Author: claimsbot

1-13. (canceled)
14. A method of transporting data packets over a telecommunications transport network between a Serving gateway, S-GW, or Packet Data Network gateway, PDN-GW, and a radio base station, wherein the data packets are carried by a plurality of non-Guaranteed Bitrate, non-GBR, bearers, the method comprising:
at a network node configured to handle the data packets on a per-bearer basis, for each of the bearers, independently of the other bearers, applying bandwidth profiling to the data packets of the bearer, wherein data packets are designated as \u2018green\u2019 data packets or as \u2018yellow\u2019 data packets, \u2018green\u2019 data packets being conformant with a predetermined committed Information Rate for the bearer and \u2018yellow\u2019 data packets not being conformant with the committed Information Rate, and wherein the bandwidth profiling comprises:
buffering one or more data packets for up to a predetermined maximum \u2018green\u2019 buffer time, during which if transporting the data packet would not cause the committed Information Rate of the bearer to be exceeded, the data packet is designated as a \u2018green\u2019 data packet; and
forwarding the data packets designated as \u2018green\u2019 data packets and the data packets designated as \u2018yellow data packets to an entry point of the transport network, where if there is insufficient bandwidth available in the transport network to transport all data packets, yellow\u2019 data packets are first to be discarded, so as not to be transported through the transport network.
15. The method of claim 14, wherein if a data packet has been buffered for the maximum \u2018green\u2019 buffer time, the data packet is designated as a \u2018yellow\u2019 data packet.
16. The method of claim 14, wherein a data packet is only designated as \u2018yellow\u2019 if it is also conformant with a predetermined Excess Information Rate (EIR) of the bearer.
17. The method of claim 16, wherein if a data packet has been buffered for the maximum \u2018green\u2019 buffer time, and the data packet is non-conformant with the predetermined EIR, the data packet is buffered for up to a predetermined maximum \u2018yellow\u2019 buffer time, during which if transporting the data packet over the transport network would not cause the excess Information Rate of the bearer to be exceeded, the data packet is designated as a \u2018yellow\u2019 data packet.
18. The method of claim 14, wherein for each bearer the data packets are received at a \u2018green\u2019 data packet bucket of the bearer, the \u2018green\u2019 data packet bucket having a \u2018green rate\u2019 corresponding to the committed Information Rate of the bearer, at which \u2018green tokens\u2019 arrive in the bucket, whereby at any moment in time the bucket contains a quantity of \u2018green tokens\u2019, and a received data packet is designated as a \u2018green\u2019 packet when the size of the packet is less than or equal to the quantity of \u2018green tokens\u2019 in the bucket.
19. The method of claim 18 wherein, when the size of the received packet is greater than the quantity of \u2018green tokens\u2019 in the bucket, the received data packet is buffered for up to the maximum \u2018green\u2019 buffer time.
20. The method of claim 18, wherein when a data packet is not designated as \u2018green\u2019, it is moved to a \u2018yellow\u2019 data packet bucket of the bearer, the \u2018yellow\u2019 data packet bucket having a \u2018yellow rate\u2019 corresponding to the predetermined EIR, at which \u2018yellow tokens\u2019 arrive in the bucket, whereby at any moment in time the bucket contains a quantity of \u2018yellow tokens\u2019, and the data packet is designated as a \u2018yellow\u2019 packet when the size of the packet is less than or equal to the quantity of \u2018yellow tokens\u2019 in the bucket.
21. The method of claim 20 wherein, when the size of the data packet moved to the \u2018yellow\u2019 bucket is greater than the quantity of \u2018yellow tokens\u2019 in the bucket, the data packet is buffered for up to the maximum \u2018yellow\u2019 buffer time.
22. The method of claim 14 wherein buffered data packets are held in a buffer queue, whereby only a data packet at the head of the queue is designated as a \u2018green\u2019 or \u2018yellow\u2019 packet and passed to the TN if transporting the data packet over the transport network would not cause the respective maximum or excess Information Rate of the bearer to be exceeded.
23. The method of claim 22 wherein the buffer has a buffer queue size, whereby if a new data packet to be buffered in the buffer would cause the queue size to be exceeded, a data packet is removed from the buffer to release space in the queue for the new data packet.
24. The method of claim 14 wherein a data packet that is not designated as either a \u2018green\u2019 data packet or a \u2018yellow\u2019 data packet is discarded without being transported over the transport network.
25. A telecommunications network entity configured to receive data packets of a plurality of non-Guaranteed Bitrate, non-GBR, bearers prior to forwarding the data packets for transport over a transport network, TN, between a Serving gateway, S-GW, or Packet Data Network gateway, PDN-GW, and a radio base station, the network entity configured to handle the data packets on a per-bearer basis and comprising a bandwidth profiler configured to apply bandwidth profiling to the data packets of a bearer independently of the other bearers, wherein data packets are designated as \u2018green\u2019 data packets or as \u2018yellow\u2019 data packets, \u2018green\u2019 data packets being conformant with a predetermined committed Information Rate of the bearer and \u2018yellow\u2019 data packets not being conformant with the committed Information Rate, the bandwidth profiler further comprising a buffer for buffering one or more data packets for up to a predetermined maximum \u2018green\u2019 buffer time, wherein the profiler is configured to designate a data packet in the buffer as a \u2018green\u2019 data packet if transporting the data packet would not cause the maximum Information Rate of the bearer to be exceeded, and wherein the network entity is configured to forward the data packets designated as \u2018green\u2019 data packets and the data packets designated as \u2018yellow data packets to an entry point of the transport network.
26. The network entity of claim 25, wherein a data packet is only designated as \u2018yellow\u2019 if it is also conformant with a predetermined Excess Information Rate, EIR, of the bearer, and wherein the profiler is further configured to buffer data packets for up to a predetermined maximum \u2018yellow\u2019 buffer time, and to designate a data packet in the buffer as a \u2018yellow\u2019 data packet if transporting the data packet would not cause the EIR of the bearer to be exceeded.

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 focus servo system for an optical disk drive, the focus servo system comprising:
an optical pick-up unit comprising at least one photodetector;
at least one analog to digital converter configured to digitize signals received from the at least one photodetector; and
at least one processor configured to execute a digital servo algorithm to process the versions of the digitized signals to:
calculate a focus error signal (FES) from the versions of the digitized signals;
apply an FES gain to the FES to provide a modified FES signal;
obtain a threshold value based upon the modified FES signal;
compute a sum signal from the versions of the digitized signals;
determine if the sum signal is below the threshold value; and
indicate a focus open condition if the sum signal is below the threshold value.
2. The focus servo system of claim 1, comprising at least one amplifier configured to gain adjust at least one of the signals received from the at least one photodetector prior to the at least one analog to digital converter digitizing the signals, the gain adjustment determined by the at least one processor.
3. The focus servo system of claim 2, wherein the at least one processor is configured to adjust gain of the at least one amplifier based on whether the optical disk drive is performing a read operation or a write operation.
4. The focus servo system of claim 1, wherein the at least one analog to digital converter and the at least one processor are included on the same integrated circuit.
5. The focus servo system of claim 4, wherein the integrated chip is an analog and digital processor.
6. The focus servo system of claim 1, wherein a version of at least one of the signals received from the at least one photodetector is compared to a focus OK (FOK) threshold to determine whether the focus servo system is in a near in-focus condition.
7. The focus servo system of claim 1, comprising at least one decimation filter, wherein the at least one of the versions of the digitized signals are down-sampled by the at least one decimation filter.
8. The focus servo system of claim 7, wherein at least one of the output frequency, filtering characteristics, and sample rate of the at least one decimation filter is determined by the at least one processor.
9. A focus servo system for an optical disk drive, the focus servo system comprising:
an optical pick-up unit comprising at least one photodetector;
at least one analog to digital converter configured to digitize signals received from the at least one photodetector; and
at least one processor configured to execute a digital servo algorithm to process the versions of the digitized signals to calculate a focus error signal (FES) from the versions of the digitized signals and indicate a focus open condition based on the FES and the versions of the digitized signals.
10. The focus servo system of claim 9, comprising at least one amplifier configured to gain adjust at least one of the signals received from the at least one photodetector prior to the at least one analog to digital converter digitizing the signals, the gain adjustment determined by the at least one processor.
11. The focus servo system of claim 10, wherein the at least one processor is configured to adjust gain of the at least one amplifier based on whether the optical disk drive is performing a read operation or a write operation.
12. The focus servo system of claim 9, wherein the at least one analog to digital converter and the at least one processor are included on the same integrated circuit.
13. The focus servo system of claim 12, wherein the integrated chip is an analog and digital processor.
14. The focus servo system of claim 9, wherein a version of at least one of the signals received from the at least one photodetector is compared to a focus OK (FOK) threshold to determine whether the focus servo system is in a near in-focus condition.
15. The focus servo system of claim 9, comprising at least one decimation filter, wherein the at least one of the versions of the digitized signals are down-sampled by the at least one decimation filter.
16. The focus servo system of claim 15, wherein at least one of the output frequency, filtering characteristics, and sample rate of the at least one decimation filter is determined by the at least one processor.
17. A digital servo method for an optical disk drive, comprising:
digitizing versions of the photodetector signals to produce digital signals;
determining, through servo algorithms in a digital signal processor, a focus error signal from the digital signals; and
determining a focus open condition based on the focus error signal and versions of the digitized signals.
18. The digital servo method of claim 17, comprising gain adjusting at least one of the photodetector signals prior to digitizing the versions of the photodetector signals, the gain adjustment determined by the digital signal processor.
19. The digital servo method of claim 18, comprising adjusting gain based on whether the optical disk drive is performing a read operation or a write operation.
20. The digital servo method of claim 17, comprising comparing a version of at least one photodetector signals to a focus OK (FOK) threshold to determine whether the focus servo system is in a near in-focus condition.
21. The digital servo method of claim 17, comprising down-sampling at least one of the versions of the digitized signals by at least one decimation filter.
22. The digital servo method of claim 21, comprising determining at least one of the output frequency, filtering characteristics, and sample rate of the at least one decimation filter by the digital signal processor.
23. A non-transitory computer readable medium storing a computer program, executable by a machine, for a digital servo method for an optical disk drive, the computer program comprising executable instructions for:
digitizing versions of the photodetector signals to produce digital signals;
determining, through servo algorithms in a digital signal processor, a focus error signal from the digital signals; and
determining a focus open condition based on the focus error signal and versions of the digitized signals.

1. A device for the heat insulation of at least one underwater pipe (1) intended to be laid on the sea bed at great depth, comprising an insulating coating surrounding the latter and a protective envelope (3), characterized in that said insulating coating comprises a virtually incompressible liquidsolid phase change material (4) with a melting temperature T0 higher than that T2 of the medium surrounding the pipe in operation and less than that T1 of the effluents circulating in said pipe, which protective envelope (3) is resistant and deformable and ensures a containment about said insulating coating, said protective envelope being deformable to follow variation in volume of the insulating coating that it contains under the effect of hydrostatic pressure and variation in temperature.
2. The device according to of claim 1, wherein said insulating coating comprises an absorbent matrix (2) surrounding said pipe (1), preferably nearest its outer surface, and impregnated with said material (4).
3. The device according to of claim 1, wherein the protective envelope (3) abutting on the material (4) which is solidified and rigid at least on its periphery, is adapted to support the weight of the pipe (1) and the frictions when the latter is laid from the surface.
4. The device according to of claim 1, wherein the protective envelope (3) comprises at least one vent permeable to the gas that may diffuse though said underwater pipe (1) and generated by the effluents which circulate therein.
5. The device of claim 2, wherein the matrix (2) is constituted by a material having at least one characteristic selected from the group consisting of being light, cellular and fibrous and said virtually incompressible material (4) which impregnates it has a melting temperature (T0) included between 20 and 80\xb0 C.
6. The device of claim 1, wherein said material (4) has a thermal conductivity less than 0.3 Wattmeterdegree Celsius in solid phase and an enthalpy of fusion greater than 50 kilojoulekilogram.
7. The device of claim 2, wherein said matrix (2) occupies only a part of the volume of the annular space defined by said protective envelope (3) and said pipe (1).
8. The device of claim 1, further comprising distance pieces (9) regularly spaced apart along the pipe (1) on which they abut and supporting the protective envelope (3).
9. The device of claim 1, wherein the protective envelope (3) is made of thermoplastics material.
10. The device of claim 1, wherein said virtually incompressible material (4) is constituted, to at least 90%, of chemical compounds of the family of alkanes.
11. The device of claim 10, wherein said virtually incompressible material (4) comprises a paraffin comprising a hydrocarbon chain with at least 14 carbon atoms.
12. The device of claim 1, wherein the outer perimeter (24) of the transverse section of said protective envelope (3) is a closed curve of which the ratio of the square of the length over the surface that it defines is at least equal to 13.
13. The device of claim 11, wherein the outer shape of the transverse section of said protective envelope (3) is an oval.
14. The device of claim 13, wherein the ratio of length of the large axis over that of the small axis of the oval is at least 2.
15. The device of claim 12, wherein the outer shape of the transverse section of said protective envelope (3) is a rectangle.
16. The device of claim 15, further comprising at least two pipes (1) disposed along the same plane and the transverse section of said envelope (3) is of a shape elongated in the same direction as said plane.
17. The device of claim 12, wherein the perimeter (24) of the transverse section of said envelope (3) comprises concave reversed curvatures (35).
18. The device of claim 13, further comprising a wear plate (21) disposed on a part of said outer perimeter (24) of the envelope (3).
19. The device of claim 18, wherein said wear plate (21) is disposed along one of the large sides of the transverse section of said envelope (3).
20. The device of claim 12, wherein the ratio of the square of the length of the outer perimeter (24) of the transverse section of said protective envelope (3) on the surface that said perimeter defines is at least equal to 16.
21. The device of claim 12, wherein the protective envelope (3) comprises a lower \u201cU\u201d-shaped part (31) in which are disposed said pipes (1) and a lid (34) assembled on this envelope (3).
22. The device of claim 21, wherein said lid (34) is seam-welded.
23. The device of claim 12, wherein the protective envelope (3) comprises a lower \u201cU\u201d-shaped part (31) in which are disposed said pipes (1) and an upper opening closed by a layer (31) of supple material cast after installation of all the internal components.
24. The device of claim 12, wherein the envelope (3) comprises shims (27) supporting the insulating coating (2), the space included between the envelope (3) and said coating (2) being filled with a virtually incompressible fluid.
25. The device of claim 10, wherein said incompressible material (4) is a paraffin comprising a hydrocarbon chain with at least 10 carbon atoms.
26. The device of claim 1, wherein said at least one underwater pipe is disposed on said sea bed.
27. The device of claim 1, wherein said envelope is capable of varying up to about 20% by volume.
28. A process for the heat insulation of at least one underwater pipe (1) intended to be laid on the sea-bed at great depth, using an insulating coating surrounding said pipe and a protective envelope (3), characterized in that:
said pipe (1) is surrounded, preferably directly, with an insulating coating (2) comprising a virtually incompressible, liquid-solid phase change material (4) with a given melting temperature T0, said incompressible material preferably being impregnated in an absorbant matrix, and the whole is contained in the protective envelope (3) which must be resistant and deformable, there are made to circulate in said pipe (1) hot effluents (6) at a temperature T1 higher than the melting temperature T0 of said material (4) while the ambient outside temperature T2 is less than T0, the phase change material (4) then being liquefied, preferably in a part of the impregnation matrix (21) from the pipe (1) up to a limit of heat exchange equilibrium (19) between the pipe (1) and the envelope (3), beyond this limit (19) the material being solid, when the circulation of the effluents (6) in the pipe (1) is stopped, the temperature of these effluents (6) is maintained above a given temperature T3 for a predetermined duration thanks to the heat transfer brought by the latent heat of solidification of said material (4) of which the liquid part (41) solidifies progressively on cooling.
29. The process of claim 28, wherein:
an obturator (72) is fixed in continuous and tight manner at the end of the outer wall of pipe (1) to be insulated; and
there are mounted on this part of pipe (1), elements of the absorbent matrix (2) which surround the latter completely and uniformly, there is fitted around these matrix elements (2) the outer protective envelope (3) which is connected at its end to the obturator (72), there is positioned at the other end of the protective envelope (3) a second obturator (71) which is fixed on this envelope and on the pipe (1), the annular space included between the pipe (1) and the envelope (3) is completely filled, via one end, with said phase change material (4) liquefied and overheated above its melting temperature T0 and until the matrix elements (2) are completely impregnated with it, the whole is cooled.
30. The process of claim 28, wherein:
there are interposed between absorbent matrix elements (2), distance pieces (9) regularly spaced along the pipe (1) on which they abut, when all the elements of the protective element (3) have been placed in position and fixed to constitute the containment envelope, straps (17) for holding said distance pieces (9) plumb are placed in position, the annular space is then filled with said liquefied material (4) under pressure in order to deform the outer envelope (3) between said straps (17), which deformation corresponding to the increase in volume generated by the thermal expansion of the material (4) liquid at filling temperature.

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 for fault detection in a direct current (DC) electrical system by a solid state power controller (SSPC), the SSPC comprising a high bandwidth fault detector and a low bandwidth fault detector, the method comprising:
detecting a possible fault by the high bandwidth fault detector;
placing a power switch of the SSPC in saturation at a predetermined current limit;
determining whether the possible fault is a confirmed fault by the low bandwidth fault detector;
in the event the possible fault is determined to be the confirmed fault, turning off the power switch; and
in the event the possible fault is determined not to be the confirmed fault, turning on the power switch at a minimum on-resistance.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein the predetermined current limit is determined based on a current limit of a DC load attached to the SSPC.
3. The method of claim 1, wherein the high bandwidth fault detector detects the possible fault based on information from an output current sensor.
4. The method of claim 1, wherein the low bandwidth fault detector determines whether the possible fault is the confirmed fault based on information from one or more of an input voltage sensor, an output voltage sensor, a temperature sensor, and an output current sensor.
5. The method of claim 1, wherein power switch is either turned on or turned off before an elapsing of a saturation time limit of the power switch.
6. The method of claim 1, further comprising, in the event the possible fault is determined to be the confirmed fault, operating the power switch at saturation until an elapsing of a saturation time limit of the power switch before turning off the power switch.
7. The method of claim 1, wherein the power switch comprises a silicon carbide (SiC) junction gate field effect transistor (JFET).
8. The method of claim 1, wherein the low bandwidth fault detector is implemented in software, and the high bandwidth fault detector is implemented in hardware.
9. A solid state power controller (SSPC) for a direct current (DC) electrical system, comprising:
a high bandwidth fault detector, the high bandwidth fault detector configured to detect a possible fault and place a power switch of the SSPC in saturation at a predetermined current limit; and
a low bandwidth fault detector, the low bandwidth fault detector configured to determine whether the possible fault is a confirmed fault, and in the event the possible fault is determined to be the confirmed fault, turning off the power switch, and in the event the possible fault is determined not to be the confirmed fault, turning on the power switch at a minimum on-resistance.
10. The SSPC of claim 9, wherein the predetermined current limit is determined based on a current limit of a DC load attached to the SSPC.
11. The SSPC of claim 9, wherein SSPC further comprises an output current sensor, and the high bandwidth fault detector detects the possible fault based on information from the output current sensor.
12. The SSPC of claim 9, wherein the SSPC further comprises an input voltage sensor, an output voltage sensor, a temperature sensor, and an output current sensor, and the low bandwidth fault detector determines whether the possible fault is the confirmed fault based on information from one or more of the input voltage sensor, the output voltage sensor, the temperature sensor, and the output current sensor.
13. The SSPC of claim 9, wherein power switch is either turned off or turned on before an elapsing of a saturation time limit of the power switch.
14. The SSPC of claim 9, further comprising, in the event the possible fault is determined to be the confirmed fault, operating the power switch at saturation at the predetermined current limit until an elapsing of a saturation time limit of the power switch before turning off the power switch.
15. The SSPC of claim 9, wherein the power switch comprises a silicon carbide (SiC) junction gate field effect transistor (JFET).
16. The SSPC of claim 9, wherein the low bandwidth fault detector is implemented in software, and the high bandwidth fault detector is implemented in hardware.