Author: claimsbot

1. A method to control fluid flow in a data center, the method comprising:
obtaining a sensed pressure of a fluid in a first contained aisle on a first side of data center equipment, the fluid in the first contained aisle to be exhausted by the data center equipment into a second contained aisle on a second side of the data center equipment;
controlling an actuator of a vent to cause the vent to adjust a first fluid flow in a direction from the second contained aisle to the first contained aisle based on the sensed pressure; and
responsive to determining that a target fluid pressure for the first contained aisle has been met by (1) controlling the actuator of the vent to increase the first fluid flow in the direction from the second contained aisle to the first contained aisle, but (2) without controlling operation of a flow source providing the fluid to the first contained aisle, subsequently adjusting an operation of the flow source to improve flow source operating efficiency.
2. A method as defined in claim 1 wherein the sensed pressure is sensed at the first side of the data center equipment, and controlling the actuator of the vent comprises:
automatically controlling the actuator of the vent to cause the vent to increase the first fluid flow in the direction from the second contained aisle to the first contained aisle when the sensed pressure is below the target fluid pressure; and
automatically controlling the actuator of the vent to cause the vent to decrease the first fluid flow in the direction from the second contained aisle to the first contained aisle when the sensed pressure is above the target fluid pressure.
3. A method as defined in claim 1 further comprising controlling the operation of the flow source based on the sensed pressure.
4. A method as defined in claim 3 wherein the sensed pressure is sensed at the first side of the data center equipment, and further comprising:
sensing a temperature of the fluid in the first contained aisle;
when the sensed pressure is below the target fluid pressure and the sensed temperature is below a target temperature, automatically controlling the actuator of the vent to cause the vent to increase the first fluid flow from the second contained aisle to the first contained aisle; and
when the sensed pressure is below the target fluid pressure and the sensed temperature is above the target temperature, adjusting the operation of the flow source to increase the sensed pressure.
5. A method as defined in claim 1 wherein adjusting the operation of the flow source to improve the flow source operating efficiency comprises at least one of:
decreasing a flow rate of an output flow of the flow source;
decreasing a pressure of the output flow of the flow source; or
increasing a temperature of the output flow of the flow source.
6. A method as defined in claim 1 further comprising:
if the target fluid pressure has not been achieved, adjusting the operation of the flow source to achieve the target fluid pressure.
7. A method as defined in claim 6 wherein adjusting the operation of the flow source to achieve the target fluid pressure comprises at least one of:
increasing a flow rate of an output flow of the flow source;
increasing a pressure of the output flow of the flow source; or
decreasing a temperature of the output flow of the flow source.
8. A method as defined in claim 1 wherein the actuator is to adjust an opening of the vent without adjusting the operation of the flow source providing the fluid to the first contained aisle.
9. An apparatus for a data center comprising:
a sensor interface to receive measurements from sensors positioned to obtain sensed fluid pressures in first and second contained aisles in the data center, the first and second contained aisles being separated by a third contained aisle, the first and second contained aisles containing cooling fluid to be exhausted by data center equipment into the third contained aisle; and
a controller to:
control actuators of vents positioned to adjust an amount of fluid flow from the third contained aisle to the first contained aisle and from the third contained aisle to the second contained aisle to cause the vents to adjust the amount of fluid flow in a direction from the third contained aisle to the first contained aisle and in a direction from the third contained aisle to the second contained aisle based on the measurements received from the sensors, and target fluid pressures for the first and second contained aisles; and
responsive to a making a determination that the target fluid pressures for the first and second contained aisles have been met by (1) controlling the actuators of the vents to increase the amount of fluid flow in the direction from the third contained aisle to the first contained aisle and in the direction from the third contained aisle to the second contained aisle, but (2) without controlling operation of a cooling source providing the cooling fluid to the first and second contained aisles, subsequently adjust an operation of the cooling source to improve cooling source operating efficiency.
10. An apparatus as defined in claim 9 wherein the vents comprise first and second vents, the controller is to independently control the first vent and the second vent, the first vent is to adjust a first fluid flow from the third contained aisle to the first contained aisle, and the second vent is to adjust a second fluid flow from at least one of the third contained aisle or a fourth contained aisle to the second contained aisle.
11. An apparatus as defined in claim 9 wherein the controller is to adjust the operation of the cooling source to meet the target fluid pressures when the target fluid pressures are not met by controlling the vents without controlling the cooling source.
12. An apparatus as defined in claim 9 further comprising a processor to:
repeatedly process the measurements received from the sensors to determine whether the target fluid pressures have been achieved.
13. An apparatus as defined in claim 9 wherein the actuators are to adjust openings of the vents without adjusting the operation of the cooling source providing the cooling fluid to the first and second contained aisles.
14. For use in a data center having a vent positioned to allow fluid flow between a first contained aisle and a second contained aisle in the data center, a tangible computer readable medium comprising machine readable instructions which, when executed, cause a machine to at least:
measure a pressure and a temperature associated with an intake side of data center equipment in communication with the first contained aisle, an exhaust side of the data center equipment being in communication with the second contained aisle;
in response to the pressure as measured being determined to be below a target fluid pressure for the first contained aisle and the temperature as measured being determined to be below a target temperature, but not when the temperature as measured is determined to be above the target temperature, control an actuator of the vent to cause the vent to increase an amount of the fluid flow in a direction from the second contained aisle to the first contained aisle to increase the pressure; and
responsive to making a determination that the target fluid pressure for the first contained aisle has been met by (1) controlling the actuator of the vent to increase the amount of the fluid flow in the direction from the second contained aisle to the first contained aisle, but (2) without controlling operation of a cooling source providing cooling fluid to the first contained aisle, subsequently adjust an operation of the cooling source to improve cooling source operating efficiency.
15. A tangible computer readable medium as defined in claim 14 wherein the machine readable instructions, when executed, further cause the machine to:
adjust the operation of the cooling source to meet the target fluid pressure if the target fluid pressure has not been met after controlling the actuator of the vent without controlling the cooling source.
16. A tangible computer readable medium as defined in claim 14 wherein the machine readable instructions, when executed, cause the machine to at least one of decrease a flow rate of an output flow of the cooling source, decrease a pressure of the output flow of the cooling source, or increase a temperature of the output flow of the cooling source to improve the cooling source operating efficiency.
17. A tangible computer readable medium as defined in claim 14 wherein the actuator is to adjust an opening of the vent without adjusting the operation of the cooling source providing the cooling fluid to the first contained aisle.

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, comprising:
a) applying and maintaining a strain to an elastomeric band, the elastomeric band having opposing distal ends and opposing upper and lower edges;
b) attaching the lower edge of the elastomeric band to a waist edge of an upper garment while substantially maintaining the strain on the elastomeric band;
c) attaching the distal ends to at least one of each other or the upper garment;
d) removing the strain applied to the elastomeric band to form a pre-tensioned elastomeric band and a pre-tensioned upper garment edge;
e) interconnecting a removable liner to the upper garment.
2. The method of claim 1, further comprising attaching by at least one of stitching, welding, and bonding.
3. The method of claim 1, wherein the interconnection between the removable liner and the upper garment is non-permanent.
4. The method of claim 1, wherein the upper and lower edges of the pre-tensioned elastomeric band have differing tensions.
5. The method of claim 1, wherein the upper garment has opposing inner and outer surfaces and wherein the pre-tensioned elastomeric band is positioned adjacent to the inner surface.
6. The method of claim 1, wherein at least some portion of the top edge of the pre-tensioned elastomeric band is attached to the upper garment.
7. The method of claim 6, wherein the top edge of the pre-tensioned elastomeric band is attached to the upper garment substantially about one or more locations where a seam of the upper garment intersects the pre-tensioned elastomeric band.
8. The method of claim 1, wherein the elastomeric band comprises at least one of a woven material, a non-woven material, an extruded material, and a cast elastomeric material.
9. The method of claim 1, wherein the removable liner is comprised of at least one of nylon, polyester, and spandex.
10. The method of claim 1, further comprising:
f) interconnecting a lower garment to the removable liner.
11. The method of claim 10, wherein the interconnection between the lower garment and the removable liner is non-permanent.
12. The method of claim 10, wherein the lower garment comprises an inner portion that extends from a bottom edge of a right leg to a bottom edge of a left leg.
13. A method, comprising:
a) providing a pre-tensioned elastomeric band having opposing distal ends and opposing upper and lower edges;
b) providing an upper garment having a waist edge and an inner surface;
c) attaching the lower edge of the pre-tensioned elastomeric band to the waist edge of the upper garment, wherein the upper edge of the pre-tensioned elastomeric band is positioned adjacent to and tilted away from the inner surface of the upper garment shell;
d) attaching the distal ends to at least one of each other or the upper garment;
e) interconnecting a removable liner to the upper garment.
14. The method of claim 13, wherein the interconnection between the removable liner and the upper garment is non-permanent.
15. The method of claim 13, wherein the upper and lower edges of the pre-tensioned elastomeric band have differing tensions.
16. The method of claim 13, wherein the upper edge tilts away from the upper garment by a tilt angle of about 5 to about 45 degrees.
17. The method of claim 13, wherein the removable liner is comprised of at least one of nylon, polyester, and spandex.
18. The method of claim 13, wherein the removable liner comprises two fastening loops disposed about a waist region of the removable liner.
19. The method of claim 18, further comprising:
f) interconnecting a lower garment having an inner surface to the removable liner, wherein the lower garment comprises two fastening straps disposed on the inner surface of the lower garment and about a waist region of the lower garment, wherein the two fastening straps interconnect to the two fastening loops such that the lower garment interconnects with the removable liner.
20. The method, comprising:
a) providing a pre-tensioned elastomeric band having opposing distal ends and having:
a first resilient fabric with a first resiliency, the first resilient fabric in the cross section being folded over upon itself at a fold to define a first portion, a second portion that overlaps the first portion, and a pocket between the first and second portions, the pocket being closed off at an upper edge and open at a lower edge;
a second resilient fabric with a second resiliency, the second resilient fabric in the cross section being disposed within the pocket, the second resilient fabric being operably secured to the first resilient fabric, said second resiliency greater than said first resiliency;
a first fastening structure that extends in a transverse direction through the first resilient fabric and the second resilient fabric to attach the first resilient fabric and the second resilient fabric together, the first fastening structure extending in the transverse direction through each of the first portion of the first resilient fabric, the second resilient fabric, and the second portion of the first resilient fabric;
a second fastening structure that extends in the transverse direction through the first resilient fabric and the second resilient fabric to attach the first resilient fabric and the second resilient fabric together, the second fastening structure extending in the transverse direction through the first portion of the first resilient fabric and the second resilient fabric, and the second fastening structure terminating in the transverse direction inside the pocket to stop short of extending through the second portion of the first resilient fabric;

b) providing an upper garment having a waist edge;
c) attaching the lower edge of the pre-tensioned elastomeric band to the waist edge of the upper garment;
d) attaching the distal ends of the pre-tensioned elastomeric band to at least one of each other or the upper garment;
e) interconnecting a removable liner to the upper garment.

1. An optical communication method, comprising:
using subcarriers as individual bases functions, obtaining signal constellation points of an N-dimensional pulse amplitude modulation (ND-PAM) constellation diagram as an N-dimensional Cartesian product of a one-dimensional PAM; and
transmitting the N-dimensional signal constellation point over all N orthogonal subcarriers serving as individual bases functions;
comprising receiving the ND-PAM signals;
comprising splitting the ND-PAM signals into two orthogonal polarizations that are used as input into two coherent detectors;
comprising using the coherent detector outputs as real and imaginary parts of a complex sequence stream;
comprising splitting the stream into N-branches, where a kth branch determines projection along a kth coordinate; and
comprising using the projections in a posteriori probability (APP) demapper.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein the one dimensional PAM comprises amplitude signal constellation points X={(2i\u22121\u2212L)d, i=1, 2, . . . , L}, wherein 2d is a Euclidean distance between two neighboring points and L is the number of constellation points in one dimensional PAM, and wherein the ND-PAM comprises
X
N

=
X
\xd7
X
\xd7
\u2026
\xd7
X

\u2062
\ufe38
N
\u2062
\u2062
times
=
{
(
x
1

,

x
2

,
\u2026
\u2062
,

x
N
)

|
x
i

\u2208
X
,

\u2200

1
\u2264
i
\u2264
N
}

.
3. The method of claim 1, comprising encoding b independent data streams using an LDPC (n,k) code of rate r=kn, where n denotes a codeword length and k is an information word length.
4. The method of claim 3, comprising writing codewords row-wise into a b\xd7n bit interleaver.
5. The method of claim 4, wherein the number of constellation points in ND-PAM is determined by M=LN where L is the number of constellation points in one dimensional PAM, and the number of bits per symbol is b=log2(LN), comprising taking codeword bits from the bit interleaver column-wise at every symbol slot i and provided to an ND mapper to select one constellation point out of LN, depending on information content.
6. The method of claim 1, comprising performing an N-dimensional mapper as a look-up table (LUT) with b input bits serving as a memory address that selects the N-coordinates of an ND-PAM signal constellation point.
7. The method of claim 1, comprising imposing coordinates on orthogonal subcarrier, wherein a kth coordinate is multiplied by expj2\u03c0ktT (k\u2212\u2212N2, . . . ,N2\u22121) where t denotes time and T denotes a period.
8. The method of claim 7, comprising adding all coordinates, upon multiplication with expj2\u03c0ktT, to provide real and imaginary parts of a signal used as in-phase and quadrature signals for Mach-Zehnder modulators (MZMs).
9. The method of claim 8, comprising combining signals at the output of IQ modulators into single stream with a polarization-beam splitter (PBS).
10. The method of claim 1, comprising determining symbol log-likelihood ratios (LLRs) as
\u03bb(Si)=log P(SiS0|Ri)Pi=(Si\u2260S0|Ri),
where P(Si|Ri) is determined by Bayes’ rule as:
P
\u2061

(
S
i

|

R
i
)
=
P
\u2061

(
R
i

|

S
i
)
\u2062
P
\u2061

(

S
i

)
\u2211

S
\u2032
\u2062
P
\u2061

(
R
i

|

S
i
\u2032
)
\u2062
P
\u2061

(

S
i
\u2032

)
.
11. The method of claim 1, comprising determining bit LLRs to be used in LDPC decoding as:
L
\u2061

(
v
^

j

)
=

log
\u2211
S
i

\u2062

:

\u2062

v
j
=
0
\u2062
exp
\u2061

(

\u03bb
\u2061

(

S
i

)
)
\u2211
S
i

\u2062

:

\u2062

v
j
=
1
\u2062

exp
\u2061

(

\u03bb
\u2062

(

S
i

)
)
where si denotes a transmitted signal constellation point, Ri denotes a received) constellation point, where so denotes a referent constellation point, and P(Ri|Si) denotes a conditional probability estimated by collection of histograms., P(s) denotes a priori probability of symbol S, while {circumflex over (v)}j (j\u03b5{0, 1, . . . , n\u22121}) is the jth bit estimate of a codeword v.
12. The method of claim 11, where the bit LLRs are forwarded to LDPC decoders to provide extrinsic bit LLRs for demapping.

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 transmission circuit for generating a transmission signal based on input data and outputting the transmission signal, the transmission circuit comprising:
a signal generation section for generating an amplitude signal and a phase signal based on an amplitude component and a phase component obtained by performing signal processing on the data;
a variable gain amplification section for amplifying or attenuating the amplitude signal with a controlled gain;
a regulator for outputting a signal in accordance with a magnitude of the amplitude signal which is output from the variable gain amplification section;
an angle modulation section for performing angle modulation on the phase signal and outputting the resultant signal as an angle-modulated signal;
an amplitude modulation section for performing amplitude modulation on the angle-modulated signal with the signal which is output from the regulator into a modulated signal, attenuating the modulated signal with a controlled attenuation, and outputting the resultant signal as a transmission signal; and
a control section for receiving power information representing a level of a power of a transmission signal to be output, and controlling a gain to be set in the variable gain amplification section and an attenuation to be set in the amplitude modulation section based on the power information;
wherein the control section compares a value of the power information with at least one predetermined threshold value, and determines the gain to be set in the variable gain amplification section and the attenuation to be set in the amplitude modulation section based on the comparison result.
2. A transmission circuit according to claim 1, wherein:
the amplitude modulation section includes:
a first amplitude modulation section for performing amplitude modulation on the angle-modulated signal with the signal which is output from the regulator and outputting the resultant signal as a modulated signal; and
a variable attenuation section for attenuating the modulated signal with the controlled attenuation and outputting the resultant signal as a transmission signal; and

when the value of the power information is smaller than the at least one predetermined threshold value, the control section sets a predetermined gain in the variable gain amplification section and sets a predetermined attenuation in the variable attenuation section.
3. A transmission circuit according to claim 2, further comprising a look-up table in which attenuations which can be set in the variable attenuation section and gains which can be set in the variable gain amplification section are registered in correspondence with values of the power information;
wherein:
the attenuations which can be set in the variable attenuation section and the gains which can be set in the variable gain amplification section are in proportion to each other; and
the control section determines the attenuation to be set in the variable attenuation section and the gain to be set in the variable gain amplification section based on the look-up table.
4. A transmission circuit according to claim 2, wherein:
the variable gain amplification section includes:
at least one amplifier for amplifying an input signal with a specific gain and outputting the resultant signal; and
a plurality of switches for switching the connection of the at least one amplifier;

the variable attenuation section includes:
at least one attenuator for attenuating an input signal with a specific attenuation and outputting the resultant signal; and
a plurality of switches for switching the connection of the at least one attenuator; and

the control section compares the value of the power information with the at least one predetermined threshold value, and switches the connection of the plurality of switches in the variable gain amplification section and the connection of the plurality of switches in the variable attenuation section based on the comparison result.
5. A transmission circuit according to claim 1, wherein:
the amplitude modulation section includes:
a first amplitude modulation section for performing amplitude modulation on the angle-modulated signal with the signal which is output from the regulator and outputting the resultant signal as a modulated signal;
a second amplitude modulation section for performing amplitude modulation on the angle-modulated signal with the signal which is output from the regulator and outputting the resultant signal as a modulated signal; and
a plurality of switches for switching the connection between the regulator and the first amplitude modulation section or the second amplitude modulation section;

the second amplitude modulation section has a larger maximum output power than the first amplitude modulation section; and
when the value of the power information is smaller than a predetermined threshold value, the control section increases the gain of the variable gain amplification section and switches the connection of the plurality of switches such that the first amplitude modulation section is used; and
when the value of the power information is equal to or greater than the predetermined threshold value, the control section decreases the gain of the variable gain amplification section and switches the connection of the plurality of switches such that the second amplitude modulation section is used.
6. A transmission circuit according to claim 1, wherein:
the amplitude modulation section includes:
a first amplitude modulation section for performing amplitude modulation on the angle-modulated signal with the signal which is output from the regulator and outputting the resultant signal as a modulated signal;
a second amplitude modulation section for performing amplitude modulation on the angle-modulated signal with the signal which is output from the regulator and outputting the resultant signal as a modulated signal;
a switch for switching the connection between the regulator and the first amplitude modulation section;
a dividing section for dividing the angle-modulated signal for the first amplitude modulation section and the second amplitude modulation section; and
a combine section for combining the modulated signal which is output from the first amplitude modulation section and the modulated signal which is output from the second amplitude modulation section, and outputting the resultant signal as a transmission signal;

the first amplitude modulation section and the second amplitude modulation section have an equal maximum output power;
when the value of the power information is smaller than a predetermined threshold value, the control section increases the gain of the variable gain amplification section and switches the connection of the switch such that the regulator and the first amplitude modulation section are disconnected from each other; and
when the value of the power information is equal to or greater than the predetermined threshold value, the control section decreases the gain of the variable gain amplification section and switches the connection of the switch such that the regulator and the first amplitude modulation section are connected to each other.
7. A transmission circuit according to claim 6, further comprising a power reuse section for converting an input signal to a power and supplying the power to the regulator;
wherein:
the dividing section is a first directional coupler for equally dividing the angle-modulated signal for the first amplitude modulation section and the second amplitude modulation section;
the combine section is a second directional coupler for outputting the modulated signals which are output from the first amplitude modulation section and the second amplitude modulation section in a combined form or in a divided form;
when the first amplitude modulation section and the second amplitude modulation section both operate, the second directional coupler combines the modulated signals which are output from the first amplitude modulation section and the second amplitude modulation section and outputs the resultant signal as a transmission signal; and
when only the second amplitude modulation section operates, the second directional coupler equally divides the modulated signal which is output from the second amplitude modulation section, and outputs one resultant signal component as a transmission signal and outputs the other resultant signal component to the power reuse section.
8. A transmission circuit according to claim 1, wherein the regulator is a series regulator.
9. A transmission circuit according to claim 1, wherein the regulator is a switching regulator.
10. A transmission circuit according to claim 1, wherein:
the regulator includes a switching regulator and a series regulator;
the switching regulator receives the power information and supplies a voltage controlled in accordance with the power information to the series regulator; and
the series regulator supplies a voltage controlled in accordance with the magnitude of the amplitude signal which is output from the variable gain amplification section to the amplitude modulation section using the voltage supplied from the switching regulator.
11. A transmission circuit for generating a transmission signal based on input data and outputting the transmission signal, the transmission circuit comprising:
a signal generation section for generating an amplitude signal and an angle-modulated signal based on an amplitude component and a phase component obtained by performing signal processing on the data;
a variable gain amplification section for amplifying or attenuating the amplitude signal with a controlled gain;
a regulator for outputting a signal in accordance with a magnitude of the amplitude signal which is output from the variable gain amplification section;
an amplitude modulation section for performing amplitude modulation on the angle-modulated signal with the signal which is output from the regulator into a modulated signal, attenuating the modulated signal with a controlled attenuation, and outputting the resultant signal as a transmission signal; and
a control section for receiving power information representing a level of a power of a transmission signal to be output, and controlling a gain to be set in the variable gain amplification section and an attenuation to be set in the amplitude modulation section based on the power information;
wherein:
the signal generation section includes:
a quadrature signal generation section for generating a baseband signal including an in-phase signal and a quadrature-phase signal, which are quadrature data, by performing signal processing on the data;
a vector modulation section for performing vector modulation on the in-phase signal and the quadrature-phase signal;
an envelope detection section for detecting an envelope component of the signal which is output from the vector modulation section and outputting the detected envelope component as the amplitude signal; and
a limiter for limiting the envelope component of the signal which is output from the vector modulation section to a predetermined magnitude and outputting the magnitude-limited signal as the angle-modulated signal; and

the control section compares a value of the power information with at least one predetermined threshold value, and determines the gain to be set in the variable gain amplification section and the attenuation to be set in the amplitude modulation section based on the comparison result.
12. A communication device, comprising:
a transmission circuit for generating a transmission signal; and
an antenna for outputting the transmission signal generated by the transmission circuit;
wherein the transmission circuit is a transmission circuit according to claim 1.
13. A communication device according to claim 12, further comprising:
a reception circuit for processing a receiving signal received via the antenna; and
an antenna duplexer for outputting the transmission signal generated by the transmission circuit to the antenna, and outputting the receiving signal received via the antenna to the reception circuit.