Author: claimsbot

I claim:

1. Branch prediction logic for generating a branch bias providing a prediction as to whether execution of a branch instruction will result in a branch being taken or not taken, the branch prediction logic comprising:
a first branch bias storage operable to store for each of a plurality of first address portions a corresponding first branch bias value, the first branch bias storage being operable upon receipt of a first address portion of the branch instruction’s address to output the corresponding first branch bias value from the first branch bias storage;
a history storage operable to store history data identifying an outcome for a number of preceding branch instructions;
a single second branch bias storage having a number of entries, each entry being operable to store a replacement branch bias value and a TAG value indicative of an instance in which the replacement branch bias value should be used as the generated branch bias in preference to the first branch bias value;
index generation logic operable to generate an index identifying a corresponding entry in the single second branch bias storage, the index being derived from the history data;
the single second branch bias storage being operable upon receipt of the index to cause the content of the corresponding entry to be output from the single second branch bias storage; and
selection logic operable to select as the branch bias generated by the branch prediction logic the first branch bias value, unless the TAG value output from the single second branch bias storage corresponds to a comparison TAG value derived from a second address portion of the branch instruction’s address, in which event, the selection logic is operable to select as the branch bias generated by the branch prediction logic the replacement branch bias value output from the single second branch bias storage.
2. Branch prediction logic as claimed in claim 1, wherein said index generation logic is operable to generate the index from a logical combination of the history data and the branch instruction’s address.
3. Branch prediction logic as claimed in claim 1, wherein the single second branch bias storage is a set associative storage, wherein the index identifies multiple corresponding entries in the single second branch bias storage, the selection logic being operable to determine whether any of the TAG values output from the corresponding entries correspond to the comparison TAG value, and in the event of such correspondence with the TAG value of one of said corresponding entries, to select the replacement branch bias value for that one corresponding entry as the branch bias generated by the branch prediction logic.
4. Branch prediction logic as claimed in claim 3, wherein the selection logic further comprises a priority encoder operable, in the event that the selection logic determines correspondence with the TAG value from more than one of said corresponding entries, to perform a predetermined prioritisation routine to determine which of those corresponding entries’ replacement branch bias value is to be selected as the branch bias generated by the branch prediction logic.
5. Branch prediction logic as claimed in claim 1, further comprising update logic operable to update the history data in the history storage to take account of whether execution of the branch instruction results in a branch being taken or not taken.
6. Branch prediction logic as claimed in claim 1, further comprising update logic operable, following subsequent execution of the branch instruction, to update within the first branch bias storage the first branch bias value associated with the first address portion of the branch instruction so as to take account of whether the execution of the branch instruction resulted in a branch being taken or not taken, unless one of said replacement branch bias values was used as the generated branch bias, that replacement branch bias value correctly predicted the branch, and the first branch bias value would have incorrectly predicted the branch, in which event no update of the first branch bias value is performed.
7. Branch prediction logic as claimed in claim 1, further comprising update logic operable, following subsequent execution of the branch instruction, and if one of said replacement branch bias values was used as the generated branch bias, to update that replacement branch bias value within the corresponding entry of the single second branch bias storage so as to take account of whether the execution of the branch instruction resulted in a branch being taken or not taken.
8. Branch prediction logic as claimed in claim 1, wherein the first branch bias storage is a table.
9. Branch prediction logic as claimed in claim 1, wherein the single second branch bias storage is a single cache.
10. A data processing apparatus comprising:
an execution unit operable to execute a sequence of instructions; and
a prefetch unit operable to prefetch instructions from a memory for passing to the execution unit;
the prefetch unit including branch prediction logic operable to generate a branch bias providing a prediction as to whether execution of a branch instruction by the execution unit will result in a branch being taken or not taken;
the branch prediction logic comprising:
a first branch bias storage operable to store for each of a plurality of first address portions a corresponding first branch bias value, the first branch bias storage being operable upon receipt of a first address portion of the branch instruction’s address to output the corresponding first branch bias value from the first branch bias storage;
a history storage operable to store history data identifying an outcome for a number of preceding branch instructions;
a single second branch bias storage having a number of entries, each entry being operable to store a replacement branch bias value and a TAG value indicative of an instance in which the replacement branch bias value should be used as the generated branch bias in preference to the first branch bias value;
index generation logic operable to generate an index identifying a corresponding entry in the single second branch bias storage, the index being derived from the history data;
the single second branch bias storage being operable upon receipt of the index to cause the content of the corresponding entry to be output from the single second branch bias storage; and
selection logic operable to select as the branch bias generated by the branch prediction logic the first branch bias value, unless the TAG value output from the single second branch bias storage corresponds to a comparison TAG value derived from a second address portion of the branch instruction’s address, in which event, the selection logic is operable to select as the branch bias generated by the branch prediction logic the replacement branch bias value output from the single second branch bias storage.
11. A method of generating within a data processing apparatus a branch bias providing a prediction as to whether execution of a branch instruction will result in a branch being taken or not taken, the method comprising the steps of:
referencing a first branch bias storage using a first address portion of the branch instruction’s address, the first branch bias storage being operable to store for each of a plurality of first address portions a corresponding first branch bias value, and being responsive to said referencing to output the first branch bias value corresponding to the first address portion of the branch instruction’s address;
storing history data identifying an outcome for a number of preceding branch instructions;
generating an index identifying a corresponding entry in a single second branch bias storage, the index being derived from the history data, the single second branch bias storage having a number of entries, each entry being operable to store a replacement branch bias value and a TAG value indicative of an instance in which the replacement branch bias value should be used as the generated branch bias in preference to the first branch bias value;
referencing the single second branch bias storage using the index to cause the content of the corresponding entry to be output from the single second branch bias storage; and
selecting as the generated branch bias the first branch bias value, unless the TAG value output from the single second branch bias storage corresponds to a comparison TAG value derived from a second address portion of the branch instruction’s address, in which event, selecting as the generated branch bias the replacement branch bias value output from the single second branch bias storage.
12. A method as claimed in claim 11, wherein the index is generated from a logical combination of the history data and the branch instruction’s address.
13. A method as claimed in claim 11, wherein the single second branch bias storage is a set associative storage, wherein the index identifies multiple corresponding entries in the single second branch bias storage, the selecting step further comprising the steps of:
determining whether any of the TAG values output from the corresponding entries correspond to the comparison TAG value; and
in the event of such correspondence with the TAG value of one of said corresponding entries, selecting the replacement branch bias value for that one corresponding entry as the generated branch bias.
14. A method as claimed in claim 13, wherein said determining step further comprises the step of:
in the event that correspondence with the TAG value from more than one of said corresponding entries is determined, performing a predetermined prioritisation routine to determine which of those corresponding entries’ replacement branch bias value is to be selected as the generated branch bias.
15. A method as claimed in claim 11, further comprising the step of:
updating the history data in the history storage to take account of whether execution of the branch instruction results in a branch being taken or not taken.
16. A method as claimed in claim 11, further comprising the step of:
following subsequent execution of the branch instruction, updating within the first branch bias storage the first branch bias value associated with the first address portion of the branch instruction so as to take account of whether the execution of the branch instruction resulted in a branch being taken or not taken, unless one of said replacement branch bias values was used as the generated branch bias, that replacement branch bias value correctly predicted the branch, and the first branch bias value would have incorrectly predicted the branch, in which event no update of the first branch bias value is performed.
17. A method as claimed in claim 11, further comprising the step of:
following subsequent execution of the branch instruction, and if one of said replacement branch bias values was used as the generated branch bias, updating that replacement branch bias value within the corresponding entry of the single second branch bias storage so as to take account of whether the execution of the branch instruction resulted in a branch being taken or not taken.
18. A method as claimed in claim 11, wherein the first branch bias storage is a table.
19. A method as claimed in claim 11, wherein the single second branch bias storage is a single cache.

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 of producing a flexible circuit board including a resin layer and a wiring formed of a metal foil, to be used with a bend portion provided at least at one position of the wiring, the method comprising:
manufacturing a metal-clad laminate having the metal foil and the resin layer,
wherein the metal foil comprises a rolled copper foil having a rolling direction MD aligned with a <100> axis direction of the rolled copper foil, and
wherein II0\u226725 is satisfied between an intensity (I) of a (200) plane of the rolled copper foil in the thickness direction, which is obtained by X-ray diffraction, and an intensity (I0) of a (200) plane of a copper fine powder which is obtained by X-ray diffraction,
the method further comprising forming a linear wiring so as to have an angle in a range of 26.6\xb0 to 63.4\xb0 relative to the rolling direction MD of the copper foil so that a cross section of the wiring cut in a thickness direction from a ridge line in the bend portion forms a principal orientation on any one of planes within a range of (210) to (120) in a rotation direction from (100) to (110) with 001 set as a zone axis;
wherein the forming of the linear wiring comprises performing thermal treatment on a rolled copper foil having a face-centered cubic structure to exhibit a cubic texture;
wherein the cubic crystal exhibits a preferred orientation in which an occupied area ratio of a region in which one of fundamental crystal axes <100> of a unit lattice of the face-centered cubic structure is located within an orientation difference of 10\xb0 relative to a thickness direction of the metal foil is equal to or larger than 50%, and exhibits a preferred orientation in which an occupied area ratio of a region in which another one of the fundamental crystal axes <100> of a unit lattice of the face-centered cubic structure is located within an orientation difference of 10\xb0 relative to a direction in a foil surface is equal to or larger than 50%.
2. The method of producing a flexible circuit board according to claim 1, wherein the bend portion is formed with a repeated operation selected from the group consisting of sliding bending, fold bending, hinge bending, and slide bending.
3. The method of producing a flexible circuit board according to claim 1, wherein the forming comprises forming the wiring along a direction orthogonal to the ridge line at the bend portion.
4. The method of producing a flexible circuit board according to claim 1, wherein II0>33 is satisfied between an intensity (I) of a (200) plane of the rolled copper foil in the thickness direction, which is obtained by X-ray diffraction, and an intensity (I0) of a (200) plane of a copper fine powder which is obtained by X-ray diffraction.

1. A hypersonic waverider aircraft, comprising:
a first engine;
an inlet including a throat, the inlet being configured to generate three-dimensional flow compression during hypersonic flight with a weak shock wave that begins at the leading edge surfaces of the inlet and coalesces ahead of the throat, and a weak shock wave that begins at the point of coalescence of the weak shock wave and extends to the throat, wherein
at least a portion of the inlet is asymmetrical about a longitudinal axis of the engine, and
the underside of the inlet includes a v-shaped leading edge cut out of the underside of the inlet so that the shape of a conical shock wave required to capture the desired amount of airflow is asymmetrical about the longitudinal axis of the first engine.
2. The hypersonic waverider aircraft of claim 1 wherein the engine is a scramjet engine.
3. The hypersonic waverider aircraft of claim 1 further comprising:
a turbojet engine mounted above the first engine.
4. The hypersonic waverider aircraft of claim 1 further comprising:
an integrated wing-body; and
an asymmetrical nozzle integrated into the shape of the wing-body.
5. The hypersonic waverider aircraft of claim 1 further comprising:
an integrated wing-body, wherein the shape of the inlet is further defined by and integrated with the planform and thickness of the wing-body.
6. The hypersonic waverider aircraft of claim 1 further comprising:
a second engine mounted above the first engine.
7. The hypersonic waverider aircraft of claim 6 wherein the first engine is a scramjet engine, and the second engine is a turbojet engine.
8. A waverider aircraft comprising:
an engine including an inlet and a throat, the inlet being configured to generate three-dimensional flow compression with a shock at the throat during hypersonic flight, and the inlet is further configured to be asymmetrical about a longitudinal axis of the engine;
the inlet is configured to generate three-dimensional flow compression during hypersonic flight with a weak shock that begins at leading edge surfaces of the inlet and coalesces ahead of the throat, and a strong shock that begins at the point of coalescence of the weak shock wave and extends to the throat.
9. The aircraft of claim 8 wherein the inlet is integrated into the shape an aircraft and includes a v-shaped lip open to freestream airflow in one side of the inlet.
10. The aircraft of claim 9 wherein the engine is a scramjet engine.
11. The aircraft of claim 10 further comprising:
a turbojet engine mounted adjacent to the scramjet engine, wherein the turbojet engine and the scramjet engine are configured to share the inlet.
12. The aircraft of claim 8 further comprising:
a nozzle with a throat including a contour to achieve a desired thrust and modified to be asymmetrical to conform to a desired shape of an aircraft.
13. The aircraft of claim 8 further comprising:
an integrated wing-body, wherein the shape of the inlet is further defined by and integrated with the planform and thickness of the wing-body.
14. The aircraft of claim 13 further comprising a nozzle that is asymmetrical about the longitudinal axis of the engine.
15. An aircraft comprising:
a first engine capable of delivering thrust for hypersonic cruise flight;
a second engine mounted adjacent to the first engine, wherein the second engine delivers thrust at speeds below hypersonic cruise flight, and the first engine and the second engine are configured to share an inlet; and
the inlet includes a throat and generates three-dimensional inward-turning flow compression, and the inlet is further configured to be asymmetrical about longitudinal axes of the scramjet and turbojet engines.
16. The aircraft of claim 15 wherein the inlet is integrated into the shape of the aircraft and includes a v-shaped lip open to freestream airflow in one side of the inlet.
17. The aircraft of claim 15 wherein the inlet is configured to capture desired airflow while retaining upper lifting surface shape of a wing-body configuration of the aircraft and including a v-shaped lip cut out of the underside of the inlet.
18. The aircraft of claim 15 further comprising:
a nozzle with a throat including a contour to achieve a desired thrust and modified to be asymmetrical to conform to a desired shape of the aircraft.

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. An ink jet recording apparatus for recording a color image, comprising:
a first head group including a plurality of chromatic color ink recording heads, which are aligned in a scanning direction, for jetting a plurality of photocurable chromatic color inks to a recording medium;
a second head group including at least one of a transparent ink recording head for jetting a photocurable transparent ink to the recording medium and an achromatic color ink recording head for jetting a photocurable achromatic color ink to the recording medium;
a plurality of light emitting devices for emitting light to cure the photocurable ink on the recording medium;
a scanning device which accommodates the first head group and the second head group and which scans the head groups in the scanning direction; and
a conveying device for conveying the recording medium in a direction orthogonal to the scanning direction of the scanning device;
wherein the first head group and the second head group are aligned in the scanning direction;
wherein no light emitting device is interposed between any of the plurality of the chromatic color ink recording heads of the first head group such that the chromatic color inks jetted from the chromatic color ink recording heads are superimposed and mixed without being cured;
wherein one of the light emitting devices is arranged between the first head group and the second head group to cure the ink jetted from one of the first head group and the second head group such that ink jetted from the other of the first head group and the second head group is superimposed without mixing on the ink jetted from said one of the first head group and the second head group; and
wherein another one of the light emitting devices is arranged on a trailing side, in the scanning direction, of a trailing one of the first head group and the second head group.
2. The ink jet recording apparatus of claim 1, wherein the scanning device scans bilaterally so as to scan in two opposite directions, including said scanning direction and an opposite scanning direction, and still another one of the light emitting devices is arranged on a trailing side, in the opposite scanning direction, of a trailing one of the first head group and the second head group in the opposite scanning direction, such that the light emitting devices are respectively arranged on both sides of each of the first head group and the second head group.
3. The ink jet recording apparatus of claim 2, wherein one of the light emitting devices at a leading side of a leading one of the head groups is controlled not to burn, and the other light emitting devices are controlled to burn, for each of the scanning directions.
4. The ink jet recording apparatus of claim 1, wherein the plurality of chromatic color ink recording heads respectively jet yellow, magenta, and cyan inks, and the achromatic color ink recording head jets one of a black ink and a white ink.
5. The ink jet recording apparatus of claim 1, wherein the inks are UV-curable inks and the light emitting devices emit at least UV-rays.
6. An ink jet recording apparatus for recording a color image, comprising:
a first head group including a plurality of chromatic color ink recording heads, which are aligned in a conveying direction of a recording medium, for jetting a plurality of photocurable chromatic color inks to the recording medium;
a second head group including at least one of a transparent ink recording head for jetting a photocurable transparent ink to the recording medium and an achromatic color ink recording head for jetting a photocurable achromatic color ink to the recording medium;
a plurality of light emitting devices for emitting light to cure the photocurable ink on the recording medium; and
a conveying device for conveying the recording medium in the conveying direction,
wherein the first head group and the second head group are aligned in the conveying direction of the recording medium;
wherein no light emitting device is interposed between any of the plurality of the chromatic color ink recording heads of the first head group such that the chromatic color inks jetted from the chromatic color ink recording heads are superimposed and mixed without being cured;
wherein one of the light emitting devices is arranged between the first head group and the second head group to cure the ink jetted from one of the first head group and the second head group such that ink jetted from the other of the first head group and the second head group is superimposed without mixing on the ink jetted from said one of the first head group and the second head group;
wherein another one of the light emitting devices is arranged on a trailing side, in the conveying direction of the recording medium, of a trailing one of the first head group and the second head group; and
wherein the first head group and the second head group are line-head type recording heads.
7. The ink jet recording apparatus of claim 6, wherein the plurality of chromatic color ink recording heads respectively jet yellow, magenta, and cyan inks, and the achromatic color ink recording head jets one of a black ink and a white ink.
8. The ink jet recording apparatus of claim 6, wherein the second head group includes a black ink recording head and a white ink recording head, and still another one of the light emitting devices is arranged between the black ink recording head and the white ink recording head in the conveying direction of the recording medium.
9. The ink jet recording apparatus of claim 6, wherein the inks are UV-curable inks and the light emitting devices emit at least UV-rays.
10. An ink jet recording apparatus for recording a color image, comprising:
a first head group including a plurality of chromatic color ink recording heads, which are aligned in a scanning direction, for jetting a plurality of photocurable chromatic color inks to a recording medium;
a second head group including at least one of a transparent ink recording head for jetting a photocurable transparent ink to the recording medium and an achromatic color ink recording head for jetting a photocurable achromatic color ink to the recording medium; and
a plurality of light emitting devices for emitting light to cure the photocurable ink on the recording medium;
wherein the first head group and the second head group are aligned in the scanning direction;
wherein no light emitting device is interposed between any of the plurality of the chromatic color ink recording heads of the first head group such that the chromatic color inks jetted from the chromatic color ink recording heads are superimposed and mixed without being cured;
wherein one of the light emitting devices is arranged between the first head group and the second head group to cure the ink jetted from one of the first head group and the second head group such that ink jetted from the other of the first head group and the second head group is superimposed without mixing on the ink jetted from said one of the first head group and the second head group;
wherein another one of the light emitting devices is on a trailing side, in the scanning direction, of a trailing one of the first head group and the second head group; and
wherein the second head group includes one of a black ink recording head and a white ink recording head, and includes the transparent ink recording head, and still another one of the light emitting devices is arranged between said one of the black ink recording head and the white ink recording head, and the transparent recording head in the scanning direction.
11. The ink jet recording apparatus of claim 10, wherein the second head group includes the black ink recording head and the white ink recording head, and still another one of the light emitting devices is arranged between the black ink recording head and the white ink recording head in the scanning direction.
12. The ink jet recording apparatus of claim 10, wherein an emission amount of the light emitting device that cures the transparent ink is smaller than an emission amount of the light emitting devices that cure the chromatic color inks and the achromatic color ink.
13. The ink jet recording apparatus of claim 10, wherein the inks are UV-curable inks and the light emitting devices emit at least UV-rays.