claimsbot – Page 2971 – All The Claims

1461124122-784edf86-21da-4a00-a46d-a42774c0f4a7

1. A multiple electron beam source comprising:
(a) a photocathode comprising a photon receiving surface to receive a photon beam and an electron emitting surface to emit electrons; and
(b) an array of electron transmission gates having a surface facing the electron emitting surface of the photocathode, the surface of the array of electron transmission gates spaced apart from the electron emitting surface of the photocathode by a separation distance dg, each electron transmission gate comprising:
(i) a membrane having opposing first and second surfaces;
(ii) an anode on the first surface of the membrane;
(iii) an insulator on the second surface of the membrane;
(iv) an aperture through the anode, insulator and membrane; and
(v) a gate electrode on the insulator, the gate electrode positioned about the aperture, the gate electrode capable of receiving a gate control voltage that controls the transmission of electrons emitted from the photocathode through that electron transmission gate.
2. A multiple electron beam source according to claim 1 comprising a photocathode stage assembly to move the photocathode relative to the array of electron transmission gates.
3. A multiple electron beam source according to claim 2 wherein the photocathode stage assembly comprises a flexure, a piezoelectric actuator and a position sensor.
4. A multiple electron beam source according to claim 1 wherein the array of electron transmission gates has periodic spacing in two dimensions.
5. A multiple electron beam source according to claim 1 wherein the gate electrode comprises gate electrode segments which are independently electrically addressable.
6. A multiple electron beam source according to claim 1 wherein the separation distance dg is from about 10 \u03bcm to about 100 \u03bcm.
7. A multiple electron beam source according to claim 1 comprising a photon source to generate the photon beam.
8. A multiple electron beam source according to claim 1 comprising a lens to focus the photon beam.
9. A multiple electron beam source according to claim 1 wherein the membrane comprises silicon, silicon nitride, silicon carbide, diamond, boron nitride, or mixtures thereof; and the insulator comprises silicon oxide, a ceramic, an organic material, or mixtures thereof.
10. A multiple electron beam source comprising:
(a) a plasmon-generating photon transmission plate capable of receiving a photon beam, the plasmon-generating photon transmission plate comprising an array of photon transmission apertures to transmit a plurality of photon beamlets and exterior surfaces capable of supporting plasmons;
(b) a photocathode comprising a photon receiving surface to receive the plurality of photon beamlets and an electron emitting surface to emit electrons; and
(c) an array of electron transmission gates having a surface facing the electron emitting surface of the photocathode, the surface of the array of electron transmission gates separated from the electron emitting surface of the photocathode by a separation distance dg, and each electron transmission gate capable of receiving a gate control voltage that controls the transmission of electrons emitted from the photocathode through that electron transmission gate.
11. A multiple electron beam source according to claim 10 wherein the plasmon-generating photon transmission plate has one or more spatial gratings, each spatial grating comprising a plurality of grooves concentric to a single photon transmission aperture.
12. A multiple electron beam source according to claim 10 wherein the plasmon-generating photon transmission plate comprises a transmission layer formed on a substrate, the transmission layer having the photon transmission apertures.
13. A multiple electron beam source according to claim 10 wherein each photon transmission aperture has a principal dimension d0 which is about less than or equal to the wavelength \u03bb0 of the photon beam.
14. A multiple electron beam source according to claim 10 wherein the array of photon transmission apertures has periodic spacing in two dimensions, the period p0 of the spacing being equal in both dimensions.
15. A multiple electron beam source according to claim 10 wherein each electron transmission gate comprises:
(a) a membrane having opposing first and second surfaces;
(b) an anode on the first surface of the membrane;
(c) an insulator on the second surface of the membrane;
(d) an aperture through the anode, insulator and membrane; and
(e) a gate electrode on the insulator, the gate electrode positioned about the aperture, the gate electrode capable of receiving the gate control voltage.
16. A multiple electron beam source according to claim 10 comprising a photocathode stage assembly to move the photocathode relative to the array of electron transmission gates.
17. A multiple electron beam source according to claim 16 wherein the photocathode stage assembly comprises a flexure, a piezoelectric actuator and a position sensor.
18. A multiple electron beam source according to claim 10 comprising a photon source to generate the photon beam.
19. A multiple electron beam source according to claim 10 comprising a first lens to focus the photon beam onto the plasmon-generating photon transmission plate and a second lens to focus the plurality of photon beamlets transmitted from the plasmon generating photon transmission plate onto the photocathode.
20. A multiple electron beam source comprising:
(a) a plasmon-generating photon transmission plate capable of receiving a photon beam, the plasmon-generating photon transmission plate comprising an array of photon transmission apertures to transmit a plurality of photon beamlets and exterior surfaces capable of supporting plasmons;
(b) an photon beam modulator capable of individually blanking each photon beamlet in the plurality of photon beamlets;
(c) a photocathode comprising a photon receiving surface and an electron emitting surface, the photon receiving surface capable of receiving the plurality of photon beamlets; and
(d) an array of electron transmission gates having a surface facing the electron emitting surface of the photocathode, the surface of the array of electron transmission gates spaced apart from the electron emitting surface of the photocathode by a separation distance dg, and each gate being aligned with a photo transmission aperture.
21. A multiple electron beam source according to claim 20 wherein the photon beam modulator is an acousto-optic modulator.
22. A multiple electron beam source according to claim 20 wherein the plasmon-generating photon transmission plate has one or more spatial gratings, each spatial grating comprising a plurality of grooves concentric to a single photon transmission aperture.
23. A multiple electron beam source according to claim 20 comprising a photon source to generate a photon beam.
24. A multiple electron beam source according to claim 20 comprising a first lens to focus the photon beam onto the plasmon-generating photon transmission plate and a second lens capable of receiving and focusing the plurality of photon beamlets from the photon beam modulator onto the photocathode.
25. A multiple electron beam source comprising:
(a) a photocathode comprising a photon receiving surface and an electron emitting surface, the photon receiving surface capable of receiving a photon beam;
(b) a plurality of arrays of electron transmission gates on the photocathode, each gate within each array having an associated gate in each of the other arrays, each electron transmission gate comprising:
(i) an insulator on the electron emitting surface of the photocathode;
(ii) an aperture through the insulator; and
(iii) a gate electrode on the insulator, the gate electrode positioned about the aperture, the gate electrode capable of receiving a gate control voltage that controls the transmission of electrons from the photocathode through that electron transmission gate;

(c) a single conducting lead electrically connecting the gate electrodes of associated gates to allow simultaneous control, with a single gate control voltage, of the transmission of electrons through associated gates; and
(d) a controller comprising gate array switching capability to switch the functionality from one gate array to another gate array without switching control voltages.
26. A multiple electron beam source according to claim 25 comprising a photocathode stage assembly to move the photocathode relative to the photon source.
27. A multiple electron beam source according to claim 26 wherein the photocathode stage assembly comprises a flexure, a piezoelectric actuator and a position sensor.
28. A multiple electron beam source according to claim 25 comprising a photon source to generate the photon beam.
29. A multiple electron beam source according to claim 25 comprising a lens to focus the photon beam.
30. A gated photocathode comprising:
(a) a substrate having opposing first and second surfaces;
(b) a photon transmission layer on the first substrate surface comprising a photon receiving surface to receive a photon beam and an array of photon transmission apertures, the photon receiving surface comprising a plasmon-generating photon transmission layer having a spatial grating comprising a plurality of grooves concentric to a single photon transmission aperture;
(c) a conducting layer on the second substrate surface;
(d) an insulating layer on the conducting layer having an array of electron transmission apertures, each electron transmission aperture aligned with a photon transmission aperture;
(e) a gate layer on the insulating layer comprising an array of gate electrodes, each gate electrode positioned about an electron transmission aperture and capable of receiving a gate control voltage; and
(f) a photoemissive layer about the insulating layer and gate layer and at least partially extending into each electron transmission aperture, the photoemissive layer capable of emitting electrons and wherein emission of electrons from the photoemissive layer in each electron transmission gate is controlled by the gate control voltage.
31. A gated photocathode according to claim 30 wherein the photon transmission layer is a plasmon-generating photon transmission layer having surfaces capable of supporting plasmons.
32. A multiple electron beam source comprising the gated plasmon-generating photocathode of claim 30, a photon source to generate a photon beam, and a lens capable of focusing the photon beam onto the photon receiving surface.
33. A multiple electron beam source comprising:
(a) a prism capable of receiving and transmitting a photon beam;
(b) a photon beam modulator to modulate the photon beam transmitted by the prism and reflect a plurality of photon beamlets;
(c) a photocathode comprising a photon receiving surface to receive the plurality of photon beamlets and an electron emitting surface to emit electrons; and
(d) an array of electron transmission gates having a surface facing the electron emitting surface of the photocathode, the surface of the array of electron transmission gates spaced apart from the electron emitting surface and separated from the electron emitting surface by a separation distance dg, each electron transmission gate capable of receiving a gate control voltage that controls the transmission of electrons from the electron emitting surface through that electron transmission gate.
34. A multiple electron beam source according to claim 33 wherein the photon beam modulator comprises a spatial light modulator.
35. A multiple electron beam source according to claim 34 wherein the spatial light modulator comprises an array of movable mirrors.
36. A multiple electron beam source according to claim 33 wherein each electron transmission gate comprises:
(a) a membrane having opposing first and second surfaces;
(b) an anode on the first surface of the membrane;
(c) an insulator on the second surface of the membrane;
(d) an aperture through the anode, insulator and membrane; and
(e) a gate electrode on the insulator, the gate electrode positioned about the aperture, the gate electrode capable of receiving the gate control voltage.
37. A multiple electron beam source according to claim 33 comprising a photocathode stage assembly to move the photocathode relative to a photon source that generates the photon beam.
38. A multiple electron beam source according to claim 37 wherein the photocathode stage assembly comprises a flexure, a piezoelectric actuator and a position sensor.
39. A multiple electron beam source according to claim 33 comprising a photon source to generate a photon beam.
40. A multiple electron beam source according to claim 34 comprising a first lens to focus the photon beam and a second lens to focus the plurality of photon beamlets reflected by the spatial light modulator.

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

1. A system for locating and tracking at least one rover unit from a mobile controller unit comprising:
a mobile controller unit comprising:
a cellular telephone module;
a GPS receiverprocessor module;
a specially programmed computer;
a display; and
a power source; and

a rover unit comprising:
a cellular telephone module;
a GPS receiverprocessor module;
a specially programmed computer; and
power source;

a rover unit comprising:
a radio communications module;
a radio positioning module;
a specially programmed computer;
a power source;

the mobile controller unit being programmed to have a find feature which includes selection of a command to establish a radio communication link with the rover unit and to obtain the rover unit’s position information from the rover unit’s radio positioning module and the controller unit being further equipped to obtain its heading and programmed to use the heading to calculate the bearing to the rover unit relative to the controller unit’s heading and position and programmed to calculate absolute positions of the controller unit and the rover unit on a map whereupon the selected one of a bearing line to the rover unit relative to the controller unit’s heading and position or the absolute map positions of the controller unit and the rover unit are available to be displayed on the display upon selection by the user.
23. The system of claim 22 in which the controller unit and the rover unit use a common set of radio positioning sources.
24. The system of claim 23 in which the radio positioning modules of the controller unit and the rover unit are GPS receiverprocessors.
25. The system of claim 24 in which the controller unit uses GPS information to obtain its heading.
26. The system of claim 24 in which the radio position information is GPS pseudorange information.
27. The system of claim 24 in which the controller unit is programmed to calculate the relative spatial position of the controller unit and the rover unit and to calculate absolute positions of the controller unit and the rover unit on a map and the controller unit is enabled to allow selection of display of the bearing line or the absolute map positions of the controller unit and the rover unit.
28. The system of claim 23 in which the controller unit is also programmed to calculate the distance from the controller unit to the rover unit and that distance is displayed at least along with the display of the bearing line.
29. The system of claim 22 in which the controller unit is equipped with a compass to obtain heading of the controller unit and is programmed to use the heading so provided to calculate and to allow display of the bearing to the rover unit.
30. The system of claim 22 in which the controller unit is also programmed to calculate the distance from the controller unit to the rover unit and that distance is displayed at least along with the display of the bearing line.
31. The system of claim 22 in which the controller unit is programmed to calculate the speed of movement of the rover unit and to enable its display.
32. The system of claim 22 in which in which the controller unit is programmed to calculate the height of the rover unit relative to the controller unit and to enable its display.
33. The system of claim 22 in which the controller unit is programmed to calculate and equipped to give an audible announcement of the rover unit’s bearing direction and distance from the controller unit.
34. A system for locating on demand a rover unit relative to a mobile controller unit comprising:
a mobile controller unit having a radio positioning module and a radio communications module and a control system for sending instructions directly to a rover unit and for processing data received directly from a radio positioning module;
at least one rover unit having a radio positioning module, a radio communications module; a control system for receiving instructions from a controller unit and for sending data directly to a controller unit whereby upon selection by a user the controller unit may display position data of the rover unit and may make available for display a bearing line from the controller unit to the rover unit or absolute map position of the rover unit and the controller unit;
the radio communications module and control system of the mobile controller unit having direct communications with the control system of the same unit such that radio data sent by the rover unit is received directly by the mobile controller unit;
whereby the controller unit receives radio positioning data from a radio positioning system and the rover unit receives radio positioning data from the same radio positioning system and the rover unit sends radio positioning data to the controller unit which compares the data to provide the relative spatial relationship of the rover unit and the controller unit and the controller unit having a means for determining its heading and for calculating the hearing from the controller unit to the rover unit relative to the position and heading of the controller unit.
35. The system of claim 34 in which the radio positioning system is the GPS or any other satellite radio positioning system.
36. The system of claim 35 in which the controller unit and the rover unit use a common suite of GPS or other system’s satellites to obtain radio positioning data.
37. The system of claim 36 in which the controller unit also provides the distance from the controller unit to the rover unit for display at least along with the display of the bearing line.
38. The system of claim 36 in which the controller unit uses GPS information to obtain its heading.
39. The system of claim 36 in which the radio position information is GPS pseudorange information.
40. The system of claim 36 in which GPS pseudorange information is used to calculate the relative spatial position of the controller unit and the rover unit and the absolute map position of the controller unit and the heading of the controller unit.
41. The system of claim 34 in which the controller unit also provides the distance from the controller unit to the rover unit for display at least along with the display of the bearing line.
42. The system of claim 34 in which the controller unit is equipped with a compass to obtain its heading.
43. The system of claim 34 in which the means for calculating calculates the speed of movement of the rover unit and upon selection by the user the controller unit displays the speed of movement of the rover unit.
44. The system of claim 34 in which the means for calculating calculates the height of the rover unit relative to the controller unit and upon selection by the user the controller unit displays the height.
45. The system of claim 34 in which the controller unit is equipped to give an audible announcement of the rover unit’s bearing direction and distance from the controller unit.
46. A method for locating a rover unit from a mobile controller unit in which the rover unit and the controller unit have cellular telephones capable of intra-communication of data and each have a radio positioning receiver capable of providing it’s radio position information, and the rover unit has a means for sending radio position information to the controller unit upon demand comprising;
opening a cellular telephone link between the controller unit and the rover unit;
starting a procedure in which the rover unit’s radio position information is sent to the controller unit;
comparing the rover unit’s radio position information with the controller unit’s radio position information to calculate relative spatial position quantities of the controller unit and the rover unit;
determining the heading of the controller unit and calculating the bearing from the, controller unit to the rover unit relative to the position and heading of the controller unit; and
displaying a bearing line from the controller unit to the rover unit relative to the position and heading of the controller unit on a display associated with the mobile controller unit.
47. The method of claim 46 in which the radio positioning receivers are GPS receivers and the radio position information is GPS pseudorange information and the relative spatial position and bearing are determined using the information from a common suite of satellites.
48. The method of claim 47 further comprising:
using a compass to obtain the heading of the controller unit.
49. The method of claim 46 in which the radio positioning receivers receive radio position signals from a satellite radio positioning system.
50. The method of claim 49 in which the rover unit and the controller unit use a common set of radio positioning sources.
51. The method of claim 49 in which the satellite radio positioning system is the GPS and the rover unit and the controller unit use a common suite of GPS satellites for GPS radio position information.
52. The method of claim 51 in which the GPS radio position information is GPS pseudorange information.
53. The method of claim 51 in which the controller unit uses GPS information to obtain its heading.
54. The method of claim 51 in which the heading of the controller unit is obtained from a compass.
55. The method of claim 46 further comprising determining the distance from the controller unit to the rover unit and making display of the distance available either automatically with display of the bearing line, or upon selection by a user.
56. The method of claim 46 further wherein the heading of the controller unit is obtained from a compass.
57. The method of claim 46 further comprising calculating the speed of movement of the rover unit and enabling its display.
58. The method of claim 46 further comprising calculating the height of the rover unit relative to the controller unit and enabling its display.
59. The method of claim 46 further comprising giving an audible announcement of the rover unit’s bearing direction and distance from the controller.
60. A method for locating a rover unit from a mobile controller unit in which the rover unit and the controller unit have radio communication capability between them such that the controller unit may upon query obtain information from the rover unit and each of the controller unit and the rover unit has a radio positioning module for obtaining radio positioning information such that radio position information of the rover unit will upon query be sent to the mobile controller unit and in which the mobile controller unit can process the radio position information to provide relative spatial relationship of the mobile control unit to the rover unit with periodic updates and displaying the relative spatial relationship on one or more displays associated with the mobile controller unit and the controller unit has a means for obtaining its heading, the method comprising:
the rover unit and the controller unit obtaining radio positioning information;
the rover unit sending its radio positioning information to the controller unit;
the controller unit calculating the relative spatial position of the rover unit and the controller unit;
the controller unit calculating its heading and the bearing from the controller unit to the rover unit relative to the position and heading of the controller unit; and
displaying a bearing line from the controller unit to the rover unit relative to the position and heading of the controller unit.
61. A method for locating a rover unit from a mobile controller unit in which the rover unit and the controller unit have radio communication capability between them such that the controller unit may upon query obtain information from the rover unit and each of the controller unit and the rover unit has a radio positioning module for obtaining radio positioning information such that radio position information of the rover unit will upon query be sent to the mobile controller unit and in which the mobile controller unit can process the radio position information to provide relative spatial relationship of the mobile controller unit to the rover unit with periodic updates, and the controller unit has a means to obtain its heading, the method comprising:
determining the bearing from the mobile controller unit to the rover unit relative to the heading and position of the mobile controller unit;
displaying on one or more displays associated with the mobile controller as selected by the user, a bearing line showing the location of the rover unit relative to the position and heading of the mobile controller unit, and a map showing the location of both the mobile controller unit and the rover unit; and
displaying on the one or more displays one or more of the following:
the speed of movement of the rover unit;
the distance of the rover unit to the mobile controller unit;
the altitude of the rover unit relative to the mobile controller unit;
a map display showing the location of the rover unit and trail indicia showing a history of the location of the rover unit over a specified period of time; and
geographical coordinates of the rover unit.
62. A method for locating a rover unit from a mobile controller unit in which the rover unit and the controller unit have radio communication capability between them such that the controller unit may upon query obtain information from the rover unit and each of the controller unit and the rover unit has a radio positioning module for obtaining radio positioning information such that radio position information of the rover unit will upon query be sent to the mobile controller unit and in which the mobile controller unit can process the radio position information to provide relative spatial relationship of the mobile controller unit to the rover unit with periodic updates, and the controller unit has a means to obtain its heading, the method comprising:
determining the bearing from the mobile controller unit to the rover unit relative to the heading and position of the mobile controller unit;
displaying on one or more displays associated with the mobile controller as selected by the user a bearing line showing the location of the rover unit relative to the position and heading of the mobile controller unit and a map showing the location of both the mobile controller unit and the rover unit; and
providing a compass to the controller unit to enable displaying of the bearing to the rover unit from the controller unit relative to the position and heading of the controller unit.
63. A method of finding a rover unit by use of a mobile controller unit comprising:
sending a query to the rover unit by signal from a radio communication module in the mobile controller unit to a radio communication module in the rover unit;
responding to the query from the rover unit with radio positioning information obtained from a radio positioning module in the rover unit and sent to the mobile controller unit by way of the radio communication modules in each unit;
the rover unit continuing to respond periodically with new radio positioning information;
comparing the radio position information sent to the mobile controller unit with radio positioning information received by the mobile controller unit by its own radio positioning module to determine relative spatial position and absolute map position of the rover unit;
obtaining heading of the mobile controller unit; and
displaying on one or more displays:
an arrow showing the bearing line direction of the location of the rover unit relative to the position and heading of the mobile controller unit;
the speed of movement of the rover unit relative to the controller unit; and
a map display showing the location of the rover unit and of the controller unit.
64. The method of claim 63 further comprising;
providing by an optional selection;
on said map display showing the location of the rover unit also showing a series of indicia showing a history of the location of the rover unit.
65. The method of claim 64 wherein the radio positioning modules are GPS modules and the rover unit and controller unit use information from a common suite of GPS satellites.
66. A system for locating on demand a rover unit relative to a mobile controller unit comprising:
a mobile controller unit comprising: a GPS receiverprocessor; a radio communications module; and a control system including a specially programmed computer for sending instructions to a rover unit and for processing data received from its own and a rover unit’s radio positioning module and is equipped to obtain its heading;
at least one rover unit comprising: a GPS receiverprocessor, a radio communications module; and a control system for receiving instructions from a controller unit and for sending radio positioning data to a controller unit; and
the controller unit and the rover unit use a common suite of GPS satellites,
whereby the controller unit is able to obtain and process its own position and heading data and position data of the rover unit and to display on a display associated with the controller unit a bearing line to the rover unit relative to the heading and position of the controller unit and
the controller unit is programmed to calculate the relative spatial position of the controller unit and the rover unit and to calculate absolute positions of the controller unit and the rover unit on a map and the controller unit is enabled to allow selection of display of the bearing line or the absolute map positions of the controller unit and the rover unit.
67. A system for locating on demand a rover unit relative to a mobile controller unit comprising:
a mobile controller unit comprising: a GPS receiverprocessor; a radio communications module; and a control system including a specially programmed computer for sending instructions to a rover unit and for processing data received from its own and a rover unit’s radio positioning module and is equipped to obtain its heading;
at least one rover unit comprising: a GPS receiverprocessor; a radio communications module; and a control system for receiving instructions from a controller unit and for sending radio positioning data to a controller unit; and
the controller unit and the rover unit use a common suite of GPS satellites and
GPS pseudorange information is used to calculate the relative spatial position of the controller unit and the rover unit and the absolute map position of the controller unit and the heading of the controller unit,
whereby the controller unit is able to obtain and process its own position and heading data and position data of the rover unit and to display on a display associated with the controller unit a bearing line to the rover unit relative to the heading and position of the controller unit.

1461124112-1a63050e-5029-42a0-a1a1-31d198553b7d

1. A method implemented on a packet processor, the method comprising:
in response to receiving an incoming packet, checking workload usage of an isolation group (IG) associated with the incoming packet, wherein the IG is a classification of packets defined for the purpose of processing the incoming packet, and wherein the workload usage of the IG is a measure of packet processing consumed by the IG;
determining whether the workload usage of the IG associated with the incoming packet indicates that the workload usage of the IG exceeds a predetermined threshold;
forwarding the incoming packet to be executed by a packet execution unit in response to the workload usage of the IG associated with the incoming packet not exceeding the predetermined threshold; and
updating the workload usage of the IG associated with the incoming packet based on execution of the incoming packet by the packet execution unit.
2. The method of claim 1, further comprising classifying the incoming packet into an IG prior to checking the workload usage of the IG associated with the incoming packet.
3. The method of claim 1, further comprising rejecting the incoming packet in response to the workload usage of the IG associated with the incoming packet exceeding the predetermined threshold, wherein the rejection causes the incoming packet being either buffered, discarded, or being processed on a best-effort basis.
4. The method of claim 1, wherein the predetermined threshold is configurable for each IG and the configuration is at least in part based on characteristics of each IG.
5. The method of claim 1, wherein the predetermined threshold is updated at least in part based on workload usages of packets executed through the packet processor.
6. The method of claim 1, wherein the workload usage of the IG associated with the incoming packet is calculated at least in part based on an average per packet processing cycle time of packets within the IG.
7. The method of claim 1, wherein the workload usage of the IG associated with the incoming packet is calculated at least in part based on an average per packet usage of resources of packets within the IG.
8. The method of claim 7, wherein the average per packet resource usage of packets within the IG is based on a plurality of counters counting resources used by packets within the IG.
9. The method of claim 8, wherein the plurality of resource counters comprises at least a logical resource counter counting a usage of logical resources by packets within the IG, wherein the logical resources include functional modules that the packets are being processed through.
10. The method of claim 8, wherein the plurality of resource counters comprises at least a physical resource counter counting a usage of physical resources, wherein the physical resources include memory modules that the packets are using or being processed through.
11. The method of claim 1, wherein the workload usage of the IG associated with the incoming packet is calculated at least in part based on a command depth measure of the IG in comparison to a command depth threshold.
12. A network element configured to serve as a packet processor, the network element comprising:
a scheduler configured to check workload usage of an isolation group (IG) associated with an incoming packet, wherein the IG is a classification of packets defined for the purpose of processing the incoming packet, and wherein the workload usage of the IG is a measure of packet processing consumed by the IG,
the scheduler further configured to determine whether the workload usage of the IG associated with the incoming packet does not exceed a predetermined threshold, and
the scheduler further configured to forward the incoming packet to be executed by a packet execution unit in response to determination that the workload usage of the IG associated with the incoming packet does not exceed the predetermined threshold; and

a workload usage manager communicatively coupled with the scheduler, the workload usage manager being configured to provide workload usages of an IG to the scheduler, the workload usage manager being further configured to update workload usages of the IG associated with an incoming packet based on execution of the incoming packet.
13. The network element of claim 12, further comprising an IG classifier configured to classify the incoming packet into an IG prior to checking the workload usage of the IG associated with the incoming packet.
14. The network element of claim 12, wherein the scheduler further comprising a packet buffer configured to receiving the incoming packet in response to the workload usage the IG associated with the incoming packet being determined to exceed the predetermined threshold, wherein the rejection causes the incoming packet being either buffered for a future execution or current execution at a best-effort basis or discarded at the packet buffer.
15. The network element of claim 12, wherein the predetermined threshold is configurable for each IG and the configuration is at least in part based on characteristics of each IG.
16. The network element of claim 12, wherein the predetermined threshold is updated at least in part based on workload usages of packets executed through the packet processor.
17. The network element of claim 12, wherein the workload usage manager comprises an IG packet time tracker configured to calculate processing time of an IG, the calculation being at least in part based on an average per packet processing cycle time of packets within the IG.
18. The network element of claim 12, wherein the workload usage manager comprises an IG resource allocation tracker configured to calculate resource usage of an IG, the calculation being at least in part based on an average per packet resources usage of packets within the IG.
19. The network element of claim 18, further comprising a resource pool, wherein the resource pool comprising a plurality of usage counters configured to count resources used by packets within the IG.
20. The network element of claim 19, wherein the resource pool comprises at least a logical resource counter, the logical resource counter being configured to count logical resources used by packets within the IG, wherein the logical resources include functional modules that the packets are being processed through.
21. The network element of claim 19, wherein the resource pool comprises at least a physical resource counter counting a usage of physical resources, wherein the physical resources including memory modules packets are using or being processed through.
22. The network element of claim 12, the resource usage manager further comprising an IG resource command buildup tracker configured to measure a command depth of an IG in comparison to a command depth threshold.
23. A method implemented on a packet processor, the method comprising:
classifying an incoming packet into an isolation group (IG), wherein the IG is a classification of packets defined for the purpose of processing the incoming packet;
checking a workload usage indication of the IG associated with the incoming packet;
determining whether the workload usage of the IG associated with the incoming packet indicates that the workload usage of the IG exceeds a predetermined threshold;
forwarding the incoming packet to be executed by a packet execution unit in response to the workload usage of the IG associated with the incoming packet not exceeding the predetermined threshold;
rejecting the incoming packet in response to the workload usage of the IG associated with the incoming packet not exceeding the predetermined threshold, wherein the rejection causes the incoming packet being either buffered, discarded, or being processed on a best-effort basis; and
updating the workload usage of the IG associated with the incoming packet based on execution of the incoming packet by the packet execution unit.
24. A processor processing packets, the processor comprising:
an isolation group (IG) classifier configured to classify an incoming packet into an IG, wherein the IG is a classification of packets defined for the purpose of processing the incoming packet;
a scheduler communicatively coupled with the IG classifier, the scheduler being configured to check workload usage of an isolation group (IG) associated with an incoming packet, wherein the IG is a classification of packets defined for the purpose of processing the incoming packet, and wherein the workload usage of the IG is a measure of packet processing consumed by the IG,
the scheduler further configured to determine whether the workload usage of the IG associated with the incoming packet exceeds a predetermined threshold, and
the scheduler further configured to forward the incoming packet to be executed by a packet execution unit in response to determination that the workload usage of the IG associated with the incoming packet does not exceed the predetermined threshold; and

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 reading data from a memory cell, the method comprising:
determining whether a voltage value received from the memory cell is within at least one first voltage range based on a sensed output current corresponding to the received voltage value, the determining being performed through a one-time read operation using a semiconductor device that senses the output current corresponding to the received voltage value, the at least one first voltage range including a first upper limit voltage value and a first lower limit voltage value; and
setting a data value of the memory cell to a first data value corresponding to the at least one voltage range when the received voltage value is within the at least one first voltage range; wherein
the semiconductor device has negative differential transconductance.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein the determining further includes,
sensing an output current value corresponding to a received voltage value,
converting the sensed output current value into a voltage dimension value, and
determining whether the converted voltage value is within the at least one first voltage range.
3. The method of claim 1, wherein the memory cell is a flash memory cell.
4. The method of claim 1 wherein the semiconductor device having the negative differential transconductance includes at least one of a Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor (CMOS), a Field-induced Interband Tunneling Effect Transistor (FITET), a Single Electron Transistor, and a Periodic Multiple Band Filter (PMBF).
5. The method of claim 1, wherein the memory cell is operated in accordance with a Single Level Cell (SLC) method, and a number of first voltage ranges is one.
6. The method of claim 1, wherein the memory cell is operated in accordance with a Multi Level Cell (MLC) method.
7. A computer-readable recording medium storing a computer executable instructions that, when executed, cause a computer or a component thereof to perform a method of reading data from a memory cell, the method comprising:
determining whether a voltage value received from the memory cell is within at least one first voltage range based on a sensed output current corresponding to the received voltage value, the determining being performed through a one-time read operation using a semiconductor device that senses the output current corresponding to the received voltage value, the at least one first voltage range including a first upper limit voltage value and a first lower limit voltage value; and
setting a data value of the memory cell to a first data value corresponding to the at least one voltage range when the received voltage value is within the at least one first voltage range; wherein
the semiconductor device has negative differential transconductance.
8. An apparatus for reading data from a memory cell, the apparatus comprising:
a determining circuit configured to determine whether a voltage value received from the memory cell is within at least one first voltage range based on a sensed output current corresponding to the received voltage value, the determining circuit including a semiconductor device that senses the output current corresponding to the received voltage value, the at least one first voltage range including a first upper limit voltage value and a first lower limit voltage value; and
a setting circuit configured to set a data value of the memory cell to a first data value corresponding to the at least one voltage range when the received voltage value is within the at least one first voltage range; wherein
the determining circuit uses a one-time read operation to determine whether a voltage value received from the memory cell is within at least one first voltage range, and
the semiconductor device has negative differential transconductance.
9. The apparatus of claim 8, further including,
a receiving circuit configured to receive a voltage value from the memory cell and output the voltage value to the determining circuit.
10. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the determining unit further includes,
a sensing circuit configured to sense an output current value corresponding to a voltage value received by the semiconductor device,
a converting circuit configured to convert the sensed output current value into a voltage dimension value, and
a voltage range determining circuit configured to determine whether the converted voltage value is within the at least one first voltage range.
11. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the memory cell is a flash memory cell.
12. The apparatus of claim 8 wherein the semiconductor device having the negative differential transconductance includes at least one of a Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor (CMOS), a Field-induced Interband Tunneling Effect Transistor (FITET), a Single Electron Transistor, and a Periodic Multiple Band Filter (PMBF).
13. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein when the memory cell is operated according to a Single Level Cell (SLC) method.
14. The apparatus of claim 8 wherein when the memory cell is operated according to a Multi Level Cell (MLC) method.