Author: claimsbot

1. A method comprising:
receiving at least one tracking signal indicative of tracked navigational movements of a device navigated in motion in an object space with both device orientation movements with respect to a three-dimensional reference frame of said object space and device translatory position movements with respect to said three-dimensional reference frame of said object space, wherein said device translatory position movements comprise three-dimensional translations in position of said device with respect to said three-dimensional reference frame of said object space,
providing, in response to said tracking signal, a light control signal comprising successive computer generated images with a changing image direction of view and a moving image point of view with respect to a three-dimensional image space frame of reference in correspondence, respectively, with a changing device direction of view and a moving device point of view acquired in correspondence with said tracked navigational movements of said device with both said device orientation movements and with said device translatory position movements in said object space with respect to said three-dimensional reference frame of said object space, said successive computer generated images made for viewing in an image space separate from said object space and made for viewing in said image space in a passive viewing role, and
storing said light control signal comprising said successive computer generated images on a non-transitory storage medium for playback in said image space.
2. A non-transitory storage medium comprising a light control signal stored thereon as an encoded video signal configured for decoding and playback for presentation to a viewer of successive computer generated images with said viewer in a passive viewing role, said light control signal provided in response to a tracking signal indicative of tracked navigational movements of a device navigated in motion in an object space with both device orientation movements with respect to a three-dimensional reference frame of said object space and device translatory position movements with respect to said three-dimensional reference frame of said object space, wherein said device translatory position movements comprise three-dimensional translations in position of said device with respect to said thee-dimensional reference frame of said object space, said light control signal comprising said successive computer generated images with a changing image direction of view and a moving image point of view with respect to a three-dimensional image space frame of reference in correspondence, respectively, with a changing device direction of view and a moving device point of view acquired by said tracked navigational movements of said device with both said device orientation movements and with said device translatory position movements in said object space with respect to said three-dimensional reference frame of said object space, said successive computer generated images made for viewing in an image space separate from said object space and made for viewing in said image space in said passive viewing role.
3. The method of claim 1, further comprising playing back said light control signal from said non-transitory storage medium to a viewer of said successive computer generated images, said viewer in said passive viewing role.
4. The method of claim 1, further comprising providing a motion control signal based on at least one of said tracked device orientation movements and translatory position movements and storing said motion control signal along with said light control signal on said non-transitory storage medium for playback in controlling a motion-controlled apparatus to change in at least one of orientation and translatory position of said motion-controlled apparatus in synchronization with said at least one of said tracked device orientation movements and device translatory position movements, wherein said motion control signal based on tracked device, orientation movements includes one or more of attitudinal roll, pitch, and yaw motion control signal components and wherein said motion control signal based on tracked device translatory position movements includes one or more linear motion control signal components.
5. A method comprising:
providing a light control signal produced with software by a computer workstation in response to a tracking signal, said light control signal comprising successive computer generated images having a moving image point of view and a changing image direction of view, wherein said image point of view moves and said image direction changes with respect to a three-dimensional image space frame of reference in correspondence, respectively, with movements in translatory position and changes in direction of a device tracked navigating in motion with respect to a three-dimensional frame of reference in an object space, wherein said movements in device translatory position comprise three-dimensional movements in translatory position with respect to said three-dimensional reference frame in said object space, said successive computer generated images made for viewing in an image space separate from said object space and made for viewing in said image space by a viewer in a passive viewing role, and
storing said light control signal comprising said successive computer generated images on a non-transitory storage medium.
6. The method according to claim 5, wherein said successive computer generated images include images indicative of changing visual fixations that each comprise a different combination of:
(i) a distinct position of said moving image point of view, and
(ii) a distinct position of a region of concentrated or highlighted informational content within a field of view.
7. The method of claim 6, wherein said successive computer generated images are stereoscopic images.
8. The method of claim 5, further comprising providing a motion control signal based on at least one of said tracked movements in device translatory position and changes in direction of said device and storing said motion control signal along with said light control signal for playback by said playback device for controlling a motion-controlled apparatus in changing in at least one of translational position and direction of said motion-controlled apparatus in synchronization with at least one of said tracked changes in device translatory position and changes in direction of said device, wherein said motion control signal based on tracked changes in direction of said device includes one or more of roll, pitch, and yaw motion control signal components, and wherein said motion control signal based on tracked movements in device translatory position includes one or more linear motion control signal components.
9. A non-transitory storage medium comprising a light control signal stored thereon as an encoded video signal configured for decoding and playback for viewing by a viewer in a passive viewing role, said light control signal produced with software by a computer workstation in response to a tracking signal, said light control signal comprising successive computer generated images having a moving image point of view and a changing image direction of view, wherein said image point of view moves and said image direction changes with respect to a three-dimensional image space frame of reference in correspondence, respectively, with tracked movements in translatory position and changes in direction of a device navigated in motion with respect to a three-dimensional frame of reference in an object space, wherein said movements in device translatory position comprise three-dimensional movements in translatory position with respect to said three-dimensional reference frame in said object space, said successive computer generated images made for viewing in an image space separate from said object space and made for viewing in said image space by a viewer in said passive viewing role.
10. The non-transitory storage medium of claim 9, wherein said successive computer generated images comprise a field of view with informational content concentrated or highlighted in a portion thereof that changes position within said field of view between said successive computer generated images.
11. The method of claim 5, wherein said successive computer generated images are provided by said computer workstation on which software is used to carry out post-production work on images of real objects taken from said device comprising at least one camera.
12. The method of claim 11, wherein said camera comprises at least one head mounted camera.
13. An apparatus, comprising:
a processor; and
a memory including software, said memory and the software configured to, with the processor, cause the apparatus at least to:
receive at least one tracking signal indicative of a device navigated in motion in an object space with both changing device orientation movements with respect to a three-dimensional reference frame of said object space and changing device translatory position movements in said object space with respect to said three-dimensional reference frame of said object space as said device is navigated in motion in said object space, wherein said device translatory position movements comprise three-dimensional translations in position of said device with respect to said three-dimensional reference frame of said object space,
provide, in response to said tracking signal, successive computer generated images having a changing image direction of view and a changing image point of view with respect to a three-dimensional image space frame of reference in correspondence, respectively, with a changing device direction of view corresponding to said changing device orientation movements and a changing device point of view corresponding to said changing device translatory position movements with respect to said three-dimensional reference frame of said object space, said successive computer generated images made for viewing in an image space separate from said object space and made for viewing in said image space by a viewer in a passive viewing role, and
store said successive computer generated images.
14. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein said memory and the software are configured to, with the processor, cause the apparatus to provide a motion control signal based on at least one of said changing device orientation movements and changing device translatory position movements and storing said motion control signal along with said successive computer generated images for playback in controlling a motion-controlled apparatus to change in at least one of orientation and translatory position of said motion-controlled apparatus in synchronization with said at least one of changing device orientation movements and device translatory position movements, wherein said motion control signal based on said changing device orientation movements includes one or more of roll, pitch, and yaw motion control signal components and wherein said motion control signal based on device translatory position movements includes one or more linear motion control signal components.
15. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein said successive computer generated images include successive nonuniform computer generated images, each successive nonuniform computer generated image having a highly detailed component and a lesser detailed component, wherein a position of the highly detailed component is changed in selected successive nonuniform computer generated images.
16. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein said device is a camera and wherein images acquired by said device are images of real objects in said object space acquired by said camera, wherein said successive computer generated images are provided in correspondence with said images acquired by said camera.
17. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein said device is a stereoscopic camera that acquires stereoscopic images, wherein said stored successive images are successive stereoscopic images provided as computer generated stereoscopic images from said processor in correspondence with said stereoscopic images acquired by said stereoscopic camera.
18. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein said stored successive images comprise a field of view with informational content concentrated or highlighted in a portion thereof that changes position within said field of view between said successive images, wherein among said successive images are distinct visual fixation images, each distinct visual fixation image comprising a distinct point of view with distinct resolution wherein said distinct resolution of said each distinct visual fixation image comprises a distinct position of said region of concentrated or highlighted informational content within said field of view.
19. The method of claim 1, wherein said device comprises a head mounted camera.
20. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein said device comprises a head mounted camera.
21. The method of claim 1, wherein said device is navigated by a person free to walk about with said device in navigating said device in motion, wherein said tracking signal is based on at least one of gyro, accelerometer, radio, magnetic, and light beam types of sensors.
22. The non-transitory storage medium of claim 2, wherein said device is navigated by a person free to walk about with said device in navigating said device in motion, wherein said tracking signal is based on at least one of gyro, accelerometer, radio, magnetic, and light beam types of sensors.
23. The method of claim 5, wherein said device is navigated by a person free to walk about with said device in navigating said device in motion, wherein said tracking signal is based on at least one of gyro, accelerometer, radio, magnetic, and light beam types of sensors.
24. The non-transitory storage medium of claim 9, wherein said device is navigated by a person free to walk about with said device in navigating said device in motion, wherein said tracking signal is based on at least one of gyro, accelerometer, radio, magnetic, and light beam types of sensors.
25. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein said device is navigated by a person free to walk about with said device in navigating said device in motion, wherein said tracking signal is based on at least one of gyro, accelerometer, radio, magnetic, and light beam types of sensors.

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 optical structure measuring apparatus comprising:
an optical probe having a thin and long sheath whose distal end is closed, an n-channel waveguide device in which n is an integer of three or more and which is inserted and fixed in the sheath along the longitudinal axis of the sheath so as to guide light beams, an irradiating device which is provided in a distal end portion of the sheath and which deflects a light beam emitted from each of the channels of the n-channel waveguide device in a radial direction about the longitudinal axis of the sheath to irradiate a measuring object with the deflected light beam, a rotating device which rotates the irradiating device about the longitudinal axis, and a forwardbackward moving device which moves forward and backward the n-channel waveguide device and the irradiating device in the direction along the longitudinal axis;
a light source device which emits a light beam having wavelengths in a wide band;
a branching device which branches the light beam from the light source device to a measuring light beam and a reference light beam;
a branching and light guiding device which branches the measuring light beam to each of the channels of the n-channel waveguide device to allow the branched light beam to be guided by each of the channels of the n-channel waveguide device;
an n-channel interference light detecting device which detects an interference light beam obtained, for each of the channels of the n-channel waveguide device, by making the reference light beam interfere with a return light beam as the measuring light beam which is returned from the measuring object by being guided by each of the channels of the n-channel waveguide device via the branching and light guiding device;
an n-channel interference signal generating device which generates an interference signal representing a signal intensity in the depth direction of the measuring object on the basis of each of the interference light beams detected by the n-channel interference light beam detecting device; and
a tomographic structure image generating device which generates a tomographic structure image of the measuring object on the basis of each of the interference signals generated by the n-channel interference signal generating device.
2. The optical structure measuring apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the irradiating device is configured by an n-surface light deflecting and irradiating device which has a substantially n-sided pyramid shape formed in such a manner that a vertex side of an n-sided pyramid having a planar n-sided polygon shaped bottom surface is cut at a predetermined height from the bottom surface, and which has n light deflecting surfaces that are formed by the side surfaces of the substantially n-sided pyramid, and that are arranged to be rotatable about the longitudinal axis.
3. The optical structure measuring apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the planar n-sided polygon shape is formed into a rotationally symmetrical shape about the longitudinal axis.
4. The optical structure measuring apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the rotating device is configured by including:
a torque transmitting coil, a distal end of which is integrally connected to the rotation center of the n-surface light deflecting and irradiating device, and which is rotatably inserted in the sheath along the longitudinal axis of the sheath; and
a motor, a rotary shaft of which is connected to the proximal end of the torque transmitting coil, and which rotates the torque transmitting coil about the longitudinal axis.
5. The optical structure measuring apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the rotating device is configured by a motor which is provided in the sheath on the distal end side from the n-surface light deflecting and irradiating device, and which uses, as its rotary shaft, the longitudinal axis integrally connected to the rotation center of the n-surface light deflecting and irradiating device.
6. The optical structure measuring apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the branching device is configured by an n-channel branching device each channel of which is provided for each of the channels of the n-channel interference light detecting device.
7. The optical structure measuring apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising an n-channel reference light branching device that branches the reference light beam into channel reference light beams each of which corresponds to each of the channels of the n-channel interference light detecting device, and each of which is made to interfere with each return light beam as the measuring light beam that is guided from the measuring object by each of the channels of the n-channel waveguide device via the branching and light guiding device.
8. The optical structure measuring apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising an optical path length correcting device which corrects the optical path length of the reference light beam.
9. The optical structure measuring apparatus according to claim 7, further comprising n or n\u22121 channel optical path length correcting devices, each of which is provided for each of the channels of the n-channel interference light detecting device, so as to correct the optical path length of the channel reference light beam.
10. The optical structure measuring apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the light source device is configured by n or less light sources each of which emits the light beam having wavelengths in the wide band.
11. The optical structure measuring apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a three-dimensional structure image generating device which generates a three-dimensional structure image of the measuring object on the basis of a plurality of tomographic structure images taken along the longitudinal axis.
12. An optical structure measuring apparatus comprising:
an optical probe having a thin and long sheath whose distal end is closed, an n-channel waveguide device in which n is an integer of two or more and which is inserted and fixed in the sheath along the longitudinal axis of the sheath so as to guide light beams, an irradiating device which is provided in a distal end portion of the sheath and which deflects a light beam emitted from each of the channels of the n-channel waveguide device in a radial direction about the longitudinal axis of the sheath to irradiate a measuring object with the deflected light beam, a rotating device which rotates the irradiating device about the longitudinal axis, and a forwardbackward moving device which moves forward and backward the n-channel waveguide device and the irradiating device in the direction along the longitudinal axis;
a light source device which emits a light beam having wavelengths in a wide band;
a branching device which branches the light beam from the light source device to a measuring light beam and a reference light beam;
a branching and light guiding device which branches the measuring light beam to each of the channels of the n-channel waveguide device to allow the branched light beam to be guided by each of the channels of the n-channel waveguide device;
an n-channel interference light detecting device which detects an interference light beam obtained, for each of the channels of the n-channel waveguide device, by making the reference light beam interfere with a return light beam as the measuring light beam which is returned from the measuring object by being guided by each of the channels of the n-channel waveguide device via the branching and light guiding device;
an n-channel interference signal generating device which generates an interference signal representing a signal intensity in the depth direction of the measuring object on the basis of each of the interference light beams detected by the n-channel interference light beam detecting device; and
a tomographic structure image generating device which generates a tomographic structure image of the measuring object on the basis of each of the interference signals generated by the n-channel interference signal generating device.
13. The optical structure measuring apparatus according to claim 12, wherein when m is an integer of n or more, the irradiating device is configured by an m-surface light deflecting and irradiating device which has a substantially m-sided pyramid shape formed in such a manner that a vertex side of an m-sided pyramid having a planar m-sided polygon shaped bottom surface is cut at a predetermined height from the bottom surface, and which has m light deflecting surfaces that are formed by the side surfaces of the substantially m-sided pyramid, and that are arranged to be rotatable about the longitudinal axis.
14. The optical structure measuring apparatus according to claim 13, wherein when n=2, m is set as m=3.
15. An optical probe of an optical structure measuring apparatus, comprising:
a thin and long sheath whose distal end is closed;
an n-channel waveguide device in which n is an integer of three or more and which is inserted and fixed in the sheath along a longitudinal axis of the sheath so as to guide light beams;
an irradiating device which is provided in a distal end portion of the sheath and which deflects a light beam emitted from each of the channels of the n-channel waveguide device in a radial direction about the longitudinal axis of the sheath to irradiate a measuring object with the deflected light beam;
a rotating device which rotates the irradiating device about the longitudinal axis; and
a forwardbackward moving device which moves forward and backward the n-channel waveguide device and the irradiating device in the direction along the longitudinal axis.
16. The optical probe of the optical structure measuring apparatus according to claim 15, wherein the irradiating device is configured by an n-surface light deflecting and irradiating device which has a substantially n-sided pyramid shape formed in such a manner that a vertex side of an n-sided pyramid having a planar n-sided polygon shaped bottom surface is cut at a predetermined height from the bottom surface, and which has n light deflecting surfaces that are formed by the side surfaces of the substantially n-sided pyramid, and that are arranged to be rotatable about the longitudinal axis.
17. The optical probe of the optical structure measuring apparatus according to claim 16, wherein the planar n-sided polygon shape is formed into a rotationally symmetrical shape about the longitudinal axis.
18. The optical probe of the optical structure measuring apparatus according to claim 15, wherein the rotating device is configured by including:
a torque transmitting coil, a distal end of which is integrally connected to the rotation center of the n-surface light deflecting and irradiating device, and which is rotatably inserted in the sheath along the longitudinal axis of the sheath; and
a motor, a rotary shaft of which is connected to the proximal end of the torque transmitting coil, and which rotates the torque transmitting coil about the longitudinal axis.
19. The optical probe of the optical structure measuring apparatus according to claim 15, wherein the rotating device is configured by a motor which is provided in the sheath on the distal end side from the n-surface light deflecting and irradiating device, and which uses, as its rotary shaft, the longitudinal axis integrally connected to the rotation center of the n-surface light deflecting and irradiating device.
20. An optical probe of an optical structure measuring apparatus, comprising:
a thin and long sheath whose distal end is closed;
an n-channel waveguide device in which n is an integer of two or more and which is inserted and fixed in the sheath along a longitudinal axis of the sheath so as to guide light beams;
an irradiating device which is provided in a distal end portion of the sheath and which deflects a light beam emitted from each of the channels of the n-channel waveguide device in a radial direction about the longitudinal axis of the sheath to irradiate a measuring object with the deflected light beam;
a rotating device which rotates the irradiating device about the longitudinal axis; and
a forwardbackward moving device which moves forward and backward the n-channel waveguide device and the irradiating device in the direction along the longitudinal axis.
21. The optical probe of the optical structure measuring apparatus according to claim 20, wherein when m is an integer of n or more, the irradiating device is configured by an m-surface light deflecting and irradiating device which has a substantially m-sided pyramid shape formed in such a manner that the vertex side of an m-sided pyramid having a planar m-sided polygon shaped bottom surface is cut at a predetermined height from the bottom surface, and which has m light deflecting surfaces that are formed by the side surfaces of the substantially m-sided pyramid, and that are arranged to be rotatable about the longitudinal axis.
22. The optical probe of the optical structure measuring apparatus according to claim 21, wherein when n=2, m is set as m=3.

1. In an enterprise data center network system, a component of the system for determining the attribute information and status information of databases in a foreign data center, the component comprising:
a first network for transmitting data between the enterprise data center and the foreign data center;
a first module for receiving and interpreting a model based information query, the model based information query comprising a plurality of queries;
a first schema for interpreting the model based information query;
a first data center management software tool adapted to receive the interpreted model based information query, to generate at least one application program interface (API) call for a first database and a second database, and to receive at least one response from the at least one API call, wherein the at least one response comprises attribute information and status information of the first database and the second database, wherein the first and second databases are referenced in the model based information query and changes to the first database may be made independently of changes to the second database; and
a second module, for transmitting the model based information query to the first module.
2. The component of claim 1 comprising:
a first hardware device, coupled to the foreign data center, wherein the first hardware device comprises the first database; and
a second hardware device, coupled to the foreign data center, wherein the second hardware device comprises the second database.
3. The component of claim 1 further comprising a module for generating a response formatted in accordance with the schema and further adapted to format the attribute information and status information of databases in an extensible markup language (XML) tree format.
4. The component of claim 1 wherein the first database comprises at least one entry not found in the second database.
5. The component of claim 1 further comprising a module for generating a response formatted in accordance with the schema whereby the attribute information and status information of databases are returned in an extensible markup language (XML) tree format with a plurality of leaf nodes, where each leaf node corresponds to one of the databases.
6. The component of claim 5 further comprising a data center management software tool associated with the foreign data center that is different from the data center management software tool associated with the home data center.
7. In an enterprise data center network system, computer readable code, stored on computer-readable media of a home data center, for obtaining attribute information and status information of a hardware device in a foreign data center, the computer readable code comprising a code module for generating and sending a model based information query to the foreign data center from the home data center and for interpreting attribute information and status information of targeted hardware device in the foreign data center received from the foreign data center in an extensible markup language (XML) tree format with a plurality of leaf nodes associated with a hardware device of the foreign data center, wherein the model based information query comprises a plurality of queries that are mappable to a plurality of application program interface (API) calls at the foreign data center; and a schema, associated with the module, that provides the rules for preparing the model based information query from the home data center and for interpreting a populated response containing attribute information and status information of targeted hardware devices in the foreign data center.
8. The computer readable code of claim 7 further comprising a data center management software tool adapted to receive the attribute information and status information of targeted hardware devices in the foreign data center and to display the interpreted model based information query.
9. The computer readable code of claim 7 wherein the populated response comprises an extensible markup language (XML) tree format response that is an expanded version of the model based information query populated with the attribute information and status information of targeted hardware devices in the foreign data center.
10. The computer readable code of claim 9 wherein the XML tree format comprises a plurality of leaf nodes.
11. A method for determining the attribute information of a plurality of instances in a foreign data center, the method comprising:
at the first foreign data center, receiving a first model based information query comprising a plurality of queries from a home data center;
at the first foreign data center, interpreting, using a schema, the first model based information query to generate a first application program interface (API) call to acquire attribute information for a first software application and a second API call to acquire attribute information for a second software application, the first and second software applications identified in the first model based information query;
from the first foreign data center, returning a first response to the home data center whereby the response comprises attribute information for each software application identified in the first model based information query;
from the first foreign data center, transmitting a second model based information query comprising a plurality of queries to a second foreign data center, different from the first foreign data center and home data center, wherein the second model based information query is different from the first model based information query; and
at the first foreign data center, receiving a response from the second foreign data center whereby the response comprises attribute information for each software application identified in the second model based information query.
12. The method of claim 11 wherein the first software application comprises a first database, and the second software application comprises a second database.
13. The method of claim 11 wherein the first foreign data center comprises a first hardware device comprising the first software application, and the first foreign data center comprises a second hardware device comprising the second software application.
14. The method of claim 13 wherein the first software application comprises a first database and the second software application comprises a second database.
15. The method of claim 11 wherein the first foreign data center comprises data center management software that differs from the data center management software at the home data center.
16. A method for determining status and attribute information of a plurality of instances in a foreign data center, the method comprising:
generating, in combination with a schema, a model based information query comprising a plurality of queries directed to a plurality of databases;
transmitting the model based information query to at least one foreign data center, wherein the foreign data center comprises at least two of the databases, the foreign data center being arranged to generate at least two API calls to query the at least two databases to obtain the status and attribute information of the databases, wherein a first database of the at least two databases comprises at least one entry not found in a second database of the at least two databases; and
interpreting, in combination with the schema, a response from the foreign data center wherein the response comprises the model based information query populated with status and attribute information for each database identified in the model based information query.
17. The method of claim 16 comprising:
a first hardware device, coupled to the foreign data center, wherein the first hardware device comprises the first database; and
a second hardware device, coupled to the foreign data center, wherein the second hardware device comprises the second database.
18. A device for determining the status and attribute information of a plurality of instances in a foreign data center, the device comprising:
one or more processors; and
a memory containing instructions, that when executed cause the one or more processors to perform a sequence of operations comprising:
receiving through a first network a model based information query comprising a plurality of queries from a home data center;
interpreting, using a schema, the model based information query to generate at least one application program interface (API) call for at least a first database and a second database identified in the model based information query;
and returning a response wherein the response comprises attribute information and status information of the first database and the second database, wherein the first and second databases are referenced in the model based information query and changes to the first database may be made independently of changes to the second database.
19. In a data center, a system for determining the attribute information and status information of targeted instances in a foreign data center, the foreign data center having a plurality of instances, the system comprising:
means for composing a model-based query, the model-based query comprising a plurality of queries, wherein at least one of the plurality of queries is associated with targeted instances in the foreign data center;
means for transmitting the model-based query to the foreign data center over a first network through which the data center and foreign data center are connected;
at the foreign data center, means for interpreting the model-based query using a schema:
at the foreign data center, means for generating at least one API call for the targeted instances in response to the model-based query;
means for receiving populated responses from foreign data center; and
means for presenting attribute information for each of the targeted instances received from foreign data center response, wherein a first instance is independent from a second instance.
20. The system of claim 19, wherein the query comprises a query in XML tree format having a plurality of queries directed to more than one instance.
21. The system of claim 19, wherein the responses from foreign data center comprise an XML tree format populated with a plurality of responses from each target instance.
22. In a data center, a system for determining the attribute information and status information of targeted servers in a foreign data center, the foreign data center having a plurality of servers, the system comprising:
means for receiving a model-based information query, the model-based information query comprising a plurality of queries that reference the targeted servers in the foreign data center;
means for interpreting the model based information query using a schema;
means for generating responsive API calls for the targeted servers;
means for issuing at least one API call to each of the targeted servers, wherein each targeted server is within the foreign data center, a first targeted server is responsive to a first API call, a second targeted server is responsive to a second API call, the first targeted server is not responsive to the second API call, the second targeted server is not responsive to the first API call, and the targeted servers are arranged to be queried for attribute information and status information;
means for receiving response from targeted servers; and
means for populating model based information query with responses.
23. A system for determining the attribute information of a plurality of instances in a first foreign data center, the system comprising an interpreter module for receiving a first model based information query over a network comprising a plurality of queries from a home data center; the interpreter module adapted to interpret, using a schema, the first model based information query to generate a first application program interface (API) call for a first instance to acquire attribute information of the first instance and a second API call for a second instance to acquire attribute information of the second instance, the first and second instances identified in the first model based information query and return a response to the home data center whereby the response comprises attribute information for the first and second instance identified in the first model based information query, wherein the first API call is specific to the first instance and the first instance is not responsive to the second API call, and the second API call is specific to the second instance and the second instance is not responsive to the first API call.
24. The system of claim 23 further comprising schema for use by the interpreter to interpret the first model based information query.
25. The system of claim 23 wherein the first model based information query comprises a query in extensible markup language (XML) tree format having a plurality of queries directed to more than one instance.
26. The system of claim 23 further comprising populating the first model based information query with attribute information.
27. The system of claim 1 wherein the first module parses the model based information query into a plurality of individual information queries and queues the plurality of queries for handling by the first data center management software tool.

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 flow cytometer assembly, comprising:
a fluid controller configured to form a hydrodynamically focused flow stream, the stream including an outer sheath fluid and an inner core fluid;
a coherent light source configured to illuminate a particle in the inner core fluid;
a detector configured to detect a spatially coherent distribution of elastically scattered light from the particle excited by the coherent light source; and
an analyzing module configured to extract a three-dimensional morphology parameter of the particle from a spatially coherent distribution of the elastically scattered light.
2. The cytometer assembly of claim 1, wherein the fluid controller comprises a first fluid passageway, a second fluid passageway and a fluid-filled gap between the first and second fluid passageway, wherein the detector is configure to detect the spatially coherent distribution of elastically scattered light from the particle excited by the coherent light source when the particle is in the gap between the first and second fluid passageways.
3. The cytometer assembly of claim 1, wherein the detector is further configured to provide diffraction image data of the particle comprising the spatially coherent distribution of the elastically scattered light.
4. The cytometer assembly of claim 3, further comprising a non-coherent light source configured to illuminate the particle and a detector configured to detect non-coherent image data comprising bright-field andor dark-field andor fluorescence signals from the particle excited by the non-coherent light source.
5. The cytometer assembly of claim 4, wherein the analyzing module is configured to combine the diffraction image data and the non-coherent image data.
6. The cytometer assembly of claim 3, wherein the analyzing module is configured to classify the particles based on the coherence distribution of the elastically scattered light.
7. The cytometer assembly of claim 3, wherein the analyzing module is configured to extract a morphology feature of a structure of the particle based on the diffraction image data.
8. The cytometer assembly of claim 7, wherein the diffraction image data comprises image data from a defocused position with respect to the particle.
9. The cytometer assembly of claim 7, wherein the structure of the particle comprises a volume and refractive index of the cytoplasm andor nucleus andor mitochondrion in a biological cell.
10. The cytometer assembly of claim 1, wherein the fluid controller is configured to form a laminar flow stream.
11. The cytometer assembly of claim 1, wherein the fluid controller comprises a flow cell having an index of refraction that is substantially similar to an index of refraction of the fluid sheath.
12. The cytometer assembly of claim 11, wherein the flow cell has at least one generally planar side.
13. The cytometer assembly of claim 1, wherein the detector is configured to detect light scattered within an angle range centered at an angle offset from a direction of light propagation from the coherent light source.
14. The cytometer assembly of claim 13, wherein the angle is about 90 degrees.
15. The cytometer assembly of claim 1, wherein the analyzing module is configured to extract the three-dimensional morphology parameters based on a database of calculated andor experimentally determined cell images.
16. A method of analyzing particles in a flow cytometer to determine three-dimensional morphology parameters, the method comprising:
forming a hydrodynamically focused flow stream, the stream including an outer sheath fluid and an inner core fluid;
illuminating a particle in the inner core fluid with a coherent light source;
detecting elastically scattered light from the particle excited by the coherent light source; and
extracting a three-dimensional morphology parameter of the particle from a spatially coherent distribution of the elastically scattered light.
17. The method of claim 16, wherein forming a hydrodynamically focused flow stream comprises passing the flow stream through a fluid-filled gap in a fluid passageway, and the spatially coherent distribution of elastically scattered light from the particle excited by the coherent light source is detected when the particle is in the gap.
18. The method of claim 16, further comprising providing diffraction image data of the particle comprising the spatially coherent distribution of the elastically scattered light resulting from excitation by the coherent light source.
19. The method of claim 18, further comprising illuminating the particle with a non-coherent light source and detecting non-coherent image data comprising elastically scattered andor fluorescence signals resulting from excitation by the non-coherent light source.
20. The method of claim 19, further comprising combining the diffraction image data and the non-coherent image data.
21. The method of claim 18, further comprising classifying the particles based on the coherence distribution of the elastically scattered light.
22. The method of claim 18, further comprising identifying a volume and refractive index of a structure of the particle based on the diffraction image data.
23. The method of claim 22, wherein the structure of the particle comprises a volume and refractive index of the cytoplasm andor nucleus andor mitochondrion in a biological cell.
24. The method of claim 16, wherein forming a hydrodynamically focused flow stream comprises forming a hydrodynamically focused laminar flow stream.
25. The method of claim 16, further comprising providing a flow cell having an index of refraction that is substantially similar to an index of refraction of the sheath fluid.
26. The method of claim 25, wherein the flow cell has at least one generally planar side.
27. The method of claim 16, wherein the detected light is scattered within an angular range centered at an angle offset from a direction of light propagation from the coherent light source.
28. The method of claim 27, wherein the angle is about 90 degrees.
29. The method of claim 16, wherein the three-dimensional morphology parameter is extracted based on a database of calculated andor experimentally determined cell images.
30. The method of claim 16, wherein the detected light is detected from a defocused position with respect to the particle.
31. A computer program product for analyzing particles in a flow cytometer to determine three-dimensional morphology parameters, the flow cytometer having a hydrodynamically focused flow stream including an outer sheath fluid and an inner core fluid, a coherent light source configured to illuminate a particle, and a detector for detecting a coherent distribution of elastically scattered light from the particle excited by the coherent light source, the computer program product comprising a computer usable storage medium having computer-readable program code embodied in the medium, the computer-readable program code comprising:
computer-readable program code that is configured to receive diffraction image data comprising a spatially coherent distribution of elastically scattered light from the flow cytometer; and
computer-readable program code that is configured to extract a three-dimensional morphology parameter of the particle from the spatially coherent distribution of the elastically scattered light.
32. The computer program product of claim 31, further comprising computer-readable program code that is configured to receive non-coherent image data from the flow cytometer, the non-coherent image data comprising bright-field andor dark-field image data of elastically scattered light signals andor fluorescence image data from the particle resulting from excitation by the non-coherent light source.
33. The computer program product of claim 32, further comprising computer-readable program code that is configured to combine the diffraction image data and the non-coherent image data for a particle in the flow cytometer.
34. The computer program product of claim 33, further comprising computer-readable program code that is configured to classify the particles based on the coherence distribution of the scattered light.
35. The computer program product of claim 31, further comprising computer-readable program code that is configured to identify a volume and refractive index of a structure of the particle based on the diffraction image data.
36. The computer program product of claim 34, wherein the structure of the particle comprises a volume and refractive index of the cytoplasm andor nucleus andor mitochondrion in a biological cell.
37. The computer program product of claim 31, wherein the three-dimensional morphology parameter is extracted based on a database of calculated andor experimentally determined cell images.