Author: claimsbot

1. A storage device comprising:
an electron emitter;
a storage medium comprising an information layer having at least a first state and a second state for storing information; and
a resistance measurement system coupled to the storage medium for reading the information stored at the information layer by measuring resistance to determine a state of a storage area on the information layer.
2. The storage device of claim 1, further comprising a micromover to change a relative position between the electron emitter and the storage medium.
3. The storage device of claim 1, wherein a read signal path is defined between the electron emitter and a storage medium reference, and the resistance measurement system detects a first resistance by measuring the resistance through the storage medium including the storage area along the read signal path.
4. The storage device of claim 3, wherein the resistance measurement system includes a voltage divider that utilizes the first resistance and a second, known resistance.
5. The storage device of claim 3, wherein the first resistance has a value representative of whether the read signal path passes through a portion of the information layer that is in the first state or the second state.
6. The storage device of claim 3, wherein the resistance measurement system receives a current output signal representative of whether the read signal path passes through a portion of the information layer in the first state or the second state.
7. The storage device of claim 6, wherein the resistance measurement system further comprises a transimpedance amplifier for converting the current output signal to a voltage signal representative of the first state or the second state.
8. A storage device comprising:
an electron emitter capable of generating an electron beam current;
a storage medium, comprising an information layer and a semiconductor layer, the information layer having a first state and a second state for storing information; and
a resistance measurement system coupled to the storage medium, wherein when the storage medium is exposed to the electron beam current along a signal path, the resistance measurement system detects a resistance value representative of whether the information layer is in the first state or the second state along the signal path.
9. The storage device of claim 8, wherein the information layer is made of a phase change material.
10. The storage device of claim 9, wherein the phase change material is a Ge\u2014Sb\u2014Te ternary alloy.
11. The storage device of claim 8, wherein the first state is a crystalline state and the second state is an amorphous state.
12. The storage device of claim 8, wherein the semiconductor layer comprises silicon.
13. The storage device of claim 8, wherein the semiconductor layer comprises metal.
14. A storage system comprising:
a nonvolatile storage device comprising an electron emitter that generates an electron beam current, a storage medium in close proximity to the electron emitter, wherein the storage medium comprises an information layer made of a phase change material and a semiconductor layer, and a resistance measurement system coupled to the storage medium, wherein as the storage medium is exposed to the electron beam current along a signal path, the resistance measurement system detects a resistance value representative of whether the information layer is in a first state or a second state; and
a control system in communication with the resistance measurement system for reading data at the information layer.
15. The storage system of claim 14, the storage system having a read mode, where in the read mode the control system controls the magnitude of the power density of the electron beam current generated from the electron emitter that provides a resistance detection signal representative of the information stored on the storage medium.
16. The storage system of claim 15, the storage system having a write mode, where in the write mode the control system operates to control the magnitude of the power density of the electron beam current generated from the electron emitter to change a storage location on the storage medium between the first state and the second state to store information at the storage location.
17. The storage system of claim 16, wherein the read mode the magnitude of the power density of the electron beam current is less than the magnitude of the power density of the electron beam current in the write mode.
18. The storage system of claim 14, wherein at least a portion of the control system is located on the same semiconductor chip as the nonvolatile storage device.
19. A storage system comprising:
a control system; and
an array of storage devices in communication with the storage system, each storage device including an array of electron emitters fabricated by semiconductor microfabrication techniques capable of generating electron beams, a storage medium having medium partitions, and a plurality of micromovers wherein each micromover is operable to move one or more media partitions relative to one or more electron emitters for reading and writing data at the media, and a resistance measurement system positioned at each media partition for reading resistance values to determine data stored at the media partition.
20. The system of claim 19, wherein at least a portion of the control system and the array of storage devices are located on the same semiconductor chip.
21. The system of claim 19, wherein the control system receives an output signal from each resistance measurement system representative of data stored at each media partition.

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 outboard motor having a cowling comprising a bottom cowl and a top cowl configured to couple to the bottom cowl, the top cowl comprising a top cowl body that surrounds at least a portion of an engine of the outboard motor, the top cowl configured to couple with the bottom cowl, and the top cowl comprising an elongate thickened portion that extends longitudinally along the top cowl body in a fore to aft direction between a front end and a rear end of the top cowl body.
2. The outboard motor of claim 1, wherein the elongate thickened portion is an elongate band that extends inwardly from an inside surface of the top cowl, and the inside surface of the top cowl defines at least a portion of a chamber accommodating the engine.
3. The outboard motor of claim 1, wherein the elongate thickened portion is positioned generally midway between lateral side walls of the top cowl body.
4. The outboard motor of claim 3, wherein the elongate thickened portion extends inwardly from an inner surface of the top cowl towards the engine.
5. The outboard motor of claim 1, wherein the elongate thickened portion is a generally continuous elongate thickened portion that extends centrally along the top cowl.
6. The outboard motor of claim 5, wherein the top cowl further comprises an edge that surrounds the engine and mates with the bottom cowl, and a front end of the elongate thickened portion is adjacent the edge in a front portion of the top cowl and a rear end of the elongate thickened portion is adjacent the edge in a rear portion of the top cowl.
7. The outboard motor of claim 1, wherein the top cowl further comprises an opening edge configured to mate with the bottom cowl, and the elongate thickened portion extends along the top cowl from a forward end of the opening edge to a rearward end of the opening edge.
8. The outboard motor of claim 2, wherein the top cowl comprises a nonferrous metal.
9. The outboard motor of claim 1, wherein the elongate thickened portion has an average width that is greater than a distance that the elongate thickened portion extends inwardly from the top cowl.
10. The outboard motor of claim 1, wherein the top cowl further comprises a plurality of elongate thickened portions.
11. The outboard motor of claim 1, wherein the elongate thickened portion has a substantially rectangular axial cross-section.
12. A mold for forming a top cowl of nonferrous metal for an outboard motor, the mold comprising first and second mold portions that define a mold cavity shaped to form a top cowl having a top portion and side wall portions that depend from the top portion and define a bottom edge of the top cowl, an entrance sprue disposed at a front end of the mold cavity, an exit sprue disposed at a rear end of the mold cavity, a top cavity of the mold cavity configured to accommodate flow of molten metal from the entrance sprue to the exit sprue so as to form the top portion of the top cowl, side cavities of the mold cavity, the side cavities configured to accommodate flow of molten metal from the entrance sprue to the exit sprue so as to form the side wall portions of the top cowl, and a bottom edge of the mold cavity corresponding to the bottom edge of the top cowl, wherein the entrance and exit sprues are positioned at or adjacent the bottom edge of the mold cavity, and the top cavity and side cavities are configured so that molten metal flows faster through the top cavity than through the side cavities.
13. The mold of claim 12, wherein the entrance sprue and exit sprue are positioned in the aft to fore direction of the top cowl.
14. The mold of claim 12, wherein the side cavities and top cavity are shaped such that the nonferrous metal that exits the entrance sprue and is divided into a top flow that flows through the top cavity and side flows that flow through the side cavities, and the top flow and side flows reach the exit sprue at generally the same time.
15. The mold of claim 12, wherein a length of a flowpath from the entrance sprue through the top cavity is greater than a flowpath from the entrance sprue through one of the side cavities.
16. The mold of claim 12, wherein the top cavity is configured to form a reinforcement thickened portion that extends longitudinally along the top cavity.
17. The mold of claim 12, wherein molten metal that flows through the top cavity travels towards the exit sprue at substantially the same velocity in the fore to aft direction as the molten metal that flows through the side cavities.
18. The mold of claim 12, wherein the top cavity has a thickened portion for less flow resistance than the flow resistance of the side cavities.
19. The mold of claim 12, wherein the mold is configured such that material injected into the mold cavity flows upwardly from the entrance sprue to the exit sprue.
20. The outboard motor of claim 1, wherein the top cowl body is unitarily formed.
21. An outboard motor of claim 20, wherein the elongate thickened portion extends continuously from the front end to the rear end of the top cowl body.
22. An outboard motor having a cowling comprising a bottom cowl and a top cowl configured to couple to the bottom cowl, the top cowl comprising a top cowl body that surrounds at least a portion of an engine of the outboard motor, the top cowl configured to couple with the bottom cowl, and the top cowl comprising an elongate thickened portion that extends along the top cowl body in a fore to aft direction between a front end and a rear end of the top cowl body, wherein the top cowl further comprises an opening edge configured to mate with the bottom cowl, and the elongate thickened portion extends along the top cowl from a forward end of the opening edge to a rearward end of the opening edge.

We claim:

1. A method of detecting bandwidth capabilities over a network, comprising detecting bandwidth in stages depending upon comparing a conducted detection measurement against resolution limitations.
2. The method of claim 1, comprising:
conducting a first bandwidth measurement employing a small package download;
determining whether the first measured bandwidth is within resolution limitations; and
if the first measured bandwidth is determined to be outside resolution limitations, then conducting a second bandwidth measurement employing a larger package download.
3. The method of claim 2, wherein the small package download is selected to be conducted within no more than about four seconds using the slowest expected communication mechanism.
4. The method of claim 3, wherein the larger package download is selected to take no more than about three seconds using a commonly employed network equipment one increment faster than the slowest expected communication mechanism.
5. The method of claim 2, wherein the first bandwidth measurement comprises downloading a small package, timing the small package download, and first calculating the bandwidth based on the timed small package download.
6. The method of claim 5, wherein determining whether the first measured bandwidth is within resolution limitations comprises determining whether the timed small package download is within timer resolution.
7. The method of claim 5, wherein the second bandwidth measurement comprises:
downloading a larger package;
timing the larger package download; and
second calculating the bandwidth from the timed larger package download.
8. The method of claim 7, further comprising:
determining the small package size prior to first calculating; and
determining the larger package size prior to second calculating.
9. The method of claim 2, further comprising:
determining whether the second measured bandwidth is within the resolutions limitations; and
recalculating bandwidth by downloading a package larger than the larger package.
10. The method of claim 9, further comprising continually recalculating bandwidth using progressively larger package downloads until the calculated bandwidth is within the resolution limitations.
11. A method of optimizing streaming video across a network, comprising:
detecting bandwidth capabilities at a terminal on the network; and
adjusting a display frame size based upon the detected bandwidth.
12. The method of claim 11, wherein detecting bandwidth capabilities comprises conducting a staged bandwidth measurement using progressively larger package downloads until the measured bandwidth is within system resolution limitations.
13. The method of claim 12, wherein the system resolution limitations comprise timer limitations.
14. The method of claim 11, wherein detecting bandwidth capabilities is initiated prior to user initiation of displaying the streaming video.
15. The method of claim 11, wherein detecting bandwidth capabilities is conducted continually during presentation to determine whether detected bandwidth remains within defined configurable thresholds for a currently employed presentation media.
16. A generalized system for delivering streaming data to a client on a network, the system including a detection mechanism configured to automatically select from a plurality of available information streams for a given presentation.
17. The system of claim 16, wherein a detection mechanism is configured to repeatedly measure bandwidth and determine bandwidth measurement accuracy until the measured bandwidth is within system resolution limitations.
18. The system of claim 17, wherein the repeated bandwidth measurements download progressively larger packages and measure elapsed time during the downloads.
19. The system of claim 16, wherein the detection mechanism employs a static presentation if a measured bandwidth is too low to support a rich media presentation.
20. The system of claim 16, configured to initiate bandwidth detection prior to user selection to display the given presentation.

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 irradiating a target with a beam of energetic radiation formed by electrically charged particles, comprising the steps of
providing a pattern definition means having a plurality of apertures transparent to said radiation,
illuminating said pattern definition means by means of an illuminating wide beam, which traverses the pattern definition means through said apertures thus forming a patterned beam consisting of a corresponding plurality of beamlets,
forming said patterned beam into a pattern image on the location of the target, said pattern image comprising the images of at least part of the plurality of apertures covering a number of pattern pixels on the target, and
generating a relative movement between said target and the pattern definition means producing a movement of said pattern image on the target along a path over a region where a beam exposure is to be performed, said region being composed of a plurality of pattern pixels arranged in a regular arrangement and having a total width as measured across a main direction of said relative movement, said movement defining a number of stripes covering said region in sequential exposures, said stripes running substantially parallel to each other along said main direction and having respective widths as measured across said main direction,

wherein the number of stripes is written in a consecutive order in at least two passes, wherein each stripe belongs to exactly one of said passes,
wherein for each pass, the widths of the stripes of one pass combine into a cover of the total width,
wherein each pass is associated with one of a number of partial grids of pattern pixels which are exposable during the respective pass, the partial grids being mutually different and, when taken together, combining to the complete plurality of pattern pixels which compose said region where a beam exposure is to be performed.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein the stripes of each pass are distributed into at least two groups of spatially adjacent stripes, and the stripes are written either in a time sequence wherein either each stripe is followed by a non-adjacent stripe of a different group, or in a time sequence wherein the stripes are written in groups of stripes according to the order of the groups, with each group of stripes being followed by a non-adjacent different group.
3. The method of claim 2, wherein the passes are written in a temporally interlacing order, by writing groups of at least two stripes belonging to a respective one of the passes in immediate consecutive order, and groups of stripes are written for alternating passes.
4. The method of claim 3, wherein groups of stripes covering substantially the same area on the target are written in immediate consecutive order.
5. The method of claim 1, wherein groups of stripes belonging to the same pass are written subsequently in time.
6. The method of claim 1, wherein the stripes are located such that for each stripe, a boundary of said stripe having an orientation parallel to said main direction falls within a central region of a stripe of a different pass.
7. The method of claim 1, wherein the stripes of each pass have uniform width, the stripes of different passes being offset to each other by an offset value which is substantially equal to an integer multiple of the width plus a fraction of the width, said fraction corresponding to the inverse of the number of passes.
8. The method of claim 1, wherein within each pass consecutive stripes are exposed at lateral offsets to each other which correspond to the respective widths of the stripes.
9. The method of claim 1, wherein the stripes of at least one of the passes are overlapping, wherein in the range of overlap of two stripes of the same pass:
nominal positions of pattern pixels of one of the two stripes are overlapping with nominal positions of corresponding pattern pixels of the other of the two stripes, and
pattern pixels are exposed in the two overlapping stripes in a complementary manner with regard to the pattern to be imposed.
10. The method of claim 1, wherein within each stripe, the pattern pixels are selectively exposed according to an actual pattern to be exposed, wherein through pixels of different partials grids different pixel locations of the actual pattern are exposable.
11. The method of claim 10, wherein the total width is divided into a number of regions, and for each region, depending on a comparison between a pattern pixel density evaluated based on the actual pattern within the respective region and a predetermined threshold value andor a comparison between the number of groups per pass in the respective region and a predetermined constant, a decision is made for the time sequence of writing the stripes, namely, between a time sequence wherein each stripe is followed by a non-adjacent stripe of a different group, and a time sequence wherein the stripes are written in groups of stripes according to the order of the group, with each group of stripes being followed by a non-adjacent different group.
12. The method of claim 10, wherein the total width is divided into a number of regions, and for each region, depending on a comparison between a pattern pixel density evaluated based on the actual pattern within the respective region and a predetermined threshold value andor a comparison between the number of groups per pass in the respective region and a predetermined constant, a decision is made for the time sequence of writing the stripes, namely, between a time sequence wherein the stripes of each pass are written in immediate consecutive order, and a time sequence wherein either each stripe is followed by a non-adjacent stripe of a different group, or wherein the stripes are written in groups of stripes according to the order of the group, with each group of stripes being followed by a non-adjacent different group.
13. The method of claim 1, wherein during the uniformly timed exposure steps, during which respective pattern pixels are exposed on the target, the location of the pattern image is moved along with the target at least with respect to the relative movement along the main direction, and between exposure steps the location of the pattern image is changed with respect to the target, generally compensating the movement of the location of the pattern image with regard to the location of the pattern definition means, wherein the duration of said exposure steps corresponds to a uniform distance of advance along the main direction, said distance of advance being greater than the size of an aperture image within the same partial grid along the main direction.
14. The method of claim 1, wherein the positions of the images of apertures on the target are arranged according to a two-dimensional regular arrangement defined in the pattern definition mean.
15. The method of claim 1, wherein the partial grids are mutually disjoint with regard to nominal positions of images of apertures which define pattern pixels.
16. The method of claim 1, wherein the partial grids have a pitch being equal or smaller than the width of the images of apertures on the target.
17. The method of claim 16, wherein the regular partial grids are placement grids employing oversampling with an oversampling factor o>1.
18. The method of claim 16, wherein the pitch is equal to the width of the images of apertures on the target times \xbdke, with ke being a positive integer.