Author: claimsbot

1. An optical limiting structure comprising:
a metal layer comprising at least one metal particle, the at least one metal particle having a size no greater than about 1000 nanometers; and
a phase-change material layer disposed adjacent at least a portion of the metal layer, the phase-change material layer comprising a phase-change material;
wherein optical properties of the optical limiting structure are modified in relation to optical properties of the phase-change material prior to integration into the optical limiting structure such that, in response to the optical limiting structure transitioning from a first optical state to a second optical state, the optical limiting structure substantially limits transmittance of light of at least one wavelength through the optical limiting structure at the second optical state, and the at least one wavelength at which the optical limiting structure substantially limits transmittance of light is different from any wavelength of light at which transmittance is substantially limited through the phase-change material prior to integration into the optical limiting structure.
2. An optical limiting structure comprising:
a metal layer comprising a plurality of metal particles spaced from each other and forming an array, the metal particles having sizes no greater than about 1000 nanometers; and
a phase-change material layer disposed adjacent at least a portion of the metal layer, the phase-change material layer comprising a phase-change material that transitions from a first optical state to a second optical state, wherein transmittance of light at one or more wavelengths through the phase-change material is lower at the second optical state in relation to the first optical state;
wherein the optical limiting structure is configured to transition from a first optical state to a second optical state, with transmittance of light at a second wavelength through the optical limiting structure being lower at the second optical state of the optical limiting structure in relation to the first optical state of the optical limiting structure, and the second wavelength is different from each wavelength at which the phase-change material exhibits lower transmittance when transitioning from the first optical state of the phase-change material to the second optical state of the phase-change material.
3. The structure of claim 2, wherein the phase-change material comprises at least one of VO2, V2O3, Ti2O3, NiS2\u2212ySey, LaCoO3, PrNiO3, Cd2Os2O7, NdNiO3, Tl2Ru2O7, NiS, BaCo1\u2212yNiyS2, Ca1\u2212ySryVO3, PrRu4P12, BaVS3, EuB6, Fe3O4, La1\u2212yCayMnO3, La2\u22122ySr1+2yMn2O7, Ti4O7 and La2NiO4, where y\u22661, an azobenzene-containing polydiacetylene, polyvinylidene fluoride, polyvinyl acetate, polyvinyl phenylene, polystyrene sulfonate, and a polyaniline doped into opal nanostructures.
4. The structure of claim 2, wherein the phase-change material comprises a thermochromic material that is doped with at least one of tungsten, fluorine, titanium and chromium.
5. The structure of claim 2, wherein the metal particles of the metal layer comprise at least one of gold, platinum, palladium, silver, copper and aluminum.
6. The structure of claim 2, wherein the phase-change material layer has a thickness ranging from about 10 nanometers to about 50 nanometers.
7. The structure of claim 2, wherein at least some of the metal particles within the metal layer have cross-sectional dimensions ranging from about 20 nanometers to about 250 nanometers.
8. The structure of claim 2, wherein the second wavelength is within a range from about 250 nanometers to about 2500 nanometers.
9. The structure of claim 2, wherein the phase-change material comprises VO2.
10. The structure of claim 9, wherein the second wavelength is at least about 250 nm less than each wavelength at which the phase-change material exhibits lower transmittance when transitioning from the first optical state of the phase-change material to the second optical state of the phase-change material.
11. The structure of claim 9, wherein the second wavelength is within a range from about 500 nanometers to about 560 nanometers.
12. The structure of claim 2, further comprising:
a second phase-change material layer comprising a phase-change material;
wherein the metal layer is disposed between the phase-change material layers.
13. The structure of claim 2, wherein the array of metal particles includes metal particles having different shapes.
14. The structure of claim 2, wherein the array of metal particles includes metal particles having non-round shapes.
15. The structure of claim 2, wherein the array of metal particles includes particles having polygon shapes.
16. The structure of claim 2, wherein the array of metal particles includes metal particles having spiral shapes.
17. The structure of claim 2, wherein the array of metal particles includes metal particles having different dimensions.
18. The structure of claim 2, wherein the array of metal particles includes a plurality of rows of metal particles, wherein each metal particle in a corresponding row is spaced a distance to at least one other metal particle in the corresponding row that is smaller than a distance between a metal particle in the corresponding row and any other metal particle in other rows.
19. The structure of claim 2, wherein the array of metal particles includes sets of metal particles including at least two metal particles, wherein the metal particles in a corresponding set are spaced a distance from each other that is shorter than any distance between each metal particle in the corresponding set and any other metal particle in another set.
20. The structure of claim 19, wherein at least one set of metal particles includes at least three metal particles.
21. An optical limiting device comprising:
the optical limiting structure of claim 2; and
a heat or light source configured to subject the phase-change material layer to at least one of heat and light so as to induce a change in the phase-change material layer between the first and second optical states of the phase-change material layer.
22. A method of providing an optical limiting structure, the method comprising:
providing a metal layer comprising a plurality of metal particles spaced from each other and forming an array, the metal particles having sizes no greater than about 1000 nanometers; and
depositing a phase-change material layer over at least a portion of the metal layer, the phase-change material layer comprising a phase-change material that transitions from a first optical state to a second optical state, wherein transmittance of light at one or more wavelengths through the phase-change material is lower at the second optical state in relation to the first optical state;
wherein the optical limiting structure transitions from a first optical state to a second optical state, with transmittance of light at a second wavelength through the optical limiting structure being lower at the second optical state of the optical limiting structure in relation to the first optical state of the optical limiting structure, and the second wavelength is different from each wavelength at which the phase-change material exhibits lower transmittance when transitioning from the first optical state of the phase-change material to the second optical state of the phase-change material.
23. The method of claim 22, wherein the providing a metal layer further comprises:
forming a mask on a substrate;
processing the mask so as to form a pattern of voids in the mask;
depositing a metal material within the voids of the mask; and
removing the mask so as to form the array of metal particles spaced from each other.
24. The method of claim 23, wherein the processing of the mask comprises one of a focused ion beam lithography technique and an electron beam lithography technique.
25. The method of claim 22, wherein the metal layer is formed on a substrate comprising a layer of indium tin oxide upon which the metal layer is deposited.
26. The method of claim 22, wherein the phase-change material comprises at least one of VO2, V2O3, Ti2O3, NiS2\u2212ySey, LaCoO3, PrNiO3, Cd2Os2O7, NdNiO3, Tl2Ru2O7, NiS, BaCo1\u2212yNiyS2, Ca1\u2212ySryVO3, PrRu4P12, BaVS3, EuB6, Fe3O4, La1\u2212yCayMnO3, La2\u22122ySr1+2yMn2O7, Ti4O7 and La2NiO4, where y\u22661, an azobenzene-containing polydiacetylene, polyvinylidene fluoride, polyvinyl acetate, polyvinyl phenylene, polystyrene sulfonate, and a polyaniline doped into opal nanostructures.
27. The method of claim 22, further comprising:
depositing a dopant within the phase-change material, wherein the dopant comprises at least one of tungsten, fluorine, titanium and chromium.
28. The method of claim 22, wherein the metal particles of the metal layer comprise at least one of gold, platinum, palladium, silver, copper and aluminum.
29. The method of claim 22, wherein the second wavelength is about 532 nanometers\xb130 nanometers.
30. The method of claim 22, wherein the array of metal particles includes metal particles having non-round shapes.
31. The method of claim 22, wherein the array of metal particles includes sets of metal particles including at least two metal particles, wherein the metal particles in a corresponding set are spaced a distance from each other that is shorter than any distance between each metal particle in the corresponding set and any other metal particle in another set.
32. A method of using an optical limiting device, the optical limiting device comprising a metal layer comprising a plurality of metal particles spaced from each other and forming an array, the metal particles having sizes no greater than about 1000 nanometers, and a phase-change material layer disposed adjacent at least a portion of the metal layer, the phase-change material layer comprising a phase-change material, the phase-change material being configured to transition from a first optical state to a second optical state, wherein transmittance of light at one or more wavelengths through the phase-change material is lower at the second optical state in relation to the first optical state, the method comprising:
subjecting the optical limiting device to at least one of a heat source and a light source so as to transition the optical limiting structure from a first optical state to a second optical state;
wherein transmittance of light at a second wavelength through the optical limiting structure is lower at the second optical state of the optical limiting structure in relation to the first optical state of the optical limiting structure, and the second wavelength is different from each wavelength at which the phase-change material exhibits lower transmittance when transitioning from the first optical state of the phase-change material to the second optical state of the phase-change material.

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 information processing apparatus including a printer driver and an adaptor, the printer driver comprising:
a first transmission unit configured to transmit print data to the printer adaptor via a standard port monitor, and
the printer adaptor comprising:
a reception unit configured to receive the print data, which has been transmitted by the first transmission unit, from the printer driver via the standard port monitor;
a spool unit configured to spool the print data which has been received by the reception unit;
a checking unit configured to check a memory of an image forming apparatus; and
a second transmission unit configured to transmit to the image forming apparatus the print data, which has been spooled by the spool unit, on a band-by-band basis depending on a state of the memory of the image forming apparatus.
2. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the print adaptor further comprises:
a request unit configured to request the image forming apparatus to transmit a status message; and
an acquisition unit configured to acquire the status message transmitted as a response to the request.
3. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising:
an acquisition unit configured to acquire a calibration result from the image forming apparatus; and
a rendering unit configured to execute rendering using the calibration result.
4. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein, if bidirectional communication with the image forming apparatus cannot be achieved and an installer has been activated, the printer adaptor is installed.
5. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein, even if bidirectional communication with the image forming apparatus can be achieved but if a required function cannot be achieved through the bidirectional communication and an installer has been activated, the printer adaptor is installed.
6. A method for an information processing apparatus including a printer driver and an adaptor, the method comprising:
transmitting print data to the printer adaptor via a standard port monitor;
receiving the print data, which has been transmitted via a standard port monitor, from the printer driver via the standard port monitor;
spooling the print data which has been received via the standard port monitor;
checking a memory of an image forming apparatus; and
transmitting to the image forming apparatus the print data, which has been spooled, on a band-by-band basis depending on a state of the memory of the image forming apparatus.
7. The method according to claim 6, further comprising:
requesting the image forming apparatus to transmit a status message; and
acquiring the status message transmitted as a response to the request.
8. The method according to claim 6, further comprising:
acquiring a calibration result from the image forming apparatus; and
executing rendering using the calibration result.
9. The method according to claim 6, wherein, if bidirectional communication with the image forming apparatus cannot be achieved and an installer has been activated, the printer adaptor is installed.
10. The method according to claim 6, wherein, even if bidirectional communication with the image forming apparatus can be achieved but if a required function cannot be achieved through the bidirectional communication and an installer has been activated, the printer adaptor is installed.
11. A non-transitory storage medium having instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform operations for an information processing apparatus including a printer driver and an adaptor, the operations comprising:
transmitting print data to the printer adaptor via a standard port monitor;
receiving the print data, which has been transmitted via a standard port monitor, from the printer driver via the standard port monitor;
spooling the print data which has been received via the standard port monitor;
checking a memory of an image forming apparatus; and
transmitting to the image forming apparatus the print data, which has been spooled, on a band-by-band basis depending on a state of the memory of the image forming apparatus.

1. A method of providing compensation offsets for a set of reconstructed samples of an image, each sample having a sample value, the method comprising:
selecting, based on a rate distortion criterion, a classification from among a plurality of predetermined classifications, each said predetermined classification having a classification range smaller than a full range of the sample values and being made up of a plurality of classes, each defining a range of sample values within said classification range, into which class a sample is put if its sample value is within the range of the class concerned; and
associating with each class of the selected classification a compensation offset for application to the sample value of each sample of the class concerned.
2-47. (canceled)

The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.

1. A method, comprising:
retrieving, by a server device, definitions pertaining to a plurality of policy rules for traffic associated with a subscriber device;
based on the retrieved definitions, defining, by the server device, a plurality of policy points, in a network, for the subscriber device;
determining, by the server device, a plurality of packet treatments, each of the plurality of packet treatments being associated with one of the plurality of policy points, and the each of the plurality of packet treatments identifying one or more of the plurality of policy rules to be applied to the traffic associated with the subscriber device at the associated one of the plurality of policy points; and
outputting, by the server device, information corresponding to the plurality of packet treatments.
2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:
consolidating the plurality of packet treatments; and
distributing, through the network, information representing the consolidated plurality of packet treatments.
3. The method of claim 1, where determining the plurality of packet treatments includes:
assigning, at the one of the plurality of policy points, particular traffic associated with the subscriber device to one of a plurality of traffic groups, where the particular traffic is assigned to the one of the plurality of traffic groups based on one or more of the policy rules.
4. The method of claim 3, where assigning the traffic includes:
identifying which of the plurality of policy rules, associated with the one of the plurality of policy points, have conditions satisfied by the particular traffic; and
identifying which of the plurality of policy rules, associated with the one of the plurality of policy points, have conditions eclipsed by the particular traffic.
5. The method of claim 4, where identifying which of the plurality of policy rules, associated with the one of the plurality of policy points, have conditions eclipsed by the particular traffic is based on eclipsing rules defined for a router associated with the one of the plurality of policy points.
6. The method of claim 1,
where one of the plurality of policy points includes an interface that receives traffic in a direction, and
where determining the plurality of packet treatments includes:
obtaining a list including at least one of the plurality of policy rules, the list defined for the direction that the interface receives the traffic; and
sorting the list based on a precedence associated with each of the at least one of the plurality of policy rules.
7. The method of claim 6, further comprising:
defining permissible combined policy rules;
combining, based on the permissible combined policy rules, two or more of the at least one of the plurality of policy rules in the list; and
resorting the list.
8. A network device, comprising:
a first interface to retrieve definitions in a memory, the definitions pertaining to a plurality of policy rules;
processor to:
define, based on the retrieved definitions, a plurality of policy points in a network, and
determine a plurality of packet treatments, each of the plurality of packet treatments being associated with one of the plurality of policy points, and the each of the plurality of packet treatments identifying one or more of the plurality of policy rules being applied at the associated one of the plurality of policy points; and
a second interface to output information corresponding to the plurality of packet treatments.
9. The network device of claim 8, further comprising:
a third interface to receive management information from a management server device, where the processor, when determining the plurality of packet treatments, uses the management information.
10. The network device of claim 8, further comprising:
a third interface to exchange network information with another device on third network, where the processor, when determining the plurality of packet treatments and defining a plurality of policy points in a network, uses the network information.
11. The network device of claim 8, further comprising: an third interface to:
send commands to an agent associated with one of the plurality of policy points, and
receive information from the agent related to the packet treatment at the associated one of the plurality of policy points.
12. The network device of claim 11, where the third interface is further to:
command the agent to inject packets into the network at the associated one of the plurality of policy points.
13. The network device of claim 12, where the third interface is further to:
receive and store statistics from the agent, the statistics being related to the packet treatment at the associated one of the plurality of policy points in response to the injected packets.
14. The network device of claim 8, where the processor is further to:
when determining the plurality of packet treatments, use policy rule definitions for a subscriber device.
15. The network device of claim 8, where the processor is further to:
analyze traffic received at one of the plurality of policy points, including determining conformance of each of a plurality of sections in the traffic to each of the plurality of policy rules associated with the one of the plurality of policy points; and
based on the analysis, assign each of the plurality of sections in the traffic to one of a plurality of traffic groups.
16. The network device of claim 15, where the processor is further to determine a policy action to be implemented for each of the plurality of traffic groups.
17. A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising:
one or more instructions which, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to retrieve definitions pertaining to a plurality of policy rules for traffic associated with a subscriber device;
one or more instructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to define, based on the retrieved definitions, a plurality of policy points in a network for the subscriber device; and
one or more instructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to determine a plurality of packet treatments, each of the plurality of packet treatments being associated with one of the plurality of policy points, and the each of the plurality of packet treatments identifying one or more of the plurality of policy rules to be applied to the traffic associated with the subscriber device at the associated one of the plurality of policy points.
18. The computer-readable medium of claim 17, further comprising:
one or more instructions to consolidate the plurality of packet treatments; and
one or more instructions to distribute, through the network, information representing the consolidated plurality of packet treatments.
19. The computer-readable medium of claim 17, where the one or more instructions to determine the plurality of packet treatments include:
one or more instructions to forward instructions to assign, at the one of the plurality of policy points, particular traffic associated with the subscriber device to one of a plurality of traffic groups, where the particular traffic is assigned to the one of the plurality of traffic groups depending on a compliance of the traffic to the policy rules associated with the one of the plurality of policy points.
20. The computer-readable medium of claim 17, where the one or more instructions to determine the plurality of packet treatments include:
one or more instructions to analyze the traffic to determine at least one of the policy rules satisfied by the traffic; and
one or more instructions to consolidate the at least one of the policy rules satisfied by the traffic.