1. A radial movement capacitive torque sensor comprising:
a pair of concentric capacitor plate rings lying in a common plane;
a capacitor plate ring facing the pair of concentric capacitor plate rings; and
a paddle assembly disposed between the pair of concentric capacitor plate rings and the capacitor plate ring, comprising:
a first rotor having a circular opening and having at least one pair of spaced apart bearings mounted thereon;
a second rotor having a circular opening and having at least one pivot point located thereon; and
at least one paddle having a dielectric head, a curved neck and a body, wherein the curved neck is disposed between a corresponding one of said at least one pair of spaced apart bearings, and the body is pivotally coupled to a corresponding one of said at least one pivot point.
2. The radial movement capacitive torque sensor of claim 1, wherein the head moves in both radial and circumferential directions with respect to the second rotor when the first rotor is rotated with respect to the second rotor.
3. The radial movement capacitive torque sensor of claim 1, wherein the second rotor has formed on its surface facing the first rotor, at least one depressed area corresponding to and engaging said at least one pair of spaced apart bearings, such that the rotational movement of the rotors are limited by engagement between said at least one pair of spaced apart bearings and said at least one depressed area.
4. The radial movement capacitive torque sensor of claim 1, wherein at least one of the first and second rotors has a protrusion formed on a surface surrounding its circular opening, such that the protrusion can be used to engage a groove on a shaft.
5. The radial movement capacitive torque sensor of claim 1, wherein the paddle assembly has four paddles, and the first rotor has four pairs of spaced apart bearings, each engaging one of the four paddles.
6. The radial movement capacitive torque sensor of claim 1 wherein at least one of the pair of concentric capacitor plate rings and the capacitor plate ring is disposed on a printed circuit board (PCB).
7. The radial movement capacitive torque sensor of claim 1, wherein the dielectric head of said at least one paddle moves in a generally outward radial direction when the first rotor is rotated in a first direction with respect to the second rotor.
8. The radial movement capacitive torque sensor of claim 7, wherein the dielectric head of said at least one paddle moves in a generally inward radial direction when the first rotor is rotated in a second direction with respect to the second rotor.
9. The radial movement capacitive torque sensor of claim 1, wherein the second rotor has mounted thereon a pivot pin at said at least one pivot point, and the body has formed thereon an opening for pivotally coupling to the pivot pin.
10. The radial movement capacitive torque sensor of claim 1, wherein the curved neck of said at least one paddle has a slot formed thereon to form an integral spring on the curved neck.
11. A radial movement capacitive torque sensor for a rotating shaft having an axis of rotation and having two shaft portions for which torque applied to one shaft portion causes an angular displacement with respect to the other shaft portion, said sensor comprising:
a pair of concentric capacitor plate rings lying in a common plane and encircling said one shaft portion;
a capacitor plate ring facing the pair of concentric capacitor plate rings and encircling the other shaft portion; and
a paddle assembly disposed between the pair of concentric capacitor plate rings and the capacitor plate ring, comprising:
a first rotor having a circular opening for engaging said one shaft portion and having at least one pair of spaced apart bearings mounted thereon;
a second rotor having a circular opening for engaging the other shaft portion and having at least one pivot point located thereon; and
at least one paddle having a dielectric head, a curved neck and a body, wherein the curved neck is disposed between a corresponding one of said at least one pair of spaced apart bearings, and the body is pivotally coupled to a corresponding one of said at least one pivot point.
12. The radial movement capacitive torque sensor of claim 11, wherein the two shaft portions are interconnected to each other using a torsion rod.
13. The radial movement torque sensor of claim 11, wherein the head moves in both radial and circumferential directions when the first rotor is rotated with respect to the second rotor.
14. The radial movement torque sensor of claim 11, wherein the second rotor has formed on its surface facing the first rotor, at least one depressed area corresponding to and engaging said at least one pair of spaced apart bearings, such that the rotational movement of the rotors are limited by engagement between said at least one pair of spaced apart bearings and said at least one depressed area.
15. The radial movement torque sensor of claim 11, wherein at least one of the first and second rotors has a protrusion formed on a surface surrounding its circular opening, such that the protrusion can be used to engage a groove on a corresponding one of the shaft portions.
16. The radial movement torque sensor of claim 11 wherein at least one of the pair of concentric capacitor plate rings and the capacitor plate ring is disposed on a printed circuit board (PCB).
17. The radial movement torque sensor of claim 11, wherein the dielectric head of said at least one paddle moves in a generally outward radial direction when the first rotor is rotated in a first direction with respect to the second rotor.
18. The radial movement torque sensor of claim 17, wherein the dielectric head of said at least one paddle moves in a generally inward radial direction when the first rotor is rotated in a second direction with respect to the second rotor.
19. The radial movement capacitive torque sensor of claim 11, wherein the curved neck of said at least one paddle has a slot formed thereon to form an integral spring on the curved neck.
20. A method of measuring torque between two shaft portions for which torque applied to one shaft portion causes an angular displacement with respect to the other shaft portion, the method comprising:
moving a dielectric head of a paddle in a generally radially outward direction between a pair of concentric capacitor plate rings lying in a common plane and encircling said one shaft portion and a capacitor plate ring facing the pair of concentric capacitor plate rings and encircling the other shaft portion, when the one shaft portion is rotated in a first direction with respect to the other shaft portion; and
moving the dielectric head of a paddle in a generally radially inward direction between the pair of concentric capacitor plate rings and the capacitor plate ring, when the one shaft portion is rotated in a second direction with respect to the other shaft portion,
wherein the paddle has a body and a curved neck disposed between the body and the dielectric head, and
wherein the curved neck is disposed between a pair of spaced apart bearings substantially fixed with respect to the one shaft portion, and the body is pivotally coupled to a pivot point which is substantially fixed with respect to the other shaft portion.
21. The method of claim 20, wherein said moving the dielectric head in the generally radially outward direction or said moving the dielectric head in the generally radially inward direction comprises moving the dielectric head in both a generally radial direction and a generally circumferential direction.
22. The method of claim 21, wherein the dielectric head is moved in both the generally radial direction and the generally circumferential direction as the curved neck rides on the pair of spaced apart bearings.
23. The method of claim 20, wherein the shaft portions are interconnected with each other by a torsion rod embedded in the shaft portions.
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 managing real-time bandwidth requests in a wireless network, comprising:
maintaining a plurality of class of service (CoS) queues, each CoS queue configured to store one or more bandwidth requests of a designated CoS, wherein the bandwidth request comprises at least one of a call admission request, an additional bandwidth request, and a handoff request;
queuing each of a plurality of bandwidth requests in a corresponding one of the plurality of CoS queues, the bandwidth requests requesting establishment of a connection to a cell of a wireless network;
processing, by queue, the plurality of bandwidth requests from the plurality of CoS queues in order of a CoS priority of the queues; and
clearing each bandwidth request after a delay threshold for the bandwidth request is reached.
2. The method of claim 1, further comprising establishing a connection based on subscription level information of each bandwidth request.
3. The method of claim 2, wherein the subscription level information comprises a quality of service (QoS), and further comprising processing each bandwidth request in an order based on the QoS.
4. The method of claim 3, wherein processing each of the bandwidth requests in an order based on the QoS comprises:
retrieving a QoS policy for the connection;
determining the CoS for the connection based on the QoS policy;
queuing each bandwidth request in the corresponding CoS queue; and
processing each bandwidth request after bandwidth requests in higher priority CoS queues have been processed.
5. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one of the bandwidth requests is a call origination request.
6. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one of the bandwidth requests is a handoff request.
7. The method of claim 1, wherein the connection is an existing connection, and at least one of the bandwidth requests is an additional bandwidth request for the connection.
8. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining a priority associated with the connection based on subscription level information, wherein the subscription level information of each bandwidth request comprises a CoS.
9. The method of claim 1, wherein processing the plurality of bandwidth requests comprises processing each bandwidth request corresponding to a highest priority CoS and in a descending order of CoS priority.
10. The method of claim 1, further comprising clearing from the queues any bandwidth request reaching a delay threshold.
11. The method of claim 1, wherein the CoS priority comprises a subscription level.
12. The method of claim 1, further comprising processing each bandwidth request by determining whether allowing each bandwidth request would exceed a blocking threshold for the cell.
13. The method of claim 12, wherein the cell comprises a plurality of blocking thresholds, and further comprising processing each bandwidth request by determining whether allowing each bandwidth request would exceed a corresponding blocking threshold.
14. The method of claim 13, wherein the cell comprises a call bandwidth blocking threshold for call admission and additional bandwidth requests and a handoff blocking threshold for call handoff requests.
15. A system for managing real-time bandwidth requests in a wireless network, comprising:
means for maintaining a plurality of class of service (CoS) queues, each CoS queue configured to store one or more bandwidth requests of a designated CoS, wherein the bandwidth request comprises at least one of a call admission request, an additional bandwidth request, and a handoff request;
means for queuing each of a plurality of bandwidth requests in a corresponding one of the plurality of CoS queues, the bandwidth requests requesting establishment of a connection to a cell of a wireless network;
means for processing, by queue, the plurality of bandwidth requests from the plurality of CoS queues in order of a CoS priority of the queues; and
means for clearing each bandwidth request after a delay threshold for the bandwidth request is reached.
16. The system of claim 15, further comprising means for establishing a connection based on subscription level information of each bandwidth request.
17. The system of claim 16, wherein the subscription level information comprises a quality of service (QoS), and further comprising means for processing each bandwidth request in an order based on the QoS.
18. The system of claim 17, wherein processing each of the bandwidth requests in an order based on the QoS comprises:
means for retrieving a QoS policy for the connection;
means for determining the CoS for the connection based on the QoS policy;
means for queuing each bandwidth request in the corresponding CoS queue; and
means for processing each bandwidth request after bandwidth requests in higher priority CoS queues have been processed.
19. The system of claim 15, wherein at least one of the bandwidth requests is a call origination request.
20. The system of claim 15, wherein at least one of the bandwidth requests is a handoff request.
21. The system of claim 15, wherein the connection is an existing connection, and at least one of the bandwidth requests is an additional bandwidth request for the connection.
22. The system of claim 15, further comprising means for determining a priority associated with the connection based on subscription level information, wherein the subscription level information of each bandwidth request comprises a CoS.
23. The system of claim 15, wherein processing the plurality of bandwidth requests comprises processing each bandwidth request corresponding to a highest priority CoS and in a descending order of CoS priority.
24. The system of claim 18, wherein the CoS priority comprises a subscription level.
25. The system of claim 18, further comprising means for processing each bandwidth request by determining whether allowing each bandwidth request would exceed a blocking threshold for the cell.
26. The system of claim 25, wherein the cell comprises a plurality of blocking thresholds, and further comprising means for processing each bandwidth request by determining whether allowing each bandwidth request would exceed a corresponding blocking threshold.
27. The system of claim 26, wherein the cell comprises a call bandwidth blocking threshold for call admission and additional bandwidth requests and a handoff blocking threshold for call handoff requests.
28. Logic embodied in a computer readable medium, the computer readable medium comprising logic operable to:
maintain a plurality of class of service (CoS) queues, each CoS queue configured to store one or more bandwidth requests of a designated CoS, wherein the bandwidth request comprises at least one of a call admission request, an additional bandwidth request, and a handoff request;
queue each of a plurality of bandwidth requests in a corresponding one of the plurality of CoS queues, the bandwidth requests requesting establishment of a connection to a cell of a wireless network;
process, by queue, the plurality of bandwidth requests from the plurality of CoS queues in order of a CoS priority of the queues; and
clear each bandwidth request after a delay threshold for the bandwidth request is reached.
29. The computer readable medium of claim 28, the logic operable to establish a connection based on subscription level information of each bandwidth request.
30. The computer readable medium of claim 29, wherein the subscription level information comprises a quality of service (QoS), and the logic operable to process each bandwidth request in an order based on the QoS.
31. The computer readable medium of claim 30, wherein processing each of the bandwidth requests in an order based on the QoS comprises logic operable to:
retrieve a QoS policy for the connection;
determine the CoS for the connection based on the QoS policy;
queue each bandwidth request in the corresponding CoS queue; and
process each bandwidth request after bandwidth requests in higher priority CoS queues have been processed.
32. The computer readable medium of claim 28, wherein at least one of the bandwidth requests is a call origination request.
33. The computer readable medium of claim 28 wherein at least one of the bandwidth requests is a handoff request.
34. The computer readable medium of claim 28, wherein the connection is an existing connection, and at least one of the bandwidth requests is an additional bandwidth request for the connection.
35. The computer readable medium of claim 28, the logic further operable to determine a priority associated with the connection based on subscription level information, wherein the subscription level information of each bandwidth request comprises a CoS.
36. The computer readable medium of claim 28, wherein processing the plurality of bandwidth requests comprises processing each bandwidth request corresponding to a highest priority CoS and in a descending order of CoS priority.
37. The computer readable medium of claim 28, wherein the CoS priority comprises a subscription level.
38. The computer readable medium of claim 28, the logic further operable to process each bandwidth request by determining whether allowing each bandwidth request would exceed a blocking threshold for the cell.
39. The computer readable medium of claim 38, wherein the cell comprises a plurality of blocking thresholds, and the logic further operable to process each bandwidth request by determining whether allowing each bandwidth request would exceed a corresponding blocking threshold.
40. The computer readable medium of claim 39, wherein the cell comprises a call bandwidth blocking threshold for call admission and additional bandwidth requests and a handoff blocking threshold for call handoff requests.
41. A method for managing real-time bandwidth requests in a wireless network, comprising:
maintaining a plurality of class of service (CoS) queues, each CoS queue configured to store one or more bandwidth requests of a designated CoS;
queuing each of a plurality of bandwidth requests in a corresponding one of the plurality of CoS queues, the bandwidth requests requesting establishment of a connection to a cell of a wireless network;
establishing a connection based on a quality of service (QoS) of each bandwidth request;
processing, by queue, the plurality of bandwidth requests from the plurality of CoS queues in order of a CoS priority of the queues;
processing each bandwidth request in the queue in an order based on the QoS; and
clearing each bandwidth request after a delay threshold for the bandwidth request is reached.