Author: claimsbot

1. A system comprising:
a memory; and
a processor configured to:
receive a multiple passenger, multiple route query;
search for sequences of flight segments and fares usable with the sequences of flight segments for airline tickets, in response to the multiple passenger, multiple route query, and with the multiple passenger, multiple route query involving different passenger groups taking different, but related routes, wherein each of the routes has an origin and a destination, and wherein at least one of the routes for one of the passenger groups has at least one intermediate stop between the origin and destination of that route; and
determine individual solutions for each of a plurality of the different passenger groups including flight segments between the origin and the destination for each of the routes, with at least two of the routes for at least two of the different passenger groups including at least one common flight segment that includes, as an origin or destination of the common flight segment, the at least one intermediate stop.
2. The system of claim 1, wherein the system is configured to:
execute a multiple passenger, multiple route process to process multiple passenger, multiple route queries and produce multiple passenger, multiple route answers.
3. The system of claim 2 wherein the multiple passenger, multiple route process combines the individual solutions for a plurality of the passenger groups into a set of potential joint solutions, and the system further comprises:
the processor is configured to produce a factored representation of the set of potential joint solutions.
4. The system of claim 3 wherein the factored representation of the set of potential joint solutions is an ANDOR Directed Acyclic Graph.
5. The system of claim 3 wherein solutions are enumerated from the factored representation.
6. The system of claim 3 wherein solutions are enumerated from the factored representation in an order determined by a joint travel preference function.
7. The system of claim 2 wherein the multiple passenger, multiple route process groups individual solutions from an individual query into sets of individual solutions for evaluating the individual solutions with respect to joint travel requirements.
8. The system of claim 1 further comprising:
a server that receives the multiple passenger, multiple route query and sends multiple, individual queries to a travel planning system and combines solutions received from execution of the multiple, individual queries by the travel planning system, producing answers for the multiple passenger, multiple route query.
9. The system of claim 8 wherein a client system sends the multiple passenger, multiple route query to the server that decomposes the multiple passenger, multiple route query into individual queries.
10. The system of claim 8 wherein the server combines the individual solutions for each of a plurality of the different passenger groups into potential joint solutions by matching each individual solution in sets of individual solutions with other individual solutions in the sets of individual solutions to provide a set of potential joint solutions.
11. The system of claim 8 wherein the server filters the individual solutions by joint travel requirements into potential joint solutions.
12. The system of claim 1 wherein the multiple passenger, multiple route query includes fields that allow user-specified joint travel requirements pertaining to flights for multiple passenger groups.
13. The system of claim 1 wherein a client system sends the multiple passenger, multiple route query directly to the system.
14. The system of claim 1 wherein a combination of individual queries for each passenger group comprises a set of joint travel requirements.
15. The system of claim 1 wherein an individual query for each of the different passenger groups is expressed as a set of information for each passenger group, the set comprising a set of joint travel requirements and a specification of how to choose among solutions received from the system.
16. A system for processing a multiple passenger, multiple route query, the system comprising:
a travel planning system that searches one or more databases for sequences of flight segments and fares usable with the sequences of flight segments for airline tickets in response to the multiple passenger, multiple route query, the travel planning system, comprising:
a server computer system configured to:
search for sequences of flight segments and fares usable with the sequences of flight segments for airline tickets, in response to the multiple passenger, multiple route query, and with the multiple passenger, multiple route query involving different passenger groups taking different, but related routes, wherein each of the routes has an origin and a destination, and wherein at least one of the routes for one of the passenger groups has at least one intermediate stop between the origin and destination of that route; and
determine individual solutions for each of a plurality of the different passenger groups including flight segments between the origin and the destination for each route, with at least two of the routes for at least two of the different passenger groups including at least one common flight segment that includes as an origin or destination of the common flight segment the at least one intermediate stop.
17. The system of claim 16 wherein a client sends a multiple passenger, multiple route query to the server and wherein the server produces multiple, individual queries from the multiple passenger, multiple route query.
18. The system of claim 17 wherein the server combines the individual solutions for each of a plurality of the different passenger groups into potential joint solutions, and the system is further configured to produce a factored representation of the set of potential joint solutions.
19. The system of claim 18 wherein solutions are enumerated from the factored representation.
20. The system of claim 19 wherein solutions are enumerated from the factored representation in an order determined by a joint travel preference function.
21. The system of claim 17 wherein the server combines the individual solutions for each of a plurality of the different passenger groups into potential joint solutions by matching each individual solution in sets of individual solutions with other individual solutions in the sets of individual solutions to provide a list of potential joint solutions.
22. The system of claim 17 wherein the server combines the individual solutions for each of a plurality of the different passenger groups into potential joint solutions by filtering the individual solutions by joint travel requirements.
23. The system of claim 16 wherein the travel planning system comprises a scheduling process and a faring process that produces travel solutions comprising priced itineraries.
24. The system of claim 16 wherein the multiple passenger, multiple route query includes a set of information for each passenger group, the set comprising an individual query and a set of joint travel requirements.
25. The system of claim 16 wherein the multiple passenger, multiple route query includes a set of information for each passenger group, the set comprising an individual query, a set of joint travel requirements, and a specification of how to choose among solutions received from the travel planning system.
26. A computer implemented method executed over a computer network for processing a multiple passenger, multiple route query, the method comprising:
searching by a computer for airline tickets in response to queries; and
determining by the computer answers that satisfy the queries, with the queries involving different passengers taking different, but related routes and the routes of different passenger groups sharing at least one common flight sequence that involves an intermediate stop between origins and destinations of the routes.
27. The method of claim 26 further comprising:
sending multiple, individual queries to a travel planning system by a server; and
combining, on the server, solutions received from execution of the multiple, individual queries by the travel planning system, to determine the answers for the multiple passenger, multiple route query.
28. The method of claim 27 further comprising:
sending the multiple passenger, multiple route query to the server from a client.
29. The method of claim 27 wherein combining comprises:
matching each individual solution in lists of individual solutions with other individual solutions in the lists of individual solutions to provide a list of potential joint solutions.
30. The method of claim 27 wherein combining comprises:
filtering the individual solutions by joint travel requirements.
31. The method of claim 27 wherein combining comprises:
producing a factored representation of a set of joint solutions.
32. The method of claim 26 wherein the multiple passenger, multiple route query relates to joint planning of trips for multiple passenger groups.
33. The method of claim 26 further comprising:
sending the multiple passenger, multiple route query by a client directly to a travel planning system.
34. A computer program product comprising instructions embodied on a tangible, non-transitory computer-readable media, the instructions operable when executed to cause a computing system to perform operations comprising:
receiving a multiple passenger, multiple route query;
searching for sequences of flight segments and fares usable with the sequences of flight segments for airline tickets, in response to the multiple passenger, multiple route query, and with the multiple passenger, multiple route query involving different passenger groups taking different, but related routes, wherein each of the routes has an origin and a destination, and wherein at least one of the routes for one of the passenger groups has at least one intermediate stop between the origin and destination of that route; and
determining individual solutions for each of a plurality of the different passenger groups including flight segments between the origin and the destination for each of the routes, with at least two of the routes for at least two of the different passenger groups including at least one common flight segment that includes, as an origin or destination of the common flight segment the at least one intermediate stop.
35. The computer program product of claim 34, wherein the instructions are operable when executed to cause a computing system to:
execute a multiple passenger, multiple route process to process multiple passenger, multiple route queries and produce multiple passenger, multiple route answers.
36. The computer program product of claim 35 wherein the multiple passenger, multiple route process combines the individual solutions for a plurality of the passenger groups into a set of potential joint solutions, and the computer program product further comprises instructions operable when executed to cause a computing system to produce a factored representation of the set of potential joint solutions.
37. The computer program product of claim 36 wherein the factored representation of the set of potential joint solutions is an ANDOR Directed Acyclic Graph.
38. The computer program product of claim 36 wherein solutions are enumerated from the factored representation.
39. The computer program product of claim 36 wherein solutions are enumerated from the factored representation in an order determined by a joint travel preference function.
40. The computer program product of claim 35 wherein the multiple passenger, multiple route process groups individual solutions from an individual query into sets of individual solutions for evaluating the individual solutions with respect to joint travel requirements.
41. The computer program product of claim 34 further comprising:
a server that receives the multiple passenger, multiple route query and sends multiple, individual queries to a travel planning system and combines solutions received from execution of the multiple, individual queries by the travel planning system, producing answers for the multiple passenger, multiple route query.
42. The computer program product of claim 41 wherein a client system sends the multiple passenger, multiple route query to the server that decomposes the multiple passenger, multiple route query into individual queries.
43. The computer program product of claim 41 wherein the server combines the individual solutions for each of a plurality of the different passenger groups into potential joint solutions by matching each individual solution in sets of individual solutions with other individual solutions in the sets of individual solutions to provide a set of potential joint solutions.
44. The computer program product of claim 41 wherein the server filters the individual solutions by joint travel requirements into potential joint solutions.
45. The computer program product of claim 34 wherein the multiple passenger, multiple route query includes fields that allow user-specified joint travel requirements pertaining to flights for multiple passengers groups.
46. The computer program product of claim 34 wherein a client system sends the multiple passenger, multiple route query directly to the computing system.
47. The computer program product of claim 34 wherein a combination of individual queries for each passenger group comprises a set of joint travel requirements.
48. The computer program product of claim 34 wherein an individual query for each of the different passenger groups is expressed as a set of information for each passenger group, the set comprising a set of joint travel requirements and a specification of how to choose among solutions received from the system.
49. A computer implemented method comprising:
searching for airline tickets in a travel planning system in response to queries;
sending by a server multiple, individual queries to the travel planning system; and
combining solutions received from execution of the multiple, individual queries by the travel planning system to provide answers for a multiple passenger, multiple route query with the answers comprising flight segments with at least two routes for at least two different passenger groups including at least one common flight segment that includes an intermediate stop for one of the at least two routes.
50. The method of claim 49 wherein the travel planning system comprises:
scheduling and faring to produce travel solutions comprising priced itineraries.
51. The method of claim 49 further comprising:
sending a multiple passenger, multiple route query to the server from a client.
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 hard disk drive comprising:
a logic core to control selection of an operation mode of the hard disk drive, the operation mode including a low power mode and an active mode;
a communication interface in communication with the logic core; and
a module to generate a first signal and a second signal, the logic core responsive to the first signal to maintain configuration information for the communication interface during the low power mode, the second signal being used to keep the communication interface active during the low power mode.
2. The hard disk drive of claim 1 wherein the logic core stores data defining a device identifier and data defining a configuration for the hard disk drive during the low power mode.
3. The hard disk drive of claim 2 wherein the communication interface comprises a Universal Serial Bus (USB) interface and wherein the logic core stores data defining a USB device identifier and a USB configuration.
4. The hard disk drive of claim 1 wherein substantially all circuits of the hard disk drive are powered down during the low power mode with the exception of the logic core, the communication interface, and the module.
5. The hard disk drive of claim 1 wherein the module comprises a voltage regulator configurable between an active configuration for the active mode and a low power configuration for the lower power mode.
6. The hard disk drive of claim 5 wherein the low power mode includes a linear open loop mode.
7. The hard disk drive of claim 1 wherein the module comprises a bandgap regulator that is used to generate the second signal.
8. The hard disk drive of claim 1 wherein the module comprises a regulator dedicated to operation of the communication interface.
9. The hard disk drive of claim 1 further comprising a motor controller having a spindle core circuit and a voice coil motor circuit, wherein the motor controller is powered down in the low power mode.
10. The hard disk drive of claim 1 wherein the hard disk drive has a standby current of less than about 500 microamps in the low power mode.
11. A hard disk drive comprising:
means for controlling selection of an operation mode of the hard disk drive, the operation mode including a low power mode and an active mode;
means for external communication which is in communication with the means for controlling;
module means for generating a first signal and a second signal, the means for controlling responsive to the first signal to maintain configuration information for the means for external communication during the low power mode, the second signal for keeping the means for external communication active during the low power mode.
12. The hard disk drive of claim 11 wherein the means for controlling includes means for storing data defining a device identifier and data defining a configuration for the hard disk drive during the low power mode.
13. The hard disk drive of claim 12 wherein the means for external communication comprises a Universal Serial Bus (USB) interface and wherein the means for controlling includes means for storing data defining a USB device identifier and a USB configuration.
14. The hard disk drive of claim 13 wherein the means for controlling stores data defining a USB device identifier and data defining a USB configuration for the hard disk drive during the low power mode.
15. The hard disk drive of claim 11 wherein substantially all circuits of the hard disk drive are powered down during the low power mode, with the exception of the means for controlling, the means for external communication, and the module means.
16. The hard disk drive of claim 11 wherein the module means comprises a voltage regulator configurable between an active configuration for the active mode and a low power configuration for the lower power mode.
17. The hard disk drive of claim 16 wherein the low power mode includes a linear open loop mode.
18. The hard disk drive of claim 11 wherein the module means comprises a bandgap regulator to generate the second signal.
19. The hard disk drive of claim 11 wherein the module means comprises a regulator dedicated to operation of the means for external communication.
20. The hard disk drive of claim 11 further comprising a motor controller including a spindle core circuit and a voice coil motor circuit, wherein the motor controller is powered down in the low power mode.
21. A low power method for a hard disk drive, the method comprising:
engaging the hard disk drive in a low power mode;
maintaining the availability of configuration information for external communication during the low power mode; and
keeping circuitry to be used for external communication in an active state during the low power mode.
22. The method of claim 21 further comprising:
storing data defining a USB device identifier and storing data defining a USB configuration for the hard disk drive during the low power mode.
23. The method of claim 22 further comprising powering down substantially all other operations of the hard disk drive during the low power mode.
24. The method of claim 21 wherein keeping the circuitry to be used for external communication in an active state comprises switching the circuitry from an active configuration in an active mode to a low power configuration in the lower power mode.
25. The method of claim 21 wherein the low power configuration includes a linear mode.
26. A hard disk drive having a selectable low power mode, the hard disk drive comprising:
a Universal Serial Bus (USB) interface; and
a system on a chip (SoC) core configured to maintain the availability of configuration data for the USB interface and keep the USB interface in an active state when the hard disk drive is in the low power mode,
wherein the configuration data is available in the lower power mode as if the hard disk drive is in an active mode.
27. The hard disk drive of claim 26 wherein the SoC core comprises logic to direct the hard disk drive to enter the low power mode from the active mode.
28. The hard disk drive of claim 26 further comprising a SoC regulator to generate a SoC regulating signal, the SoC core remaining in an active state in response to the SoC regulating signal when the hard disk drive is in the low power mode.
29. The hard disk drive of claim 28 wherein the SoC regulator operates in a linear mode when the hard disk drive is in the low power mode.
30. The hard disk drive of claim 28 further comprising a USB regulator to generate a USB regulating signal, the USB interface remaining in the active state in response to the USB regulating signal when the hard disk drive is in the low power mode.
31. A hard disk drive having a selectable low power mode, the hard disk drive comprising:
a Universal Serial Bus (USB) interface; and
system on a chip (SoC) core means for maintaining the availability of configuration data for the USB interface and for keeping the USB interface in an active state when the hard disk drive is in the low power mode,
wherein the configuration data is available in the low power mode as if the hard disk drive is in an active mode.
32. The hard disk drive of claim 31 wherein the SoC core means comprises means for directing the hard disk drive to enter the low power mode from the active mode.
33. The hard disk drive of claim 31 further comprising a SoC regulating means for generating a SoC regulating signal, the SoC core means remaining in an active state in response to the SoC regulating signal when the hard disk drive is in the low power mode.
34. The hard disk drive of claim 33 wherein the SoC regulating means operates in a linear mode when the hard disk drive is in the low power mode.
35. The hard disk drive of claim 33 further comprising USB regulating means for generating a USB regulating signal, the USB interface remaining in the active state in response to the USB regulating signal when the hard disk drive is in the low power mode.
36. A low power mode entry method for a hard disk drive, the method comprising:
activating an enable signal to enter a low power mode;
switching a regulator from a switching mode to a linear mode of operation to generate a first regulated signal in the low power mode; and
in response to the first regulated signal, maintaining availability of configuration information for a communication interface to enable external communication with the hard disk drive in the low power mode.
37. The method of claim 36 further comprising:
generating a second regulated signal; and
in response to the second regulated signal, maintaining the communication interface in the active state in the low power mode.
38. The method of claim 37 further comprising:
receiving a wakeup signal; and
in response to the wakeup signal, switching the regulator from the linear mode to the switching mode of operation to generate the first regulated signal.
39. A hard disk drive having a low power mode of operation and an active mode of operation, the hard disk drive comprising:
a system on a chip (SoC) including
an SoC core to issue a low power mode entry command to initiate entry to the low power mode from the active mode;
a Universal Serial Bus (USB) interface in communication with the SoC core;

a motor controller including
a first regulator to generate a first signal, the SoC core responsive to the first signal to maintain configuration information for the USB interface during the low power mode, and
a second regulator to generate a second signal to keep the USB interface active during the low power mode; and

a signal path in communication with the SoC and the motor controller to convey the low power mode entry command from the SoC core to the motor controller.
40. The hard disk drive of claim 39 wherein
the SoC core is operative to communicate a serial data enable signal on the signal path after issuing the low power mode entry command to enter the low power mode; and
in response to the serial data enable signal, the motor controller is operative to switch the first regulator from a switching mode to a linear mode of operation to generate a regulated signal, the regulated signal being supplied to the SoC core to maintain configuration data for the USB interface to enable external communication in the low power mode.

1. A phase detection device comprising:
an analog-to-digital converter receiving an analog signal and converting the analog signal to a digital signal according to a plurality of digital sampling points;
an interpolator for generating a plurality of interpolation points to approach a zero-cross (ZC) point according to a predetermined amount of digital sampling points among the plurality of digital sampling points, wherein the interpolator interpolates an interpolation point between a predetermined amount of boundary points being interpolated at each time, determines the position of the ZC point according to a sign of a value of each interpolation point or a sign of a value of one of the corresponding boundary points and outputs a selection signal, and the predetermined amount of digital sampling points are adjacent to the ZC point; and
a determining unit obtaining a phase of the ZC point to express a phase difference between an interpolation point and one of the digital sampling points.
2. The phase detection device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the boundary points are the predetermined amount of digital sampling points when the interpolator interpolates the first interpolation point.
3. The phase detection device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the boundary points are changed and gotten closed to the ZC point when the interpolator generates the next interpolation point.
4. The phase detection device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the determining unit calculates the phase of the ZC point according to the selection signals.
5. The phase detection device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the interpolator comprises a plurality of detection units coupled in series, each detection unit comprises a predetermined amount of input terminals and a predetermined of output terminals, the predetermined amount of input terminals respectively receives the values of the predetermined amount of boundary points, the predetermined amount of output terminals of each detection unit are respectively coupled to the predetermined amount of input terminals of the next detection unit.
6. The phase detection device as claimed in claim 5, wherein in each detection unit, one of the output terminals outputs the value of the interpolation point to serve as the value of one of the boundary points of the next detection unit.
7. The phase detection device as claimed in claim 6, wherein each detection unit comprises:
an interpolation unit receiving the values of the predetermined amount boundary points, determining the corresponding interpolation point between a first and a second boundary points adjacent to the ZC point, and outputting the value of the corresponding interpolation point to serve as the value of one of the boundary points of the next detection unit;
a zero-cross (ZC) selection unit receiving the value of the corresponding interpolation point from the interpolation unit and the first boundary point, determining whether the signs of the values of the corresponding interpolation point and the first boundary point are the same, and outputting a selection signal according to the result of the determination through an additional output terminal of the detection unit to the determining unit; and
a multiplexer receiving the values of the predetermined amount of boundary points and outputting the value of selected boundary points to serve as the value of the boundary points of the next detection unit according to the selection signal.
8. The phase detection device as claimed in claim 7, wherein the multiplexer outputs the second boundary point when the signs of the values of the corresponding interpolation point and the first boundary point are the same, and the multiplexer outputs the first boundary point when the signs of the values of the corresponding interpolation point and the first boundary point are different.
9. The phase detection device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the interpolator outputs a plurality of selection signals according to signs of the values of the interpolation points or the digital sampling points, and the determining unit obtains the phase of the ZC point according to the selection signals.
10. The phase detection device as claimed in claim 9, wherein the determining unit is implemented by a decoder, and the decoder calculates the selection signals with an XOR operation to obtain the phase of the ZC point.
11. The phase detection device as claimed in claim 9, wherein the determining unit is implemented by a lookup table, and the lookup table collects a plurality of phases and selects one phase corresponding to the ZC point according to the selection signals.
12. The phase detection device as claimed in claim 9, wherein the determining unit comprises a calculator receiving the selection signals and the phase of the predetermined amount of digital sampling points, and the calculator calculates the phase of the ZC point according to the selection signals.
13. The phase detection device as claimed in claim 1 further comprising a phase looked loop (PLL) circuit receiving the digital signal and generating a clock synchronized with the digital signal to serve as a sampling clock of the analog-digital converter, and the phase obtained by the ZC point determining unit is equal to a jitter related to the ZC point.
14. The phase detection device as claimed in claim 13 further comprising a write index generator receiving the jitter and regulating write strategy for the optical disc drive according to the jitter.
15. The phase detection device as claimed in claim 13 further comprising a servo calibration unit receiving the jitter and calibrating servo parameters of the optical disc drive according to the jitter.
16. A phase detection device comprising:
an analog-to-digital converter receiving an analog signal and converting the analog signal to a digital signal according to a plurality of digital sampling points;
an interpolator for generating a plurality of interpolation points according to a predetermined amount of digital sampling points among the plurality of digital sampling points, wherein the interpolator interpolates an interpolation point between a predetermined amount of boundary points being interpolated at each time, determines a position of a zero-cross (ZC) point according to a sign of a value of each interpolation point or a sign of a value of one of the corresponding boundary points and outputs a selection signal, and the predetermined amount of digital sampling points are adjacent to the zero-cross (ZC) point; and
a determining unit obtaining a phase of the zero-cross (ZC) point according to the interpolation points or the digital sampling points; and
wherein the interpolation points are generated to approach the zero-cross (ZC) point.
17. The phase detection device as claimed in claim 16, wherein the boundary points are the predetermined amount of digital sampling points when the interpolator interpolates the first interpolation point.
18. The phase detection device as claimed in claim 16, wherein the boundary points are changed and gotten closed to the ZC point when the interpolator generates the next interpolation point.
19. The phase detection device as claimed in claim 16, wherein the determining unit calculates the phase of the ZC point according to the selection signals.
20. The phase detection device as claimed in claim 16, wherein the interpolator comprises a plurality of detection units coupled in series, each detection unit comprises a predetermined amount of input terminals and a predetermined of output terminals, the predetermined amount of input terminals respectively receives the values of the predetermined amount of boundary points, the predetermined amount of output terminals of each detection unit are respectively coupled to the predetermined amount of input terminals of the next detection unit.
21. The phase detection device as claimed in claim 20, wherein in each detection unit, one of the output terminals outputs the value of the interpolation point to serve as the value of one of the boundary points of the next detection unit.
22. The phase detection device as claimed in claim 21, wherein each detection unit comprises:
an interpolation unit receiving the values of the predetermined amount boundary points, determining the corresponding interpolation point between a first and a second boundary points adjacent to the ZC point, and outputting the value of the corresponding interpolation point to serve as the value of one of the boundary points of the next detection unit;
a zero-cross (ZC) selection unit receiving the value of the corresponding interpolation point from the interpolation unit and the first boundary point, determining whether the signs of the values of the corresponding interpolation point and the first boundary point are the same, and outputting a selection signal according to the result of the determination through an additional output terminal of the detection unit to the determining unit; and
a multiplexer receiving the values of the predetermined amount of boundary points and outputting the value of selected boundary points to serve as the value of the boundary points of the next detection unit according to the selection signal.
23. The phase detection device as claimed in claim 22, wherein the multiplexer outputs the second boundary point when the signs of the values of the corresponding interpolation point and the first boundary point are the same, and the multiplexer outputs the first boundary point when the signs of the values of the corresponding interpolation point and the first boundary point are different.
24. The phase detection device as claimed in claim 16, wherein the interpolator outputs a plurality of selection signals according to signs of the values of the interpolation points or the digital sampling points, and the determining unit obtains the phase of the ZC point according to the selection signals.
25. The phase detection device as claimed in claim 24, wherein the determining unit is implemented by a decoder, and the decoder calculates the selection signals with an XOR operation to obtain the phase of the ZC point.
26. The phase detection device as claimed in claim 24, wherein the determining unit is implemented by a lookup table, and the lookup table collects a plurality of phases and selects one phase corresponding to the ZC point according to the selection signals.
27. The phase detection device as claimed in claim 24, wherein the determining unit comprises a calculator receiving the selection signals and the phase of the predetermined amount of sampling points, and the calculator calculates the phase of the ZC point according to the selection signals.
28. The phase detection device as claimed in claim 16 further comprising a phase looked loop (PLL) circuit receiving the digital signal and generating a clock synchronized with the digital signal to serve as a sampling clock of the analog-digital converter, and the phase obtained by the ZC point determining unit is equal to a jitter related to the ZC point.
29. The phase detection device as claimed in claim 28 further comprising a write index generator receiving the jitter and regulating write strategy for the optical disc drive according to the jitter.
30. The phase detection device as claimed in claim 28 further comprising a servo calibration unit receiving the jitter and calibrating servo parameters of the optical disc drive according to the jitter.
31. The phase detection device as claimed in claim 16, wherein the determining unit obtaining a phase of the ZC point to express a phase difference between an interpolation point and one of the digital sampling points.
32. A method for a phase detection device comprising:
receiving an analog signal;
converting the analog signal to a digital signal at a sampling clock according to a plurality of digital sampling points;
generating a plurality of interpolation points to approach a ZC point according to a predetermined amount of digital sampling points among the plurality of digital sampling points; and
obtaining a phase of the ZC point according to the interpolation points or the digital sampling points,
wherein an interpolation point is generated between a predetermined amount of boundary points being interpolated at each time, the position of the ZC point is determined according to a sign of a value of each interpolation point or a sign of a value of one of the corresponding boundary points and a selection signal is output.
33. The method as claimed in claim 32, wherein the boundary points are the predetermined amount of digital sampling points when interpolating the first interpolation point.
34. The method as claimed in claim 32, wherein the boundary points are changed and gotten closed to the ZC point when generating the next interpolation point.
35. The method as claimed in claim 32, wherein the phase of the ZC point is calculated according to the selection signals.
36. The method as claimed in claim 32 further comprising:
receiving the values of the predetermined amount of boundary points, determining the corresponding interpolation point between a first and a second boundary points adjacent to the ZC point, and outputting the value of the corresponding interpolation point to serve as the value of one of the boundary points of the next interpolation;
receiving the value of the corresponding interpolation point and the first boundary point, determining whether the signs of the values of the corresponding interpolation point and the first boundary point are the same, and outputting a selection signal according to the result of the determination; and
receiving the values of the predetermined amount of boundary points and outputting the values of selected boundary points to serve as the values of the boundary points of the next interpolation according to the selection signal.
37. The method as claimed in claim 36, wherein the second boundary point is output when the signs of the values of the corresponding interpolation point and the first boundary point are the same, and the first boundary point is output when the signs of the values of the corresponding interpolation point and the first boundary point are different.
38. The method as claimed in claim 32, wherein a plurality of selection signals are output according to signs of the values of the interpolation points or the digital sampling points, and the phase of the ZC point is obtained according to the selection signals.
39. The method as claimed in claim 38, wherein the step of obtaining the phase of the ZC point comprises calculating the selection signals with an XOR operation to obtain the phase of the ZC point.
40. The method as claimed in claim 38, wherein the step of obtaining the phase of the ZC point comprises selecting one of a plurality of phases collected in a lookup table according to the selection signals to serve as the ZC point.
41. The method as claimed in claim 32 further comprising generating a clock synchronized with the digital signal to serve as the sampling clock, wherein the obtained phase of the ZC point is equal to a jitter related to the ZC point.
42. The method as claimed in claim 41 further comprising regulating write strategy for an optical disc drive according to the jitter.
43. The method as claimed in claim 41 further comprising calibrating servo parameters of an optical disc drive according to the jitter.
44. The method as claimed in claim 32, wherein the two digital sampling points is adjacent to the ZC point.
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 flame-retardant impact resistant vinyl aromatic resin composition, comprising:
(A) about 100 parts by weight of a rubber modified vinyl aromatic resin;
(B) about 1 to about 30 parts by weight of a brominated diphenyl ethane mixture based on about 100 parts by weight of the rubber modified vinyl aromatic resin (A), wherein the brominated diphenyl ethane mixture (B) comprises about 55 to about 85% by weight of hexabromodiphenyl ethane and about 1 to about 25% by weight of odd number brominated diphenylethanes, based on the total weight of the brominated diphenyl ethane mixture; and
(C) about 1 to about 10 parts by weight of antimony oxide based on about 100 parts by weight of the rubber modified vinyl aromatic resin (A).
2. The flame-retardant impact resistant vinyl aromatic resin composition of claim 1, wherein the rubber modified vinyl aromatic resin (A) is a polymer comprising about 5 to about 15% by weight of a rubber polymer and about 85 to about 95% by weight of a vinyl aromatic monomer.
3. The flame-retardant impact resistant vinyl aromatic resin composition of claim 1, wherein the rubber modified vinyl aromatic resin (A) is a mixture of a rubber modified vinyl aromatic resin (A1) having an average rubber particle diameter of about 0.1 to about 0.9 \u03bcm and a rubber modified vinyl aromatic resin (A2) having an average rubber particle diameter of about 0.9 to about 4 \u03bcm.
4. The flame-retardant impact resistant vinyl aromatic resin composition of claim 1, wherein the brominated diphenyl ethane mixture (B) is prepared by brominating diphenyl ethane and comprises about 0 to about 30% by weight of heptabromodiphenyl ethane, based on the total weight of the brominated diphenyl ethane mixture.
5. The flame-retardant impact resistant vinyl aromatic resin composition of claim 1, wherein the brominated diphenyl ethane mixture (B) comprises about 0 to about 2% by weight of pentabromodiphenyl ethane, about 55 to about 85% by weight of hexabromodiphenyl ethane, about 1 to about 20% by weight of heptabromodiphenyl ethane, about 1 to about 25% by weight of octabromodiphenyl ethane, about 0 to about 10% by weight of nonabromodiphenyl ethane, and about 0 to about 5% by weight of decabromodiphenyl ethane.
6. The flame-retardant impact resistant vinyl aromatic resin composition of claim 1, wherein the brominated diphenyl ethane mixture (B) comprises about 5 to about 15% by weight of pentabromodiphenyl ethane, about 72 to about 85% by weight of hexabromodiphenyl ethane, about 2 to about 10% by weight of heptabromodiphenyl ethane, and about 0.1 to about 3% by weight of octabromodiphenyl ethane.
7. The flame-retardant impact resistant vinyl aromatic resin composition of claim 1, wherein the brominated diphenyl ethane mixture (B) comprises about 55 to about 75% by weight of hexabromodiphenyl ethane, about 11 to about 16% by weight of heptabromodiphenyl ethane, about 10 to about 20% by weight of octabromodiphenyl ethane, and about 1 to about 9% by weight of nonabromodiphenyl ethane.
8. The flame-retardant impact resistant vinyl aromatic resin composition of claim 1, wherein the brominated diphenyl ethane mixture (B) comprises about 0.1 to about 3% by weight of pentabromodiphenyl ethane, about 55 to about 83% by weight of hexabromodiphenyl ethane, about 7 to about 15% by weight of heptabromodiphenyl ethane, about 5 to about 20% by weight of octabromodiphenyl ethane, and about 1 to about 7% by weight of nonabromodiphenyl ethane.
9. The flame-retardant impact resistant vinyl aromatic resin composition of claim 1, wherein the brominated diphenyl ethane mixture (B) comprises about 0.1 to about 3% by weight of pentabromodiphenyl ethane, about 55 to about 83% by weight of hexabromodiphenyl ethane, about 7 to about 15% by weight of heptabromodiphenyl ethane, about 5 to about 20% by weight of octabromodiphenyl ethane, about 1 to about 7% by weight of nonabromodiphenyl ethane, and about 0.01 to about 1% by weight of decabromodiphenyl ethane.
10. The flame-retardant impact resistant vinyl aromatic resin composition of claim 1, further comprising a flame retardant including bromine (D) comprising tetrabromobisphenol A, decabromodiphenyl oxide, decabrominated diphenyl ethane, 1,2-bis(tribromophenyl)ethane, brominated epoxy oligomers with a weight-average molecular weight of about 600 to about 8000 gmol, octabromotrimethylphenyl indane, bis(2,3-dibromopropyl ether), tris(tribromophenyl)triazine, brominated aliphatic and aromatic hydrocarbons, or a combination thereof.
11. The flame-retardant impact resistant vinyl aromatic resin composition of claim 10, comprising the brominated diphenyl ethane mixture (B) and the flame retardant including bromine (D) in an amount of about 10 to about 30 parts by weight based on about 100 parts by weight of the rubber modified vinyl aromatic resin (A).
12. The flame-retardant impact resistant vinyl aromatic resin composition of claim 1, further comprising an additive comprising a plasticizer, a flame retardant other than a halogen-based flame retardant, an anti-dripping agent, a thermal stabilizer, a release agent, a weather resistant stabilizer, a halogen stabilizer, a lubricant, a filler, a coupling agent, a photostabilizer, an antioxidant, a coloring agent, an antistatic agent, a dispersant, an impact modifier, or a combination thereof.