Author: claimsbot

1. A method for distributing optical power to a plurality of optical data devices, the method comprising the steps of:
retrieving a priority signal, said priority signal associated with a priority ranking for said plurality of optical data devices;
determining if said priority signal indicates a change in said priority ranking for said plurality of optical data devices; and
responsive to a determination that the priority signal indicates the change in the priority ranking for the plurality of optical data devices, redistributing said optical power to said plurality of optical data devices.
2. The method of claim 1, further comprising the steps of:
retrieving a plurality of optical power monitor signals, said plurality of optical power monitor signals associated with a plurality of power levels of a plurality of optical power sources;
determining if said plurality of optical power output monitor signals indicates a defect in at least one optical power source of said plurality of optical power sources; and
responsive to a determination that the plurality of optical power output monitor signals indicates the defect in the at least one optical power source, redistributing said optical power to said plurality of optical data devices.
3. The method of claim 2, further comprising the step of sending a flag to a management unit, said flag indicating at least one of said defect and a request to correct said defect.
4. The method of claim 2, further comprising the step of redistributing said optical power to said plurality of optical data devices without incurring system down time.
5. The method of claim 3, further comprising the step of field replacement of said at least one defective optical power source without system down time.
6. The method of claim 1, further comprising the steps of:
retrieving a plurality of optical power monitor signals, said plurality of optical power monitor signals associated with a plurality of optical power levels received at a plurality of optical data devices;
determining if said plurality of optical power output monitor signals indicates a defect associated with an optical power distribution to at least one optical data device of said plurality of optical data devices; and
responsive a determination that the plurality of optical power output monitor signals indicates the defect associated with the optical power distribution to the at least optical data device, redistributing said optical power to said plurality of optical data devices.
7. The method of claim 6, further comprising the step of sending a flag to a management unit, said flag indicating said defect, and a request to correct said defect.
8. The method of claim 7, further comprising the step of field replacement of said defect associated with said optical power distribution without system down time.
9. The method of claim 1, further comprising the steps of:
retrieving a plurality of power monitor signals from said plurality of optical data devices;
determining if said plurality of power monitor signals from said plurality of optical data devices indicates a difference in a first power coupling ratio associated with a distribution of said optical power to said plurality of optical data devices; and
responsive to a determination that the plurality of power monitor signals from the plurality of optical data devices indicates the difference in the first power coupling ratio, calculating a second power coupling ratio associated with said distribution of said optical power to said plurality of optical data devices.
10. The method of claim 1, wherein said optical power comprises laser power.
11. The method of claim 10, wherein said laser power comprises power derived from a CW laser or a pulsed laser.
12. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of data devices comprise a plurality of optical data management or storage devices.
13. The method of claim 1, wherein the redistributing step is performed by an optical power switch and tunable coupler.
14. The method of claim 1, wherein the redistributing step is performed by an optical power combiner unit and
a tunable optical power coupler unit.
15. The method of claim 9, wherein said first power coupling ratio comprises a plurality of power coupling ratios.

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 for providing control to a parking brake for an aircraft having a power source during a towing operation of the aircraft, comprising:
a panel of the aircraft accessible from an exterior of the aircraft;
a parking brake switch disposed on the panel and configured to provide control over the engagement and disengagement of the parking brake on the aircraft; and
a tow status indicator configured to provide an indication to the exterior of the aircraft as to whether or not the aircraft may be towed.
2. The system of claim 1, wherein the panel is proximate to a landing gear of the aircraft.
3. The system of claim 1, wherein the panel is proximate to the nose of the aircraft.
4. The system of claim 1, wherein the parking brake is an electric brake.
5. The system of claim 1, further comprising:
a power switch disposed on the panel, to provide power to the system from the power source.
6. The system of claim 1, wherein the power source is at least one battery on the aircraft.
7. The system of claim 1, further comprising:
a navigation lights switch, wherein the navigation lights switch permits activation and deactivation of navigation lights on the aircraft when power is provided to the electric brakes.
8. The system of claim 5, wherein navigation lights are activated when power is provided to the system from the power source.
9. The system of claim 7, wherein the navigation lights are powered by the power source.
10. The system of claim 9, wherein the beacon lights are powered by the power source.
11. The system of claim 1, wherein:
the tow status indicator is disposed on the panel;
the tow status indicator is configured to indicate that towing is permitted when the parking brake is disengaged; and
the tow status indicator is configured to indicate that towing is not permitted when the parking brake is engaged.
12. The system of claim 1, wherein the panel is accessible by a person standing on the ground, adjacent to the aircraft.
13. A method of operating a system for providing control to a parking brake for an aircraft having a power source, a panel accessible from an exterior of the aircraft, and a parking brake switch disposed on the panel to provide control over the engagement and disengagement of the parking brake on the aircraft, the method comprising:
determining if towing is permitted for the aircraft;
after activation of the power switch, providing power from the power source to the parking brake;
indicating whether the aircraft may be towed or not using a tow status indicator configured to provide an indication to the exterior of the aircraft; and
if towing is not permitted, receiving a signal from the parking brake switch to disengage the parking brake.
14. The method of claim 13, wherein the panel is proximate to a landing gear of the aircraft.
15. The method of claim 13, wherein the panel is proximate to a nose of the aircraft.
16. The method of claim 13, wherein towing of the aircraft is controlled by at least one ground crew member.
17. The method of claim 13, wherein the parking brake is an electric brake.
18. The method of claim 13, wherein a power switch on the panel provides power to the system from the power source.
19. The method of claim 18, further comprising:
activating navigation lights on the aircraft after activation of a navigation lights switch on the panel.
20. The method of claim 19, wherein navigation lights are activated when power is provided to the system from the power source.
21. The method of claim 13, wherein the determining step includes assessing if the parking brake is engaged.
22. The method of claim 13, wherein the power source is at least one battery.
23. The method of claim 13, wherein the navigation lights are powered by the power source.
24. The method of claim 13, further comprising:
activating beacon lights on the aircraft.
25. The method of claim 24, wherein the beacon lights are powered by the power source.
26. The method of claim 13, wherein the panel is accessible by the ground crew member standing on the ground, adjacent to the aircraft.

1. An animal deterring device comprising a carrier having a first conductive trace that is separated from a second conductive trace by an arc suppressor that has at least one of (a) an umbrelloid shape, and (b) a configuration effective to increase creep distance between the first and second conductive traces by at least 1.5 times.
2. The device of claim 1 wherein the arc suppressor has an umbrelloid shape.
3. The device of claim 1 wherein the umbrelloid shape is selected form the group consisting of a T-shape, a stemmed inverted U-shape, and a stemmed inverted V-shape.
4. The device of claim 1 wherein the umbrelloid shape is continuous along the length of the carrier.
5. The device of claim 1 wherein the arc suppressor increases creep distance at least 1.7 times.
6. The device of claim 1 wherein the arc suppressor increases creep distance at least 2.0 times.
7. The device of claim 1 wherein the arc suppressor has a height to width ratio between 1:4 and 1:1.
8. The device of claim 1 wherein the carrier is configured as a stripe, and wherein the first and second conductive traces are parallel to the arc suppressor.
9. The device of claim 1 wherein the arc suppressor is continuous along the length of the carrier.
10. The device of claim 1 wherein at least one of the first and second conductive traces are continuous along the length of the carrier.
11. The device of claim 1 wherein at least part of the carrier is angled, and wherein the angle is selected such that when the device is installed on a horizontal surface water runs off the angled part.
12. The device of claim 1 wherein at least part of the arc suppressor is angled, and wherein the angle is selected such that when the device is installed on a horizontal surface water runs off the angled part.
13. The device of claim 1 having a height to width ratio between 1:5 and 1:2.
14. The device of claim 1 wherein the first and second conductive traces are spaced apart at a distance that allows formation of an electric circuit via a foot of a bird.
15. The device of claim 14 wherein the bird has a size of at least an adult pigeon.
16. The device of claim 14 wherein the bird has a size of at least an adult seagull.
17. An animal deterring device comprising a stripe-shaped carrier having a first conductive trace that is separated from a second conductive trace by an umbrelloid arc suppressor, and wherein the device has a height to width ratio between 1:5 and 1:2.
18. The device of claim 17 wherein the carrier is fabricated from a flexible material.

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 distributing a query, wherein the query comprises one or more sub-clauses, wherein each sub-clause comprises a triple pattern having three components for use with a distributed system, the method comprising:
identifying each sub-clause;
analysing three components of each sub-clause in accordance with one or more analysis rules in order to determine the proportion of values to variables;
in response to the determination, testing the sub-clause against one or more execution rules, wherein the execution rules are associated with an order of processing of a sub-clause based on the proportion of values to variables; and
in response to the testing, generating a sub-query associated with a first sub-clause having the largest proportion of values to variables.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein the sub-query is associated with determining a value associated with a variable in the first sub-clause.
3. The method of claim 2, further comprising:
analysing each of three components associated with the first sub-clause in order to determine whether at least one of the components is associated with a first non-literal value; and
in response to determining that at least one of the components is associated with a first non-literal value, using the first non-literal value in the sub-query.
4. The method of claim 3, wherein the first non-literal value comprises a first location and the method further comprises:
transmitting the sub-query to the first location.
5. The method of claim 3, further comprising:
in response to transmitting the sub-query, receiving a result comprising at least one value.
6. The method of claim 5, wherein the result comprises a second value associated with a second variable in the first sub-clause.
7. The method of claim 6, wherein the second value is a second non-literal value.
8. The method of claim 7, wherein the second non-literal value is associated with a second location.
9. The method of claim 8, further comprising: repeating each of the analysing each sub-clause and testing steps for at least one another clause of the one or more remaining sub-clauses.
10. The method of claim 9, further comprising:
generating a sub-query associated with a second sub-clause having the largest proportion of values to variables of said remaining sub-clauses.
11. The method of claim 10, further comprising:
using the second non-literal value in the sub-query associated with the second sub-clause.
12. The method of claim 11, wherein the result further comprises a third value associated with a second variable in the first sub-clause.
13. The method of claim 12, wherein the third value is a third non-literal value.
14. The method of claim 13, further comprising:
using the third non-literal value in the sub-query associated with the second sub-clause.
15. An apparatus for distributing a query, wherein the query comprises one or more sub-clauses, wherein each sub-clause comprises a triple pattern having three components for use with a distributed system, the apparatus comprising:
means for identifying each sub-clause;
means for analysing three components of each sub-clause in accordance with one or more analysis rules in order to determine the proportion of values to variables;
means, responsive to the determination, for testing the sub-clause against one or more execution rules, wherein the execution rules are associated with an order of processing of a sub-clause based on the proportion of values to variables; and
means, responsive to the means for testing, for generating a sub-query associated with a first sub-clause having the largest proportion of values to variables.
16. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the sub-query is operable to determine a value associated with a variable in the first sub-clause.
17. The apparatus of claim 16, further comprising:
means for analysing each of three components associated with the first sub-clause in order to determine whether at least one of the components is associated with a first non-literal value; and
means, responsive to a determination that at least one of the components is associated with a first non-literal value, for using the first non-literal value in the sub-query.
18. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the first non-literal value comprises a first location and the apparatus further comprises:
means for transmitting the sub-query to the first location.
19. The apparatus of claim 17, further comprising:
means, responsive to transmission of the sub-query, for receiving a result comprising at least one value.
20. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the result comprises a second value associated with a second variable in the first sub-clause.
21. The apparatus of claim 20, wherein the second value is a second non-literal value.
22. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein the second non-literal value is associated with a second location.
23. The apparatus of claim 22, further comprising:
means for repeating each of the analysing each sub-clause means and testing means for at least one another clause of the one or more remaining sub-clauses.
24. The apparatus of claim 23, further comprising:
means for generating a sub-query associated with a second sub-clause having the largest proportion of values to variables of said remaining sub-clauses.
25. The apparatus of claim 24, further comprising:
means for using the second non-literal value in the sub-query associated with the second sub-clause.
26. The apparatus of claim 25, wherein the result further comprises a third value associated with a second variable in the first sub-clause.
27. The apparatus of claim 26, wherein the third value is a third non-literal value.
28. The apparatus of claim 27, further comprising:
means for using the third non-literal value in the sub-query associated with the second sub-clause.
29. A computer program product comprising program code means adapted, when executed by a computer to cause said computer to perform a method for distributing a query, wherein the query comprises one or more sub-clauses, wherein each sub-clause comprises a triple pattern having three components for use with a distributed system, the method comprising:
identifying each sub-clause;
analysing three components of each sub-clause in accordance with one or more analysis rules in order to determine the proportion of values to variables;
in response to the determination, testing the sub-clause against one or more execution rules, wherein the execution rules are associated with an order of processing of a sub-clause based on the proportion of values to variables; and
in response to the testing, generating a sub-query associated with a first sub-clause having the largest proportion of values to variables.