1. Transmission equipment that is used in a transmission system in which a plurality of paths are provided between the transmission equipment and correspondent equipment, the transmission equipment comprising:
a measurement unit configured to measure respective transmission delays of the plurality of paths by using a frame transmitted between the transmission equipment and the correspondent equipment;
a detector configured to detect a priority of an input packet;
a selector configured to select a path for transmitting the input packet from among the plurality of paths; and
a frame processing unit configured to transmit a frame onto which the input packet is mapped, to the correspondent equipment through a path selected by the selector, wherein the selector selects an alternative path for transmitting the input packet from among the plurality of paths based on the priority of the input packet detected by the detector and respective transmission delays of the plurality of paths measured by the measurement unit when a failure occurs in a path that has been selected by the selector.
2. The transmission equipment according to claim 1, wherein
the frame is an OTN (Optical Transport Network) frame, and
the measurement unit measures respective transmission delays of the plurality of paths between the transmission equipment and the correspondent equipment by using a Delay Measurement bit provided in a header of an OTN frame.
3. The transmission equipment according to claim 1, wherein
a virtual LAN tag is given to the input packet, and the detector detects the priority of the input packet based on PCP (Priority Code Point) provided in the virtual LAN tag that is given to the input packet.
4. The transmission equipment according to claim 1, wherein
the input packet includes an IP header, and
the detector detects the priority of the input packet based on DSCP (DiffSery Code Point) provided in the IP header of the input packet.
5. The transmission equipment according to claim 1, further comprising
a storage unit configured to store information representing respective transmission delays of the plurality of paths measured by the measurement unit, wherein
the measurement unit measures respective transmission delays of the plurality of paths repeatedly,
the information stored in the storage unit is updated in accordance with measurement results by the measurement unit, and
the selector selects a path for transmitting the input packet from among the plurality of paths according to the information stored in the storage unit.
6. A transmission system that includes first transmission equipment, second transmission equipment and a plurality of paths provided between the first transmission equipment and the second transmission equipment, wherein
the first transmission equipment includes a first frame processing unit configured to transmit a frame onto which a packet input to the first transmission equipment is mapped, to the second transmission equipment respectively through the plurality of paths, and
the second transmission equipment includes:
a measurement unit configured to measure respective transmission delays of the plurality of paths by using a frame transmitted between the second transmission equipment and the first transmission equipment;
a second frame processing unit configured to reproduce the packet from respective frames received from the first transmission equipment via the plurality of paths; and
a selector configured to select one of the plurality of paths and output a packet reproduced from a frame received via the selected path, and
the selector selects an alternative path from among the plurality of paths based on a priority of the packet and respective transmission delays of the plurality of paths measured by the measurement unit when a failure occurs in a path that has been selected by the selector.
7. A path selection method that is used in a transmission system in which a plurality of paths are provided between first transmission equipment and second transmission equipment, the path selection method comprising:
measuring respective transmission delays of the plurality of paths by using a frame transmitted between the first transmission equipment and the second transmission equipment;
detecting a priority of an input packet input to the first transmission equipment;
selecting an alternative path for transmitting the input packet from among the plurality of paths based on the priority of the input packet and respective transmission delays of the plurality of paths when a failure occurs in a currently used path that transmits a frame onto which the input packet is mapped; and
transmitting the frame onto which the input packet is mapped through the alternative path selected from among the plurality of paths from the first transmission equipment to the second transmission equipment.
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 phosphor point source element that is rotated to provide a high intensity point source of phosphor radiation from an operational track on the phosphor point source element, the phosphor point source element comprising:
a substrate; and
a light emitting phosphor supported by the substrate, and arranged in a circular operational track region on the substrate,
wherein:
the light emitting phosphor comprises phosphor particles;
the operational track region comprises an operational surface that can be illuminated to excite the light emitting phosphor;
the phosphor particles in the operational track region are arranged in a tightly packed particle arrangement fixed in position adjacent to the operational surface; and
the operational surface comprises a surface of the tightly packed particle arrangement, and is formed such that it is nominally flat, wherein the tightly packed particle arrangement is substantially similar to a packing arrangement that would be provided by forcing the phosphor particles against one another in the vicinity of the operational track region.
2. The phosphor point source element of claim 1, wherein the tightly packed particle arrangement comprises a binding agent that is interspersed with the phosphor particles and binds them to one another.
3. The phosphor point source element of claim 2, wherein the operational surface comprises a machined surface of the tightly packed particle arrangement.
4. The phosphor point source element of claim 2, wherein the operational surface comprises a molded surface of the tightly packed particle arrangement.
5. The phosphor point source element of claim 1, wherein the operational track region has a nominal thickness dimension T defined between the operational surface and the substrate, and the phosphor particles occupy at least 75% of the volume of the operational track region.
6. The phosphor point source element of claim 5, wherein T is at least 100 microns.
7. The phosphor point source element of claim 1, wherein the operational track region has a nominal thickness dimension T defined between the operational surface and the substrate, the phosphor particles in the operational track region each have a maximum dimension, the average maximum dimension in the operational track region is D, and the nominal thickness dimension T is at least N*D, wherein N is at least 2.
8. The phosphor point source element of claim 7, wherein N is at least 4.
9. The phosphor point source element of claim 7, wherein the average maximum dimension D is at most 35 microns.
10. The phosphor point source element of claim 1, wherein the operational surface is flat such that the operational surface fits between ideal parallel planes spaced a dimension F apart, where F is at most 150 microns.
11. The phosphor point source element of claim 10, where F is at most 50 microns.
12. The phosphor point source element of claim 1, wherein:
the operational track region comprises a plurality of phosphor sub-regions arranged along the operational track region;
the phosphor particles comprise a plurality of chemically distinct types of phosphor particles;
in adjacent first and second sub-regions, a first composition ratio comprising one or more of the chemically distinct types of phosphor particles is provided in the first sub-region, a second composition ratio comprising one or more of the chemically distinct types of phosphor particles is provided in the second sub-region, and the first and second composition ratios are different.
13. The phosphor point source element of claim 12, wherein:
the operational surface is interrupted by pocket dividing regions between the phosphor sub-regions, and comprises operational surface portions corresponding to the phosphor holding sub-regions.
14. The phosphor point source element of claim 12, wherein:
the operational surface comprises a continuum of phosphor sub-regions and operational surface portions corresponding to the phosphor sub-regions.
15. The phosphor point source element of claim 1, further comprising a window element that includes a planar surface, wherein the window element is arranged in a fixed relationship relative to the substrate such that the planar surface is arranged at a desired location of the operational surface.
16. A method for forming a phosphor point source element which is rotated to provide a high intensity point source of phosphor radiation from an operational track on the phosphor point source element, the phosphor point source element comprising a substrate and a light emitting phosphor comprising phosphor particles, the method comprising:
providing the substrate of the phosphor point source element;
providing at least one cavity arranged along a circular operational track region of the phosphor point source element, the cavity bounded by a forming element and the substrate, and comprising at least one forming wall;
positioning phosphor particles in the cavity;
forcing the phosphor particles against the at least one forming wall of the cavity to provide a tightly packed particle arrangement in the vicinity of the operational track region;
fixing the phosphor particles in the tightly packed particle arrangement; and
forming the tightly packed particle arrangement such that it has a nominally flat operational surface along the operational track in the operational track region.
17. The method of claim 16, wherein forcing the phosphor particles against the forming wall comprises utilizing forces created by spinning the substrate, the forming element, and the phosphor particles, wherein the spinning forces the phosphor particles against the at least one forming wall and provides forces sufficient to achieve the tightly packed particle arrangement.
18. The method of claim 16, wherein forming the tightly packed particle arrangement such that it has a nominally flat operational surface comprises machining the operational surface such that it is nominally flat.
19. The method of claim 16, wherein forming the tightly packed particle arrangement such that it has a nominally flat operational surface comprises molding the tightly packed particle arrangement against a flat forming wall, and then fixing the phosphor particles in the tightly packed particle arrangement, such that the corresponding molded surface provides the nominally flat operational surface.