Author: claimsbot

What we claim is:

1. A zoom lens system comprising in order from an object side of said zoom lens system:
a first lens group having positive refracting power,
a second lens group that has negative refracting power and moves from an object side to an image plane side of said system during zooming from a wide-angle end to a telephoto end of said system,
a third lens group having positive refracting power, and
a fourth lens group that has positive refracting power and is movable during zooming, wherein:
said first lens group comprises two lenses, a negative lens and a positive lens, or one positive lens alone,
said third lens group comprises three lenses, a positive lens, a positive lens and a negative lens, or two lenses, a positive lens and a negative lens, and
said third lens group has at least one aspherical surface therein,
provided that said zoom lens system satisfies the following condition (10):
2.5 mm<fB(min)<4.8 mm(10)
where fB(min) is a value obtained when a length, as calculated on an air basis, from a final surface of a powered lens in said zoom lens system to an image plane is minimized in an overall zooming zone.
2. The zoom lens system according to claim 1, wherein the positive lens and negative lens in said third lens group are cemented together.
3. The zoom lens system according to claim 1 or 2, wherein said third lens group moves from the image plane side to the object side during zooming from the wide-angle end to the telephoto end.
4. The zoom lens system according to claim 1, wherein said first lens group remains fixed during zooming.
5. The zoom lens system according to claim 1, wherein said second lens consists of two lenses, a negative lens and a positive lens from the object side.
6. The zoom lens system according to claim 1, wherein said fourth lens group consists of one positive lens alone.
7. The zoom lens system according to claim 1, which satisfies the following condition (a):
0.3<L3L2<1.0(a)
where L2 is an amount of said second lens group from the wide-angle end to the telephoto end, and L3 is an amount of said third lens group from the wide-angle end to the telephoto end.
8. The zoom lens system according to claim 1, wherein said second lens group has at least one aspherical surface therein.
9. The zoom lens system according to claim 1, wherein said fourth lens group has at least one aspherical surface therein.
10. A zoom lens system comprising, in order from an object side of said zoom lens system, a first lens group that has positive refracting power and remains fixed during zooming, a second lens group that has negative refracting power and moves from an object side to an image plane side of said zoom lens system during zooming from a wide-angle end to a telephoto end of said zoom lens system, a third lens group that has positive refracting power and moves from the image plane side to the object side during zooming from the wide-angle end to the telephoto end and a fourth lens group that has positive refracting power and is movable during zooming, and satisfying the following conditions (1) and (10):
0.5<F2F3<1.2(1)2.5 mm<fB(min)<4.8 mm(10)
where Fi is a focal length of an i-th lens group, and fB(min) is a value obtained when a length, as calculated on an air basis, from a final surface of a powered lens in said zoom lens system to an image plane is minimized in an overall zooming zone.
11. A zoom lens system comprising, in order from an object side of said zoom lens system, a first lens group that has positive refracting power and remains fixed during zooming, a second lens group that has negative refracting power and moves from an object side to an image plane side of said zoom lens system during zooming from a wide-angle end to a telephoto end of said zoom lens system, a third lens group that has positive refracting power and moves from the image plane side to the object side during zooming from the wide-angle end to the telephoto end and a fourth lens group that has positive refracting power and is movable during zooming, and satisfying the following conditions (2) and (10):
0.49<L3L2<1(2)2.5 mm<fB(min)<4.8 mm(10)
where Li is an amount of movement of an i-th lens group from the wide-angle end to the telephoto end, and fB(min) is a value obtained when a length, as calculated on an air basis, from a final surface of a powered lens in said zoom lens system to an image plane is minimized in an overall zooming zone.
12. A zoom lens system comprising, in order from an object side of said zoom lens system, a first lens group that has positive refracting power and remains fixed during zooming, a second lens group that has negative refracting power and moves from an object side to an image plane side of said zoom lens system during zooming from a wide-angle end to a telephoto end of said zoom lens system, a third lens group that has positive refracting power and moves from the image plane side to the object side during zooming from the wide-angle end to the telephoto end and a fourth lens group that has positive refracting power and is movable during zooming,
provided that said zoom lens system satisfies the following conditions (3) and (10):
2<(F3, 4W)IH<3.3(3)2.5 mm<fB(min)<4.8 mm(10)
where (F3, 4W) is a composite focal length of said third and fourth lens groups at the wide-angle end, IH is a radius of an image circle, and fB(min) is a value obtained when a length, as calculated on an air basis, from a final surface of a powered lens in said zoom lens system to an image plane is minimized in an overall zooming zone.
13. A zoom lens system comprising, in order from an object side of said zoom lens system, a first lens group having positive refracting power, a second lens group that has negative refracting power and moves from an object side to an image plane side of said zoom lens system during zooming from a wide-angle end to a telephoto end of said zoom lens system, a third lens group having positive refracting power and a fourth lens group that has positive refracting power and is movable during zooming, wherein:
said third lens group comprises, in order from an object side thereof, a positive lens convex on an object side thereof and a doublet consisting of a positive lens convex on an object side thereof and a negative lens concave on an image side thereof, and peripheries of object side-directed convex surfaces of both said object-side positive lens and said doublet in said third lens group are held by a lens holder barrel while said convex surfaces are abutting at said peripheries or some points on said lens holder barrel, provided that said zoom lens system satisfies the following condition (10):
2.5 mm<fB(min)<4.8 mm(10)
where fB(min) is a value obtained when a length, as calculated on an air basis, from a final surface of a powered lens in said zoom lens system to an image plane is minimized in an overall zooming zone.
14. A zoom lens system comprising, in order from an object side of said zoom lens system, a first lens group that has positive refracting power and remains fixed during zooming, a second lens group that has negative refracting power and moves from an object side to an image plane side of said zoom lens system during zooming from a wide-angle end to a telephoto end of said system, a third lens group that has positive refracting power and moves from the image plane side to the object side during zooming from the wide-angle end to the telephoto end and a fourth lens group that has positive refracting power and is movable during zooming,
provided that said zoom lens system satisfies the following conditions (1), (2) and (10):
0.5<F2F3<1.2(1)0.49<L3L2<1(2)2.5 mm<fB(min)<4.8 mm(10)
where Fi is a focal length of an i-th lens group, Li is an amount of movement of an i-th lens group from the wide-angle end to the telephoto end, and fB(min) is a value obtained when a length, as calculated on an air basis, from a final surface of a powered lens in said zoom lens system to an image plane is minimized in an overall zooming zone.
15. A zoom lens system comprising, in order from an object side of said zoom lens system, a first lens group that has positive refracting power and remains fixed during zooming, a second lens group that has negative refracting power and moves from an object side to an image plane side of said zoom lens system during zooming from a wide-angle end to a telephoto end of said system, a third lens group that has positive refracting power and moves from the image plane side to the object side during zooming from the wide-angle end to the telephoto end and a fourth lens group that has positive refracting power and is movable during zooming,
provided that said zoom lens system satisfies the following conditions (1), (3) and (10):
0.5<F2F3<1.2(1)2<(F3, 4W)IH<3.3(3)2.5 mm<fB(min)<4.8 mm(10)
where Fi is a focal length of an i-th lens group, (F3, 4W) is a composite focal length of said third and fourth lens groups at the wide-angle end, IH is a radius of an image circle, and fB(min) is a value obtained when a length, as calculated on an air basis, from a final surface of a powered lens in said zoom lens system to an image plane is minimized in an overall zooming zone.
16. A zoom lens system comprising, in order from an object side of said zoom lens system, a first lens group that has positive refracting power and remains fixed during zooming, a second lens group that has negative refracting power and moves from an object side to an image plane side of said zoom lens system during zooming from a wide-angle end to a telephoto end of said zoom lens system, a third lens group that has positive refracting power and moves from the image plane side to the object side during zooming from the wide-angle end to the telephoto end and a fourth lens group that has positive refracting power and is movable during zooming,
provided that said zoom lens system satisfies the following conditions (2), (3) and (10):
0.49<L3L2<1(2)2<(F3, 4W)IH<3.3(3)2.5 mm<fB(min)<4.8 mm(10)
where Li is an amount of movement of an i-th lens group from the wide-angle end to the telephoto end, (F3, 4W) is a composite focal length of said third and fourth lens groups at the wide-angle end, IH is a radius of an image circle, and fB(min) is a value obtained when a length, as calculated on an air basis, from a final surface of a powered lens in said zoom lens system to an image plane is minimized in an overall zooming zone.
17. A zoom lens system comprising, in order from an object side of said zoom lens system, a first lens group that has positive refracting power and remains fixed during zooming, a second lens group that has negative refracting power and moves from an object side to an image plane side of said zoom lens system during zooming from a wide-angle end to a telephoto end of said zoom lens system, a third lens group that has positive refracting power and moves from the image plane side to the object side during zooming from the wide-angle end to the telephoto end and a fourth lens group that has positive refracting power and is movable during zooming,
provided that said zoom lens system satisfies the following conditions (1), (2), (3) and (10):
0.5<F2F3<1.2(1)0.49<L3L2<1(2)2<(F3, 4W)IH<3.3(3)2.5 mm<fB(min)<4.8 mm(10)
where Fi is a focal length of an i-th lens group, Li is an amount of movement of an i-th lens group from the wide-angle end to the telephoto end, (F3, 4W) is a composite focal length of said third and fourth lens groups at the wide-angle end, IH is a radius of an image circle, and fB(min) is a value obtained when a length, as calculated on an air basis, from a final surface of a powered lens in said zoom lens system to an image plane is minimized in an overall zooming zone.
18. The zoom lens system according to any one of claims 10, 11, 12, and 14 to 17, which satisfies the following condition (4):
0.6<F2F3<1(4)
where Fi is a focal length of an i-th lens group.
19. The zoom lens system according to claim 17, wherein said fourth lens group moves along an optical axis direction for focusing.
20. The zoom lens system according to claim 17, which satisfies the following condition (5):
0.3<F3F4<0.8(5)
wherein Fi is a focal length of an i-th lens group.
21. The zoom lens system according to claim 17, which satisfies the following condition (6):
0.4<2T<1(6)
where 2T is a lateral magnification of the second lens group of the telephoto end of said system.
22. The zoom lens system according to claim 17, wherein said fourth lens group consists of one positive lens.
23. The zoom lens system according to claim 17, wherein said third lens group consists of three lenses, a positive lens, a positive lens and a negative lens in order from an object side thereof.
24. The zoom lens system according to claim 17, wherein at least one surface in said third lens group is an aspherical surface.
25. The zoom lens system according to claim 17, wherein at least one surface in said fourth lens group is an aspherical surface.
26. The zoom lens system according to claim 17, wherein at least one surface in said second lens group is an aspherical surface.
27. A zoom lens system comprising, in order from an object side of said zoom lens system, a first lens group that has positive refracting power and remains fixed during zooming, a second lens group that has negative refracting power and moves from an object side to an image plane side of said system during zooming from a wide-angle end to a telephoto end of said zoom lens system, a third lens group that has positive refracting power and moves from the image plane side to the object side during zooming from the wide-angle end to the telephoto end and a fourth lens group that has positive refracting power and is movable during zooming, wherein said first lens group consists of one positive lens, and a lens in said second lens group that is located nearest to an object side thereof is a negative lens,
provided that said zoom lens system satisfies the following conditions (7) and (10):
21<40(7)2.5 mm<fB(min)<4.8 mm(10)
where 21 is an Abbe’s number of said negative lens located nearest to the object side of said second lens group, and fB(min) is a value obtained when a length, as calculated on an air basis, from a final surface of a powered lens in said zoom lens system to an image plane is minimized in an overall zooming zone.
28. The zoom lens system according to claim 27, which satisfies the following condition (8):
21<35(8)
29. The zoom lens system according to claim 17, which satisfies the following condition (7):
21<40(7)
where 21 is an Abbe’s number of the negative lens located nearest to the object side of said second lens group.
30. The zoom lens system according to claim 17, which satisfies the following condition (8):
21<35(8)
where 21 is an Abbe’s number of the negative lens located nearest to the object side of said second lens group.
31. The zoom lens system according to claim 17 or 27, wherein said third lens group comprises, in order from an object side thereof, a positive lens convex on an object side thereof and a doublet consisting of a positive lens convex on an object side thereof and a negative lens concave on an image plane side thereof, and peripheries of object side-directed convex surfaces of both said object-side positive lens and said doublet in said third lens group are held by a lens holder barrel while said convex surfaces are abutting at said peripheries or some points on said lens holder barrel.
32. A zoom lens system comprising, in order from an object side of said zoom lens system, a first lens group that has positive refracting power and remains fixed during zooming, a second lens group that has negative refracting power and moves from an object side to an image plane side of said zoom lens system during zooming from a wide-angle end to a telephoto end of said zoom lens system, a third lens group that has positive refracting power and moves constantly from the image plane side to the object side during zooming from the wide-angle end to the telephoto end and a fourth lens group that has positive refracting power and is movable during zooming, wherein said third lens group comprises a doublet consisting of a positive lens and a negative lens, and said fourth lens group comprises one positive lens,
provided that said zoom lens system satisfies the following condition (10):
2.5 mm<fB(min)<4.8 mm(10)
where fB(min) is a value obtained when a length, as calculated on an air basis, from a final surface of a powered lens in said zoom lens system to an image plane is minimized in an overall zooming zone.
33. The zoom lens system according to claim 32, wherein at least one surface of the positive lens in said fourth lens group is an aspherical surface.
34. A zoom lens system comprising, in order from an object side of said zoom lens system, a first lens group that has positive refracting power and remains fixed during zooming, a second lens group that has negative refracting power and moves from an object side to an image plane side of said zoom lens system during zooming from a wide-angle end to a telephoto end of said zoom lens system, a third lens group that has positive refracting power and moves constantly from the image plane side to the object side during zooming from the wide-angle end to the telephoto end and a fourth lens group that has positive refracting power and is movable during zooming, wherein each of said second and third lens groups comprises a doublet consisting of a positive lens and a negative lens,
provided that said zoom lens system satisfies the following condition (10):
2.5 mm<fB(min)<4.8 mm(10)
where fB(min) is a value obtained when a length, as calculated on an air basis, from a final surface of a powered lens in said zoom lens system to an image plane is minimized in an overall zooming zone.
35. A zoom lens system comprising, in order from an object side of said zoom lens system, a first lens group that has positive refracting power and remains fixed during zooming, a second lens group that has negative refracting power and moves from an object side to an image plane side of said zoom lens system during zooming from a wide-angle end to a telephoto end of said zoom lens system, a third lens group that has positive refracting power and moves constantly from the image plane side to the object side during zooming from the wide-angle end to the telephoto end and a fourth lens group that has positive refracting power and is movable during zooming, wherein said third lens group comprises, in order from an object side thereof, a positive lens, and a doublet consisting of a positive lens and a negative lens,
provided that said zoom lens system satisfies the following condition (10):
2.5 mm<fB(min)<4.8 mm(10)
where fB(min) is a value obtained when a length, as calculated on an air basis, from a final surface of a powered lens in said zoom lens system to an image plane is minimized in an overall zooming zone.
36. A zoom lens system comprising, in order from an object side of said zoom lens system, a first lens group having positive refracting power, a second lens group having negative refracting power, a third lens group having positive refracting power and a fourth lens group having positive refracting power, wherein during zooming, a space between said first and second lens groups, a space between said second and third lens groups and a space between said third and fourth lens groups vary independently, said third lens group comprises, in order from an object side thereof, a double-convex positive lens, and a doublet consisting of a positive meniscus lens convex on an object side thereof and a negative meniscus lens, and said fourth lens group comprises a double-convex lens having a large curvature on an object side surface thereof,
provided that said zoom lens system satisfies the following condition (10):
2.5 mm<fB(min)<4.8 mm(10)
where fB(min) is a value obtained when a length, as calculated on an air basis, from a final surface of a powered lens in said zoom lens system to an image plane is minimized in an overall zooming zone.
37. A zoom lens system comprising, in order from an object side of said zoom lens system, a first lens group having positive refracting power, a second lens group having negative refracting power, a third lens group having positive refracting power and a fourth lens group having positive refracting power, wherein during zooming, a space between said first and second lens groups, a space between said second and third lens groups and a space between said third and fourth lens groups vary independently, said first lens group comprises one positive lens, said second lens group comprises three lenses or, in order from an object side thereof, a single lens and a doublet consisting of a negative lens and a positive lens, said third lens group comprises three lenses or, in order from an object side thereof, a single lens and a doublet consisting of a positive lens and a negative lens, and said fourth lens group comprises one positive lens,
provided that said zoom lens system satisfies the following condition (10):
2.5 mm<fB(min)<4.8 mm(10)
where fB(min) is a value obtained when a length, as calculated on an air basis, from a final surface of a powered lens in said zoom lens system to an image plane is minimized in an overall zooming zone.
38. A zoom lens system comprising, in order from an object side of said zoom lens system, a first lens group having positive refracting power, a second lens group having negative refracting power, a third lens group having positive refracting power and a fourth lens group having positive refracting power, wherein during zooming, a space between said first and second lens groups, a space between said second and third lens groups and a space between said third and fourth lens groups vary independently, said first lens group comprises two lenses or a positive lens and a negative lens, and said second or third lens group comprises a doublet consisting of at least one set of a positive lens and a negative lens,
provided that said zoom lens system satisfies the following condition (10):
2.5 mm<fB(min)<4.8 mm(10)
where fB(min) is a value obtained when a length, as calculated on an air basis, from a final surface of a powered lens in said zoom lens system to an image plane is minimized in an overall zooming zone.
39. A zoom lens system comprising, in order from an object side of said zoom lens system, a first lens group that has positive refracting power and remains fixed during zooming, a second lens group that has negative refracting power and moves from an object side to an image plane side of said zoom lens system during zooming from a wide-angle end to a telephoto end of said zoom lens system, a third lens group that has positive refracting power and moves constantly from the image plane side to the object side during zooming from the wide-angle end to the telephoto end and a fourth lens group that comprises one lens component, has positive refracting power and is movable during zooming, wherein each of said second and third lens groups comprises a doublet consisting of a positive lens and a negative lens, and said third lens group or said fourth lens group has at least one aspherical surface therein.
40. A zoom lens system comprising, in order from an object side of said zoom lens system, a first lens group having positive refracting power, a second lens group having negative refracting power, a third lens group having positive refracting power and a fourth lens group having positive refracting power, wherein during zooming, a space between said first and second lens groups, a space between said second and third lens groups and a space between said third and fourth lens groups vary independently, said first lens group comprises one positive lens, said second lens group comprises three lenses or, in order from an object side thereof, a single lens and a doublet consisting of a negative lens and a positive lens, said third lens group comprises three lenses or, in order from an object side thereof, a single lens and a doublet consisting of a positive lens and a negative lens, said fourth lens group comprises one positive lens, and said third lens group or said fourth lens group has at least one aspherical surface therein.
41. The zoom lens system according to any one of claims 1, 10 to 17, 27, and 32 to 40, which satisfies the following condition (11):
2.5 mm<fB(max)<4.8 mm(11)
where fB(max) is a value obtained when a length, as calculated on an air basis, from a final surface of a powered lens in said zoom lens system to an image plane is maximized in an overall zooming zone.

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 performing an emulation of an operation of a target computing system, said method comprising:
interpreting a target instruction;
recognizing an unused capacity of a host system when said host system is interpreting said instruction, as a single thread on said host system, using a plurality of concurrently-operating functional units of said host system; and
performing a translation of said instruction, in said single thread, without increasing a time of interpreting said instruction by utilizing said recognized unused capacity.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein said interpreting uses an indirect threaded interpreter in which an instruction millicode fragment comprises essential instructions required to reproduce the effect of a target instruction, and a remainder of said millicode fragment comprises instructions relating to such tasks as computing an address in a host memory or effecting a branch to a next sequential target instruction, said performing said translation comprises storing, at a new location, only the essential instructions from a host millicode.
3. The method of claim 2, wherein said millicode comprises host system instructions employed to execute intent of a single target instruction.
4. The method of claim 3, wherein each said millicode includes an instruction sequence necessary to compute an address of, and a branch to, a millicode fragment for a next target instruction to be executed,
wherein translating is performed by appending the host instructions for each target instruction onto a string of previously translated host instructions.
5. The method of claim 1, wherein said performing said translation includes utilizing empty slots in a scheduling of said instruction.
6. The method of claim 1, wherein said recognizing is performed by a scheduler.
7. The method of claim 1, wherein said performing said translation results in translated code which is created as an interpretation is performed of said instruction,
wherein a crossover between execution modes occurs only while emulation of a target branch instruction is occurring,
wherein the host system instructions included in a millicode for a branch instruction, perform operations including hashing into a profile table, and determining whether a translation has already been performed for the instructions at a location of a taken path, and, if so, then an address of the translation is stored in the profile table, and interpreting proceeds by branching to that location, and
wherein, if no translation has occurred, then the profile table returns an address of an appropriate millicode fragment, and before branching to the location, a profile table entry corresponding to a beginning of a current block for which the branch designates an end, is located, and an address of the completed translation is placed therein.
8. The method of claim 1, wherein said performing said translation produces a translation which includes a plurality of sections including a header which checks a precondition, and falls back to an interpretation if it is false, and otherwise copies in an interpreter state required for correct execution of the translation, code to effect an intent of a target instruction, and a trailer section for restoring the interpreter state and returning control to an appropriate millicode fragment,
wherein said interpretation is performed by an indirect threaded interpreter such that no loop control is performed.
9. The method of claim 1, further comprising executing said translation across branches and falling back to interpretation only when a branch exits translated code.
10. The method of claim 1, wherein in a first interpreting of said target instruction, essential instructions and other overhead instructions are stored, and in subsequent runs, only said essential instructions are accessed.
11. The method of claim 1, wherein said performing a translation of the instruction is interleaved with interpretation of the instruction such that said translation has no effect on an overall time of interpretation.
12. The method of claim 1, wherein each instruction is implemented by a fragment of millicode code which performs a plurality of tasks including at least one of:
execution of intent of a target instruction;
computation of an address of a next target instruction to be executed;
fetching of the target instruction at that address; and
lookup using the fetched target instruction as an index into a table of addresses to find a next action address and branching to the address.
13. The method of claim 1, further comprising:
using a slack time of instructions to couple together previously translated portions of code and a translated target instruction stream.
14. The method of claim 1, wherein with said translation having been performed, a shorter sequence of host instructions is stored, and subsequently when a same instruction is to be executed again, the shorter sequence is branched to in lieu of branching to the instruction action routine.
15. The method of claim 1, wherein on a first call to an instruction, the instruction is interpreted and translated, and, in subsequent calls to the instruction, the translation of the instruction is branched to.
16. The method of claim 1, further comprising:
determining, by an interpreter, whether an instruction has been interpreted, thereby to determine what mode the interpreter should be in,
said mode comprising one of an interpretive mode and a mode of executing a translation.
17. The method of claim 1, further comprising:
inserting said translation into millicode of said instruction to optimize an emulation thereof.
18. The method of claim 1, wherein said recognizing comprises exploiting said unused capacity.
19. The method of claim 1, further comprising:
enabling seamless transition between interpretation and translation by interweaving instructions for said interpretation with instructions for said translation.
20. A method of emulating an operation of a target computing system using an indirect threaded interpreter in which an instruction millicode fragment comprises essential instructions required to reproduce the effect of a target instruction, and a remainder of said millicode fragment comprises non-essential instructions relating to such tasks as computing an address in a host memory or effecting a branch to a next sequential target instruction, said method comprising:
on a host system, determining whether a translation of a millicode has been performed in accessing said millicode of an instruction having been fetched from the target computing system; and
if said translation has not been performed, then performing a translation of said millicode and arranging for access of said translation in a subsequent encounter of said instruction, such that each subsequent encounter accesses only the essential millicode of said translation.
21. A system having a processor for performing an emulation of an operation of a target computing system, said system comprising:
a recognition unit, as executed by a processor on a computer, for recognizing an unused capacity of a host system when said host system is executing an instruction as a single thread on said host system; and
a translator, as executed by said processor, for performing a translation of the instruction, in said single thread, without increasing a time of executing said instruction by utilizing said recognized unused capacity.
22. A non-transitory storage medium embodying a program of machine-readable instructions executable by a digital processing apparatus to perform a method of performing an emulation of an operation of a target computing system, comprising:
interpreting a target instruction as a single thread on a host system;
recognizing an unused capacity of said host system when said host system is interpreting said instruction; and
performing a translation of the instruction, in said single thread, without increasing a time of interpreting said instruction by utilizing said recognized unused capacity.
23. A non-transitory storage medium embodying a program of machine-readable instructions executable by a digital processing apparatus to perform a method of emulating the operation of a target computing system, using an indirect threaded interpreter in which an instruction millicode fragment comprises essential instructions required to reproduce the effect of a target instruction, and a remainder of said millicode fragment comprises instructions relating to such tasks as computing an address in a host memory or effecting a branch to a next sequential target instruction, said method comprising:
on a host system, determining whether a translation of a millicode has been performed in accessing said millicode of an instruction having been fetched from the target computing system; and
if said translation has not been performed, then performing a translation of said millicode and arranging for access of said translation in subsequent encounter of said instruction, such that each subsequent encounter accesses only the essential millicode of said translation.

1. An aerospace communication system comprising:
a communication management unit;
a first communication device configured to transmit and receive data over a first communication network; and
a second communication device configured to transmit and receive data over a second communication network;
wherein the first communication device is coupled to a corresponding interface of the communication management unit;
wherein the second communication device is communicatively separated from the communication management unit by the first communication device such that the communication management unit is unaware of the second communication device;
wherein the first communication device includes routing logic configured to determine whether to send each message received from the communication management unit over the first communication network or to the second communication device for transmission over the second communication network.
2. The aerospace communication system of claim 1, wherein the first communication device includes one of a satellite communications (SATCOM) unit, a High Frequency (HF) radio, or a Very High Frequency (VHF) radio; and
wherein the second communication device includes at least one of a cellular radio and a Wi-Fi radio.
3. The aerospace communication system of claim 1, wherein the first communication device is configured to route uplink messages received at the second communication device to the communication management unit such that the uplink messages appear to the communication management unit to have been received via the first communication device.
4. The aerospace communication system of claim 1, wherein the second communication device and the first communication device are included in the same line replaceable unit (LRU).
5. The aerospace communication system of claim 1, wherein the first communication device includes an interface configured to couple the first communication device with the second communication device, the second communication device being physically separate from the first communication device.
6. The aerospace communication system of claim 1, wherein the routing logic in the first communication device is configured to determine whether to send each message received from the communication management unit over the first communication network or to the second communication device based on at least one of a respective cost associated with each of the first and second communications networks, availability of the respective first and second communication networks, user preference, security level, quality of service, and a respective domain associated with each message received from the communication management unit.
7. The aerospace communication system of claim 1, wherein the first communication device includes a memory configured to store each respective message for which the communication network selected by the routing logic in the first communication device is unavailable, wherein the first communication device is configured to store each respective message until the selected communication network corresponding to each respective stored message becomes available.
8. An aerospace communication unit comprising:
an interface configured to communicatively couple the aerospace communication unit to a communication management unit;
a first communication radio configured to transmit data over a first communication network; and
routing logic configured to determine whether to route messages received from the communication management unit to the first communication radio or to a second communication radio configured to transmit data over a second communication network;
wherein the routing logic is configured to determine whether to route messages to the first communication radio or the second communication radio independent of routing decisions performed by the communication management unit such that the second communication radio is hidden from the communication management unit.
9. The aerospace communication unit of claim 8, further comprising a second interface configured to communicatively couple the aerospace communication unit to the second communication radio.
10. The aerospace communication unit of claim 8, wherein the aerospace communication unit includes the second communication radio.
11. The aerospace communication unit of claim 8, wherein the first communication radio comprises one of a high frequency (HF) radio, a very high frequency (VHF) radio, and a satellite communication (SATCOM) radio; and
wherein the second communication radio comprises at least one of a cellular radio and a Wi-Fi radio.
12. The aerospace communication unit of claim 8, wherein the first communication radio is configured to route uplink messages received at the second communication radio to the communication management unit such that the uplink messages appear to the communication management unit to have been received via the first communication radio.
13. The aerospace communication unit of claim 8, wherein the routing logic is configured to determine whether to route the messages received from the communication management unit to the first communication radio or to the second communication radio based on at least one of a respective cost associated with each of the first and second communications networks, availability of the respective first and second communication networks, user preference, security level, quality of service, and a respective domain associated with each message received from the communication management unit.
14. The aerospace communication unit of claim 8, further comprising:
a memory configured to store each message for which the communication network selected by the routing logic is unavailable until the selected communication network corresponding to each respective stored message becomes available.
15. A method of communicating a message from an aircraft, the method comprising:
receiving a message at a first unit configured to route messages for transmission to a ground station, the message from a device onboard the aircraft;
selecting, at the first unit, one of a plurality of communication devices for transmission of the message to the ground station, the first unit including a corresponding interface for each communication device in the plurality of communication devices;
wherein the plurality of communication devices includes a first communication device associated with at least one additional communication device that does not have a corresponding interface in the first unit such that the first unit is unaware of the at least one additional communication device;
sending the message from the first unit to the selected communication device over the respective interface of the first unit corresponding to the selected communication device; and
when the message is sent over the respective interface corresponding to the first communication device, routing the message after leaving the first unit to one of the at least one additional communication device or to the first communication device for transmission to the ground station.
16. The method of claim 15, wherein the first communication device comprises one of a satellite communications (SATCOM) unit, a High Frequency (HF) radio, or a Very High Frequency (VHF) radio; and
wherein the at least one additional communication device includes at least one of a cellular radio and a Wi-Fi radio.
17. The method of claim 15, further comprising routing, in the first communication device, uplink messages received at the at least one additional communication device to the first unit such that the uplink messages appear to the first unit to have been received at the first communication device.
18. The method of claim 15, wherein routing the message after leaving the first unit to one of the at least one additional communication device or to the first communication device for transmission to the ground station comprises:
receiving the message at a router communicatively coupled between the first unit and the first communication device; and
selecting one of the at least one additional communication device or the first communication device at the router.
19. The method of claim 15, wherein routing the message after leaving the first unit to one of the at least one additional communication device or to the first communication device for transmission to the ground station comprises:
receiving the message at the first communication device; and
selecting one of the at least one additional communication device or the first communication device at the first communication device.
20. The method of claim 19, further comprising sending the message over an interface of the first communication device coupled to the at least one additional communication device when the at least one additional communication device is selected.

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 apparatus for transmitting data, the apparatus comprising:
segmenting means for segmenting data into data frames;
buffering means for buffering the data frames from the segmenting means;
transmitting means, connected to the buffering means to receive buffered data frames therefrom, for transmitting the data frames; and
controlling means for controlling the segmenting means, the controlling means being arranged to receive parameter data from the segmenting means pertaining to the segmented data frames and radio link resources data from the transmitting means pertaining to the transmission of data frames, to calculate a high watermark value and a low watermark value in response to the received parameter data and radio link resources data corresponding to maximal and minimal numbers of data frames to be buffered in the buffering means, and to control the segmenting means to maintain the number of data frames in the buffering means between the high and low watermark values, in which apparatus the controlling means is arranged to:
receive from the segmenting means parameter data pertaining to a time-out value of a retransmission timer susceptible to delay and pertaining to the size of a largest data frame that may be passed to the transmitting means for transmission;
calculate a transmit delay time using the time-out value;
calculate a size of a largest frame to be transmitted from the size of the largest data frame that may be passed to the transmitting means for transmission;
receive from the transmitting means radio link resources data including an allocated coding scheme and a number of allocated transmission slots for the buffered data frames to be transmitted;
calculate a transmit rate from the allocated coding scheme and the number of allocated transmission slots; and
determine the high watermark value using the calculated transmit delay time, the calculated size of the largest frame to be transmitted and the calculated transmit rate.
2. An apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the controlling means is arranged to define a high band of values including the high watermark value and a low band of values including the low watermark value.
3. An apparatus as claimed in claim 2, wherein the controlling means is arranged to generate a suspend signal for the segmenting means when the number of data frames in the buffering means is in the high band.
4. An apparatus as claimed in claim 2, wherein the controlling means is arranged to generate a resume signal for the segmenting means when the number of data frames in the buffering means is in the low band.
5. An apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the controlling means is operable to control the transmitting means, the controlling means being arranged to generate a buffer empty signal for the transmitting means when the buffering means contains no data.
6. An apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the controlling means is arranged to calculate a transmit delay time by multiplying the time-out value by a constant, wherein the constant has a value greater than zero and less than or equal to 0.5.
7. An apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein data frames may be transmitted in acknowledged and unacknowledged modes, and the controlling means is arranged to calculate the size of the largest frame as the greater of the largest data frame that may be passed to the transmitting means for transmission in the acknowledged mode and the largest data frame that may be passed to the transmitting means for transmission in the unacknowledged mode.
8. An apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the controlling means is arranged to calculate the low watermark value as a fraction of the high watermark value.
9. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the segmenting means segments the data into various length data frames in response to controls from the controlling means.
10. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the segmenting means segments the data into a maximum length data frames allowed in response to controls from the controlling means.
11. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the allocated coding scheme comprises a designation for a current radio resource allocation assigned by a MAC protocol.
12. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the allocated coding scheme includes at least one of:
a 20 octet radio link control radio block payload;
a 30 octet radio link control radio block payload;
a 36 octet radio link control radio block payload; or
a 50 octet radio link control radio block payload.
13. A method of transmitting data, the method comprising:
segmenting data into data frames;
buffering the data frames;
receiving buffered data frames;
transmitting the data frames;
receiving parameter data pertaining to the segmented data frames and radio link resources data pertaining to the transmission of data frames;
calculating a high watermark value and a low watermark value in response to the received parameter data and radio link resources data corresponding to maximal and minimal numbers of data frames to be buffered; and
maintaining the number of buffered data frames between the high and low watermark values by controlling the segmenting data into data frames by monitoring the calculated high watermark value and the calculated low watermark value, the method further comprising:
receiving parameter data pertaining to a time-out value of a retransmission timer susceptible to delay and pertaining to the size of a largest data frame that may be output for transmission;
calculating a transmit delay time using the time-out value;
calculating a size of a largest frame to be transmitted from the size of the largest data frame that may be output for transmission;
receiving radio link resources data including an allocated coding scheme and a number of allocated transmission slots for transmitting the buffered data frames;
calculating a transmit rate from the allocated coding scheme and the number of allocated transmission slots; and
determining the high watermark value using the calculated transmit delay time, the calculated size of the largest frame to be transmitted and the calculated transmit rate.
14. A method as claimed in claim 13, further comprising defining a high band of values including the high watermark value and a low band of values including the low watermark value.
15. A method as claimed in claim 14, further comprising generating a suspend signal for the segmenting when the number of buffered data frames is in the high band.
16. A method as claimed in claim 14, further comprising generating a resume signal for the segmenting when the number of buffered data frames is in the low band.
17. A method as claimed in claim 13, further comprising generating a buffer empty signal for the transmitting when there are no buffered data frames.
18. A method as claimed in claim 13, further comprising calculating a transmit delay time by multiplying the time-out value of the retransmission timer susceptible to delay by a constant, wherein the constant has a value greater than zero and less than or equal to 0.5.
19. A method as claimed in claim 13, wherein data frames may be transmitted in acknowledged and unacknowledged modes, the method further comprising calculating the size of the largest frame that may be transmitted by the transmitter as the greater of the largest data frame that may be transmitted in the acknowledged mode and the largest data frame that may be transmitted in the unacknowledged mode.
20. A method as claimed in claim 13, wherein low watermark value is calculated as a fraction of the high watermark value.
21. The method of claim 13, wherein the segmenting further comprises:
segmenting the data into various length data frames in response to controls from the controlling means.
22. The method of claim 13, wherein the segmenting further comprises:
segmenting the data into a maximum length data frames allowed while maintaining the number of buffered data frames between the high and low watermark values.
23. A data transmitter in which incoming data for transmission is divided into data frames and passed in frame transmission order to a radio link stage via a serial frame buffer which holds the data until the radio link stage is able to transmit it, the incoming data having associated with it various parameters and the radio link stage having allocated to it radio link resources which parameters and resources change independently of each other from time to time and are supplied to a controller which calculates high and low buffer levels therefrom and controls the passing of the data frames through the frame buffer to maintain the number of frames in the buffer at any instant of time at a level between the calculated high and low levels, wherein the controller is arranged to:
receive parameter data contained in, and associated with, the incoming data and pertaining to a time-out value of a retransmission timer susceptible to delay and the size of a largest data frame that may be passed to the radio link stage for transmission;
calculate a transmit delay time using the time-out value;
calculate a size of a largest frame to be transmitted from the size of the largest data frame that may be passed to the radio link stage for transmission;
receive from the radio link stage radio link resources data including an allocated coding scheme and a number of allocated transmission slots for buffered data frames to be transmitted;
calculate a transmit rate from the allocated coding scheme and the number of allocated transmission slots; and
determine the high watermark value using the calculated transmit delay time, the calculated size of the largest frame to be transmitted and the calculated transmit rate.
24. An apparatus for transmitting data, comprising:
a first transmit processor operable to segment data into data frames;
a buffer operable to buffer the data frames from the first transmit processor;
a second transmit processor, connected to the buffer and operable to receive data frames therefrom, and further operable to transmit the data frames; and
a controller operable to control the first transmit processor, the controller being arranged to receive parameter data from the first transmit processor pertaining to the segmented data frames and radio link resources data from the second transmit processor pertaining to the transmission of data frames, to calculate a high watermark value and a low watermark value in response to the received parameter data and radio link resources data corresponding to maximal and minimal numbers of data frames to be buffered in the buffer, and to control the first transmit processor to maintain the number of data frames in the buffer between the high and low watermark values, the controller being further operable to:
receive from the first transmit processor parameter data pertaining to a time-out value of a retransmission timer susceptible to delay and pertaining to the size of a largest data frame that may be passed to the second transmit processor for transmission;
calculate a transmit delay time using the time-out value;
calculate a size of a largest frame to be transmitted from the size of the largest data frame that may be passed to the second transmit processor for transmission;
receive from the second transmit processor radio link resources data including an allocated coding scheme and a number of allocated transmission slots for transmitting the buffered data frames:
calculate a transmit rate from the allocated coding scheme and the number of allocated transmission slots; and
determine the high watermark value using the calculated transmit delay time, the calculated size of the largest frame to be transmitted and the calculated transmit rate.
25. An apparatus as claimed in claim 24, wherein the controller is arranged to define a high band of values including the high watermark value and a low band of values including the low watermark value.
26. An apparatus as claimed in claim 25, wherein the controller is arranged to generate a suspend signal for the first transmit processor when the number of data frames in the buffer is in the high band.
27. An apparatus as claimed in claim 25, wherein the controller is arranged to generate a resume signal for the first transmit processor when the number of data frames in the buffer is in the low band.
28. An apparatus as claimed in claim 24, wherein the controller is operable to control the second transmit processor, the controller being arranged to generate a buffer empty signal for the second transmit processor when the buffer contains no data.
29. An apparatus as claimed in claim 24, wherein the controller is arranged to calculate the transmit delay time by multiplying the time-out value by a constant, wherein the constant has a value greater than zero and less than or equal to 0.5.
30. An apparatus as claimed in claim 24, wherein data frames may be transmitted in acknowledged and unacknowledged modes, and the controller is arranged to calculate the size of the largest frame as the greater of the largest data frame that may be passed to the second transmit processor for transmission in the acknowledged mode and the largest data frame that may be passed to the second transmit processor for transmission in the unacknowledged mode.
31. An apparatus as claimed in claim 24, wherein the controller is arranged to calculate the low watermark value as a fraction of the high watermark value.
32. The apparatus of claim 24, wherein the first transmit processor is further operable to segment data into various length data frames in response to controls from the controller.
33. The apparatus of claim 24, wherein the first transmit processor is further operable to segment data into a maximum length data frames allowed by the controller.
34. The apparatus of claim 24, wherein the allocated coding scheme comprises a designation for a current radio resource allocation assigned by a MAC protocol.
35. The apparatus of claim 24, wherein the allocated coding scheme includes at least one of:
a 20 octet radio link control radio block payload;
a 30 octet radio link control radio block payload;
a 36 octet radio link control radio block payload; or
a 50 octet radio link control radio block payload.
36. At least one processor configured to transmit data, comprising
a first module for segmenting data into data frames;
a second module for buffering the data frames;
a third module for receiving buffered data frames;
a fourth module for transmitting the data frames;
a fifth module for receiving parameter data pertaining to the segmented data frames and radio link resources data pertaining to the transmission of data frames;
a sixth module for calculating a high watermark value and a low watermark value in response to the received parameter data and radio link resources data corresponding to maximal and minimal numbers of data frames to be buffered;
a seventh module for maintaining the number of buffered data frames between the high and low watermark values by controlling the segmenting data into data frames by monitoring the calculated high watermark value and the calculated low watermark value;
an eighth module for receiving parameter data pertaining to a time-out value of a retransmission timer susceptible to delay and pertaining to the size of a largest data frame that may be passed to the transmitting means for transmission;
a ninth module for calculating a transmit delay time using the time-out value;
a tenth module for calculating a size of a largest frame to be transmitted from the size of the largest data frame that may be passed to the transmitting means for transmission;
an eleventh module for receiving radio link resources data including an allocated coding scheme and a number of allocated transmission slots for transmitting of the buffered data frames;
a twelfth module for calculating a transmit rate from the allocated coding scheme and the number of allocated transmission slots; and
a thirteenth module for determining the high watermark value using the calculated transmit delay time, the calculated size of the largest frame to be transmitted and the calculated transmit rate.
37. A computer program product, comprising:
a non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising:
a first set of parameters for causing a computer to segment data into data frames;
a second set of parameters for causing the computer to buffer the data frames;
a third set of parameters for causing the computer to receive buffered data frames;
a fourth set of parameters for causing the computer to transmit the data frames;
a fifth set of parameters for causing the computer to receive parameter data pertaining to the segmented data frames and radio link resources data pertaining to the transmission of data frames;
a sixth set of parameters for causing the computer to calculate a high watermark value and a low watermark value in response to the received parameter data and radio link resources data corresponding to maximal and minimal numbers of data frames to be buffered;
a seventh set of parameters for causing the computer to maintain the number of buffered data frames between the high and low watermark values by controlling the segmenting data into data frames by monitoring the calculated high watermark value and the calculated low watermark value;
an eighth set of parameters for causing the computer to receive parameter data contained within the segmented data frames and pertaining to a time-out value of a retransmission timer susceptible to delay and pertaining to the size of a largest data frame that may be passed to a transmitting means for transmission;
a ninth set of parameters for causing the computer to calculate a transmit delay time using the time-out value;
a tenth set of parameters for causing the computer to calculate a size of a largest frame to be transmitted from the size of the largest data frame that may be passed to the transmitting means for transmission;
an eleventh set of parameters for causing the computer to receive from the transmitting means radio link resources data including an allocated coding scheme and a number of allocated transmission slots for transmitting the buffered data frames;
a twelfth set of parameters for causing the computer to calculate a transmit rate from the allocated coding scheme and the number of allocated transmission slots; and
a thirteenth set of parameters for causing the computer to determine the high watermark value using the calculated transmit delay time, the calculated size of the largest frame to be transmitted and the calculated transmit rate.