Author: claimsbot

1. A tangible computer readable storage medium having instructions stored thereon that, when executed, cause a machine to:
transmit a first signal from a first point of a communication network to a second point of the communication network, wherein the first point of the communication network and the second point of the communication network are remotely located from one another;
record a first time at which the first signal is transmitted from the first point of the communication network to the second point of the communication network using a first clock, wherein an operation of the first clock is based on a first reference signal generated by a first oscillator located at the first point of the communication network;
obtain a first measurement of at least one performance characteristic associated with the first signal at the first point of the communication network;
associate the first measurement with the first time;
record a second time at which the first signal is received at the second point of the communication network, wherein the second time is recorded using a second clock, wherein an operation of the second clock is based on a second reference signal generated by a second oscillator located at the second point of the communication network, wherein the first reference signal and the second reference signal are substantially similar, and wherein each of the first and second oscillators has an original input reference having a drift that is less than 1.6\xd710\u22128 in one year;
obtain a second measurement of the performance characteristic of the first signal as received at the second point of the communication network;
associate the second measurement with the second time;
compare the first measurement and the second measurement of the performance characteristic as a function of the first and second times; and
determine at least one end-to-end performance characteristic of the communication network based on the comparison of the first and second measurements.
2. A tangible computer readable storage medium as defined in claim 1, wherein the first and second oscillators comprise Stratum-2 oscillators.
3. A tangible computer readable storage medium as defined in claim 1, wherein the end-to-end performance characteristic includes at least one of signal distortion, signal duplication, signal intensity, and signal-to-noise ratio.
4. A tangible computer readable storage medium as defined in claim 1, wherein the first point of the communication network is a customer premises equipment.
5. A tangible computer readable storage medium as defined in claim 1, wherein the second point of the communication network is a customer premises equipment.
6. A tangible computer readable storage medium as defined in claim 1, wherein the second point of the communication network is a device within a central office.
7. A machine accessible tangible computer readable storage medium as defined in claim 1, having instructions stored thereon that, when executed, cause the machine to receive a third signal indicating that the first clock has received the first reference signal and a fourth signal indicating that the second clock has received the second reference signal.
8. A tangible computer readable storage medium as defined in claim 7, having instructions stored thereon that, when executed, cause the machine to provide a third reference signal via a satellite to the first clock and the second clock.
9. A system for testing a communication network, comprising:
means for transmitting a first signal from a first point of the communication network to at least a second point of the communication network, wherein the first point of the communication network and the second point of the communication network are remotely located from one another;
means for recording a first time at which the first signal is transmitted from the first point of the communication network to the second point of the communication network using a first clock, wherein an operation of the first clock is based on a first reference signal generated by a first oscillator located at the first point of the communication network;
means for obtaining a first measurement of at least one performance characteristic associated with the first signal at the first point of the communication network;
means for associating the first measurement with the first time;
means for recording a second time at which the first signal is received at the second point of the communication network, wherein the second time is recorded using a second clock, wherein an operation of the second clock is based on a second reference signal generated by a second oscillator located at the second point of the communication network, wherein the first reference signal and the second reference signal are substantially similar, and where each of the first and second oscillators has an input reference having a drift that is less than 1.6\xd710\u22128 in one year;
means for obtaining a second measurement of the performance characteristic of the first signal as received at the second point of the communication network;
means for associating the second measurement with the second time;
means for comparing the first measurement and the second measurement of the performance characteristic as a function of the first and second times; and
means for determining at least one end-to-end performance characteristic of the communication network based on an output of the comparing means.
10. The system of claim 9, wherein the first and second oscillators comprise Stratum-2 oscillators.
11. The system of claim 9, wherein the end-to-end performance characteristic includes at least one of signal distortion, signal duplication, signal intensity, and signal-to-noise ratio.
12. The system of claim 9, wherein the first point of the communication network is a customer premises equipment.
13. The system of claim 9, wherein the second point of the communication network is a device within a central office.
14. A system for testing a communication network, comprising:
a signal generator to transmit a first signal from a first point of the communication network to a second point of the communication network, wherein the first and second points are remotely located from one another and the signal generator is to obtain a first measurement of at least one performance characteristic associated with the first signal;
a first clock to record a first time at which the first signal is transmitted from the first point of the communication network to the second point of the communication network, wherein the first clock is to associate the first measurement with the first time;
a first oscillator located at the first point of the communication network, wherein an operation of the first clock is based on a first reference signal generated by the first oscillator;
a signal receiver to receive the first signal at the second point of the communication network, wherein the signal receiver is to obtain a second measurement of the performance characteristic associated with the first signal;
a second clock to record a second time at which the first signal is received at the second point of the communication network, wherein the second clock is to associated the second measurement with the second time;
a second oscillator located at the second point of the communication network, wherein an operation of the second clock is based on a second reference signal generated by the second oscillator, wherein the first reference signal and the second reference signal are substantially similar, wherein each of the first and second oscillators has an input reference having a drift that is less than 1.6\xd710\u22128 in one year, and wherein the signal receiver is to compare the first measurement and the second measurement of the performance characteristic as a function of the first and second times and to determine at least one end-to-end performance characteristic of the communication network based on the comparing.
15. The system of claim 14, wherein the first and second oscillators comprise Stratum-2 oscillators.
16. The system of claim 14, wherein the end-to-end performance characteristic includes at least one of signal distortion, signal duplication, signal intensity, and signal-to-noise ratio.

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 snowshoe defining opposite front and rear ends and opposite first and second sides and comprising:
an opened, rigid, U-shaped frame member having first and second elongated parallel side bars respectively located on said snowshoe first and second sides and integrally linked by an arcuate front frame tip portion, said frame member having a gap near said rear end of said snowshoe between said first and second side bars;
a decking that is at least semi-rigid, that extends within said U-shaped frame member and that is attached to said U-shaped frame member, said decking defining a toe hole and a rear edge; and
a harness pivotally attached to said decking;
wherein said rear edge of said decking is located at and forms said snowshoe rear end.
2. A snowshoe defining opposite front and rear ends and opposite first and second sides and comprising:
a rigid frame member;
a decking that is at least semi-rigid, that extends within said frame member and that is attached to said frame member, said decking defining opposite upper and lower surfaces and a transverse toe hole having a peripheral edge; and
a harness pivotally attached to said decking, said harness comprising a load-bearing toe plate extending partly over said decking upper surface and partly over said toe hole, an attachment member attached to said toe plate for releasably attaching said harness to a person’s foot resting on said toe plate, a flexible tongue attached to said decking lower surface and attached to said toe plate through said toe hole, and an anti-torsion shoulder located between said toe plate and said flexible tongue in said toe hole;
wherein said harness is pivotable between a first position in which said toe plate extends substantially parallel to said decking and said anti-torsion shoulder is positioned closely adjacent to said peripheral edge of said toe hole to abut against said peripheral edge of said toe hole if said harness is pivoted about an axis that is generally transversal to said decking; and a second position in which said toe plate is pivoted within said toe hole so as to transversely extend partly through said toe hole.
3. A snowshoe as defined in claim 2, wherein said attachment member extends underneath and is attached to said toe plate and defines attachment straps above said toe plate for attaching said harness to a person’s foot, with said harness further comprising a claw plate that is attached to said attachment member and that has a toothed portion extending within said toe hole of said decking.

1. A method of determining a geographical relevance of a document, performed by one or more processors associated with one or more server devices, the method comprising:
generating, using a processor associated with the one or more server devices, a plurality of histograms associated with a plurality of respective strings in the document by comparing strings in the document to a pre-existing plurality of strings for which histograms were previously generated, where the plurality of histograms relates occurrences of strings to geographical regions;
generating, using a processor associated with the one or more server devices, a combined histogram for the document from the plurality of histograms by multiplying together values for each histogram of the plurality of histograms; and
identifying, using a processor associated with the one or more server devices, a geographical relevance of the document based on the combined histogram.
2. The method of claim 1, where identifying the geographical relevance of the document based on the combined histogram includes:
analyzing the combined histogram for peaks.
3. The method of claim 1, where one or more strings in the plurality of strings comprise a single term string.
4. The method of claim 1, where one or more strings in the plurality of strings comprise bi-grams.
5. The method of claim 1, where the document includes a web page.
6. The method of claim 1, where the document includes a search query.
7. A location classifier implemented within a computing device, comprising:
means for receiving input text;
a memory to store the input text;
means for locating strings within the input text that were previously determined to be geographically relevant;
means for comparing located strings in the input text to a pre-existing plurality of strings for which histograms were previously generated, where the histograms relate occurrences of strings to geographical regions;
means for combining the retrieved histograms, to form a combined histogram, by multiplying together values for each histogram of the retrieved histograms; and
means for determining whether the input text is geographically relevant based on the peaks of the combined histogram.
8. The location classifier of claim 7, where the plurality of histograms relate zip codes to a number of occurrences of a string in documents associated with a particular zip code.
9. A memory device containing programming instructions for execution by a processor, the memory device comprising:
programming instructions for generating a plurality of histograms associated with a respective plurality of strings in a document by examining the document to locate strings for the respective plurality of strings by comparing strings in the document to a pre-existing plurality of strings for which histograms were previously generated, the histograms defining a geographical relevance of the plurality of strings with respect to geographical regions;
programming instructions for combining the plurality of histograms to obtain a combined histogram for the document by multiplying together values for each histogram of the plurality of histograms; and
programming instructions for determining a geographical relevance of the document based on the combined histogram.
10. The memory device of claim 9, where the programming instructions for a determining geographical relevance of the document further includes:
programming instructions for analyzing the combined histogram for peaks.
11. The memory device of claim 9, where the strings include single term strings.
12. The memory device of claim 9, where the strings include bi-grams.
13. The memory device of claim 9, where the document includes a web page.
14. The memory device of claim 9, where the document includes a search query.
15. A method for generating a histogram for a string, performed by a server device, the method comprising:
determining, using a processor of the server device, a plurality of sections of training text in which each section of training text is associated with a geographical region;
accumulating, using the processor, occurrences of the string in the plurality of sections of training text when terms to a left or right of the string are different from previous instances of terms to the left or right of the string; and
generating, using the processor, the histogram based on the accumulated occurrences of the string, where the histogram relates the occurrences of the string to geographical regions.
16. The method of claim 15, where determining a plurality of sections of training text includes:
locating known geographic signals in a plurality of documents; and
selecting the sections of training text from those of the plurality of documents that include the known geographic signals.
17. The method of claim 15, where the documents include web documents.
18. The method of claim 15, further comprising:
normalizing the generated histogram based on a global distribution of geographical regions within the training text.
19. The method of claim 15, where the geographical regions are represented by zip codes.
20. The method of claim 15, further comprising:
saving the generated histogram for future use when the histogram includes statistically relevant peaks.
21. A device comprising:
a processor; and
a computer-readable memory coupled to the processor and containing instructions that when executed by the processor cause the processor to:
determine a plurality of sections of training text in which each section of training text is associated with a geographical region;
accumulate occurrences of a string in the plurality of sections of training text when terms to a left or right of the string are different from previous instances of the terms to the left or right of the string; and
generate a histogram that defines the geographical relevance of the string with respect to geographical regions based on the accumulated occurrences of the string.
22. The device of claim 21, further comprising analyzing the histogram for peaks.
23. The device of claim 21, where the string comprises a single term.
24. The device of claim 21, where the string comprises a bi-gram.
25. A method performed by one or more processors associated with one or more server devices, the method comprising:
examining, using a processor associated with the one or more server devices, a document to locate strings that were previously determined to have geographical relevance;
generating, using a processor associated with the one or more server devices, a plurality of histograms associated with the located strings, in the document, by comparing the located strings in the document to a pre-existing plurality of strings for which histograms were previously generated;
receiving, using a communication interface or an input device of the one or more server devices, the histograms associated with the strings, where the histograms relate occurrences of the strings to geographic regions;
obtaining, using a processor associated with the one or more server devices, a combined histogram for the document from the received histograms by multiplying values for each of the received histograms together;
analyzing, using a processor associated with the one or more server devices, the combined histogram for peaks; and
determining, using a processor associated with the one or more server devices, geographical relevance of the document based on whether peaks are present in the combined histogram.
26. The method of claim 25, further comprising normalizing the received histograms based on a global distribution of geographical regions within the training text.
27. The method of claim 25, where the strings comprise one of a single term or a bi-gram.
28. The method of claim 25, where the histograms relate zip codes to a number of occurrences of a string in documents associated with a particular zip code.

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 semiconductor workpiece processing system comprising:
at least one processing tool for processing semiconductor workpieces;
a container for holding at least one semiconductor workpiece therein for transport to and from the at least one processing tool;
a first transport section elongated and defining a travel direction, and having parts, that interface the container, supporting and transporting the container along the travel direction to and from the at least one processing tool, the container being in substantially continuous transport at a substantially constant rate in the travel direction, when supported by the first transport section; and
a second transport section connected to the at least one process tool for transporting the container to and from the at least one processing tool, the second transport section being separate and distinct from the first transport section and interfacing the first transport section for loading and unloading the container to and from the parts of the first transport section.
2. The system according to claim 1, wherein the second transport section is connected to the at least one processing tool for loading and unloading the container to and from the at least one processing tool.
3. The system according to claim 1, wherein the first transport section is a mass transport system with a distributed drive arranged to support and transport containers without transport vehicles, and the second transport section is a vehicle based system having a transport vehicle capable of holding and moving the container.
4. The system according to claim 1, wherein the second transport section comprises a transport vehicle capable of holding and transporting the container in a travel direction defined by the second transport system, the transport vehicle being arranged to load and unload the container to and from the first transport system.
5. The system according to claim 4, wherein the second transport section has a drive system arranged so that the transport vehicle of the second transport section is capable of travel in at least two travel directions angled relative to each other.
6. A semiconductor workpiece processing system comprising:
at least one processing tool for processing semiconductor workpieces;
a container for holding at least one semiconductor workpiece therein for transport to and from the at least one processing tool;
a first transport section elongated and defining a travel direction, and having parts, that interface the container, supporting and transporting the container along the travel direction to and from the at least one processing tool, the container travelling at a substantially constant rate in the travel direction, when supported by the first transport section; and
a second transport section connected to the at least one process tool and first transport section interfacing the container between the at least one processing tool and first transport section, the second transport section being distinct from the first transport section and interfacing the first transport section for loading and unloading the container to and from the parts of the first transport section;
wherein the constant rate of travel of the container is substantially independent of an interface rate between the second transport section and the at least one processing tool.