DOCKET NO

Iherebycertify that t\rMpaperorfeeisbeing deposited with the United States^PostalService "ExpressMail PostOfficetoAddressee"servicesunder37C.F.R.1.10on the dateindicatedaboveandisaddressedtothe AssistantCommissionerforPatents,Washington, D.C.20231.

TypedNameofPerson Mailing^Paper05:^Fee: Chris Griffin Signature: ('J\yUn

iling,Paper05:^Fee:

PATENT APPLICATION DOCKET NO. 10002343-1

Personal Movie Storage Module

INVENTORS:

Robert

J.

Davidson

PERSONAL MOVIE STORAGE MODULE

5 Cross ReferencetoRelated Applications

ThisUtilityPatentApplicationisrelated toU.S. Patent Application

entitled

"PORTABLE INFORMATION STORAGE MODULE FOR INFORMATION SHOPPING"

havingAttorneyDocket No.

HP PDNO

10002307-1filedherewith.

10

The

Fieldof theInvention

The

present inventionrelatesgenerallytoportableinformation storage and,in particular, toportableentertainmentmediastoragedevices.

15

Background

of theInvention

Withthewidespreadavailabilityofentertainmentmediasuchasmovies andmusic,consumersaregrowing accustomedtohavingcompletechoicein theirentertainment. Unfortunately,in

some

venues,consumers remainacaptive audiencetoentertainmentchoices

made

byother people. Forexample, those 20 travelinglongdistancesfrequentlytravelbyairplane.

On

longerflights,

entertainmentisprovidedbythe airline intheformofmusicormovies.

However,passengershavelittleornosay regardingthe selectionofthe in-flight movie

shown

onboard. Passengers experienceabroadrangeofinterest associatedwiththe selectedmovie, ranginganywherefromcomplete

boredom

to 25 staunchdisinterest. Finally,theseexperienceswithin-flightmoviesisgenerally

extendabletootherformsoftravelsuchastrain,automobile,ferry,etc.

The

entertainment industryisconstantly lookingfor

more ways

to

make

moviesand musicreadily available. Easyaccesstodesiredentertainmentmedia increasestheprofit

made

ona givenmovieormusicalpiece. Accordingly,given 30 the

immense

demand,satisfyingthe desire forchoice

among

wearytravelersis

ripefor exploitation.

Summary

of theInvention

The

presentinventionprovidesapersonalmoviestoragemodule includinga storage devicehavingan atomicresolutionstoragedevice

memory

componentcapableofstoringatleastonemovie.

A

communicationinterface 5 communicatestoand fromthe

memory

component ofthestoragemodule.

Brief Description of the

Drawings

Figure1isaschematicillustrationofa personalmoviestoragemodule and an accompanying systemofamovie playbackdeviceandamoviepurchase 10 centerforusewith themodule,accordingtoan embodiment ofthepresent

invention.

Figure2isaschematicillustrationofamovielibrarypurchasecenter, accordingtoanembodiment ofthepresentinvention.

Figure3isa schematicillustrationofapersonalmoviestoragemodule,

15 accordingtoanembodiment ofthepresentinvention.

Figure4isasideviewillustratingone exemplary embodiment ofa storage deviceusedinapersonalmoviestoragemoduleinaccordancewith the presentinvention.

Figure5isasimplifiedschematicdiagramillustratingone exemplary 20 embodiment ofstoringinformation withinthestorage deviceillustratedinFig.4.

Figure 6isatopviewillustratingone exemplary embodiment ofa storagedeviceusedina personalmoviestoragemoduleas

shown

inFig. 4.

Figure7isadiagramillustratingoneexemplaryembodiment offield emittersreadingfromstorageareasof the storage device ofFig.4.

25 Figure8isschematicillustrationof a portablemoviestoragemodule arrangedinassociationwith multipleplaybackdevicesandanalternativemovie purchasesource,accordingtoanembodiment ofthepresentinvention.

Description of thePreferred

Embodiments

30 In thefollowingdetaileddescriptionofthepreferredembodiments, referenceis

made

to theaccompanyingdrawingswhich formapart hereof,and inwhichis

shown

by

way

ofillustrationspecificembodimentsinwhichthe

invention

may

bepracticed. Itistobeunderstoodthatotherembodiments

may

beutilizedandstructuralorlogicalchanges

may

be

made

without departing fromthescopeofthepresentinvention. Thefollowingdetailed description, therefore,isnottobetakeninalimitingsense,andthescopeofthepresent 5 inventionisdefinedbytheappendedclaims.

A

personalmoviestoragemodule ofthepresentinventionallowsan

individual topurchaseandstoreamovieintothemoduleforlaterretrievaland viewing. The moduleincludesahigh capacity

memory

deviceanda

communicationinterface. The

memory

deviceiscapableofstoringoneormore 10 movieswhile thecommunicationinterfacefacilitatescommunicatingtoand

fromthe

memory

deviceatahightransferrate.

Inoneexample embodiment,usingthemodule,anindividualcancapture apacketofentertainmentmedia,suchasamovie fromapurchasecenter,suchas a kioskinanairport. The movieisviewed fromthemoduleatthe individual's 15 convenience using a personalplaybackdevice(e.g.,

DVD-type

player,notebook

computer,etc.). Thisfeatureenablestheindividual to selectwhat moviethey wanttowatch,andthenviewthatmovieattheirdiscretion,thereby permittinga travelerautonomyinselecting theirentertainmentwhiletraveling.

Inonepreferredembodiment,the

memory

device includesanatomic 20 resolutionstoragedevice. Alternatively, the

memory

device optionallyanother

suitablehigh capacity storagedevice.Theatomicresolutionstoragedeviceused inthepersonalmoviestoragemoduleaccordingtothepresentinventionis

subminiatureinsize,allowingittobecontained withina small housing, haslow

power

requirements,andprovidesfornon-volatilestorageoflargeamounts of 25 data,includingvideo.

The

term "atomicresolutionstoragedevice"

memory

as

usedhereinisdefinedasanon-volatile

memory

storagedevicecapableof storingalargevolume ofdata,suchasmegabytestogigabytesofdatapoints, within arelativelysmall storage areaandrequiringverylow

power

consumption.

The

atomicresolutionstoragedevice includes afieldemitter,a 30 storagemedium, andamicromover andassociatedcircuitryforthereadingand

writingofdata. Preferably, theatomicresolutionstoragedevice includesa

pluralityofspacedapart field emitters,whereineachfield emitterisresponsible fora

number

ofstorageareasonthestoragemedium.

A

personalmoviestoragemodule10ofthepresent inventionis

shown

generallyinFigure1along withmoviepurchase center 12(e.g.,a kioskinan 5 airport), centralmoviedatabase14,andpersonalplaybackdevice16. Together,

these elementsformasystemof purchasing a movie,storingandtransportingthe movie,and viewingthemovie, withalloftheseactsperformedat the discretion ofthe consumer.

Purchasecenter12furtherincludes video display20,keypad22,and 10 slots24forreceiving personalmoviestoragemodulewhileplaybackdevice 16

furtherincludes video display 26, audiocomponent 28 andslot30forreceiving personalmoviestoragemodule10.

Purchase center 12 preferablyisavailable atashoppingcenter, airport, or otherpublic venue,andhostsalarge selectionof audioandvideo formats of

15 books, music,moviesand/or other entertainmentmediaforpurchase viamodule 10. Forexample, a user could purchase amovie frompurchase center 12 using acreditcardandstore themovieinpersonalmoviestoragemodule10. In particular,using display20 and keypad 22of purchase center12, theuser purchasesoneor

more

selectionsofan entertainmentmedia(e.g.,a movie).

A

20 copy ofthatselectionistransferredfrompurchase center 12(e.g.,downloaded) viacommunicationslot24forstorageintopersonalmoviestoragemodule10.

The

selectionispreferablydownloadedinabroadband communicationformat fromcentralmoviedatabase14.

Figure 2isaschematicillustrationofpurchase center12.

As shown

in 25 Figure2,purchase center 12 includes previouslyidentifieddisplay20,keypad 22,slot24 andalso furtherincludesscommunicationinterface40,local

memory

42,andcontroller 44.Video^display20provides information aboutthe selection ofavailablemovies,pricing,andorderstatus. Display20 alsocan provide previewsof moviestoattractconsumerinterest.

Keypad

22permits the userto 30 selectamovie andcompleteapurchaseofthemovie.

Keypad

22^optionally

includesa

known

creditcard pointofpurchasedevice. Communicationinterface 40governscommunication betweenpurchasecenter12and module10aswell

asbetweenpurchasecenter12andcentralmoviedatabase14.

As

previously

shown

inFigure1,purchase center 12(e.g.,kiosk)isinbroadband communicationwithcentralmoviedatabase14. Finally, local

memory

42 permitson-sitestorageof

some

movies,

menus

ofselectablemovies, pricing 5 information,andpurchasingprograms. On-site storageof

some

moviesisuseful

wherepurchase center 12 operates independentlyofcentralmoviedatabaseor where

some

moviesareordered so frequentlythatthosemoviesarestored locally in

memory

42 ofpurchase center 12topermit

more

directdownloading tomodule10.

10

To

usethesystem,theconsumerapproachespurchase center 12(e.g.

kiosk)anduses display20 and keypad 22to selectamovieforpurchase. The user placestheirpersonalmoviestoragemodule10into slot24 ofpurchase center 12. Alternatively, purchasecenter12can provides a personalmovie storagemodule10in slot24forpurchaseor rental

by

theconsumer. Next, a 15 selectedmovieisdownloaded fromcentralmoviedatabase 14 viapurchase

center12 onto personalmoviestoragemodule10. Sincedownloadtimes take

more

thanafewminutes,purchase center 12canofferpersonalmoviestorage modules10for sale thatalreadyhaveamoviestoredonthemodule10.

Similarly,

when

thepurchasingenvironmentisanairport,theconsumercan 20 order amovieatthetime they

book

their airlineticketsandthe airline

would

thenprovidetheuserwith a personalmoviestoragemodule havingtheselected movie. Inthis lattercase,purchase center 12isbypassedaltogether.

Once

thedesiredmovieiscapturedonpersonalmoviestoragemodule 10, theconsumerinsertsmodule10intoslot30 ofpersonalplaybackdevice 16 25 forviewingthemoviethrough video display26 andaudio portion28. Playback

device16isportabletoallowviewingthemoviealmostanywhere andat anytime.

Duringpurchaseofthemovie, purchase center 12encodespersonal moviestoragemodule10withinstructions to eitherallow imlimitedviewingof 30 themovie, ortolimitviewingtoafinite

number

ofviewings ortoafiniteperiod

oftime(e.g.24hours).

Of

course,theseproceduresaswellasotherprocedures

known

intheartcanbeimplementedtoprotect intellectualproperty(e.g.,

5

copyright)inthemovie andtoinsureasecurecorrelationbetweenthepurchase priceandthe

number

ofviewings.

Finally,personalmoviestoragemodule10hasanextremelylarge

memory,

as willbefurtherdescribedlaterinthisapplication. Accordingly,

more

5 thanonemoviecanbestored inmodule10atonetimeandthistypeof

memory

permits repeated storageof movies. Inoneexample,afteralimited-viewing movie nolongercanbeviewed,thismovieisdeletedfrommodule10

upon

the next instancethatpersonalmoviestoragemodule10isplacedinpurchasecenter

12. Thisfeaturepermitstheconsumertoreusemodule10whiletheownersof 10 thepurchase centerand owners ofthecopyrightcanregulatepricingand

security.

Figure3isaschematicillustrationofmodule10showingfurther details aboutmodule10.

Module

10furtherincludes

memory

50,communication interface 52,and

power

supply54. Communicationinterface50includes 15 connector55.Communicationinterface50permitscommunicationbetween

module10andpurchase center 12andbetweenmodule10and playbackdevice 16. Connector55isin electricalcommunicationwithcommunicationinterface 52andpreferably includesanarrayof contact pinsforestablishingcoupled communicationwithslot24 ofpurchasecenter12and/orwithslot30of 20 playbackdevice 16.

Memory

50 ofpersonalmoviestoragemodule10furtherincludes optionalcontroller56for facilitatingcontrolofmodule10and/orofother devicesusedinassociationwithmodule10.

Memory

orstoragedevice50of module10ispreferablya high capacity storagedevice,andwhichis

more

25 preferablyofa silicon-based construction. Inonepreferredembodiment,

memory

50isanatomicresolutionstorage

(ARS)

devicecapableofstoring a largevolumeofdata,suchasmegabytestogigabytesofdatapoints,within a relativelysmallstorage area. Theatomicresolutionstoragedeviceisalow power consumptionstoragedevice. Inone embodiment,theatomicresolution 30 storagedevicerequires lessthan500

mW

tooperate. Inonepreferred

embodiment,the

ARS

deviceof

memory

50hasa sizeof about1square millimeter, suitable tobecarriedwithinthepersonalmoviestoragemodule10.

In addition,

ARS

module canincludeits

own

modulesthatcorrespondtothe functionsofoptionallogic controller 56. Finally,othersubminiature

memory

devices,

known

tothoseskilled intheart,thathaveahigh storage capacity with relativelylow

power

consumptioncan beusedinplaceof

ARS

module.

5 However,thesealternativedevices

may

limitthevolume andqualityofdata recordedsincethesedeviceswillnotbeas beneficial as

ARS

module of

memory

50relative to the

power

consumptionrequirementsand

amount

of

memory

storage.

One

atomicresolutionstoragedevicesuitable foruseinportable

10 entertainmentmediamoduleaccordingtothepresent inventionisdisclosedin U.S. PatentNo.5,557,596toGibsonetal,issuedSeptember17,1996,entitled

"Ultra-HighDensity Storage Device." Othersuitablehigh density storage

devicessuitableforuseas

memory

50 with personalmoviestoragemodule accordingto thepresent inventionwill

become

apparenttothoseskilled inthe

15 artafterreadingthepresentapplication.

One

exemplaryembodiment ofa suitablehigh density storage device(i.e.,atomicresolutionstoragedevice)

suitable foruseas

memory

50with personalmovie storagemoduleaccordingto thepresent inventionisdisclosedinfurther detaillaterin thisapplication.

Memory

50isespecially suitable for storing

many

differenttypesof 20 entertainmentmediasuchasbooks, music,movies,etc.

The

entertainment

mediacanbepre-loaded onto

memory

50so that apurchase ofmodule10 already includesthedesiredentertainmentmedia,e.g.amusic

CD

^orbook.

Alternatively,module10canbe usedtocaptureandstorethedesired entertainmentmediabychoosingthedesiredselectionfrompurchase center 12 25 andtransferringacopy ofthe selection into

memory

50 ofmodule10forlater

retrievalwithplaybackdevice16. Since

memory

50issolarge,multiple entertainmentmediaareloadableinto

memory

50,thereby permitting repeated useofmodule10.

Figures4through 7discloseone exemplaryembodimentof an atomic 30 resolutionstoragedeviceof

memory

50 capableofstoringmegabytesto

gigabytesof informationinasmallstorage area. Fora furtherdiscussionofan atomicresolutionstoragedevice,seeU.S. PatentNo.5,557,596,entitled,"Ultra-

7

HighDensity Storage Device",by Gibsonetal.andassignedtoHewlett-Packard

Company,

whichisincorporated hereinbyreference.

Figure4illustratesa side cross-sectionalview ofstoragedevice100.

Storagedevice100isoneexemplaryembodimentof

memory

50 ofpersonal 5 moviestoragemodule10. Storagedevice100 includesa

number

offield

emitters,suchas fieldemitters102and104,storage

medium

106including a

number

ofstorageareas,suchasstoragearea108,andmicromover110.

Micromover110 scans storage

medium

106with respectto the fieldemittersor viceversa. Inonepreferredembodiment,each storage areaisresponsiblefor 10 storingonebitofinformation.

Inone embodiment,thefieldemittersarepointemittershavingrelatively very sharppoints. Eachpointemitter

may

havea radiusofcurvatureinthe rangeofapproximately1nanometertohundredsof nanometers. During operation,apre-selectedpotentialdifferenceisappliedbetweenafield emitter 15 anditscorrespondinggate,suchasbetweenfieldemitter102andgate 103

surroundingit.

Due

tothesharp pointoftheemitter,anelectron

beam

currentis

extractedfromthe emittertowardsthestoragearea. Depending onthedistance betweentheemittersandthestorage

medium

106, thetypeofemitters,andthe spotsize(bitsize)required,electron optics

may

beutilizedtofocus theelectron 20 beams.

A

voltage

may

alsobeappliedtothe storage

medium

106to either

accelerateordeceleratethe field-emitted electronsorto aid infocusingthefield-

emittedelectrons.

Inone embodiment,casing120maintains storage

medium

106ina partialvacuum,suchasatleast^{10'^}torr. It is

known

intheartto fabricatesuch 25 typesofmicrofabricatedfieldemitters in

vacuum

cavitiesusingsemiconductor

processing techniques. See, forexample,"SiliconFieldEmissionTransistors andDiodes,"byJones,publishedin

IEEE

Transactionson Components, Hybrids and Manufacturing Technology,15,page1051, 1992.

Intheembodiment

shown

inFigure4,eachfieldemitterhas a 30 corresponding storagearea. Inanotherembodiment,eachfieldemitteris

responsiblefora

number

ofstorage areas.

As

micromover 110scans storage

medium

106to different locations,eachemitterispositionedabovedifferent

Storageareas. With micromover110,an arrayoffieldemitterscanscan over storage

medium

106.

As

willbedescribed,the field emitters areresponsibletoreadandwrite informationonthestorageareasby means ofthe electron

beams

theyproduce.

5 Thus,fieldemitters suitable foruseinstoragedevice100are thetypethatcan produceelectron

beams

thatarenarrowenoughtoachieve the desiredbitdensity onthestoragemedium, andcan providethe

power

densityofthe

beam

current neededforreadingfromandwritingtothemedium.

A

varietyof

ways

are

known

intheartthatare suitable to

make

suchfieldemitters. Forexample,one

10 methodisdisclosedin"Physical Propertiesof Thin-FilmFieldEmission CathodesWith

Molybdenum

Cones,"bySpindtetal,publishedintheJournalof AppliedPhysics, Vol. 47,No.12,

December

1976. Anothermethodisdisclosed in"FabricationandCharacteristicsofSiField Emitter Arrays,"byBetsui, publishedinTech. Digest4*Int.

Vacuum

Microelectronics

Conf

,Nagahama, 15 Japan,page26,1991.

Inoneembodiment,therecanbeatwo-dimensional arrayofemitters, suchas100by100emitters,with anemitter pitchof 50micrometersinboththe

X

andthe

Y

directions. Eachemitter

may

accesstensof thousandstohundreds ofmillionsofstorageareas. Forexample,the emittersscanoverthestorage 20 areaswith aperiodicityof about1to100nanometersbetween any twostorage

areas. Also,allofthe emitters

may

beaddressed simultaneously orsequentially inamultiplexedmanner. Sucha parallelaccessingschemesignificantlyreduces accesstime,andincreasesdatarateofthe storage device.

Figure5showsthetopviewof storage

medium

100havingatwo- 25 dimensional arrayofstorageareasandatwo-dimensional array ofemitters.

Addressingthe storageareas requires externalcircuits.

One

embodimentto reducethe

number

ofexternal circuitsistoseparate thestorage

medium

into rows, suchasrows140and142,whereeach

row

contains a

number

ofstorage areas. Eachemitterisresponsiblefora

number

ofrows. However,inthis 30 embodiment,eachemitterisnot responsibleforthe entirelengthoftherows.

Forexample,emitter102isresponsibleforthe storageareaswithinrows 140 through142,andwithincolumns144 through146. Allrows ofstorageareas

9

accessedby oneemitter areconnectedtooneexternalcircuit.

To

addressa storagearea,oneactivatestheemitterresponsiblefor thatstorageareaand

moves

thatemitterby meansofthemicromover110(showninFigure4) to that storage area. Theexternal circuitconnectedto therowsof storageareaswithin 5 whichthatstorage arealiesisactivated.

Micromover110canalsobefabricated inavarietyof ways,aslongasit

hassufficientrangeandresolution topositionthe fieldemittersoverthestorage areas.

As

a conceptual example,micromover 110isfabricatedbystandard semiconductormicrofabricationprocesstoscan storage

medium

106inthe

X

10 and

Y

directionswith respecttocasing120.

Figure 6showsthe topviewof thestorage

medium

106,(shownin Figure4)heldby twosetsof thin-walled microfabricatedbeam-likestructural members,112, 114, 116, 120. Thefacesofthefirstsetofthin-walledbeamsare inthe

Y-Z

plane,suchas 112and114. Thin-walledbeams112and114

may

be 15 flexedinthe

X

directionallowing storage

medium

106to

move

inthe

X

directionwith respecttocasing120. Thefacesofthesecondsetofthin-walled

beams

are in the

X-Z

plane,suchas116and118. Thin-walled

beams

116and

118 allow storage

medium

106to

move

inthe

Y

directionwith respecttocasing 120. Storage

medium

106isheldbythefirstsetofbeams,whichareconnected 20 toframe122. Frame122isheldbythesecondsetofbeams,whichare

connectedtocasing120. Thefieldemittersscanover storage

medium

106, or storage

medium

¹06scansoverthe field emitters in the

X-Y

directionsby electrostatic,electromagnetic,piezoelectric,or othermeans

known

intheart. In thisexample,micromover110

moves

storage

medium

106relative tothe field 25 emitters.

A

general discussionofsuch microfabricatedmicromovercanbe

found,forexample,in"NovelPolysilicon

Comb

ActuatorsforXY-Stages,"

publishedintheProceedingofMicroElectroMechanicalSystems1992, written byJaecklinetal.;andin"SiliconMicromechanics: SensorsandActuatorsona Chip",by

Howe

etal.,publishedin

IEEE

Spectrum,page29, inJuly1990.

30 Inanotherembodiment,electronbeamsarescannedoverthesurfaceof storage

medium

106

by

either electrostaticallyorelectromagneticallydeflecting them,suchas

by

electrostaticdeflectorsor electrodes125(showninFigure4)

positioned adjacenttoemitter104.

Many

differentapproachestodeflect

electron

beams

canbe foundin literatureon ScanningElectronMicroscopy and willnotbefurtherdescribedin this specification.

Inone method,writingisaccomplishedbytemporarily increasingthe 5

power

densityofthe electron

beam

^currenttomodifythesurfacestateofthe

storagearea. Readingisaccomplished

by

observingthe effectofthestorage areaonthe electronbeams,or the effectof theelectron

beams

onthestorage area. Forexample,astorageareathathasbeenmodifiedcanrepresent abit_1,

anda storage areathathas notbeenmodified can representa bit0,andvice 10 versa. Infact,thestorageareacanbemodifiedtodifferentdegreestorepresent

more

thantwobits.

Some

modifications

may

bepermanent,and

some

modifications

may

bereversible.

The

permanentlymodified storage

medium

is suitable forwrite-once-read-many

memory (WORM).

Inone embodiment,thebasicideaistoalterthe structureofthestorage 15 areainsucha

way

as tovaryitssecondaryelectronemissioncoefficient(SEEC),

itsback-scatteredelectron coefficient(BEC),orthe collection efficiency for secondary or back-scatteredelectronsemanatingfromthestoragearea.

The SEEC

isdefinedas the

number

ofsecondaryelectronsgeneratedfromthe

medium

foreachelectronincidentontothesurfaceofthemedium.

The BEC

is

20 definedasthe fractionofthe incident electrons that are scatteredback fromthe medium. Thecollectionefficiency forsecondary/back-scatteredelectronsisthe fractionofthesecondary/back-scatteredelectrons thatiscollectedby anelectron collector,typicallyregistered in theformof acurrent.

Readingistypicallyaccomplishedbycollectingthesecondary and/or 25 back-scatteredelectrons

when

anelectron

beam

with alower

power

densityis

appliedtostorage

medium

106. Duringreading, the

power

densityofthe electron

beam

shouldbekeptlow enoughso thatnofurtherwritingoccurs.

One

embodiment ofstorage

medium

106includesa material

whose

structural statecanbechangedfromcrystalline toamorphous

by

electronbeams.

30 The amorphousstatehas adifferent

SEEC

and

BEC

thanthe crystallinestate,

whichleads toadifferent

number

ofsecondaryandback-scatteredelectrons emittedfromthestoragearea.

By

measuringthe

number

ofsecondaryandback-

scattered electrons,onecan determinethe stageofthe storagearea.

To

change fromtheamorphoustocrystallinestate,oneincreasesthe

beam

powerdensity andthenslowly decreasesit. Thisheatsuptheamorphous andthenslowly cools

itso that theareahastimetoannealintoitscrystallinestate.

To

change from 5 crystalline toamorphousstate,oneincreasesthe

beam power

densitytoa high

levelandthenrapidlydecreasesthe

beam

power.

To

readfromthestorage medium,alower-energy

beam

strikesthestoragearea.

An

^{example of}such type ofmaterialisgermaniumtelluride(GeTe) andternaryalloysbasedon GeTe.

Similarmethodstomodifystatesusinglaser

beams

astheheatingsourcehave 10 beendescribedin"Laser-inducedCrystallizationof

Amorphous

GeTe:

A

Time-

ResolvedStudy,"by Huber andMarinero, publishedinPhysics

Review B

36, page1595,in1987,andwillnotbefurtherdescribedhere.

Thereare

many

^preferred

ways

toinduce astatechangeinstorage

medium

106. Forexample, achangeinthetopographyofthemedium,suchasa 15 hole or bimip,willmodifythe

SEEC

and

BEC

ofthestoragemedium. This

modification occursbecausethe coefficients typicallydependonthe incident angleoftheelectron

beam

ontothestoragearea. Changesinmaterialproperties, bandstructure,andcrystallography

may

also affectthe coefficients. Also,the

BEC

dependson anatomicnumber,Z. Thus,onepreferred storage

medium

has 20 alayeroflow

Z

materialontopof alayerofhigh

Z

materialor viceversa,with

writingaccomplishedthroughablating

some

ofthetoplayerby anelectron beam.

Figure 7showsschematically thefield emittersreadingfromstorage

medium

106.

The

stateofstoragearea150 hasbeenaltered,whilethe stateof 25 storagearea108 has notbeenaltered.

When

electrons

bombard

a storagearea, bothsecondaryelectronsandback-scatteredelectrons willbecollectedbythe electron collectors,suchas electron collector152.

An

areathathasbeen modifiedwillproduceadifferent

number

ofsecondaryelectronsandback- scattered electrons, ascomparedtoanarea thathas notbeenmodified.

The

30 difference

may

bemoreor

may

belessdependingonthetypeof materialandthe

typeofmodification.

By

monitoringthemagnitude ofthe signalcurrent

collectedbyelectron collectors 152,onecanidentifythestateof and,in turn,the bitstoredin,thestoragearea.

Fieldemitters

may

benoisywiththemagnitude oftheelectron

beam

currentvaryingwith respecttotime. Moreover,thegapdistancebetweenthe 5 tipsofthe emittersandthesurfaceofthestorage

medium may

vary. Ifthe

informationstoredwere based ontunnelingcurrent,thenthegapdistance

may

beextremelycrucial. However,the applicationpresentlydiscloseddependson fieldemitters,andnotdirectlyontheemittedelectron

beam

current,butrather onthe effectofthebeam.

At

leasttwo

ways may

be usedto alleviate the 10 problem ofthe emittersbeingnoisy.

One way

istoconnect constantcurrent

source154to field emitter 102. This sourcewillcontrol the

power

densityof electron

beam

current

beam

156. Althoughthismethod

would

not help storage techniquesusingthemagnitude ofthefieldemitted currentasthe signal,this

methodreducesthe fieldemitternoisesignificantly. Another

way

toalleviate 15 the field-emitternoiseistoseparatelymeasuretheemittedelectron

beam

current

anduseittonormalizethe signal current.

As

theelectron

beam

currentvaries, the signalcurrentvariescorrespondingly.

On

theotherhand,thenormalized

signalcurrentremainsthesametoindicatethe stateofthestoragearea.

As shown

inFigure8,additionalplaybackdevicesforuse with personal 20 moviestoragemodule10ofthepresentinvention comprisenotebookcomputer

200, seatbackviewer210, personalmovieplayer 230.

Among

otherwell

known

featuresofnotebookcomputer200suchas video display 202, audio speaker 204,keypad205, computer200alsoincludes slot206forreceivingpersonalmoviestoragemodule10. Seatback player 25 system210includesseatback 211, video display 212, audio headset 214,slot

216forreceivingpersonalmoviestoragemodule10,andoptionalarmrestaudio supply 218. Finally,personalplayback device230fiirtherincludesvideo display 232, audio headset234,andslot236forreceivingpersonalmoviestorage module10.

30 Since

many

consumers ofentertainmentmediaalreadyhavenotebook computers(orevendesktop computers), entertainmentmediastoredon module 10,suchasamovie,canbeenjoyed usingnotebookcomputer200. For

example, amoviestored inpersonalmoviestoragemodule10isviewedin display202 andheardinspeakers204ofcomputer200whilekeypad 205isused tomanipulate display 202, speakers204and/or operationofmodule10. Using

known

voice recognition technology,microphone 203optionallyisusedto 5 controlthesefunctionsand components. Slot206comprisesan industry

standardcommunicationpathwaytopermit

memory

50 ofpersonalmovie storagemodule10tocommunicatewiththe identifiedcomponents andfxmctions of notebook computer200.

Personalmoviestoragemodule10isideal foruseinthetravelindustry.

10 Accordingly, various typesoftransportationwhichinclude multipleperson seating willincorporateplaybacksystemsinto their seating. Forexample,as

shown

inFigure8,anairplane,commutertrain,andminivan,aswellasother transportation

modes

can includeseatshavingaseatback player210builtinto thebackof everyseat. Accordingly,oncethe travelerisseated,personalmovie 15 storagemodule10isplacedinslot216 andplayedforviewing onvideo display 212mountedonseatback 211(e.g.stationed in frontoftheseatedtraveler)and listened towith audio headset214extendingfromseatback 211. Alternatively, audio headset214can extendfrom

arm

restaudiosupply 218.

The

convenienceofseatback-typeplaybackdeviceswillenableaconsumertouse 20 personalmoviestoragemodule10forviewingmovieswithouthavingtobring

their

own

personalplaybackdevice ortopurchase a personalplaybackdevice.

Finally,personalplaybackdevice230isavailable forthosewantinga dedicated portabledeviceforviewingmoviesstoredonpersonalmoviestorage module10. Inuse,module10isplacedinslot236topermit acontrollerand 25 communicationinterface(notshown)inpersonalplayback device230todisplay

themovie onvideo display232 andaudio headset 234. Personalplayback device230 can be embodiedina conventional

DVD

movieplayer,orina stand alonedeviceindependentofthe

DVD

format.

Finally,Figure8 alsoshowsa

home

point-of-purchasesystem250that 30 canbe usedtoselectanddownload moviesonto personalmoviestoragemodule

10.

Home

point-of-purchasesystem250 includescable/satellite/intemetnetwork 252 andcable receiver254withslot256forcommunicatingwithandfor

receivingpersonalmoviestoragemodule10. Inthisuseof personalmovie storagemodule10,amovieispurchasedthrougha

known

pay-per-viewsystem availablethroughnetwork252 anddownloadedintopersonal storagemodule10 via receiver254. Afterthemovieisdownloaded,theconsumer removes 5 personalmoviestoragemodule10fromslot256of receiver254 andtakes

modulelOwiththemfor laterviewingwith a personalplaybackdevice16. This allowstheconsumertoselectandobtaintheirmovieattheirleisurebefore embarkingontheirjourney.

A

personalmoviestoragemoduleofthepresent inventioncarries

many

10 advantageousfeatures. Foremost,themoduleincludesahigh capacity

memory

componentforstoringlargeamounts ofinformationsuchasmovies,etc.inan extremely smallspace. Thisfeaturepermitsconveniently transportingan entertainmentpacket(e.gamovie)inavirtuallyhands-freeandalmost weightlessmarmerrelative totransportingconventional formatssuchasa

DVD.

15 In addition,withtheuseofpersonalplaybackdevicesthatareportableor built intotheenvironment,themovie can be viewedattheconsumer'sdiscretion.

The

memory

componentofthemodulealsocanbere-used sothatthemodule neednotbethrown

away

aftera single use. Finally, intheeyesofthe entertainment-consumingindividual,apersonalmoviestoragemodule ofthe 20 presentinventionenablestheindividual tohavecomplete choice overwhat

moviestheywatch and

when

theywatchthemwhiletraveling.

Althoughspecificembodiments have beenillustratedanddescribed hereinforpurposesofdescriptionofthepreferredembodiment,itwillbe appreciated

by

thoseofordinaryskillintheartthatawidevarietyofalternate 25 and/or equivalentimplementationscalculated toachievethesamepurposes

may

besubstituted forthe specificembodiments

shown

anddescribedwithout departingfromthescopeofthepresentinvention. Thosewithskillinthe chemical,mechanical, electro-mechanical,electrical,and computerartswill readilyappreciatethatthepresentinvention

may

be implementedinaverywide 30 varietyof embodiments. Thisapplicationisintendedtocoveranyadaptationsor

variationsofthepreferredembodimentsdiscussedherein. Therefore,itis

manifestlyintendedthat thisinventionbelimitedonlybythe claimsandthe equivalentsthereof.