Author: claimsbot

1. Device for protecting an electrical circuit fed by an alternating current, comprising a housing and a fuse element disposed in the housing, wherein the housing comprises a first portion and a second portion which are mobile in relation to one another, and elastic means suitable for causing the first portion to bear against the second portion and causing the housing to be set in a closed state.
2. Device according to claim 1, in which the elastic means are implemented in such a way as to allow the separation of the first portion and the second portion of the housing when the pressure in the housing is greater than a threshold.
3. Device according to claim 1, comprising at least two connection terminals coupled on either side of the fuse element and fixed onto the second portion, the first and second portions being implemented in such a way that they become separated from one another according to the direction defined by the two connection terminals.
4. Device according to claim 1, wherein the first portion and the second portion of the housing comprise a material with a non-carbonizing surface on their inner surface.
5. Device according to claim 3, wherein the fuse element comprises at least one brazed joint implemented between the two connection terminals.
6. Electrical contactor comprising a switching element suitable for opening or closing an electrical circuit fed by an alternating current, and control means suitable for controlling the switching element to open or close the electrical circuit, characterised in that the switching element comprises a protection device according to claim 1.
7. Electrical contactor according to claim 6, further comprising electrical coupling terminals connected to said electrical circuit, the switching element comprises at least two connection studs connected respectively to the connection terminals of the protection device, and the control means comprise movement means coupled to the switching element and allowing the switching element to be moved between an open position of the electrical circuit where the connection studs are decoupled from the electrical coupling terminals and a closed position of the electrical circuit where the connection studs are coupled to the electrical coupling terminals.
8. Electrical contactor according to claim 7, further comprising elastic contact means coupled to the movement means in such a way as to bring the switching element to the closed position of the electrical circuit, the elastic contact means comprising said elastic means of the protection device.
9. Electrical contactor according to claim 6, in which the contactor is a power contactor.
10. Method for protecting an electrical circuit fed by an alternating current, comprising:
a) generating an electrical arc following the melting of a fuse element in a housing caused, the melting being caused by a current increase linked to a short circuit;
b) opening the housing;
c) expanding the electrical arc outside the housing;
d) closing the housing;
e) breaking the electrical arc when the housing closes;
f) repeating steps a) to e) if an electrical arc is reformed.
11. Method according to claim 10, in which the housing opens when the pressure in said housing is greater than a threshold and closes when said pressure is below the threshold, the pressure in said housing reducing when the absolute value of the alternating current reduces.

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 method for facilitating load reordering through cacheline marking, the method comprising:
receiving a load to be executed;
determining whether a cacheline for the load has been load-marked by a thread which is performing the load;
if so, performing the load; and
if not,
obtaining the cacheline;
attempting to load-mark the cacheline; and
if the cacheline is successfully load-marked, performing the load.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein determining whether the cacheline for the load has been load-marked involves checking a private buffer associated with the thread.
3. The method of claim 1, wherein determining whether the cacheline for the load has been load-marked involves checking the load-mark on the cacheline to determine if it has been set by the thread.
4. The method of claim 2, wherein the private buffer for the thread maintains the addresses of the cachelines whose load-marks have been set by the thread.
5. The method of claim 4, wherein checking the private buffer for the thread involves checking the private buffer to see if the address of the cacheline exists in the private buffer.
6. The method of claim 1, wherein the load-mark for the cacheline includes a load counter which keeps a count of how many threads hold load-marks on the cacheline.
7. The method of claim 2, wherein load-marking the cacheline involves:
reading the load counter value from the cacheline;
incrementing the load counter value;
storing the incremented load counter value to the cacheline; and
adding a corresponding entry to the private buffer for the thread which includes the address of the cacheline.
8. The method of claim 2, wherein the method further comprises:
removing the load-mark from the cacheline; and
removing the address of the cacheline from the private buffer.
9. The method of claim 8, wherein removing the load-mark from the cacheline involves:
reading the load counter value from the cacheline;
decrementing the load counter value; and
storing the decremented load counter value to the cacheline.
10. The method of claim 1, wherein attempting to load-mark the cacheline involves:
determining if the cacheline has been store-marked by the thread;
if so, load-marking the cacheline; and
if not, determining if the cacheline has been store-marked by another thread;
if so, not load-marking of the cacheline; and
if not, load-marking the cacheline.
11. The method of claim 10, wherein determining if the cacheline has been store-marked by the thread involves checking a store-mark buffer, which maintains addresses of cachelines whose store-marks have been set by the thread, to see if the address of the cacheline exists in the store-mark buffer.
12. The method of claim 10, wherein determining if the cacheline has been store-marked by another thread involves:
checking a store-mark in a copy of the cacheline in a local cache to see if the store-mark has been set; and
if there is no valid copy of the cacheline in the local cache, using a cache-coherency mechanism to determine if the store-mark has been set in a copy of the cacheline in another cache or in memory.
13. The method of claim 12, wherein using the cache-coherence mechanism to determine if the store-mark has been set by another thread involves:
sending a cache-coherence signal to other caches andor the memory to determine whether a copy of the cacheline has been store-marked by another thread; and
if another copy of the cacheline has been store-marked by another thread, receiving a NACK signal.
14. The method of claim 1, wherein if the thread has load-marked the cacheline, no other thread can store to the cacheline.
15. The method of claim 1, wherein if the thread has load-marked the cacheline, no other thread can store-mark the cacheline.
16. The method of claim 1, wherein the method further comprises:
receiving a set of loads directed to a set of cachelines which are load-marked by the thread;
reordering the set of loads into a new order; and
performing the set of loads in the new order.
17. The method of claim 16, wherein the set of loads that are performed in the new order appear to other threads to have been performed in program order.
18. An apparatus that facilitates load reordering through cacheline marking, comprising:
a receiving mechanism configured to receive a load to be executed;
a determination mechanism configured to determine whether a cacheline for the load has been load-marked by a thread which is performing the load;
an execution mechanism configured to perform the load if the cacheline has been load-marked;
a load-marking mechanism configured to load-mark the cacheline if the cacheline has not been load-marked;
wherein if the cacheline has not been load-marked, the determination mechanism is configured to:
obtain the cacheline; and to
attempt to load-mark the cacheline.
19. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the determination mechanism is configured to check a private buffer associated with the thread.
20. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the determination mechanism is configured to check the load-mark on the cacheline to determine if it has been set by the thread.
21. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the private buffer for the thread maintains the addresses of the cachelines whose load-marks have been set by the thread.
22. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the load-mark for the cacheline includes a load counter which keeps a count of how many threads hold load-marks on the cacheline.
23. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the load-marking mechanism is configured to:
read the load counter value from the cacheline;
increment the load counter value;
store the incremented load counter value to the cacheline; and to
add a corresponding entry to the private buffer for the thread which includes the address of the cacheline.
24. The apparatus of claim 19, further comprising a removal mechanism configured to:
remove the load-mark from the cacheline; and to
remove the address of the cacheline from the private buffer.
25. The apparatus of claim 24, wherein the removal mechanism is further configured to:
read the load counter value from the cacheline;
decrement the load counter value; and to
store the decremented load counter value to the cacheline.
26. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein while attempting to load-mark the cacheline, the determination mechanism is configured to:
determine if the cacheline has been store-marked by the thread;
if so, to load-mark the cacheline; and
if not, to determine if the cacheline has been store-marked by another thread;
if so, to not load-marking of the cacheline; and
if not, to load-mark the cacheline.
27. The apparatus of claim 18, further comprising:
a receiving mechanism configured to receive a set of loads directed to a set of cachelines which are load-marked by the thread;
a reordering mechanism configured to reorder the set of loads into a new order; and
wherein the execution mechanism is configured to perform the set of loads in the new order.
28. A computer system that facilitates load reordering through cacheline marking, comprising:
a processor;
a memory;
a receiving mechanism configured to receive a load to be executed;
a determination mechanism configured to determine whether a cacheline for the load has been load-marked by a thread which is performing the load;
an execution mechanism configured to perform the load if the cacheline has been load-marked;
a load-marking mechanism configured to load-mark the cacheline if the cacheline has not been load-marked;
wherein if the cacheline has not been load-marked, the determination mechanism is configured to:
obtain the cacheline; and to
attempt to load-mark the cacheline.

1. An active retractable seal assembly configured for use between a rotating component and a stationary component of a turbomachinery, comprising:
a seal mounted to the stationary component, wherein the seal is movable towards and away from the rotating component between a respective closed position and an open position as a function of pressure drop across the seal; the seal comprising:
an active seal segment;
a non-active seal segment; and
a fluid by-pass circuit for directing fluid around the active seal segment to reduce pressure drop across the active seal segment thereby resulting in the active seal segment moving towards an open position under the action of one or more biasing devices while maintaining the non-active seal segment in a closed position.
2. The seal assembly of claim 1, further comprising one or more first biasing devices disposed between the non-active seal segment and the stationary component.
3. The seal assembly of claim 2, wherein the one or more first biasing devices are configured for biasing the non-active seal segment towards a closing position in which the non-active seal segment contacts the rotating component.
4. The seal assembly of claim 2, wherein the one or more first biasing devices are configured for biasing the non-active seal segment towards an open position in which the non-active seal segment does not contact the rotating component.
5. The seal assembly of claim 1, further comprising one or more second biasing devices disposed between the active seal segment and the non-active seal segment.
6. The seal assembly of claim 5, wherein the one or more second biasing devices are configured for biasing the active seal segment towards an open position in which the active seal segment does not contact the rotating component.
7. The seal assembly of claim 1, wherein the active seal segment is disposed radially inward within the non-active seal segment.
8. The seal assembly of claim 1, wherein the by-pass circuit comprises a conduit extending from a location upstream of the active seal segment, via the stationary component, to a location downstream of the active seal segment.
9. The seal assembly of claim 8, wherein the by-pass circuit comprises a manually or automatically controlled valve coupled to the conduit and configured to control flow of fluid through the conduit.
10. The seal assembly of claim 9, wherein the active seal segment is moved to an open position by opening the valve.
11. The seal assembly of claim 9, wherein the active seal segment is moved to a closed position by closing the valve.
12. An active retractable seal assembly configured for use between a rotor and a stator of a turbine, comprising:
a seal mounted to the stator, wherein the seal is movable towards and away from the rotor between a respective closed position and an open position as a function of pressure drop across the seal; the seal comprising:
an active seal segment;
a non-active seal segment; and
a fluid by-pass circuit for directing fluid around the active seal segment to reduce pressure drop across the active seal segment thereby resulting in the active seal segment moving towards an open position under the action of one or more biasing devices while maintaining the non-active seal segment in a closed position.
13. The seal assembly of claim 12, wherein the active seal segment comprises an abradable active seal segment.
14. The seal assembly of claim 12, wherein the non-active seal segment comprises an abradable non-active seal segment.
15. The seal assembly of claim 12, wherein the active seal segment is disposed radially inward within the non-active seal segment.
16. The seal assembly of claim 12, wherein the by-pass circuit comprises a conduit extending from a location upstream of the active seal segment, via the stator, to a location downstream of the active seal segment.
17. The seal assembly of claim 12, wherein the by-pass circuit comprises a conduit extending from the non-active seal segment to the stator.
18. The seal assembly of claim 17, wherein the by-pass circuit comprises a manually or automatically controlled valve coupled to the conduit and configured to control flow of fluid through the conduit.
19. The seal assembly of claim 18, wherein the active seal segment is moved to an open position by opening the valve.
20. The seal assembly of claim 18, wherein the active seal segment is moved to a closed position by closing the valve.
21. An active retractable seal assembly configured for use between a rotating component and a stationary component of a turbomachinery, comprising:
a seal mounted to the stationary component, wherein the seal is movable towards and away from the rotating component between a respective closed position and an open position as a function of pressure drop across the seal; the seal comprising:
a non-active seal segment;
an active seal segment disposed radially within the non-active seal segment; wherein the active seal segment is movable towards and away from the rotating component between a respective closed position and an open position relative to the non-active seal segment; and
a fluid by-pass circuit for directing fluid around the active seal segment to reduce pressure drop across the active seal segment thereby resulting in the active seal segment moving towards an open position under the action of one or more biasing devices while maintaining the non-active seal segment in a closed position.
22. The seal assembly of claim 21, wherein the active seal segment is movably disposed within a cavity of the non-active seal segment.
23. A method for actively controlling a seal mounted to a stationary component and movable towards and away from a rotating component between a respective closed position and an open position as a function of pressure drop across the seal in a turbomachinery, the method comprising:
establishing a fluid by-pass circuit around an active seal segment of the seal;
controlling the bypass circuit to selectively admit a process fluid through the by-pass circuit to reduce the pressure drop across the active seal segment, resulting in the active seal segment moving away from the rotating component under the action of one or more biasing devices while maintaining contact between a non-active seal segment of the seal and the rotating component.
24. The method of claim 23, wherein controlling the by-pass circuit comprises controlling a valve coupled to a conduit extending from a location upstream of the active seal segment, via the stationary component, to a location downstream of the active seal segment so as to control flow of the fluid through the conduit to reduce the pressure drop across the active seal segment.

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 multicastbroadcast method comprising:
receiving an Internet Protocol (IP) packet from an upper layer;
determining whether the received IP packet comprises at least one of a multicast destination address and a broadcast destination address; and
transmitting a packet in which a connection identifier (CID) for the multicast or the broadcast is selectively attached to the received IP packet according to a result of the determination.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein the multicastbroadcast method is performed in a downlink from a base station to a mobile station.
3. The method of claim 1, wherein the multicastbroadcast method is performed in a convergence sublayer, convergence sublayer comprising an upper layer of a Media Access Control (MAC) layer which is operated in a base station.
4. The method of claim 3, further comprising:
inserting the packet comprising the CID for the multicast or the broadcast into a mobile anchor point (MAP) message, the MAP message comprising a MAC management message, in the MAC layer.
5. The method of claim 4, wherein specific mobile stations, in an area of coverage of the base station receive the packet comprising the CID, the packet comprising a multicast packet or nonspecific mobile stations, in the area of the coverage of the base station, receive the packet attached with the CID, which is a broadcast packet.
6. The method of claim 1, wherein the multicastbroadcast method is applied to a portable Internet system in accordance with at least one of Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.16de, wireless broadband Internet (WiBro), and World Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX).
7. A multicastbroadcast method comprising:
receiving an Internet Protocol (IP) packet from a mobile station;
determining whether the received IP packet comprises at least one of a first connection identifier (CID) for the multicast and the broadcast; and
transmitting a packet in which the first CID of the received IP packet is selectively replaced with a second CID according to a result of the determination.
8. The method of claim 7, wherein the multicastbroadcast method is performed in an uplink from a mobile station to a base station.
9. The method of claim 7, wherein the multicastbroadcast method is performed in a convergence sublayer, the convergence sublayer comprising an upper layer of a Media Access Control (MAC) layer which is operated in a base station.
10. The method of claim 9, further comprising:
inserting the packet in which the first CID is replaced with the second CID in a mobile anchor point (MAP) message, the Map message comprising a MAC management message, in the MAC layer.
11. The method of claim 10, wherein specific mobile stations, in an area of the coverage of the base station, receive the packet in which the first CID is replaced with the second CID, which is a multicast packet, or
nonspecific mobile stations, in the area of the coverage of the base station, receive the packet in which the first CID is replaced with the second CID.
12. The method of claim 7, wherein the multicastbroadcast method is applied to a portable Internet system in accordance with at least one of Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.16de, wireless broadband Internet (WiBro), and World Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX).
13. A multicastbroadcast apparatus comprising:
a classifier for generating determination information comprising an indication whether an Internet Protocol (IP) packet which is received from an upper layer comprises a multicast destination address or a broadcast destination address; and
a transmission unit for transmitting a packet in which a connection identifier (CID) for the multicast or the broadcast is selectively attached to the received IP packet according to the determination information.
14. The multicastbroadcast apparatus of claim 13, wherein the multicastbroadcast apparatus supports a downlink from a base station to mobile stations.
15. The multicastbroadcast apparatus of claim 13, wherein a convergence sublayer that is an upper layer of a Media Access Control (MAC) layer which is operated in a base station comprises the multicastbroadcast apparatus.
16. The multicastbroadcast apparatus of claim 13, further comprising:
a Media Access Control (MAC) layer for inserting the packet attached with the CID for the multicast or the broadcast into a mobile anchor point (MAP) message, the MAP comprising a MAC management message.
17. The multicastbroadcast apparatus of claim 13, wherein specific mobile stations, in an area of coverage of the base station, receive the packet attached with the CID, the packet comprising a multicast packet, or
nonspecific mobile stations, in the area of coverage of the base station, receive the packet attached with the CID, the packet comprising a broadcast packet.
18. The multicastbroadcast apparatus of claim 13, wherein the multicastbroadcast apparatus is applied to a portable Internet system in accordance with at least one of Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.16de, wireless broadband Internet (WiBro), and World Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX).
19. A multicastbroadcast apparatus comprising:
a classifier for generating determination information comprising an indication whether an Internet Protocol (IP) packet which is received from a mobile station comprises at least one of a first connection identifier (CID) for a multicast destination address and a broadcast destination address; and
a transmission unit for transmitting a packet in which the first CID of the received IP packet is selectively replaced with a second CID according to the generated determination information.
20. The multicastbroadcast apparatus of claim 19, wherein the multicastbroadcast apparatus supports an uplink from the mobile station to a base station.
21. The multicastbroadcast apparatus of claim 19, wherein a convergence sublayer that is an upper layer of a MAC layer which is operated in the base station comprises the multicastbroadcast apparatus.
22. The multicastbroadcast apparatus of claim 19, further comprising:
a Media Access Control (MAC) layer for inserting the packet in which the first CID is replaced with the second CID in a mobile anchor point (MAP) message, the MAP message comprising a MAC management message.
23. The multicastbroadcast apparatus of claim 19, wherein specific mobile stations, in an area of the coverage of the base station, receive the packet in which the first CID is replaced with the second CID, the packet comprising a multicast packet, or
nonspecific mobile stations, in the area of the coverage of the base station, receive the packet in which the first CID is replaced with the second CID.
24. The multicastbroadcast apparatus of claim 19, wherein the multicastbroadcast apparatus is applied to a portable Internet system in accordance with to at least one of Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.16de, wireless broadband Internet (WiBro), and World Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX).