1. An apparatus, comprising:
a connector device having an optical coupling and an electrical coupling with a common plug form factor to respectively transmit signals to an optical device and an electrical device; and
a router, coupled to the connector device, to determine whether to transmit packets received from a host controller to the connector device using optical signals across at least an optical portion of a data transmission path between the router and the connector device, or using electrical signals only across the data transmission path,
wherein the connector device transmits signals to an optical device through the optical coupling only when the connector device is connected to the optical device, and the connector device transmits signals to an electrical device through the electrical coupling only when the connector device is connected to the electrical device.
2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the router is to packetize and encapsulate display or network inputoutput data, including holding a continuous stream of data while building a complete frame.
3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the data transmission path comprises an electrical medium connected directly between the router and the connector device.
4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the data transmission path comprises a transaction translator in an optical data path to convert between optical signals and electrical signals.
5. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein the transaction translator comprises an optical to electrical converter and an electrical to optical converter.
6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the determination is based at least in part on a bandwidth of the optical portion of the data transmission path.
7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the determination is based at least in part on a priority of the packets or a priority level threshold.
8. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising:
a scheduler, coupled to the router, to schedule the packets received from the host controller to be transmitted to the connector device based at least in part on a bandwidth requirement of the host controller and a peripheral device connected to the connector device.
9. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the scheduler monitors and receives packets from a plurality of isochronous queues, each coupled to its own host controller.
10. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the scheduler monitors and receives packets from a plurality of isochronous queues, each coupled to a same group of host controllers based on a transaction type.
11. The apparatus of claim 10, the transaction type is one of display, network, or universal serial bus.
12. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the scheduler sends the packets received from the host controller to an output buffer associated with the connector device based at least in part on an isochronous transaction descriptor indicating a transaction type for the packets.
13. A method, comprising:
transmitting optical signals to an optical device through an optical coupling in a connector device only when the connector device is connected to the optical device; and
transmitting electrical signals to an electrical device through an electrical coupling, sharing a common plug form factor with the optical coupling in the connector device, only when the connector device is connected to the electrical device.
14. The method of claim 13, further comprising:
determining whether to transmit packets received from a host controller to the connector device using optical signals across at least an optical portion of a data transmission path between the host controller and the connector device, or using electrical signals only across the data transmission path.
15. The method of claim 14, wherein the determining is based at least in part on a bandwidth of the optical portion of the data transmission path.
16. The method of claim 14, wherein the determining is based at least in part on a priority of the packets or a priority level threshold.
17. The method of claim 13, further comprising:
receiving packets from a host controller in a native format according to the host controller’s native protocol stack;
encapsulating the native format packet into a unified frame format packet; and
scheduling the unified frame format packet to be transmitted to the optical device when the connector device is connected to the optical device, or to the electrical device when the connector device is connected to the electrical device.
18. The method of claim 17, wherein the scheduling is based at least in part on a bandwidth requirement of a respective pair of the host controller and the optical device or the electrical device.
19. The method of claim 13, further comprising:
routing packets from a host controller to the connector device using a binding table mapping a plurality of host controllers to a plurality of connector devices.
20. The method of claim 19, wherein the binding table is re-mapped during runtime based on the connector device switching connection between the optical device and the electrical device.
21. A system, comprising:
an inputoutput complex including a plurality of host controllers;
a plurality of data transmission paths to transmit packets from the plurality of host controllers to a connector device;
a router, coupled to the plurality of data transmission paths, to determine whether to transmit packets received from the plurality of host controllers to the connector device using optical signals across an optical portion of at least one of the plurality of data transmission paths, or using electrical signals only across the at least one of the plurality of data transmission paths; and
the connector device having an optical coupling and an electrical coupling with a common plug form factor to respectively transmit signals to an optical device and an electrical device, wherein the connector device transmits signals to an optical device through the optical coupling only when the connector device is connected to the optical device, and the connector device transmits signals to an electrical device through the electrical coupling only when the connector device is connected to the electrical device.
22. The system of claim 21, wherein the router comprises a binding table mapping the plurality of host controllers to a plurality of connector devices including the connector device, wherein the binding table is re-mapped during runtime based on the connector device switching connection between the optical device and the electrical device.
23. The system of claim 22, wherein the router schedules the packets received from the plurality of host controllers to be transmitted to the plurality of connector devices based at least in part on a bandwidth requirement of a respective host controller and a respective peripheral device connected to its respective connector device.
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 tubular member having at least one drainage section comprising at least one inlet or aperture and at least one self-adjustable flow control device to control the flow of fluid into the drainage section from a well formed in a subterranean reservoir, wherein each of the flow control devices are located in an annular space surrounding a base pipe, said annular space being between said inlet or aperture and at least one outlet provided for fluid flowing into the base pipe, said annular space forming a flow path through the flow control device passing by a valve body arranged to reduce or increase the flow area of the flow control device in response to the pressure difference across the flow control device andor changes in density of the fluid, wherein the flow control device comprises a valve seat cooperating with the valve body, which valve body comprises an annular resilient valve member arranged to be deformed at least in a radial direction in response to the pressure difference across the flow control device andor changes in a density of the fluid, in order to reduce or increase the flow area through the flow control device.
2. The tubular member according to claim 1, wherein the annular resilient valve member is arranged to be deformed by the flowing fluid to decrease the flow area through the flow control device in response to an increased pressure difference across the flow control device andor a changes in density deviating from that of the fluid to be extracted.
3. The tubular member according to claim 1, wherein the annular resilient valve member is in contact with a bevelled surface on the valve seat, which bevelled surface is arranged at an angle extending towards at least one exit opening in the flow control device in the direction of fluid flow.
4. The tubular member according to claim 3, wherein the annular resilient valve member is arranged to be deformed against the valve seat and displaced at least in a radial direction towards the at least one exit opening in the flow control device, thereby decreasing the flow area.
5. The tubular member according to claim 1, wherein the annular resilient valve member and the valve seat are arranged to extend around the base pipe within the annular space.
6. The tubular member according to claim 5, wherein the valve seat is positioned around the inner diameter of the annular space, which valve seat is arranged to limit the axial displacement of the annular resilient valve member.
7. The tubular member according to claim 6, wherein the annular resilient valve member is arranged to be forced against the valve seat and be deformed at least in a radial direction towards, or into contact with the outer diameter of the annular space.
8. The tubular member according to claim 5, wherein the valve seat is positioned around the outer diameter of the annular space, which valve seat is arranged to limit the axial displacement of the annular resilient valve member.
9. The tubular member according to claim 8, wherein the annular resilient valve member is arranged to be forced against the valve seat and be deformed at least in a radial direction towards, or into contact with the inner diameter of the annular space.
10. The tubular member according to claim 5, wherein the flow control device is arranged to extend between the inner and outer diameters of the annular space, and that fluid is arranged to flow past the annular resilient valve member through spaced arcuate gaps around the periphery of the flow control device.
11. The tubular member according to claim 1, wherein at least one annular resilient valve member and valve seat are arranged in a corresponding number of openings in a radial wall extending between the inner and outer diameters of the annular space.
12. The tubular member according to claim 11, wherein the annular resilient valve member is arranged to be forced against the valve seat and be deformed at least in a radial direction inwards, in order to decrease or prevent flow through the said openings in the radial wall.
13. The tubular member according to claim 1, wherein the annular space is arranged between the base pipe and a coaxial housing surrounding the base pipe.
14. The tubular member according to claim 1, wherein the annular space is provided with one or more flow control devices between the said inlet and the said outlet.
15. A self-adjustable flow control device arranged to control the flow of fluid into a drainage section from a well formed in a subterranean reservoir, wherein the flow control device is located in an annular space surrounding a base pipe, said annular space being between an inlet or aperture and at least one outlet for fluid flowing into the drainage section, said annular space forming a flow path through the flow control device, said flow control device comprising a valve body arranged to reduce or increase the flow area of the flow control device in response to the pressure difference across the flow control device andor changes in density of the fluid, wherein the flow control device comprises a valve seat cooperating with the valve body, which valve body comprises an annular resilient valve member arranged to be deformed at least in a radial direction in response to the pressure difference across the flow control device andor changes in density of the fluid, in order to reduce or increase the flow area through the flow control device.
16. The self-adjustable flow control device according to claim 15, wherein the annular resilient valve member and the valve seat are arranged to extend around the base pipe within the annular space.
17. The self-adjustable flow control device according to claim 16, wherein the valve seat is positioned around the inner diameter of the annular space, which valve seat is arranged to limit the axial displacement of the annular resilient valve member.
18. The self-adjustable flow control device according to claim 17, wherein the annular resilient valve member is arranged to be forced against the valve seat and be deformed at least in a radial direction towards, or into contact with the outer diameter of the annular space.
19. The self-adjustable flow control device according to claim 16, wherein the valve seat is positioned around the outer diameter of the annular space, which valve seat is arranged to limit the axial displacement of the annular resilient valve member.
20. The self-adjustable flow control device according to claim 19, wherein the annular resilient valve member is arranged to be forced against the valve seat and be deformed at least in a radial direction towards, or into contact with the inner diameter of the annular space.
21. The self-adjustable flow control device according to claim 16, wherein the flow control device is arranged to extend between the inner and outer diameters of the annular space, and that fluid is arranged to flow past the annular resilient valve member through spaced arcuate gaps around the periphery of the flow control device.
22. The self-adjustable flow control device according to claim 15, wherein at least one annular resilient valve member and valve seat are arranged in a corresponding number of openings in a radial wall extending between the inner and outer diameters of the annular space.
23. The self-adjustable flow control device according to claim 22, wherein the annular resilient valve member is arranged to be forced against the valve seat and be deformed at least in a radial direction inwards, in order to decrease or prevent flow through the said openings in the radial wall.
24. A method for automatically adjusting the flow through a self-adjustable flow control device for controlling the flow of fluid into a drainage section from a well formed in a subterranean reservoir into a production pipe, the method comprising:
locating the flow control device in an annular space surrounding a tubular member of the production pipe, said annular space being between an inlet or aperture and at least one outlet for fluid flowing into the production pipe, said annular space forming a flow path through the flow control device passing by at least one valve body arranged to reduce or increase the flow area of the flow control device in response to the pressure difference across the flow control device andor changes in density of the fluid, wherein fluid flowing through the flow control device forms a flow path passing the valve body, which valve body comprises an annular resilient valve member, and wherein the fluid acts on the valve body to deform the annular resilient valve member causing a reduction or increase of the flow area through the flow control device in response to the pressure difference across the flow control device andor changes in density of the fluid.
25. The method according to claim 24, wherein the fluid flow forces the annular resilient valve member into contact with a bevelled surface on a valve seat, wherein the annular resilient valve member is deformed and directed in at least a radial direction to restrict the flow through the flow control device.