Author: claimsbot

1.-16. (canceled)
17. A method for adjusting a transmission time of a continuous wave (CW), comprising:
setting an initial value for a response waiting time;
sending the CW to a tag after sending a command to the tag and waiting for a response from the tag; and
judging whether the response from the tag is received within the response waiting time,
wherein if the response from the tag is received within the response waiting time, then stopping sending the CW and adjusting the response waiting time; and
wherein if the response from the tag is not received beyond the response waiting time, then stopping sending of the CW.
18. The method as claimed in claim 17, wherein said step of setting an initial value for a response waiting time comprises setting an initial value of the response waiting time to an arbitrary value.
19. The method as claimed in claim 18, wherein said arbitrary value is one of less than and equal to a maximum response waiting time provided in a radio frequency identification protocol.
20. The method as claimed in claim 17, wherein said command is a command instructing the tag to modify one of data or a flag bit in the tag.
21. The method as claimed in claim 20, wherein said command instructing the tag to modify the one of data or the flag bit in the tag comprises one of a write command, a kill command, a lock command a block-write command and a block-erase command.
22. The method as claimed in claim 17, wherein said adjusting the response waiting time comprises:
recording a time from sending out the command to receiving the response from the tag, and
adjusting the response waiting time according to the recorded time.
23. The method as claimed in claim 22, wherein said adjusting the response waiting time according to the recorded time comprises adjusting the response waiting time in accordance with the following relationship:
Tout(n)=\u03b1Tout(n\u22121)+(1\u2212\u03b1)Ts\u2003\u2003Eq. (1)

wherein Tout(n\u22121) is the response waiting time before the adjustment, Tout (n) is the response waiting time after the adjustment, Ts is the recorded time from sending out the command to receiving the response from the tag, and \u03b1 is an adjustment factor with a value range of 0, 1.
24. The method as claimed in claim 17, wherein said adjusting the response waiting time comprises adjusting the response waiting time in accordance with at least one of at least one piece of inherent information in the tag and statistical information of the tag’s operations.
25. The method as claimed in claim 24, wherein said inherent information in the tag is information determined during the tag’s manufacturing process, said information comprising at least a type and a serial number of the tag, a model number and manufacturer of the tag’s chip; and
said statistical information of the tag’s operations is the information obtained statistically during a process when the tag is performing various operations, the statistical information comprising at least a number of times of receiving the tag’s response, a number of times for timeout, and a time recorded by the reader from sending out a command to receiving a response from the tag.
26. The method as claimed in claim 17, further comprising subsequent to the response from the tag is being not received beyond the response waiting time, stopping sending the CW and adjusting the response waiting time.
27. The method as claimed in claim 26, wherein said adjusting the response waiting time comprises increasing the response waiting time.
28. The method as claimed in claim 27, wherein said increasing the response waiting time comprises:
adjusting the response waiting time according to the following equation:
Tout(n)=minTout(n\u22121)\xd72,20 ms
wherein Tout(n\u22121) represents the response waiting time before the adjustment, Tout(n) represents the response waiting time after the adjustment, and min represents an operation of taking a minimum value.
29. The method as claimed in claim 27, wherein said increasing the response waiting time comprises:
adjusting the response waiting time in accordance with the following relationship:
Tout(n)=minTout(n\u22121)+\u03bb,20 ms
wherein Tout(n\u22121) represents the response waiting time before the adjustment, Tout(n) represents the response waiting time after the adjustment, \u03bb is a pre-set adjusting step length \u03bb, and min represents an operation of taking a minimum value.
30. A reader, comprising:
a response waiting time setting unit for pre-setting an initial value for a response waiting time;
a command processing unit for sending out a command to a tag and sending a continuous wave (CW) to the tag after sending the command and waiting for a response from the tag; and
a response waiting time adjusting unit for adjusting the response waiting time;
wherein if the response from the tag is received by the command processing unit within the response waiting time, a response waiting time adjusting unit is triggered to adjust the response waiting time; and
wherein if the response from the tag is not received within the response waiting time, sending of the CW is stopped.
31. The reader as claimed in claim 30, wherein said command processing unit further triggers the response waiting time adjusting unit to adjust the response waiting time when the response from the tag is not received within the response waiting time.
32. The reader as claimed in claim 30, wherein said response waiting time adjusting unit comprises:
a response waiting time recording module for recording the time from sending out the command by the command processing unit to receiving the response from the tag; and
a response waiting time adjusting module for adjusting the response waiting time according to the time recorded by the response waiting time recording module.

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 control valve for connection unit for flexible pipes, comprising a plurality of sectors rotatable between a completely open position and a completely closed position, wherein said plurality of sectors comprises at least two series of sectors of different shape and dimensions disposed in an alternate way along the circumference of the connection unit; wherein the at least two series of sectors includes a series of sector of a larger size relative to the other series of sectors and series of sectors of a smaller size a relative to the other series of sectors, wherein each sector of the series of sectors of the larger size have a V-shaped extremity whose sides, when in the completely closed position, abut in a fluid tight fit manner against corresponding sides of adjacent sectors of the same series, and have lateral sides with an arched extremity that, when in the completely closed position, is leaned on by an adjacent side of a sector from the series of sectors of the smaller size that is interposed between two sectors from the series of the sectors of the larger size, and wherein each sector of the series of sectors of the smaller size have a rounded extremity that, when in the completely closed position, engages tightly with the arched extremities of two adjacent sectors from the series of sectors of the larger size, and have straight sides that, in the completely closed position, engage tight with lateral sides of the two adjacent sectors from the series of sectors of the larger size.
2. The control valve according to claim 1, wherein the valve is an upstream control valve of the connection unit in the direction of flow of the fluid, and the sectors from the series of the smaller size are driven to close slowly with respect to the sectors from the series of the larger size.
3. The control valve according to claim 1, wherein said arched extremity, said rounded extremity, and said straight sides have a step so as to consent a partial overlapping of borders of the adjacent sectors for increasing tightness between the sectors thereof.
4. A control valve for connection unit of flexible pipes, comprising a plurality of petal sectors rotatable between a completely open position and a completely closed position, wherein said plurality of petal sectors comprises at least two series of sectors of different shape and dimensions disposed in an alternate way along a circumference of the connection unit; wherein the at least two series of sectors includes a series of sectors of a larger size relative to the other series of sectors and a series of sectors of a smaller size relative to the other series of sectors, wherein the sectors of the control valve have substantially triangular shapes of different size with bases rotatable about respective pivoting axes arranged as sides of polygonal figure perpendicular to a longitudinal axis of the connection unit.
5. The control valve according to claim 4, wherein the valve is an upstream control valve of the connection unit in the direction of flow of the fluid, and the sectors from the series of the smaller size are driven to close slowly with respect to the sectors from the series of the larger sizes.
6. The control valve according to claim 4, wherein the sectors of bigger dimensions have a V-shaped extremity, whose sides, when in the completely closed positions, abut in a fluid tight fit manner against corresponding sides of adjacent sectors of the same series and have lateral sides with an arched extremity that, when in the completely closed position, is leaned on by an adjacent side of a sector from the series of sectors of the smaller size that is interposed between two sectors from the series of sectors of the larger size, and wherein each sector of the series of the smaller size have a rounded extremity and straight sides that, when in the completely closed position, engage tight with lateral sides of the two adjacent sectors from the series of sectors of the larger sizes.
7. The control valve according to claim 6, wherein said arched extremity, said rounded extremity, and said straight sides have a step so as to consent a partial overlapping of borders of the adjacent sectors for increasing tightness between the sectors thereof.

1. A method for setting up a communication with a given mobile station served by a radio access network, wherein the radio access network defines a plurality of wireless coverage areas, the method comprising:
receiving an indication of a location of the given mobile station;
using the location of the given mobile station to identify at least first and second wireless coverage areas associated with the given mobile station;
receiving a request to set up a communication with the given mobile station;
in response to receiving the request, reserving a channel for the communication with the given mobile station in each of the identified first and second wireless coverage areas;
in each of the identified first and second wireless coverage areas, transmitting a channel assignment message specifying the channel reserved for the communication in the wireless coverage area without first paging the given mobile station;
receiving an indication that the given mobile station has accepted assignment of the channel reserved for the communication in the identified first wireless coverage area; and
in response to receiving the indication, releasing the channel reserved for the communication in the identified second wireless coverage area.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein the channel assignment message contains an identifier of a mobile station, and wherein the given mobile station accepts the channel assignment message if the identifier in the channel assignment message matches an identifier of the given mobile station.
3. The method of claim 2, wherein the identifier in the channel assignment message is selected from the group consisting of:
a mobile identification number;
an international mobile subscriber identity; and
a unicast access terminal identifier.
4. The method of claim 1, wherein the channel assignment message is selected from a group consisting of:
a 1 xRTT channel assignment message; and
an EV-DO traffic channel assignment message.
5. The method of claim 1, wherein the channel assignment message contains one or more of a carrier frequency, a PN offset, a Walsh code, and a MAC identifier.
6. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving the indication of the location of the given mobile station comprises receiving a GPS location reading from the given mobile station.
7. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving the indication of the location of the given mobile station is selected from a group consisting of
receiving the indication of the location periodically according to a schedule; and
receiving the indication of the location in response to a change in location by the given mobile station.
8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:
storing the location of the given mobile station.
9. The method of claim 1, wherein using the location of the given mobile station to identify at least first and second wireless coverage areas associated with the given mobile station comprises:
maintaining information about the first and second wireless coverage areas of the radio access network; and
comparing the location of the given mobile station to the information about the first and second coverage areas.
10. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one of the identified first and second wireless coverage areas encompasses the location of the given mobile station.
11. The method of claim 1, wherein each of the identified first and second wireless coverage areas comprises a cell sector.
12. The method of claim 1, wherein using the location of the given mobile station to identify the at least first and second wireless coverage areas associated with the given mobile station comprises using the location of the given mobile station to identify the at least first and second wireless coverage areas associated with the given mobile station in response to receiving the request to set up a communication with the given mobile station.
13. A radio access network comprising:
one or more antenna structures for communicating with mobile stations located in a plurality of wireless coverage areas;
a communication interface for communicating with one or more networks;
a processor;
data storage; and
program instructions stored in the data storage and executable by the processor to carry out functions including:
receiving an indication of a location of a given mobile station;
using the location of the given mobile station to identify at least first and second wireless coverage areas associated with the given mobile station;
receiving a request to set up a communication with the given mobile station via the communication interface;
in response to receiving the request, reserving a channel for the communication with the given mobile station in each of the identified first and second wireless coverage areas;
in each of the identified first and second wireless coverage areas, transmitting a channel assignment message specifying the channel reserved for the communication in the wireless coverage area without first paging the given mobile station;
receiving an indication that the given mobile station has accepted assignment of the channel reserved for the communication in the identified first wireless coverage area; and
in response to receiving the indication, releasing the channel reserved for the communication in the identified second wireless coverage area.

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

What is claimed is:

1. A shield for use in a disc drive storage system comprising:
a ferromagnetic (FM) layer having a patterned shape and a domain configuration, defined by a plurality of local magnetic domains that are stabilized in accordance with the patterned shape; and
an antiferromagnetic (AFM) layer adjacent the FM layer and annealed to imprint thereon the stabilized local magnetic domains of the FM layer, whereby stability of the domain configuration of the FM layer is increased.
2. A read head for use in a disc drive storage system comprising:
a top and bottom shield, wherein at least one of the top shield and bottom shields is formed in accordance with the shield of claim 1; and
a read element formed between the top and bottom shields adjacent an air bearing surface.
3. A disc drive storage system including the read head of claim 2.
4. The shield of claim 1, wherein the FM layer is formed of at least one material selected from a group consisting of NiFe, FeSiAl, FeN, CoFe, CoNiFe, and CoZrNb.
5. The shield of claim 1, wherein the AFM layer is formed of at least one material selected from a group consisting of NiMn, FeMn, PtMn, IrMn, PtPdMn, and NiO.
6. The shield of claim 1, wherein:
the FM and the AFM layers form a first shield layer; and
the shield includes at least a second shield layer formed of adjoining second FM and AFM layers and a spacer layer between the first and second shield layers.
7. The shield of claim 6, wherein the spacer layer is formed of a non-magnetic material.
8. The shield of claim 6, wherein:
the second FM layer includes a patterned shape and a domain configuration, defined by a plurality of local magnetic domains that are stabilized in accordance with the patterned shape; and
the second AFM layer is annealed to imprint thereon the stabilized local magnetic domains of the second FM layer, whereby stability of the domain configuration of the second FM layer is increased.
9. A method of forming a magnetic shield for a read element of a read head, comprising steps of:
(a) forming adjoining ferromagnetic (FM) and antiferromagnetic (AFM) layers, the FM layer having a domain configuration that is defined by a plurality of local magnetic domains;
(b) patterning at least the FM layer into a patterned shape;
(c) stabilizing the domain configuration of the FM layer in accordance with the patterned shape; and
(d) heating the AFM layer beyond a blocking temperature to imprint thereon the stabilized local magnetic domains of the FM layer, whereby stability of the stabilized domain configuration of the FM layer is increased.
10. The method of claim 9, wherein the patterning step (b) includes a at least one processing technique selected from a group consisting of etching, milling, and lapping.
11. The method of claim 9, wherein the stabilizing step (c) includes demagnetizing the FM layer.
12. The method of claim 11, wherein:
the FM layer has an easy axis and a hard axis; and
the demagnetizing step involves applying a decaying sinusoidal magnetic field that is substantially oriented along one of the easy axis and the hard axis of the FM layer.
13. The method of claim 9, wherein the annealing step (d) takes place in a substantially zero magnetic field environment.
14. The method of claim 9, wherein a magnetic field is applied during the annealing step (d) to increase unidirectional anisotropy of the domain configuration of the FM layer.
15. A method of forming a read head comprising steps of:
forming at least one of a top and a bottom shield in accordance with the method of claim 9; and
forming a read element between the top and bottom shields.
16. A read head, comprising:
a read element formed between patterned top and bottom shields, at least one of which includes a ferromagnetic (FM) layer having a stabilized domain configuration; and
wherein at least one of the top and bottom shields includes a stabilizing means for preventing significant shifts to the stabilized domain configuration after exposure to a strong magnetic field.
17. The read head of claim 16, wherein:
the stabilized domain configuration of the FM layer is defined by a plurality of local magnetic domains; and
the stabilizing means includes an antiferromagnetic (AFM) layer adjacent the ferromagnetic layer and annealed to have local unidirectional anisotropies in accordance with the local magnetic domains of the stabilized ferromagnetic layer.
18. The read head of claim 16, wherein the FM layer is formed of at least one material selected from a group consisting of NiFe, FeSiAl, FeN, CoFe, CoNiFe, and CoZrNb.
19. The read head of claim 17, wherein the AFM layer is formed of at least one material selected from a group consisting of NiMn, FeMn, PtMn, IrMn, PtPdMn, and NiO.