All The Claims

1. A fluid sensor for sensing at least one characteristic of a fluid, the fluid sensor comprising:
a sensing area;
a sensing element configured to sense a characteristic of fluid located within the sensing area; and
a mesh positioned around the sensing area, the mesh configured to
allow a liquid portion of the fluid to enter and exit the sensing area, and
substantially prohibit a gas portion of the fluid to enter the sensing area.
2. The fluid sensor of claim 1, wherein the sensing area is one of a measurement channel and a level sensing tube.
3. The fluid sensor of claim 1, wherein substantially prohibiting the gas portion of the fluid from entering the sensing area includes at least one of dispersing one or more gas bubbles to produce a homogenous fluid entering the fluid channel and prohibiting one or more gas bubbles entering the sensing area.
4. The fluid sensor of claim 1, wherein the sensing element is one of a concentration sensing element, a level sensing element, and a temperature sensing element.
5. The fluid sensor of claim 1, wherein the fluid is one of a urea solution, a gasoline fuel, a diesel fuel, an engine oil, hydraulic fluid, and a transmission fluid.
6. The fluid sensor of claim 1, further comprising a housing, wherein the mesh is integrated into the housing
7. The fluid sensor of claim 6, wherein the housing includes a chimney configured to exhaust entrapped air from the sensing area.
8. The fluid sensor of claim 1, further comprising a housing, wherein the mesh is coupled to the housing.
9. The fluid sensor of claim 8, wherein the mesh is coupled to the housing via a frame, the frame having two arms, the two arms configured to couple the mesh and frame to the housing.
10. The fluid sensor of claim 9, wherein the frame includes a chimney configured to exhaust entrapped air from the sensing area.
11. A method of preventing gas bubbles in a sensing system for sensing a fluid contained in a tank, the sensing system including a sensing area and a sensor, the method comprising
coupling a mesh to the sensing system, wherein the mesh covers the sensing area;
allowing a liquid portion of the fluid to enter and exit the sensing area through the mesh;
prohibiting a gas portion of the fluid entering the sensing area; and
sensing a characteristic of the fluid contained within the sensing area.
12. The method of claim 11, wherein the sensing area is one of a measurement channel and a level sensing tube.
13. The method of claim 11, wherein prohibiting the gas portion of the fluid entering the sensing area includes at least one of dispersing one or more gas bubbles to produce a homogenous fluid entering the fluid channel and prohibiting one or more gas bubbles entering the sensing area.
14. The method of claim 11, wherein the sensed characteristic is one of a concentration, a level, and a temperature.
15. The method of claim 11, wherein the fluid is a urea solution, a gasoline fuel, a diesel fuel, an engine oil, hydraulic fluid, and a transmission fluid.
16. The method of claim 11, further comprising exhausting the gas portion of the fluid from the sensing area.
17. The method of claim 11, wherein the mesh is coupled to a housing of the sensing system.
18. The method of claim 17, wherein the mesh is coupled to the housing via a frame.
19. The method of claim 18, wherein the frame includes two arms, the two arms configured to couple the mesh and the frame to the housing.
20. A sensor operable to sense a characteristic of a fluid, the sensor comprising:
a sensing area configured to contain the fluid;
a filter covering the sensing area, the filter configured to
allow a liquid portion of the fluid to enter the sensing area, and
substantially prohibit a gas portion of the fluid to enter the sensing area; and

a transducer operable to
output a pulse of sound through the liquid portion of the fluid contained within the sensing area,
receive the reflected pulse of sound, and
output a characteristic of the fluid based on the received pulse of sound.
21. The sensor of claim 20, wherein the sensing area is one of a measurement channel and a level sensing tube.
22. The sensor of claim 20, wherein substantially prohibiting the gas portion of the fluid from entering the sensing area includes at least one of dispersing one or more gas bubbles to produce a homogenous fluid entering the fluid channel and prohibiting one or more gas bubbles entering the sensing area.
23. The sensor of claim 20, wherein the sensed characteristic is one of a concentration, a level, and a temperature.
24. The sensor of claim 20, wherein the fluid is one of a urea solution, a gasoline fuel, a diesel fuel, an engine oil, hydraulic fluid, and a transmission fluid.
25. The sensor of claim 20, wherein the filter includes a mesh screen.
26. The sensor of claim 20, further comprising a housing, the filter integral to the housing.
27. The sensor of claim 26, wherein the housing includes a chimney configured to exhaust entrapped air from the sensing area.
28. The sensor of claim 20, further comprising a housing, wherein the filter is coupled to the housing.
29. The sensor of claim 28, wherein the filter includes a frame and a mesh screen, the frame having two arms, the two arms configured to couple the filter to the housing.
30. The sensor of claim 28, wherein the filter includes a chimney configured to exhaust entrapped air from the sensing 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.

1. A method of displaying medical information, the method comprising:
displaying a read medical data value;
altering the reading or data value display with time, such that the display is indicative of the medical data value and it age.
2. The method according to claim 1, wherein altering the medical data value display includes changing a luminous intensity of at least a portion of the displayed value, a displayed background region to the medical data value, or a displayed label for the medical data value.
3. The method according to claim 1, wherein altering the reading or data value display includes changing a color of at least a portion of the displayed medical data value or a label thereof.
4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the medical data value display includes:
displaying the medical data value or a label thereof on a background; and
changing at least one of size, shape, or color of the background with time.
5. The method according to claim 4, wherein the background emulates a clock as it changes with time.
6. The method according to claim 5, wherein the background emulates the clock by displaying one of:
a circle or box divided into wedges that change color progressively analogous to a hand of a clock; or
a circle with a clock hand that advances with time.
7. The method according to claim 1, wherein displaying the read data includes displaying one of a clock or hourglass icon adjacent the displayed value or label thereof.
8. The method according to claim 1 further including:
displaying a subscript or superscript adjacent the displayed medical data value or a label thereof to indicate an age threshold.
9. The method according to claim 1 further including: after an age threshold is reached, terminating displaying the medical data value.
10. The method according to claim 1, wherein the read medical data value is a non-continuously measured physiological parameter of patients which is displayed on a medical monitor.
11. A display apparatus which is controlled to perform the method according to claim 1.
12. A computer readable medium programmed with software which when implemented by a processor controls a monitor to perform the method of claim 1.
13. An apparatus for displaying a medical reading or data value, the apparatus comprising:
a human readable display device;
a processor programmed to control the display device to:
display the medical reading or data value;
alter the displayed medical reading or data value or a label, thereof progressively with time such that the displayed value or the table thereof is indicative of its age.
14. The apparatus according to claim 13, wherein the medical reading or data value represents a physiological parameter of a patient and further including:
at least one of physiological parameter sensor for sensing a physiological parameter of the patient.
15. A display for presenting information in a human readable format comprising:
a computer operable video display terminal for presenting alphanumeric characters;
at least one alphanumeric symbol quantifying a measurement obtained from an electronic device; and
at least one graphical element conveying the age of the quantified measurement.
16. The display according to claim 15, wherein the age of a measurement is conveyed through change in color of at least a portion of the at least one alphanumeric symbol.
17. The display according to claim 15, wherein the age of a measurement is conveyed through change in intensity of at least a portion of the at least one alphanumeric symbol.
18. The display according to claim 15, wherein the age of a measurement is conveyed by use of symbols adjacent to and smaller than the at least one alphanumeric symbol.
19. The display according to claim 15, wherein the age of a measurement is conveyed by manipulation of an icon image displayed with the at least one alphanumeric symbol.
20. The display according to claim 15, wherein the measurement is a medical reading.

1. A method for forming a layout pattern, comprising the steps of:
(a) forming a plurality of loop-shaped patterns in a layer over a substrate, wherein the loop-shaped patterns comprise a plurality of loop-shaped feature patterns belonging to the layout pattern and a plurality of loop-shaped dummy patterns not belonging to the layout pattern, and the loop-shaped feature patterns and the loop-shaped dummy patterns have a first dimension; and
(b) after the step (a), forming a plurality of geometric patterns in another layer over the substrate, wherein the geometric patterns comprises a plurality of pad patterns belonging to the layout pattern and a plurality of dummy pad patterns not belonging to the layout pattern, and the dummy pad patterns have a second dimension, wherein the second dimension is greater than the first dimension.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein shapes of the dummy pad patterns are rectangles.
3. The method of claim 1, wherein the geometric patterns covers portions of the loop-shaped patterns.
4. The method of claim 1, wherein the geometric patterns are made of photoresist.
5. The method of claim 1, wherein the second dimension is greater than 1 micrometer.
6. The method of claim 1, wherein the pad patterns overlap portions of the loop-shaped feature patterns.
7. The method of claim 1, wherein the dummy pad patterns are uniformly distributed around a periphery of the loop-shaped feature patterns and the loop-shaped dummy patterns.
8. The method of claim 1, further comprising a step of (c) transferring the loop-shaped patterns and the geometric patterns into a target layer on the substrate.
9. The method of claim 8, wherein the step (c) comprises an anisotropic etching process.
10. The method of claim 1, wherein dimension of each of the pad patterns is greater than dimension of each of the dummy pad patterns.
11. The method of claim 10, wherein a plurality of the dummy pad patterns are uniformly distributed around a periphery of each of the pad patterns.

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 presenting content comprising:
aggregating endpoint metadata for each of a plurality of endpoint computing devices in a computing system and content metadata of content stored on each endpoint computing device;
receiving a request for a content item on a selected endpoint computing device;
querying aggregated endpoint metadata and content metadata to find instances of the content item and corresponding endpoint computing device locations; and
selecting an instance of the content item for playback by the selected endpoint computing device.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein aggregated endpoint metadata and content metadata are stored at cloud storage accessible by each endpoint computing device in the computing system.
3. The method of claim 1, wherein aggregated endpoint metadata and content metadata are stored at each endpoint computing device in the computing system.
4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:
generating a ranked list of instances of the content item based on selection criteria; and
selecting a highest-ranked instance of the content item from the ranked list for playback by the selected endpoint computing device.
5. The method of claim 1, wherein selection criteria includes selected endpoint computing device capability.
6. The method of claim 1, wherein selection criteria includes service andor user cost.
7. The method of claim 1, wherein selection criteria includes endpoint computing device availability andor instance availability, connectivity speedrate, andor network proximitylatency of an endpoint computing device on which a instance of the content item is stored.
8. The method of claim 1, wherein endpoint metadata includes one or more of endpoint computing device capability, online status, connectivity speedrate, and network location and content metadata includes one or more of access restrictions, encoding bit rate, format, and playback state.
9. A system comprising:
a plurality of endpoint computing devices in communication, each endpoint computing device comprising:
a location aware playback module configured to receive a request for a content item on a selected endpoint computing device, query a data storage of aggregated endpoint metadata for each of the plurality of endpoint computing devices and content metadata of content stored on each endpoint computing device of the plurality of endpoint computing devices to find instances of the content item and corresponding endpoint computing device locations, generate a ranked list of instances of the content item, retrieved from querying the data storage, based on selection criteria, and select a instance of the content item from the ranked list for playback by the selected endpoint computing device.
10. The system of claim 9, wherein the data storage of aggregated endpoint metadata and content data is stored in a computing cloud and accessible by each of the plurality of endpoint computing devices.
11. The system of claim 9, wherein the data storage of aggregated endpoint metadata and content data is stored on each of the plurality of endpoint computing devices.
12. The system of claim 9, wherein playback includes receiving a copy of a selected instance of the content item at the endpoint computing device via a native application executable by the endpoint computing device.
13. The system of claim 12, wherein the copy of the selected instance of the content item is stored on another endpoint computing device that is directly connected to the endpoint computing device.
14. The system of claim 12, wherein the copy of the selected instance of the content item is stored on another endpoint computing device that is connected to the endpoint computing device via a local area network.
15. The system of claim 9, wherein playback includes streaming a selected instance of the content item to the endpoint computing device via a web application programming interface.
16. The system of claim 9, wherein selection criteria includes selected endpoint computing device capability, service andor user cost, endpoint computing device availability andor instance availability, connectivity speedrate, andor network proximitylatency of an endpoint computing device on which an instance of the content item is stored.
17. The system of claim 9, wherein endpoint metadata includes endpoint computing device capability, online status, connectivity speedrate, and network location, and content metadata includes access restrictions, encoding bit rate, format, and playback state.
18. A data-storage device holding instructions executable by a processing device to:
aggregate endpoint metadata including endpoint computing device capability, online status, connectivity speedrate, and network location for each of a plurality of endpoint computing devices in a computing system and content metadata including access restrictions, encoding bit rate, format, and playback state of content stored on each endpoint computing device into a content-on-endpoint table;
receive a request for a content item on a selected endpoint computing device;
query the content-on-endpoint table to find instances of the content item and corresponding endpoint computing device locations;
generate a ranked list of instances of the content item based on selection criteria including selected endpoint computing device capability, service andor user cost, endpoint computing device availability andor instance availability, connectivity speedrate, andor network proximitylatency of an endpoint computing device on which an instance of the content item is stored; and
select a highest ranked instance of the content item from the ranked list for playback by the selected endpoint computing device.
19. The data-holding device of claim 18, wherein the content-on-endpoint table is stored on each endpoint computing device in the computing system.
20. The data-holding device of claim 18, wherein playback includes receiving a copy of a selected instance of the content item via a native application executable by the selected endpoint computing device or streaming the selected instance of the content item to the selected endpoint computing device via a web application programming interface.