1. An electrode for a plasma generator for generating a plasma at atmospheric pressure or near-atmospheric pressures through excitation with microwaves, comprising:
a sheet metal strip having at least one slot extending longitudinally to a propagation direction of the microwaves and having a length of one time or multiple times a quarter wavelength of an open-circuit voltage of the microwaves, said slot dividing the sheet metal strip into at least two partial electrodes, wherein the at least one slot has at least one closed end and an excitation voltage is supplied to the at least two partial electrodes in a region of the at least one closed slot end for generating the plasma between sides of the at least one slot, wherein the excitation voltage is supplied through a coaxial feed having an inner conductor extending on one side of the at least one slot to a location where approximate matching is attained under open-circuit conditions.
2. The electrode according to claim 1, wherein the at least one slot has two ends, with one of the ends being closed and the other end being open.
3. The electrode according to claim 1, wherein the at least one slot has two ends, with both ends being closed.
4. The electrode according to claim 3, wherein the at least two partial electrodes of the electrode are bent into a U-shape.
5. The electrode according to claim 3, wherein the at least two partial electrodes of the electrode are bent into a circular shape.
6. The electrode according to claim 3, wherein the excitation voltage is supplied through a coaxial feed having an inner conductor that branches in a shape of a T and extends to the at least two partial electrodes on both sides in a region of the two slot ends.
7. The electrode according to claim 1, further comprising a shielded housing enclosing the electrode.
8. The electrode according to claim 7, wherein the shielded housing comprises an opening for supplying process gases and an additional opening for discharging the process gases that are activated by the plasma.
9. The electrode according to claim 1, wherein the electrode is supplied by a free-running oscillator circuit, wherein the electrode itself is a frequency-setting element.
10. The electrode according to claim 9, wherein the electrode is integrated with the free-running oscillator circuit.
11. An electrode for a plasma generator for generating a plasma at atmospheric pressure or near-atmospheric pressures through excitation with microwaves, comprising:
a sheet metal strip having at least one slot extending in a longitudinal direction and having a length of one time or multiple times a quarter wavelength of an open-circuit voltage of the microwaves, said slot dividing the sheet metal strip into at least two partial electrodes, wherein the at least one slot has at least one closed end and an excitation voltage is supplied to the at least two partial electrodes in a region of the at least one closed slot end,
wherein the at least one slot has two ends, with both ends being closed, and
wherein the excitation voltage is supplied through a coaxial feed having an inner conductor that branches in a shape of a T and extends to the at least two partial electrodes on both sides in a region of the two slot ends.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
What is claimed is:
1. A method of separating traffic in a communication network, comprising:
receiving a communication to be transmitted across a communication link;
if said communication is a best-effort communication, transmitting said communication on a first channel of the communication link; and
if said communication is a flow-controlled communication, transmitting said communication on a second channel of the communication link.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein said communication is a flow-controlled communication if said communication is configured according to a communication protocol that provides flow control.
3. The method of claim 1, wherein said communication is a best-effort communication if said communication is not configured according to a communication protocol that provides flow control.
4. The method of claim 1, wherein:
the communication network supports InfiniBand communications; and
said first channel and said second channel comprise separate virtual lanes.
5. The method of claim 1, wherein:
the communication network supports Asynchronous Transfer Mode communications; and
said first channel and said second channel comprise separate virtual circuits.
6. The method of claim 1, wherein:
the communication network supports Ethernet communications; and
said first channel and said second channel comprise separate classes of service.
7. A computer readable storage medium storing instructions that, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to perform a method of separating traffic in an electronic communication network, the method comprising:
receiving a communication to be transmitted across a communication link;
if said communication is a best-effort communication, transmitting said communication on a first channel of the communication link; and
if said communication is a flow-controlled communication, transmitting said communication on a second channel of the communication link.
8. A method of separating network traffic, comprising:
receiving a best-effort communication across a first channel of a communication link; and
receiving a flow-controlled communication across a second channel of the communication link;
wherein said flow-controlled communication is a communication configured according to a protocol that provides flow control.
9. The method of claim 8, wherein said first channel and said second channel comprise separate InfiniBand virtual lanes.
10. The method of claim 8, wherein said first channel and said second channel comprise separate ATM (Asynchronous Transfer Mode) virtual circuits.
11. The method of claim 8, wherein said first channel and said second channel comprise separate Ethernet classes of service.
12. A computer readable storage medium storing instructions that, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to perform a method of separating network traffic, the method comprising:
receiving a best-effort communication across a first channel of a communication link; and
receiving a flow-controlled communication across a second channel of the communication link;
wherein said flow-controlled communication is a communication configured according to a protocol that provides flow control.
13. A method of segregating network communications, comprising:
(a) identifying a first type of communication capable of conflicting with another type of communication if both types of communication share a communication channel;
(b) establishing a first channel over one or more communication links;
(c) configuring a device to transmit said first type of communication over said first channel;
wherein said first type of communication is capable of conflicting with a second type of communication if one of said first type of communication and said second type of communication tends to deprive the other of bandwidth.
14. The method of claim 13, wherein said first type of communication comprises a best-effort communication and said second type of communication comprises a flow-controlled communication.
15. The method of claim 14, wherein said flow-controlled communication is a communication formatted according to a protocol that supports flow control.
16. The method of claim 14, wherein said best-effort communication is a communication formatted according to a protocol that does not inherently support flow control.
17. The method of claim 14, further comprising:
repeating steps (b)-(c) for said second type of communication.
18. The method of claim 13, wherein said first type of communication comprises UDP (User Datagram Protocol) communications and said second type of communication comprises TCP (Transport Control Protocol) communications.
19. The method of claim 13, wherein said first type of communication comprises a communication formatted according to a connectionless protocol and said second type of communication comprises a communication formatted accordingly to a connection-oriented protocol.
20. A computer readable storage medium storing instructions that, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to perform a method of segregating network communications, the method comprising:
(a) identifying a first type of communication susceptible to conflict with another type of communication if both types of communication share a communication channel;
(b) establishing a first channel over one or more communication links;
(c) configuring a device to transmit only said first type of communication over said first channel;
wherein said first type of communication is susceptible to conflict with a second type of communication if one of said first type of communication and said second type of communication tends to deprive the other of bandwidth.
21. In a communication network, a method of separating best-effort communications and flow-controlled communications, comprising:
configuring one or more devices in the network to distinguish between best-effort communications and flow-controlled communications;
establishing a first communication channel and a second communication channel through a first portion of the network;
configuring said one or more devices to transmit said best-effort communications on said first communication channel; and
configuring said one or more devices to transmit said flow-controlled communications on said second communication channel.
22. A method of separating different types of communications for transmission across a single physical communication link, comprising:
identifying one or more types of communications to be separated from another type of communication;
for each of said one or more types of communications, establishing an associated logical channel on the physical link;
configuring a first device with a queue for each of said logical channels, wherein said first device coupled to the physical link;
receiving at said first device a first communication to be transmitted over the physical link, wherein said communication is of a first type;
storing said first communication in a first queue associated with a first logical channel, wherein said first logical channel is associated with said first type of communication; and
transmitting said first communication over the physical link in said first logical channel.
23. The method of claim 22, further comprising:
assigning, at said first device, a first priority to said first queue associated with said first logical channel.
24. The method of claim 22, further comprising:
receiving at said first device a second communication to be transmitted over the physical link, wherein said communication is of a second type;
transmitting said second communication over the physical link in a second logical channel.
25. The method of claim 24, wherein:
said first type of communication comprises a best-effort communication; and
said second type of communication comprises a flow-controlled communication.
26. The method of claim 24, wherein:
said first type of communication comprises a connectionless communication; and
said second type of communication comprises a connection-oriented communication.
27. A computer readable storage medium storing instructions that, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to perform a method of separating different types of communications for transmission across a single physical communication link, the method comprising:
identifying one or more types of communications to be separated from another type of communication;
for each of said one or more types of communications, establishing an associated logical channel on the physical link;
configuring a first device with a queue for each of said logical channels, wherein said first device coupled to the physical link;
receiving at said first device a first communication to be transmitted over the physical link, wherein said communication is of a first type;
storing said first communication in a first queue associated with a first logical channel, wherein said first logical channel is associated with said first type of communication; and
transmitting said first communication over the physical link in said first logical channel.
28. An apparatus for transmitting best-effort communications on a first channel and flow-controlled communications on a second channel of a communication link, comprising:
a transmitter configured to transmit electronic communications on a communication link, wherein the communication link is configured to support multiple channels;
a first queue for storing best-effort communications prior to transmission by said transmitter;
a second queue for storing flow-controlled communications prior to transmission by said transmitter; and
identifying means for differentiating said best-effort communications from said flow-controlled communications
wherein said transmitter is configured to transmit said best-effort communications on a first channel of the communication link; and
wherein said transmitter is configured to transmit said flow-controlled communications on a second channel of the communication link.
29. The apparatus of claim 28, wherein said identifying means comprises a set of executable instructions for communication management.
30. The apparatus of claim 28, wherein said identifying means comprises a device driver for the apparatus.
31. The apparatus of claim 28, wherein said first channel and said second channel comprise distinct virtual lanes within an InfiniBand network.
32. The apparatus of claim 28, wherein said first channel and said second channel comprise distinct virtual circuits within an ATM (Asynchronous Transfer Mode) network.
33. The apparatus of claim 28, wherein said first channel and said second channel comprise distinct classes of service in an Ethernet network.
34. The apparatus of claim 28, wherein said transmitter is configured to transmit only said best-effort communications on said first channel.
35. A network, comprising:
a communication link;
a first channel established on said communication link; and
a second channel established on said communication link;
wherein each of said first channel and said second channel are configured to carry one or the other of best-effort communications and flow-control communications, but not both.
36. The network of claim 35, wherein said flow-control communications comprise a communication formatted according to a protocol that provides flow control.
37. The network of claim 35, wherein said best-effort communications comprise a communication formatted according to a protocol that does not provide flow control.
38. The network of claim 35, wherein said flow-control communications comprise a communication formatted according to a connection-oriented protocol.
39. The network of claim 35, wherein said best-effort communications comprise a communication formatted according to a connectionless protocol.
40. The network of claim 35, wherein said first channel and said second comprise separate InfiniBand virtual lanes.
41. The network of claim 35, wherein said first channel and said second comprise separate ATM (Asynchronous Transfer Mode) virtual circuits.
42. The network of claim 35, wherein said first channel and said second comprise separate Ethernet differentiated services.