Author: claimsbot

1. Method for controlling fuel injection into a direct injection, compression-ignition engine, comprising:
determining an engine operating point;
determining a quantity of fuel to inject during a combustion cycle;
selectively executing one of one, two, and three fuel injection events during the combustion cycle based upon the engine operating point and the quantity of fuel to inject, and
selectively executing one of the one, two, and three fuel injection events based upon a minimum controllable flowrate of the fuel injector.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein selectively executing two fuel injection events further comprises injecting substantially equal quantities of fuel during each of the two fuel injection events.
3. The method of claim 1, wherein selectively executing three fuel injection events further comprises injecting substantially equal quantities of fuel during each of the three fuel injection events.
4. The method of claim 3, further comprising: having a first dwell time between an end of the first injection event and a start of the second injection event substantially equal to a second dwell time between an end of the second injection event and a start of the third injection event.
5. The method of claim 4, comprising determining the first and second dwell times to minimize particulate mass emissions and optimize the engine thermal efficiency.
6. The method of claim 5, wherein selectively executing the three fuel injection events further comprises initiating the first fuel injection event during a compression stroke immediately prior to a top-dead-center point of piston travel and initiating the second and third fuel injection events after the top-dead-center point of piston travel.
7. The method of claim 1, wherein the engine operating point is determined based upon engine load.
8. The method of claim 1, comprising determining the quantity of fuel to inject during the combustion cycle based upon the engine operating point and an operator torque request.
9. Method for controlling fuel injection into a direct injection, compression-ignition engine, comprising:
determining an engine operating point;
determining a quantity of fuel to inject during a combustion cycle;
selectively executing two fuel injection events during the combustion cycle based upon the engine operating point and the quantity of fuel to inject and injecting substantially equal quantities of fuel during each of the two fuel injection events, and
initiating the first fuel injection event at a crank angle determined based upon a crank angle at which fifty percent of the quantity of fuel injected during the combustion cycle for the two fuel injection events is substantially the same as for an optimized single injection event for injecting the quantity of fuel.
10. Method for controlling fuel injection into a direct injection, compression-ignition engine, comprising:
determining an engine operating point;
determining a quantity of fuel to inject during a combustion cycle;
selectively executing one of one, two, and three fuel injection events during the combustion cycle based upon the engine operating point and the quantity of fuel to inject, and
selectively executing three fuel injection events further comprises injecting substantially equal quantities of fuel during each of the three fuel injection events,
wherein a crank angle for initiating injection of the first fuel injection event is determined based upon a crank angle at which fifty percent of the quantity of fuel injected during the combustion cycle for the three injection event is substantially the same as for an optimized single injection event for injecting the quantity of fuel.
11. Internal combustion engine, comprising:
a diffusion-combustion engine equipped with a fuel-injection system comprising a high-pressure fuel system and a plurality of fuel injectors each adapted to inject fuel directly into a combustion chamber of the engine; and,
a controller, adapted to:
monitor engine operation and an operator torque request;
determine a quantity of fuel to inject into one of the combustion chambers during a combustion cycle;
actuate one of the fuel injectors to selectively execute one of one, two, and three fuel injection events to deliver the determined quantity of fuel to the combustion chamber during the combustion cycle; and,
initiate the start of injection at a crank angle determined based upon a crank angle at which fifty percent of the quantity of fuel injected during the combustion cycle is substantially the same as for a single injection event to inject the quantity of fuel.
12. The internal combustion engine of claim 11, wherein the diffusion combustion engine comprises a direct injection compression-ignition engine.
13. The internal combustion engine of claim 11, wherein the high-pressure fuel system is effective to operate at a fuel pressure of 1800 bar.
14. The internal combustion engine of claim 11, wherein the controller is adapted to selectively actuate one of the fuel injectors to execute three fuel injection events to deliver the determined quantity of fuel based upon engine load.
15. System to control exhaust gas emissions in a direct-injection, diesel-cycle, internal combustion engine, comprising:
i) a compression-ignition engine, comprising:
a) a plurality of cylinders, each cylinder having a combustion chamber formed therewithin;
b) a fuel injection system, comprising a plurality of fuel injectors fluidly connected to a pressurized fuel line; each injector having a plurality of fuel-distributive nozzles having a low flow number, each injector operable to receive pressurized fuel from the fuel rail, and, operable to directly inject a quantifiable mass of fuel into a combustion chamber of the engine; and,

ii) a control system: operable to: monitor engine operation, and, control the fuel injection system; the control system having a computer program encoded therein for effecting a method to control operation of the fuel injection system, the method comprising:
injecting a first mass of fuel immediately prior to the piston reaching a top-dead center location in the combustion chamber during a compression stroke; and,
injecting a second mass of fuel substantially equal to the first mass of fuel into the combustion chamber during an expansion stroke occurring immediately thereafter, after a predetermined dwell period.

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 image forming apparatus having a function that is validated by installing a function license, the image forming apparatus comprising:
a checking unit configured to check, when license information to restore the image forming apparatus to a state of factory shipment is input, whether a function license of a function of the image forming apparatus is installed;
an installation history determination unit configured to determine, if the checking unit confirms that the function license is installed and the license information to restore the image forming apparatus to the state of factory shipment is input, whether there is any installation history of the function license on the image forming apparatus; and
a deletion unit configured to invalidate the installed function license and delete the installation history,
wherein, if the installation history determination unit determines that there is an installation history of the function license on the image forming apparatus, the deletion unit, according to the input license information to restore the image forming apparatus to the state of factory shipment, invalidates the installed function license and deletes the installation history, and
wherein, if the installation history determination unit determines that there is not any installation history, the deletion unit does not invalidate the function license.
2. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a transfer history determination unit configured to determine, if the checking unit confirms that the function license is not installed, whether there is any transfer history indicating that the function license has been transferred,
wherein, if the transfer history determination unit determines that there is a transfer history indicating that the function license has been transferred, the deletion unit deletes the transfer history.
3. The image forming apparatus according to claim 2, wherein, if the checking unit confirms that the function license is not installed and the transfer history determination unit determines that there is the transfer history when license information to invalidate the function license without deleting the transfer history is input, the transfer history is not deleted.
4. A method for an image forming apparatus having a function that is validated by installing a function license, the method comprising:
checking, when license information to restore the image forming apparatus to a state of factory shipment is input, whether a function license of a function of the image forming apparatus is installed;
determining, if the checking confirms that the function license is installed and the license information to restore the image forming apparatus to the state of factory shipment is input, whether there is any installation history of the function license on the image forming apparatus; and
invalidating the installed function license and deleting the installation history, according to the input license information to restore the image forming apparatus to the state of factory shipment, if it is determined that there is an installation history of the function license on the image forming apparatus, and
not invalidating the function license if it is determined that there is not any installation history.
5. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing a program that causes an image forming apparatus to perform the method according to claim 4.
6. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium on which is stored a computer program for making a computer execute a method for an image forming apparatus having a function that is validated by installing a function license, the method comprising:
checking, when license information to restore the image forming apparatus to a state of factory shipment is input, whether a function license of a function of the image forming apparatus is installed;
determining, if the checking confirms that the function license is installed and the license information to restore the image forming apparatus to the state of factory shipment is input, whether there is any installation history of the function license on the image forming apparatus; and
invalidating the installed function license and deleting the installation history, according to the input license information to restore the image forming apparatus to the state of factory shipment, if it is determined that there is an installation history of the function license on the image forming apparatus, and
not invalidating the function license if it is determined that there is not any installation history.

What we claim is:

1. A method of processing image data in an image processing system comprising image data storage means, memory means for storing instructions and a data structure representing processing to be performed on source image data in said image storage means, processing means for performing said image processing, and said instructions define a sequence of operations to be performed in order to process said source image data in accordance with said data structure, wherein
said data structure includes a plurality of image processing nodes,
processing nodes are connected to each other to define a processing pipeline for image data,
including the steps of:
processing image data in response to said data structure,
storing image data associated with an intermediate node in said data structure in response to an identification of a node cache preference, and
subsequently processing image data in response to parts of said data structure not cached by said intermediate node.
2. A method according to claim 1, wherein said node cache preference is determined with reference to a user preference for a node cache.
3. A method according to claim 1, wherein said node cache preference is determined with reference to the remaining data storage capacity of said image data storage means.
4. A method according to claim 1, wherein said image processing system further comprises monitor means arranged to receive image signals from a graphics card connected to said processing means, comprising the additional steps of:
displaying a representation of said data structure on said monitor, including a representation of an intermediate process node;
displaying a graphical user interface for facilitating user interaction with said data structure representation; and
updating said data structure in response to a user manipulation of said representation defining a node cache preference.
5. A method according to claim 4, wherein said node cache preference for said intermediate process node is indicated in said data structure representation by a state of part of a representation of said intermediate node.
6. A method according to claim 1, wherein said node cache preference is a read only preference.
7. A method according to claim 1, wherein said node cache preference is a read write preference.
8. A method according to claim 1, wherein a comparison is made between parameters for a plurality of read or read write cached nodes in order to identify a node cache preference for an individual node.
9. A method according to claim 8, wherein said parameters include a measure of cache effectiveness for respective nodes.
10. A method according to claim 9, wherein said parameters are weighted in order to determine a cache priority.
11. Apparatus for processing image data, comprising image data storage means, memory means for storing instructions and a data structure representing processing to be performed on source image data in said image storage means, processing means for performing said image processing, and wherein said instructions define a sequence of operations to be performed in order to process said source image data in accordance with said data structure, in which
said data structure includes a plurality of image processing nodes,
said processing nodes are connected to each other to define a processing pipeline for image data, and
said instructions are executed by said processing means to perform the steps of:
processing image data in response to said data structure,
storing image data associated with an intermediate node in said data structure in response to an identification of a node cache preference, and thereafter
processing image data in response to parts of said data structure not affecting image data that has been cached by said intermediate node.
12. Apparatus according to claim 11, wherein said node cache preference has been determined with reference to a user preference for a node cache.
13. Apparatus according to claim 11, wherein said node cache preference has been determined with reference to the remaining data storage capacity of said image data storage means.
14. Apparatus according to claim 11, wherein said image processing system further comprises monitor means arranged to receive image signals from a graphics card connected to said processing means, and said instructions are executable on said processing means to further facilitate additional steps of:
displaying a representation of said data structure on said monitor, including a representation of an intermediate process node;
displaying a graphical user interface for facilitating user interaction with said data structure representation; and
updating said data structure in response to a user manipulation of said representation defining a node cache preference.
15. Apparatus according to claim 14, wherein said node cache preference for said intermediate process node has been indicated in said data structure representation by a visual state of part of a representation of said intermediate node.
16. Apparatus according to claim 11, wherein said node cache preference is a read only preference.
17. Apparatus according to claim 11, wherein said node cache preference is a read write preference.
18. Apparatus according to claim 11, wherein a comparison has been made between parameters for a plurality of read or read write cached nodes in order to identify a node cache preference for an individual node.
19. Apparatus according to claim 18, wherein said parameters include a measure of cache effectiveness for respective nodes.
20. Apparatus according to claim 19, wherein said parameters are weighted in order to determine a cache priority.
21. A computer-readable medium having computer-readable instructions executable by a computer configured as part of an image processing system that includes display means and image storage means, said computer comprising memory means for storing said instructions and a data structure representing processing to be performed on source image data in said image storage means, processing means for performing said image processing, where said instructions define a sequence of operations to be performed to process said source image data in accordance with said data structure, wherein
said data structure includes a plurality of image processing nodes,
processing nodes are connected to each other to define a processing pipeline for image data,
and said instructions are executable by said processing means to perform the steps of:
processing image data in response to said data structure,
storing image data associated with an intermediate node in said data structure in response to an identification of a node cache preference, and
subsequently processing image data in response to parts of said data structure not cached by said intermediate node.
22. A computer-readable medium according to claim 21, having instructions such that said node cache preference is determined with reference to a user preference for a node cache.
23. A computer-readable medium according to claim 21, having instructions such that said node cache preference is determined with reference to the remaining data storage capacity of said image data storage means.
24. A computer-readable medium according to claim 21, having instructions executable on said processing means to perform steps of:
displaying a representation of said data structure on said monitor means, including a representation of an intermediate process node;
displaying a graphical user interface for facilitating user interaction with said data structure representation; and
updating said data structure in response to a user manipulation of said representation defining a node cache preference.
25. A computer-readable medium according to claim 24, having instructions such that:
said node cache preference for said intermediate process node is indicated in said data structure representation by a state of part of a visual representation of said intermediate node.
26. A computer-readable medium according to claim 21, including instructions for configuring said node cache preference to be a read only preference.
27. A computer-readable medium according to claim 21, including instructions for configuring said node cache preference to be a read write preference.
28. A computer-readable medium according to claim 21, including instructions for performing a comparison between parameters for a plurality of read or read write cached nodes, and thereupon identifying a node cache preference for an individual node.
29. A computer-readable medium according to claim 28, including instructions for performing said comparison wherein said parameters include a measure of cache effectiveness for nodes.
30. A computer-readable medium according to claim 29, including instructions such that said parameters are weighted in order to identify a cache priority.

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 system for social routing, comprising:
a traveler-registration module for identifying a plurality of travelers;
a destination-setting module for designating a destination where the travelers intend to meet at a specific time;
a criteria-gathering module for determining, for each specific traveler, an initial set of transport options, a communication channel, a starting point, and a travel criteria;
an initial route-generating module for creating an initial route for each of the travelers, comprising:
a mode of transportation-selecting submodule for selecting a mode of transportation from the initial transport options based on the travel criteria;
a route-selecting submodule for selecting a route based on the mode of transportation to get the traveler from the starting point to the destination;
an initial route-setting submodule for setting the selected route as the initial route for the traveler; and
an initial route-deciding submodule for determining a start time for the traveler based on the initial route;

a route-calculating module for comparing, for at least one of the travelers, the travel criteria for that traveler to the initial routes of one or more of the remaining travelers and revising the initial route of that traveler based on the comparison;
a notification module for notifying one or more of the travelers of the revised route through the communication channel;
a monitoring module for monitoring a progress of each of the travelers along the routes; and
a revision module for revising one or more of the routes based on the progress.
2. A system according to claim 1, further comprising:
a condition monitoring module for obtaining data regarding condition along the routes,
wherein the routes revised based on the progress are also revised based on the data.
3. A system according to claim 1, wherein the travel criteria comprises one or more of a cost of travel, preference for another traveler, preference for the mode of transportation, tolerance for travel time deviation, and flexibility of schedule.
4. A system according to claim 1, further comprising:
a recommendation module for recommending the route selected based on the mode of transportation to one of the travelers; and
an acceptance module for receiving an acceptance of the recommended route,
wherein the selected route is set as the initial route upon the receipt of the acceptance.
5. A system according to claim 1, further comprising:
a communication module for forwarding one or more messages between one or more travelers and the destination using one or more communication channels.
6. A system according to claim 1, further comprising:
a tracking device associated with one or more of the travelers; and
a location-determination module for determining a physical location of the one or more travelers using the tracking device.
7. A system according to claim 1, further comprising:
A message module to provide a message based on the progress of one or more of the travelers to the destination and one or more of the remaining travelers.
8. A system according to claim 1, further comprising an updater comprising:
a destination monitor for detecting a change of availability of the destination;
a destination alternator for locating an alternative destination upon the detection;
wherein a new route for each of the traveler is generated and an information regarding the new route is sent to each of the travelers via the communication channel, after the destination becomes unavailable.
9. A system according to claim 1, further comprising:
a returning route-recommendation module for suggesting to at least one of the travelers a route to return to the starting point for that traveler.
10. A system according to claim 1, further comprising a parking-assistant module comprising:
a parking spot-finding submodule for identifying a plurality of parking spots in a proximty to the destination,
a parking spot status submodule for obtaining data regarding the availability of the spots,
a parking spot-selecting submodule for selecting one of the parking spots based on the availability and the specific time; and
a parking spot-notification submodule for notifying one of the travelers regarding the selected spot.
11. A computer-implemented method for social routing, comprising the steps of:
identifying a plurality of travelers;
designating a destination where the travelers intend to meet at a specific time;
determining, for each specific traveler, an initial set of transport options, a communication channel, a starting point, and a travel criteria;
creating an initial route for each of the travelers, comprising:
selecting a mode of transportation from the initial transport options based on the travel criteria;
selecting a route based on the mode of transportation to get the traveler from the starting point to the destination;
setting the selected route as the initial route for the traveler;
determining a start time for the traveler based on the initial route;

for at least one of the travelers, comparing the travel criteria for that traveler to the initial routes of one or more of the remaining travelers and revising the initial route of that traveler based on the comparison;
notifying one or more of the travelers of the revised route through the communication channel;
monitoring the progress of each of the travelers along the routes;
revising one or more of the routes based on the progress;
notifying each traveler of the revision based on the progress through the communication channel.
12. A method according to claim 11, further comprising the steps of:
obtaining data regarding condition along the routes,
wherein the routes revised based on the progress are also revised based on the data.
13. A method according to claim 11, wherein the travel criteria comprises one or more of a cost of travel, preference for another traveler, preference for the mode of transportation, tolerance for travel time deviation, and flexibility of schedule.
14. A method according to claim 11, further comprising the steps of:
recommending the route selected based on the mode of transportation to one of the travelers; and
receiving an acceptance of the recommended route,
wherein the selected route is set as the initial route upon the receipt of the acceptance.
15. A method according to claim 11, further comprising the step of:
forwarding one or more messages between one or more travelers and the destination using one or more communication channels.
16. A method according to claim 11, further comprising the steps of:
associating a tracking device with one or more of the travelers; and
determining a physical location of the one or more travelers using the tracking device.
17. A method according to claim 11, further comprising the step of:
providing a message based on the progress of one or more of the travelers to the destination and one or more of the remaining travelers.
18. A method according to claim 11, further comprising the steps of:
detecting a change of availability of the destination;
locating an alternative destination upon the detection;
generating a new route for each of the travelers; an
providing the new route to the travelers through the communication channels.
19. A method according to claim 11, further comprising the step of:
suggesting to at least one of the travelers a route to return to the starting point for that traveler.
20. A method according to claim 11, further comprising the step of:
identifying a plurality of parking spots in a proximity to the destination;
obtaining data regarding the availability of the spots;
selecting one of the parking spots based on the availability and the specific time; and
notifying one of the travelers regarding the selected spot.