1. A method comprising:
providing a layer of a metal powder;
sinter-inhibiting one or more regions in the layer;
repeating said providing and sinter-inhibiting for a plurality of layers;
compacting the plurality of layers to form a compact;
sintering the compact; and
removing one or more sintered sections at a boundary formed by the sinter-inhibited regions in the compact.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein said removing comprises extracting a three-dimensional (3-D) metal object from the compact.
3. The method of claim 1, wherein said compacting comprises compacting each layer before another layer is provided on said layer.
4. The method of claim 3, further comprising:
compacting each layer after sinter-inhibiting one or more regions in the layer.
5. The method of claim 3, further comprising:
compacting each layer before sinter-inhibiting one or more regions in the layer.
6. The method of claim 3, wherein said compaction comprises pressing the layer with a press surface, and further comprising:
cleaning the press surface between each successive layer.
7. The method of claim 1, wherein said sinter-inhibiting comprises depositing a sinter-inhibiting material on the one or more regions of the layer.
8. The method of claim 7, wherein said depositing comprises extruding the sinter-inhibiting material through a nozzle.
9. The method of claim 7, wherein said depositing comprises printing the sinter-inhibiting material with a printer head.
10. The method of claim 7, wherein the sinter-inhibiting material comprises a solution that when dried results in crystals or other solid forms with a high sintering temperature.
11. The method of claim 7, wherein the sinter-inhibiting material comprises a metal salt.
12. The method of claim 11, wherein the metal salt comprises potassium phosphate (K3PO4).
13. The method of claim 7, wherein the sinter-inhibiting material comprises a ceramic slurry.
14. The method of claim 1, wherein said sinter-inhibiting comprises oxidizing metal powder particles in the one or more regions.
15. The method of claim 14, wherein said oxidizing comprises heating said metal power particles in the presence of oxygen.
16. The method of claim 15, wherein said oxidizing comprises scanning a laser over the one or more regions.
17. The method of claim 15, wherein said oxidizing comprises moving a micro-torch over the one or more regions.
18. The method of claim 1, wherein the metal powder comprises a binderless powder.
19. The method of claim 1, wherein said compacting comprises cold welding metal powder particles in the plurality of layers.
20. The method of claim 1, further comprising:
creating a boundary in said plurality of layers to form a block.
21. The method of claim 20, wherein said creating the boundary comprises depositing an adhesive at a periphery of each layer.
22. A system comprising:
means for spreading a plurality of layers of a metal powder;
a press to compress said layers;
means for sinter-inhibiting one or more regions in a plurality of said layers; and
a furnace to sinter the metal powder in a compact formed from said plurality of layers.
23. The system of claim 22, wherein the means for spreading comprises a roller.
24. The system of claim 22, wherein the means for spreading comprises a blade.
25. The system of claim 22, wherein the means for sinter-inhibiting comprises means for depositing a sinter-inhibiting material over said one or more regions.
26. The system of claim 25, wherein the means for depositing comprises a nozzle to extrude the sinter-inhibiting material.
27. The system of claim 25, wherein the means for depositing comprises a printer head to print the sinter-inhibiting material.
28. The system of claim 25, wherein the sinter-inhibiting material comprises a metal salt.
29. The system of claim 28, wherein the metal salt comprises potassium phosphate (K3PO4).
30. The system of claim 25, wherein the sinter-inhibiting material comprises a ceramic slurry.
31. The system of claim 22, wherein the means for sinter-inhibiting comprises a scannable laser operative to oxidize metal powder particles in said one or more regions.
32. The system of claim 22, wherein the means for sinter-inhibiting comprises a controllable micro-torch operative to oxidize metal powder particles in said one or more regions.
33. The system of claim 22, wherein the metal powder comprises a binderless metal powder.
34. The system of claim 22, further comprising:
means for cleaning a surface of the press before compacting each successive layer.
35. The system of claim 22, further comprising:
a heater to heat each of said plurality of layers.
36. The system of claim 35, wherein said heater comprises an array of gas torches operative to be selectively turned on or off.
37. The system of claim 35, wherein said heater comprises a an array of very high temperature electric filaments operative to be selectively turned on or off by electric current or by a shutter.
38. A method comprising:
providing a layer of a metal powder;
sinter-inhibiting one or more regions in the layer;
compacting the layer;
sintering metal powder in the layer;
repeating said providing, sinter-inhibiting, compacting, and sintering for a plurality of layers; and
removing one or more sintered sections at a boundary formed by the sinter-inhibited regions in the compact.
39. The method of claim 38, wherein said removing comprises extracting a three-dimensional (3-D) metal object from the compact.
40. The method of claim 38, wherein the compaction of the layer is performed prior to the sinter-inhibiting.
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 system, comprising:
a memory configured to store a host table;
a translator configured to restore predetermined portions of packet header information of a data packet, the packet header information including a network portion of a destination address routable over a wide area network and an encrypted host portion of the address identifying a destination host, the restoration including to:
extract, from the packet header information, predetermined portions of packet header data including the encrypted host portion of the address,
decrypt the extracted packet header data to determine a restored host portion of the restored address, and
place the restored host portion of the address back into the packet header information of the data packet, preserving the network portion of the destination address of the packet header;
a mapping device configured to map the restored address to the host table;
a host resolution device configured to issue a request to the network to resolve the restored address when the restored address does not match an entry in the host table and to supplement the host table with the restored address upon receipt of a reply to the request that indicates that the restored address is valid; and
an actuator configured to trigger a security device when the restored address does not match an entry in the host table.
2. The system of claim 1, wherein the security device is a logging device configured to log the data packet.
3. The system of claim 1, wherein the security device is configured to signal an alarm when triggered.
4. The system of claim 1, wherein the host resolution device is configured to derive the host table using an address resolution protocol.
5. The system of claim 1, further comprising a network device configured to place the data packet onto a network when the restored address maps to the host table.
6. A method, comprising:
restoring predetermined portions of packet header information of a data packet, the packet header information including a network portion of a destination address routable over a wide area network and an encrypted host portion of the address identifying a destination host, the restoring including:
extracting, from the packet header information, predetermined portions of packet header data including the encrypted host portion of the address,
decrypting the extracted packet header data to determine a restored host portion of the restored address, and
placing the host portion of the restored address back into the packet header information of the data packet, preserving the network portion of the destination address of the packet header;
issuing a request to the network to resolve the restored address when the restored address does not match an entry in a host table and supplementing the host table with the restored address upon receipt of a reply to the request that indicates that the restored address is valid; and
triggering a security device when the restored address does not match an entry in the host table.
7. The method of claim 6, further comprising logging the data packet when the address does not match an entry in the host table.
8. The method of claim 6, further comprising signaling an alarm when the security device is triggered.
9. The method of claim 6, further comprising deriving the host table using an address resolution protocol.
10. The method of claim 6, further comprising placing the data packet onto a network when the restored address maps to the host table.
11. The system of claim 1, wherein the network address is an internet protocol address, the network portion of the destination address of the packet header is an upper bits portion of the internet protocol address, and the host portion of the restored address is a lower bits portion of the internet protocol address.
12. The method of claim 6, wherein the network address is an internet protocol address, the network portion of the destination address of the packet header is an upper bits portion of the internet protocol address, and the host portion of the restored address is a lower bits portion of the internet protocol address.