1. An absorbent core formed from at least two layers and comprising an upper layer having a gelling region that comprises a gelling agent that contains a polysaccharide capable of thickening in the presence of a polyvalent metal ion and a substance that can supply a polyvalent metal ion; and
a plurality of lower layers at least one of the plurality of lower layers having a thickening region that comprises a thickening agent.
2. The absorbent core according to claim 1, wherein the polysaccharide capable of thickening in the presence of a polyvalent metal ion is selected from the group consisting of sodium alginate, propyleneglycol alginate, pectin, gellan gum, carrageenan, glucomannan and guar gum.
3. The absorbent core according to claim 1, wherein the substance that can supply a polyvalent metal ion is selected from the group consisting of calcium phosphate, calcium chloride, calcium lactate, calcium gluconate, calcium acetate, aluminum sulfate, aluminum nitrate, aluminum phosphate and aluminum acetate.
4. The absorbent core according to claim 1, wherein the thickening agent is selected from the group consisting of sodium alginate, propyleneglycol alginate, pectin, gellan gum, carrageenan, glucomannan, guar gum, polyethylene oxide and polyethylene glycol.
5. The absorbent core according to claim 1, which is composed of two layers, the upper layer and the lower layer.
6. The absorbent core according to claim 1, wherein the gelling region further contains an organic acid andor a polyvalent metal ion scavenger.
7. The absorbent core according to claim 6, wherein the organic acid is selected from the group consisting of glucono-\u03b4-lactone, adipic acid, citric acid, malic acid, tartaric acid, lactic acid and acetic acid.
8. The absorbent core according to claim 6, wherein the polyvalent metal ion scavenger is selected from the group consisting of sodium citrate, sodium polyphosphate, sodium hexametaphosphate and sodium pyrophosphate.
9. The absorbent core according to claim 1, wherein the thickening region contains a polyvalent metal ion scavenger.
10. An absorbent article comprising a liquid-permeable top sheet and a liquid-impermeable back sheet, and the absorbent core according to claim 1 situated between the liquid-permeable top sheet and the liquid-impermeable back sheet.
11. The absorbent article according to claim 10, having water disintegratability.
12. The absorbent article according to claim 10, having biodegradability.
13. The absorbent core according to claim 2, wherein the substance that can supply a polyvalent metal ion is selected from the group consisting of calcium phosphate, calcium chloride, calcium lactate, calcium gluconate, calcium acetate, aluminum sulfate, aluminum nitrate, aluminum phosphate and aluminum acetate.
14. The absorbent core according to claim 2, wherein the thickening agent is selected from the group consisting of sodium alginate, propyleneglycol alginate, pectin, gellan gum, carrageenan, glucomannan, guar gum, polyethylene oxide and polyethylene glycol.
15. The absorbent core according to claim 3, wherein the thickening agent is selected from the group consisting of sodium alginate, propyleneglycol alginate, pectin, gellan gum, carrageenan, glucomannan, guar gum, polyethylene oxide and polyethylene glycol.
16. The absorbent core according to claim 13, wherein the thickening agent is selected from the group consisting of sodium alginate, propyleneglycol alginate, pectin, gellan gum, carrageenan, glucomannan, guar gum, polyethylene oxide and polyethylene glycol.
17. The absorbent core according to claim 2, which is composed of two layers, the upper layer and the lower layer.
18. The absorbent core according to claim 3, which is composed of two layers, the upper layer and the lower layer.
19. The absorbent core according to claim 4, which is composed of two layers, the upper layer and the lower layer.
20. The absorbent core according to claim 13, which is composed of two layers, the upper layer and the lower layer.
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 using one IO device interface in a first function driver that is either one of a physical function driver or a virtual function driver, the method comprising:
queuing a plurality of commands from the first function driver into a first command queue;
fetching a first command of the plurality of commands from the first command queue to a device firmware;
accessing an actions table with the device firmware to determine if the first function driver is permitted to perform the first command; and
queuing a first event from the device firmware into a first event queue responsive to the first command.
2. The method of claim 1 wherein said accessing of the actions table determines that the first function driver is permitted to perform the first command and wherein the first event queue is for the first function driver, the method further comprising:
executing the first command.
3. The method of claim 1 wherein said accessing of the actions table determines that the first function driver is not permitted to perform the first command and wherein the first event queue is for the first function driver, the method further comprising:
forwarding the first command as a second event to a second event queue for a privileged function driver;
queuing a second command from the privileged function driver into a second command queue;
fetching the second command from the second command queue to the device firmware;
accessing the actions table with the device firmware to determine if the privileged function driver is permitted to perform the second command;
executing the second command; and
queuing a third event from the device firmware into the second event queue responsive to the second command.
4. The method of claim 3 further comprising:
simulating completion of the first command; and
queuing the first event from the device firmware into the first event queue for the first function driver responsive to the simulated completion of the first command.
5. The method of claim 1 wherein said accessing of the actions table determines that the first function driver is only permitted to perform the first command with assistance from the device firmware, the method further comprising:
forwarding the first command; and
correcting the first command with the device firmware to generate a corrected command.
6. The method of claim 5 further comprising:
executing the corrected command;
simulating completion of the first command; and
queuing the first event from the device firmware into the first event queue for the first function driver responsive to the simulated completion of the first command.
7. The method of claim 1 further comprising:
modifying the actions table responsive to the first command.
8. The method of claim 1 further comprising:
installing a first device driver having one or more virtualized functions to be identified by the device firmware accessing said actions table;
installing a privileged driver to proxy execution of at least one command for the one or more virtualized functions
trapping said at least one command; and
forwarding the trapped command to the privileged driver.
9. The method of claim 8 further comprising:
receiving the forwarded command;
executing a privileged command on behalf of the first device driver; and
simulating completion of the forwarded command.
10. The method of claim 9 performed by a system comprising:
a processor;
a memory coupled with the processor to store the first device driver and the privileged driver;
a network interface device coupled with the processor, the network interface device including the device firmware and the actions table.
11. A machine-readable medium to record executable instructions, which if executed by a machine cause the machine to:
receive a first event from a device firmware in a first event queue, the first event corresponding to a first command forwarded from a virtual function driver by the device firmware;
queue a second command into a first command queue responsive to receiving the first event; and
receive a second event from the device firmware in the first event queue, the second event corresponding to completion of the second command.
12. The machine-readable medium of claim 11 further including executable instructions, which if executed by a machine cause the machine to:
queue a third command to modify a device actions table accessible to the device firmware for determining if the virtual function driver is permitted to perform the first command.
13. An apparatus comprising a machine-readable medium to record functional descriptive material, which if accessed by a machine causes the machine to:
fetch a first command from a first command queue of a first function driver;
access an actions table to determine if the first function driver is permitted to perform the first command; and
queue a first event into a first event queue of the first function driver responsive to the first command.
14. The apparatus of claim 13 wherein said accessing of the actions table determines that the first function driver is permitted to perform the first command, and wherein the machine-readable medium records functional descriptive material, which if accessed by the machine causes the machine to:
execute the first command.
15. The apparatus of claim 13 wherein said accessing of the actions table determines that the first function driver is not permitted to perform the first command, and wherein the machine-readable medium records functional descriptive material, which if accessed by the machine causes the machine to:
forward the first command as a second event to a second event queue for a privileged function driver;
fetch a second command from a second command queue for the privileged function driver;
access the actions table to determine if the privileged function driver is permitted to perform the second command; and
queue a third event into the second event queue responsive to the second command.
16. The apparatus of claim 15 wherein the machine-readable medium records functional descriptive material, which if accessed by the machine further causes the machine to:
execute the second command;
simulate completion of the first command; and
queue the first event into the first event queue for the first function driver responsive to the simulated completion of the first command.
17. The apparatus of claim 15 wherein the machine-readable medium records functional descriptive material, which if accessed by the machine further causes the machine to:
modify the actions table responsive to the second command.
18. The apparatus of claim 13 wherein said accessing of the actions table determines that the first function driver is only permitted to perform the first command with assistance and wherein the machine-readable medium records functional descriptive material, which if accessed by the machine causes the machine to:
trap the first command; and
correct the first command to generate a corrected command.
19. The apparatus of claim 18 wherein the machine-readable medium records functional descriptive material, which if accessed by the machine further causes the machine to:
execute the corrected command;
simulate completion of the first command; and
queue the first event into the first event queue for the first function driver responsive to the simulated completion of the first command.
20. The apparatus of claim 13 wherein the machine-readable medium records functional descriptive material, which if accessed by the machine causes the machine to:
modify the actions table responsive to the first command.
21. A blade server system comprising:
a processor;
a memory coupled with the processor to store a first device driver and a privileged driver;
a blade expansion connector coupled with the processor to connect to a serializerdeserializer fabric interface;
a network interface device coupled with the processor, the network interface device including a device firmware and an actions table, the device firmware to:
fetch a first command from a first command queue of the first device driver;
access the actions table to determine if the first device driver is permitted to perform the first command; and
queue a first event into a first event queue of the first device driver responsive to the first command.
22. The blade server system of claim 21 wherein said accessing of the actions table determines that the first device driver is permitted to perform the first command, and causes the network interface device to execute the first command.
23. The blade server system of claim 21 wherein said accessing of the actions table determines that the first function driver is not permitted to perform the first command, and causes the network interface device firmware to:
forward the first command as a second event to a second event queue for the privileged driver;
fetch a second command from a second command queue for the privileged driver;
access the actions table to determine if the privileged driver is permitted to perform the second command; and
queue a third event into the second event queue responsive to the second command.