All The Claims

1. A voice packet dynamic echo cancellation system comprising:
an inputoutput unit configured to communicate over a packet network;
a storage unit configured to store network performance information associated with node segments on the packet network;
a processing unit in communication with the inputoutput unit and the storage unit and configured to:
set-up a call from an originating call device to a terminating call device;
determine the network performance of the call between the originating call device and the terminating call device;
locate an echo signal of the call to the originating call device based on the network performance;
produce a echo cancellation signal based on the echo signal; and
cancel the echo signal with the echo cancellation signal.
2. The system according to claim 1, wherein the processing unit is configured to determine a received signal window based on the network performance where the echo signal is located.
3. The system according to claim 1, wherein the processing unit is configured to search the received signal window for the echo signal of the call.
4. The voice packet dynamic echo cancellation system according to claim 1, wherein the processing unit is configured to store the echo signal.
5. The system according to claim 1, wherein the network performance of the call includes timestamp information related to packets of the call over the packet network.
6. The system according to claim 1, wherein the processing unit is configured to access a centralized table containing the network performance of the call on the packet network.
7. The system according to claim 1, wherein the processing unit, in determining network performance, is further configured to:
determine an initial timestamp for packets associated with the set-up of the call to the terminating call device;
determine a final timestamp for packets associated with the set-up of the call to the originating call device; and
calculate a time delay for the call over the packet network based on the initial timestamp and the final timestamp.
8. The system according to claim 1, wherein the packet network communicates performance information data packets.
9. The system according to claim 1, wherein the packet network communicates IEEE 802.1AG data packets.
10. A method for canceling an echo signal during a call over a packet network, the method comprising:
setting up the call from an originating call device to a terminating call device;
storing network performance information associated with node segments on the packet network;
determining the network performance of the call between the originating call device and the terminating call device;
locating an echo signal of the call to the originating call device based on the network performance;
producing an echo cancellation signal based on the echo signal; and
cancelling the echo signal with the echo cancellation signal.
11. The method according to claim 10, wherein locating an echo signal of the call includes determining a round-trip time delay of data packets for the call.
12. The method according to claim 10, wherein storing packet network information includes storing performance information data packets.
13. The method according to claim 10, wherein storing packet network information includes storing IEEE 802.1AG data packets.
14. The method according to claim 10, wherein storing network performance information includes storing timestamp information related to data packets of the call.
15. The method according to claim 10, wherein storing network performance information includes storing timestamp information related to data packets of the call over the packet network.
16. The method according to claim 10, wherein locating an echo signal of the call includes calculating a received echo signal window for the call.
17. The method according to claim 10, wherein locating an echo signal of the call includes:
determining an initial timestamp for packets associated with a set-up of the call to the terminating call device;
determining a final timestamp for packets associated with the set-up of the call to the originating call device; and
calculating a time delay for the call over the packet network based on the initial timestamp and the final timestamp.
18. A method for canceling an echo signal during a call over a packet network, the method comprising:
setting up the call from an originating call device to a terminating call device;
storing timestamp information related to data packets associated with the call communicated over node segments on the packet network;
determining an echo signal window of the call between the originating call device and the terminating call device based on the timestamp information;
locating an echo signal of the call within the echo signal window;
producing an echo cancellation signal based on the echo signal; and
cancelling the echo signal with the echo cancellation signal.
19. The method according to claim 18, wherein storing timestamp information related to data packets includes storing performance information data packets.
20. The method according to claim 18, wherein storing timestamp information related to data packets includes storing IEEE 802.1AG data packets.
21. The method according to claim 18, wherein locating an echo signal of the call includes:
determining an initial timestamp for packets associated with a set-up of the call to the terminating call device;
determining a final timestamp for packets associated with the set-up of the call to the originating call device; and
calculating a time delay for the call over the packet network based on the initial timestamp and the final timestamp.
22. The method according to claim 18, wherein producing an echo cancellation signal includes inverting the echo signal 180-degrees out-of-phase.
23. The method according to claim 18, wherein canceling the echo signal with the echo cancellation signal includes including the echo cancellation signal with the echo signal of the call to cancel the echo signal.

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. An injection steam generator for small appliances, said generator comprising a steam chamber disposed within and formed by a steam generator housing that is provided with an injection opening in a sidewall; a displaceable nozzle mounted telescopically on a fixed tubular member, to define a nozzle chamber within said nozzle and said fixed member, for displacement in a first pressure range in a direction toward the injection opening by an internal pressure in the nozzle chamber; a restoring force device for displacing the nozzle in a direction away from the injection opening when the internal pressure in the nozzle chamber is in a second pressure range that is lower than the first pressure range; and means for discharging residual water from the injection steam generator when the nozzle is displaced in a direction away from the injection opening, said means including a drain passage connected via a valve arrangement with the fixed member and in communication with the nozzle chamber for discharging the excessive residual water from the nozzle chamber when the nozzle is displaced away form the injection opening, with the valve arrangement being responsive to the pressure in the nozzle chamber to close the drain passage in the first pressure range and to open the drain passage in the second pressure range.
2. The injection steam generates according to claim 1, wherein the restoring force device is a spring connected between said nozzle and said fixed member.
3. An injection steam generator according to claim 1, wherein a pump with a pump outlet valve is mounted on the fixed member, said pump, when operating, producing an interior pressure in the nozzle chamber in the pressure range of 10-12 bar; and the restoring device is dimensioned such that when the nozzle is displaced away from the injection opening, an internal pressure of 5-6 bar is generated in the nozzle chamber, wherein the second pressure range is disposed between 5-6 bar as the upper range limit and atmospheric pressure as the lower range limit.
4. An injection steam generator according to claim 1, wherein the valve arrangement is a diaphragm valve having a diaphragm mounted to form a valve flap that in response to the pressure in the nozzle chamber closes during the first pressure range and opens during the second pressure range.
5. An injection steam generator according to claim 1, wherein the valve arrangement is a spring-loaded ball valve that is normally in an open position by a ball and a spring acting on the ball, and that in response to the internal pressure in the nozzle chamber closes during the first pressure range counter to the load of the spring, and opens during the second pressure range as a result of the spring load.
6. An injection valve according to claim 1, wherein the drain passage leads to a water supply container that is arranged higher than the nozzle chamber.

1. A lyophilized pooled human growth factor composition prepared by lyophilizing a pooled human growth factor starting material.
2. A lyophilized pooled human growth factor composition according to claim 1 wherein the growth factor starting material is selected from the group consisting of platelets, platelet rich plasma, platelet poor plasma, breast milk, blood, bone marrow, amniotic fluid, umbilical cord fluid, and combinations thereof.
3. A lyophilized pooled human growth factor composition according to claim 1 wherein the growth factor starting material comprises a platelet starting material.
4. A lyophilized pooled human growth factor composition according to claim 3 wherein the platelet starting material comprises platelet rich plasma.
5. A lyophilized pooled human growth factor composition according to claim 1 wherein the composition is stored at a temperature above \u221270\xb0 C.
6. A lyophilized pooled human growth factor composition according to claim 5 wherein the composition is stored at about room temperature.
7. A lyophilized pooled human growth factor composition according to claim 5 wherein the composition is stored at room temperature above \u221265\xb0 C.
8. A lyophilized pooled human growth factor composition according claim 7 wherein the composition is stored at a temperature of from about 15\xb0 C. to about 35\xb0 C.
9. A lyophilized pooled human growth factor composition according to claim 1 further comprising, prior to lyophilizing, mixing the growth factor starting material.
10. A lyophilized pooled human growth factor composition.
11. A lyophilized pooled human growth factor composition according to claim 10 wherein the compositin consists essentially of pooled human growth factors.
12. A lyophilized pooled human growth factor composition according to claim 10 wherein the growth factors are selected from the group consisting of PDGF-AA, PDGF-BB, PDGF-AB, EGF, VEGF, TGF-\u03b1, FGF, TGF-\u03b2, IGF-1, IGF-2, and NGF.
13. A lyophilized pooled human growth factor composition according to claim 10 further comprising a.pharmaceutically acceptable carrier.
14. A lyophilized pooled human growth factor composition according to claim 13 wherein the carrier is a gel.
15. A lyophilized pooled human growth factor composition according to claim 13 wherein the carrier is a cream.
16. A lyophilized pooled human growth factor composition according to claim 13 wherein the carrier is an emulsion.
17. A lyophilized pooled human growth factor composition according to claim 13 wherein the carrier is a microcapsule.
18. A lyophilized pooled human growth factor composition according to claim 16 further comprising heating the recovered growth factors.
19. A lyophilized pooled human growth factor composition according to claim 10 wherein the composition is in a sealed water resistant container.
20. A lyophilized pooled human growth factor composition according to claim 10 wherein is combined with a dressing.

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:
obtaining two or more surfaces to be rendered in an image, wherein at least one of the surfaces occludes at least a portion of at least one other of the surfaces;
assigning depth probability density functions to the surfaces; and
rendering the image from the two or more surfaces according to the depth probability density functions of the surfaces, wherein said rendering comprises:
computing the expected color contribution of each surface according to the depth probability density functions of the surfaces; and
summing the expected color contributions of the surfaces to generate expected color for the image.
2. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein said computing the expected color contribution of each surface according to the depth probability density functions of the surfaces comprises:
determining a set of intervals for which a number of overlapping surfaces is constant;
analytically computing the expected color contribution for each of the intervals; and
summing the expected color contributions of the intervals to generate the expected color contribution of the surface.
3. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein said computing the expected color contribution of each surface according to the depth probability density functions of the surfaces comprises:
firing multiple rays at each of a plurality of points in the image from a camera position;
for each ray fired at each of the plurality of points:
generating a random depth scale factor relative to the camera position for each surface intersected by the ray; and
calculating an expected color for the point according to the random depth scale factors for this ray;

for each point on each surface of the image, averaging the expected colors for each ray fired at this point to generate an expected color contribution for this point.
4. The method as recited in claim 3, wherein the generated random depth scale factor for a given ray is different for at least two surfaces intersected by the ray.
5. The method as recited in claim 3, wherein two or more of the surfaces are correlated, and wherein said generating a random depth scale factor relative to the camera position for each surface intersected by the ray comprises, for rays that intersect at least two correlated surfaces, generating a correlated random depth scale factor for each correlated surface intersected by the ray.
6. The method as recited in claim 5, wherein the correlated random depth scale factor for two correlated surfaces is generated according to an entanglement value c, where c specifies a degree of correlation between the two correlated surfaces.
7. The method as recited in claim 6, where c is variable within a range of 0.0 to 1.0 to specify the degree of correlation between the two correlated surfaces.
8. The method as recited in claim 3, further comprising:
for each ray fired at each of the plurality of points, calculating a shaded value for the point; and
for each point on each surface of the image, averaging the shaded value for each ray fired at this point to generate a shaded value for this point.
9. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein said rendering further comprises computing shadows for the image.
10. The method as recited in claim 1, further comprising:
obtaining a clipping plane to be applied to the surfaces rendered in the image;
assigning a depth probability density function to the clipping plane; and
rendering the image from the two or more surfaces and the clipping plane according to the depth probability density functions of the surfaces and the depth probability density function of the clipping plane, wherein the rendered image shows an interior region of an object composed of the rendered surfaces revealed by applying the clipping plane to the surfaces.
11. A system, comprising:
one or more processors; and
a memory comprising program instructions, wherein the program instructions are executable by at least one of the one or more processors to:
obtain two or more surfaces to be rendered in an image, wherein at least one of the surfaces occludes at least a portion of at least one other of the surfaces;
assign depth probability density functions to the surfaces; and
render the image from the two or more surfaces according to the depth probability density functions of the surfaces, wherein said rendering comprises:
compute the expected color contribution of each surface according to the depth probability density functions of the surfaces; and
sum the expected color contributions of the surfaces to generate expected color for the image.
12. The system as recited in claim 11, wherein, to compute the expected color contribution of each surface according to the depth probability density functions of the surfaces, the program instructions are executable by at least one of the one or more processors to:
determine a set of intervals for which a number of overlapping surfaces is constant;
analytically compute the expected color contribution for each of the intervals; and
sum the expected color contributions of the intervals to generate the expected color contribution of the surface.
13. The system as recited in claim 11, wherein, to compute the expected color contribution of each surface according to the depth probability density functions of the surfaces, the program instructions are executable by at least one of the one or more processors to:
fire multiple rays at each of a plurality of points in the image from a camera position;
for each ray fired at each of the plurality of points:
generate a random depth scale factor relative to the camera position for each surface intersected by the ray; and
calculate an expected color for the point according to the random depth scale factors for this ray;

for each point on each surface of the image, average the expected colors for each ray fired at this point to generate an expected color contribution for this point.
14. The system as recited in claim 13, wherein two or more of the surfaces are correlated, and wherein, to generate a random depth scale factor relative to the camera position for each surface intersected by the ray, the program instructions are executable by at least one of the one or more processors to, for rays that intersect at least two correlated surfaces, generate a correlated random depth scale factor for each correlated surface intersected by the ray.
15. The system as recited in claim 11, wherein the program instructions are executable by at least one of the one or more processors to:
obtain a clipping plane to be applied to the surfaces rendered in the image;
assign a depth probability density function to the clipping plane; and
render the image from the two or more surfaces and the clipping plane according to the depth probability density functions of the surfaces and the depth probability density function of the clipping plane, wherein the rendered image shows an interior region of an object composed of the rendered surfaces revealed by applying the clipping plane to the surfaces.
16. The system as recited in claim 10, wherein at least one of the one or more processors is a graphics processing unit (GPU).
17. A computer-readable storage medium storing program instructions, wherein the program instructions are computer-executable to implement:
obtaining two or more surfaces to be rendered in an image, wherein at least one of the surfaces occludes at least a portion of at least one other of the surfaces;
assigning depth probability density functions to the surfaces; and
rendering the image from the two or more surfaces according to the depth probability density functions of the surfaces, wherein said rendering comprises:
computing the expected color contribution of each surface according to the depth probability density functions of the surfaces; and
summing the expected color contributions of the surfaces to generate expected color for the image.
18. The computer-readable storage medium as recited in claim 17, wherein, in said computing the expected color contribution of each surface according to the depth probability density functions of the surfaces, the program instructions are computer-executable to implement:
determining a set of intervals for which a number of overlapping surfaces is constant;
analytically computing the expected color contribution for each of the intervals; and
summing the expected color contributions of the intervals to generate the expected color contribution of the surface.
19. The computer-readable storage medium as recited in claim 17, wherein, in said computing the expected color contribution of each surface according to the depth probability density functions of the surfaces, the program instructions are computer-executable to implement:
firing multiple rays at each of a plurality of points in the image from a camera position;
for each ray fired at each of the plurality of points:
generating a random depth scale factor relative to the camera position for each surface intersected by the ray; and
calculating an expected color for the point according to the random depth scale factors for this ray;

for each point on each surface of the image, averaging the expected colors for each ray fired at this point to generate an expected color contribution for this point.
20. The computer-readable storage medium as recited in claim 19, wherein two or more of the surfaces are correlated, and wherein, in said generating a random depth scale factor relative to the camera position for each surface intersected by the ray, the program instructions are computer-executable to implement, for rays that intersect at least two correlated surfaces, generating a correlated random depth scale factor for each correlated surface intersected by the ray.