derivative contract if the adjusted cash distribution is greater than the Average OWLS Price;
allocating a remaining portion of the adjusted cash distribution to the RISKS derivative contract if the adjusted cash distribution is greater than the present value of the termination claim; and
adjusting the adjusted termination claim to zero if the corporate event involves a full liquidating dividend.
15. The computer readable storage medium of claim 14, wherein said code further comprises instructions for:
allocating a payment equal to present value of dividends discounted at the risk free rate at termination of the DIVS derivative contract; and
allocating payment in cash or securities to the OWLS and RISKS derivative contracts based on the adjusted termination claim at termination of the OWLS and RISK derivative contracts.
16. A system for adjusting a derivative contract to account for time value of money due to an occurrence of a corporate event that affects the value of the derivative contract, comprising:
a processor based computer programmed to:
receive financial information regarding a derivative contract comprising at least a termination claim of the derivative contract and the length of the derivative contract, wherein each derivative contract represents one of a plurality of economic interests of at least two shares of an underlying security: an option with limited stock (OWLS) derivative contract representing a nucleus of said at least two shares of the underlying security, and a residual interest in stock (RISKS) derivative contract representing speculation on future gains on the value of said at least two shares of the underlying security, and wherein the termination claim determines the payout to the OWLS contract at the end of the derivative contract;
receive information identifying a corporate event that affects the value of the derivative contract;
adjust the termination claim of the derivative contact by reducing the termination claim by a future value of a payment to the OWLS discounted at an OWLS internal rate of return (IRR) to the termination claim;
adjust one or more provisions of the derivative contract based on the adjusted termination claim and a predetermined formula for determining the effect of the corporate event on the derivative contract based on a type of distribution to the underlying security; and

a database to store an adjusted termination claim and an adjusted derivative contract.
17. The system of claim 16, wherein the type of the distribution to the underlying security is a cash distribution; wherein the computer allocates entire cash distribution to the OWLS derivative contract if the cash distribution is less than or equal to an average price of the OWLS over a predetermined number of days before the announcement of the corporate event which is referred to as an Average OWLS Price; wherein if the cash distribution is greater than the Average OWLS Price, the computer allocates a portion of the cash distribution up to the Average OWLS Price to the OWLS derivative contract and allocates a remaining portion of the cash distribution to the RISKS derivative contract; and wherein the computer reduces the adjusted termination claim to zero if the corporate event involves a full liquidating dividend.
18. The system of claim 16, wherein the computer allocates payment in cash or securities to the OWLS and RISKS derivative contracts based on the adjusted termination claim at termination of the OWLS and RISK derivative contracts.
19. The system of claim 16, wherein said each derivative contract represents one of at least three economic interests of said at least two shares of an underlying security: the OWLS derivative contract, the RISKS derivative contract, and a dividend value of stock (DIVS) derivative contract representing a stream of dividends distributed to a holder of said at least two shares of the underlying security; wherein the type of the distribution to the underlying security is a cash distribution; wherein the computer allocates to the DIVS derivative contract a portion of the cash distribution up to a present value of a reduction of a dividend paid on the underlying security over a remaining term of the DIVS derivative contract discounted at a risk free rate; wherein the computer reduces the cash distribution by a payment to the DIVS derivative contract to obtain an adjusted cash distribution; wherein the computer allocates entire adjusted cash distribution to the OWLS derivative contract if the adjusted cash distribution is less than or equal to an average price of the OWLS over a predetermined number of days before the announcement of the corporate event which is referred to as an Average OWLS Price; wherein if the adjusted cash distribution is greater than the Average OWLS Price, the computer allocates a portion of the adjusted cash distribution up to the Average OWLS Price to the OWLS derivative contract and allocates a remaining portion of the adjusted cash distribution to the RISKS derivative contract; and wherein the computer reduces the adjusted termination claim to zero if the corporate event involves a full liquidating dividend.
20. The system of claim 19, wherein the computer allocates a payment equal to present value of dividends discounted at the risk free rate at termination of the DIVS derivative contract, and allocates payment in cash or securities to the OWLS and RISKS derivative contracts based on the adjusted termination claim at termination of the OWLS and RISK derivative contracts.

The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.

1. A semiconductor device comprising:
a substrate including an active area;
a last level interconnect capping layer disposed over the active area;
a buffer layercrack stop layer overlying the last level interconnect capping layer;
a passivation layer overlying the buffer layercrack stop layer; and
a contact pad overlying the passivation layer.
2. The device of claim 1 and further comprising a second buffer layercrack stop layer overlying the passivation layer and a second passivation layer overlying the second buffer layercrack stop layer.
3. The device of claim 2 wherein the buffer layercrack stop layer, passivation layer, second buffer layercrack stop layer, and second passivation layer comprise an arrangement of multiple buffer layerscrack stop layers alternating with the passivation layers all with reduced thickness.
4. The device of claim 1 wherein the buffer layercrack stop layer is made of a lower modulus material with reduced crack propagation properties.
5. The device of claim 1 wherein the buffer layercrack stop layer comprises a low-k organic dielectric.
6. The device of claim 5 wherein the buffer layercrack stop layer is made of SiLK\u2122, a product of Dow Chemical.
7. The device of claim 1 wherein the buffer layercrack stop layer is made of a dielectric material.
8. The device of claim 1 wherein the buffer layercrack layer has a thickness between about 50 nm and about 400 nm.
9. The device of claim 1 wherein the interconnect capping layer has a thickness between about 50 and about 200 nm.
10. The device of claim 9 wherein the interconnect capping layer is made of SiN.
11. The device of claim 1 wherein the passivation layer has a reduced thickness relative to a semiconductor device that does not include a buffer layercrack stop layer.
12. The device of claim 1 wherein the substrate comprises a silicon substrate and wherein the active area comprises a plurality of transistors formed in and over the substrate.
13. The device of claim 3 wherein the active area further includes a plurality of copper damascene interconnect lines.
14. The device of claim 1 wherein the contact pad comprises an aluminum pad.
15. The device of claim 1 wherein the contact pad comprises a probe pad.
16. The device of claim 1 wherein the contact pad comprises a wire bond pad.
17. The device of claim 1 wherein the contact pad comprises a flip-chip pad.
18. A method of manufacturing a semiconductor device, the method comprising:
forming a plurality of transistors in a silicon body;
forming a plurality of interconnect layers over the silicon body, the interconnect layers including a last interconnect level;
forming a capping layer over the last interconnect level;
forming a buffer layer over the capping layer;
forming a passivation layer over the buffer layer;
etching a contact hole through the capping layer, the buffer layer, and the passivation layer, the contact hole exposing a portion of the last interconnect level; and
forming a contact pad over the passivation layer, the contact pad electrically connected to the last interconnect level through a conductor formed in the contact hole.
19. The method of claim 18 wherein the buffer layer comprises a low-k organic dielectric.
20. The method of claim 18 wherein the buffer layer has a thickness between about 50 nm and about 400 nm.

1. A method for processing metadata associated with multimedia content, wherein said multimedia content is located on a first storage medium, said method comprising the steps of:
extracting said metadata from a descriptor stream, wherein said descriptor stream is located on a second storage medium and comprises at least one of: a descriptor pair related to said multimedia content and a reference pair related to said multimedia content; and
enabling an operation using said metadata, wherein said operation comprises at least one of: amending said descriptor stream, storing said descriptor stream, searching said multimedia content via a metadata query, playing said multimedia content, forming an electronic program guide using said metadata.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein said descriptor stream is are generated from multiplexed metadata extracted from within said multimedia content.
3. The method of claim 1, wherein said amending of said descriptor stream uses external source metadata.
4. The method of claim 1, wherein said metadata is supplied by user input.
5. The method of claim 1, wherein said descriptor pair are transcoded from a first encoding into a second encoding.
6. The method of claim 5, wherein said descriptors are generated by an offline process or from out-of-band data.
7. The method of claim 1, wherein said enablement step is activated via a use of a user interface.
8. The method of claim 1, wherein said references comprise position references to the stored multimedia content.
9. A device for processing metadata associated with multimedia content, wherein said multimedia content is located on a first storage medium, said device comprising:
means for extracting said metadata from a descriptor stream, wherein said descriptor stream is located on a second storage medium and comprises pairs of descriptors and references, said descriptors and said references being related to said multimedia content; and
means for enabling an operation using said metadata, wherein said operation comprises at least one of: amending said descriptor stream, storing said descriptor stream, searching said multimedia content via a metadata query, playing said multimedia content, and forming an electronic program guide using said metadata.
10. The device of claim 9, further comprising a user interface suited for supplying metadata andor for activating said means for enabling an operation.
11. The device of claim 9, further comprising means for transcoding said descriptors from a first encoding into a second encoding.
12. The device of claim 9, wherein said references comprise position references to the stored multimedia content.

The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.

1. A method for allocating cycles of a CPU (central processing unit) of a storage system, comprising:
receiving a plurality of requests to be processed by the CPU;
associating each request to one of a plurality of tasks, a first task of the plurality of tasks being for processing inputoutput (IO) requests of the storage system, the first task including a plurality of flows and each flow being associated with a queue and a flow counter value, each queue being configured to hold requests;
selecting one of the plurality of tasks for processing by the CPU based on an examination of a number of cycles processed by the CPU for each task of the plurality of tasks that requires processing;
when the selected task is the first task, selecting one of the plurality of flows having a lowest flow counter value among the flow counter values of flows that require processing by the CPU; and
processing by the CPU a request from the queue of the selected flow, the flow counter of the selected flow being increased based on a data consumption of the processed request.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein the flow counter value of the selected flow is increased based on a weight assigned to the flow and the data consumption for the processed task.
3. The method of claim 2, wherein the weight assigned to each of the plurality of flows is directly proportional to an inputoutputs per second (IOPS) delivered for each of the plurality of flows.
4. The method of claim 1, wherein the requests to be processed are scheduled for processing based on a dual currency that includes (a) a number of CPU cycles used by each task and (b) the flow counter values of the plurality of flows
5. The method of claim 1, wherein the data consumption of the processed request is based on a size of a read or write request of the processed request.
6. The method of claim 1, wherein each request is one of an TO request or a work request for a background task.
7. The method of claim 1, further including:
detecting an activated flow that requires CPU processing, the activated flow having been idle for a period of time greater than a threshold period; and
adjusting the flow counter value of the activated flow to be equal to a maximum between a current value of the flow counter value of the activated flow and a minimum flow counter of all active flows.
8. The method of claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of tasks is assigned a task weight that that is used to increase a task counter value, wherein selecting one of the plurality of tasks further includes:
selecting the task with a lowest task counter value among the task counter values of tasks that require processing by the CPU.
9. The method of claim 8, wherein the task counter value of the selected task is increased based on an amount of CPU cycles consumed by a processed task associated with the selected task and based on the assigned task weight for the selected task.
10. The method of claim 1, wherein each flow of the plurality of flows is associated with a respective volume, each volume configured for the storage system, wherein the storage system manages data storage consisting of disk storage and flash cache.
11. The method of claim 10,
wherein each volume is configured from one or more storage arrays; and
wherein two or more storage arrays are defined as part of a clustered storage array
12. The method of claim 10,
wherein each volume is configured from one or more storage arrays; and
wherein a pool is configured for each volume, each volume defined from the storage system defined by one or more storage arrays.
13. The method of claim 1, wherein a performance metric defined by inputoutputs per second (IOPS) is assigned to each of the flows, each flow corresponding to a volume, wherein a weight assigned to each of the flows is directly proportional to the respective IOPS of the flow.
14. The method of claim 13, wherein the performance metric assigned to each volume is a portion of available performance assignable for processing IO requests to the plurality of flows.
15. The method of claim 13, wherein each flow of the plurality of flows is associated with a volume to be serviced by the storage system, wherein based on anticipated storage demands by volume the performance metric assigned to the volumes is configurable.
16. The method of claim 15, wherein performance metrics assigned to specific volumes define a guaranteed amount of reserved IOPS.
17. A storage system comprising:
a central processing unit (CPU);
a non-volatile memory (NVRAM) for storing incoming write requests;
a solid state memory (SSD) configured as a read cache memory; and
a hard drive (HDD) for permanent data storage, wherein the CPU:
associates requests requiring processing by the CPU to one of a plurality of tasks, a first task of the plurality of tasks being for processing inputoutput (TO) requests of the storage system, the first task including a plurality of flows and each flow being associated with a queue and a flow counter value, each queue being configured to hold requests;
selects one of the plurality of tasks for processing by the CPU based on an examination of a number of cycles processed by the CPU for each task of the plurality of tasks that requires processing;
when the selected task is the first task, selects one of the plurality of flows having a lowest flow counter value among the flow counter values of flows that require processing by the CPU; and
processes a request from the queue of the selected flow, the flow counter of the selected flow being increased based on a data consumption of the processed request.
18. The storage system of claim 17, wherein the CPU includes a plurality of cores, wherein the request to be processed is assigned to a thread executing in one of the plurality of cores.
19. The storage system of claim 17, wherein the flow counter value of the selected flow is increased based on a weight assigned to the flow and the data consumption for the processed request.
20. The storage system of claim 19, wherein the weight assigned to each of the plurality of flows is directly proportional to an inputoutputs per second (IOPS) delivered for each of the plurality of flows.
21. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing a computer program for allocating cycles of a CPU (central processing unit) of a storage system, the computer-readable storage medium comprising:
program instructions for receiving a plurality of tasks to be processed by the CPU;
program instructions for associating each request to one of a plurality of tasks, a first task of the plurality of tasks being for processing inputoutput (TO) requests of the storage system, the first task including a plurality of flows and each flow being associated with a queue and a flow counter value, each queue being configured to hold requests;
program instructions for selecting one of the plurality of tasks for processing by the CPU based on an examination of a number of cycles processed by the CPU for each task of the plurality of tasks that requires processing;
program instructions for, when the selected task is the first task, selecting one of the plurality of flows having a lowest flow counter value among the flow counter values of flows that require processing by the CPU; and
program instructions for processing by the CPU a request from the queue of the selected flow, the flow counter of the selected flow being increased based on a data consumption of the processed request.
22. The storage medium of claim 21, further including:
program instructions for detecting an activated flow that requires CPU processing, the activated flow having been idle for a period of time greater than a threshold period; and
program instructions for adjusting the flow counter value of the activated flow to be equal to a maximum between a current value of the flow counter value of the activated flow and a minimum flow counter of all active flows.
23. The storage medium of claim 21, wherein each of the plurality of tasks is assigned a task weight that is used to increase a task counter value, wherein selecting one of the plurality of tasks further includes:
program instructions for selecting the task with a lowest task counter value among the task counter values of tasks that require processing by the CPU.
24. The storage medium of claim 23, wherein the task counter value of the selected task is increased based on an amount of CPU cycles consumed by a processed request associated with the selected task and based on the assigned task weight for the selected task.