All The Claims

1.-11. (canceled)
12. A system for estimating agricultural management parameter, the system comprising:
a data processor for processing environmental data collected;
a sensor for collecting the environmental data associated with at least one field for growing a crop in a particular location, the sensor associated with a location-determining receiver mounted on a corresponding vehicle;
a transmitter for transmitting the collected environmental data to the data processor, wherein the data processor determines whether a sample size of the collected environmental data for a geographical area meets or exceeds a minimum threshold, wherein responsive to a determination that the sample size is less than the minimum threshold the sensor collects additional environmental data, the transmitter transmits the additional environmental data to the data processor, and the data processor determines whether a new sample size meets or exceeds the minimum threshold;
an estimator for applying the collected environmental data to an agronomic model for estimating an agricultural management parameter in response to a determination that at least one of the sample size and the new sample size meets or exceeds the minimum threshold; and
a prescription generator for making available a prescription for application of an agricultural input to a crop in a particular location consistent with the collected environmental data and the agronomic model.
13. The system according to claim 12 wherein the vehicle is associated with operation on at least one of a road, a highway, a rail line, and a transportation route adjacent to or near the field.
14. The system according to claim 12 further comprising:
a removable weather module for housing the sensor, the removable weather module arranged for location outdoors and spaced apart from the vehicle; and
an interface mounted on the vehicle for communications between the removable weather module and the data processor.
15. The system according to claim 12 wherein the transmitter and a location-determining receiver comprise an integral portion of a telematics system associated with the vehicle.
16. The system according to claim 12 wherein the transmitter comprises at least one of a Bluetooth transmitter, a spread spectrum transmitter, a code division multiple access transmitter, an infra-red transmitter, and a radio frequency transmitter.
17. The system according to claim 12 wherein the collected environmental data comprises one or more of the following: climatic data, temperature data, dew point temperature, relative humidity, wind speed, solar radiation, sunlight intensity, wind direction, and rainfall amounts.
18. The system according to claim 12 wherein the collected environmental data comprises one or more of the following precursor data items: exterior air temperature, humidity, vehicle speed and heading, interior air temperature, air conditioner setting, fuel consumption, windshield wiper and speed setting.
19. The system according to claim 18 further comprising:
a data derivation unit for deriving one or more of the following collected environmental data from the precursor data items: climatic data, temperature data, dew point temperature, relative humidity, wind speed, solar radiation, sunlight intensity, wind direction, and rainfall amounts.
20. The system according to claim 12 wherein the estimator applies evapotranspiration as the agronomic model and where the agricultural input comprises water.
21. The system according to claim 20 wherein the evapotranspiration, a crop identifier, and a crop stage of growth or a planting date are applied to provide a prescription for water input, as the agricultural input, with reference to location data within the field.

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

1. An information handling system comprising:
one or more processors;
a memory coupled to at least one of the processors;
a set of computer program instructions stored in the memory and executed by at least one of the processors in order to perform actions of:
identifying a request, at a first hardware thread included in one of the processors, to initiate a second hardware thread;
executing software code on the second hardware thread included in one of the processors, wherein the executing includes the second hardware thread storing data in one or more hardware registers included in one of the processors;
invoking a hypervisor in response to identifying that the second hardware thread ceases execution of the software code;
extracting, by the hypervisor, the data from one or more of the hardware registers;
storing, by the hypervisor, the extracted data in a shared memory area included in the memory; and
executing a debug routine that retrieves the extracted data from the shared memory area.
2. The information handling system of claim 1 wherein:
the debug routine is executed on the first hardware thread;
the one or more hardware registers are dedicated to the second hardware thread during the software code execution, making them inaccessible to the first hardware thread; and
the extracted data is debug data that the debug routine utilizes to debug the software code that was executed on the second hardware thread.
3. The information handling system of claim 2 wherein:
the debug data includes one or more termination indicators; and
at least one of the termination indicators is selected from the group consisting of a next instruction address and a termination type identifier.
4. The information handling system of claim 1 wherein the processors perform additional actions comprising:
in response to ceasing execution of the software code, maintaining hardware resources dedicated to the second hardware thread, wherein the one or more hardware registers are included in the dedicated hardware resources; and
releasing, by the hypervisor, the dedicated hardware resources to a resource pool in response to extracting the data.
5. The information handling system of claim 1 wherein the second hardware thread includes a debug controller, and wherein the processors perform additional actions comprising:
checking, by the debug controller, a debug control bit stored in one of the hardware registers; and
invoking the hypervisor, by the debug controller, in response to determining that the debug control bit is set.
6. The information handling system of claim 1 wherein the processors perform additional actions comprising:
executing, by the hypervisor, a hypervisor release assist thread instruction; and
wherein the releasing results in clearing the one or more hardware registers.
7. The information handling system of claim 1 wherein the processors perform additional actions comprising:
sending a configuration interrupt from the second hardware thread to the hypervisor; and
in response to receiving the configuration interrupt, configuring, by the hypervisor, the one or more hardware registers.
8. The information handling system of claim 1 wherein the processors perform additional actions comprising:
retrieving, by the hypervisor, a first thread identifier from the one or more hardware registers;
storing the extracted data in a shared storage location corresponding to the first thread identifier; and
informing the first hardware thread that the extracted data is stored in the shared storage location.
9. A computer program product stored in a computer readable storage medium, comprising computer program code that, when executed by an information handling system, causes the information handling system to perform actions comprising:
identifying a request, at a first hardware thread included a processor, to initiate a second hardware thread;
executing software code on the second hardware thread included in the processor, wherein the executing includes the second hardware thread storing data in one or more hardware registers included in the processor;
invoking a hypervisor in response to identifying that the second hardware thread ceases execution of the software code;
extracting, by the hypervisor, the data from one or more of the hardware registers;
storing, by the hypervisor, the extracted data in a shared memory area; and
executing a debug routine that retrieves the extracted data from the shared memory area.
10. The computer program product of claim 9 wherein:
the debug routine is executed on the first hardware thread;
the one or more hardware registers are dedicated to the second hardware thread during the software code execution, making them inaccessible to the first hardware thread; and
the extracted data is debug data that the debug routine utilizes to debug the software code that was executed on the second hardware thread.
11. The computer program product of claim 10 wherein:
the debug data includes one or more termination indicators; and
at least one of the termination indicators is selected from the group consisting of a next instruction address and a termination type identifier.
12. The computer program product of claim 9 wherein the information handling system performs further actions comprising:
in response to ceasing execution of the software code, maintaining hardware resources dedicated to the second hardware thread, wherein the one or more hardware registers are included in the dedicated hardware resources; and
releasing, by the hypervisor, the dedicated hardware resources to a resource pool in response to extracting the data.
13. The computer program product of claim 9 wherein the second hardware thread includes a debug controller, and wherein the information handling system performs further actions comprising:
checking, by the debug controller, a debug control bit stored in one of the hardware registers; and
invoking the hypervisor, by the debug controller, in response to determining that the debug control bit is set.
14. The computer program product of claim 9 wherein the information handling system performs further actions comprising:
executing, by the hypervisor, a hypervisor release assist thread instruction; and
wherein the releasing results in clearing the one or more hardware registers.
15. The computer program product of claim 9 wherein the information handling system performs further actions comprising:
sending a configuration interrupt from the second hardware thread to the hypervisor; and
in response to receiving the configuration interrupt, configuring, by the hypervisor, the one or more hardware registers.
16. The computer program product of claim 9 wherein the information handling system performs further actions comprising:
retrieving, by the hypervisor, a first thread identifier from the one or more hardware registers;
storing the extracted data in a shared storage location corresponding to the first thread identifier; and
informing the first hardware thread that the extracted data is stored in the shared storage location.

1. An electrical connector, comprising:
an insulative housing;
a chamber having upper and lower chambers;
a plurality of first contacts, each having a contacting portion exposed into one of the upper or lower chambers, a connecting portion retained in the insulative housing, and a resilient suspending portion connecting with the contacting portion and the connecting portion; and
a plurality of second contacts, each electrically connecting to respective first contact and having a contacting portion exposed into the other one chamber and aligned to the respective contacting portion of the first contacts;
wherein the suspending portions could resiliently swing in a height direction, and the contacting portions of the first and second contacts can be displaced in the height direction.
2. The electrical connector as claimed in claim 1, wherein the electrical connector further comprises an inner circuit board having opposing surfaces and each of the contacting portions of the first and second contacts is attached to one surface of the inner circuit board, and electrically connected to one contacting portion on the other surface of the inner circuit board.
3. The electrical connector as claimed in claim 2, wherein the inner circuit board is spaced from the insulative housing from a distance and could be displaced in said height direction accompanying with displacement of the contacting portions.
4. The electrical connector as claimed in claim 2, wherein the electrical connector further comprises an insulator molded over the inner circuit board;
and a metal shell defining opposing top and bottom walls, and two opposing side walls connecting the top and bottom walls; the chamber is defined by the walls, the insulator is disposed in the chamber to define the chamber into said upper and lower chambers, the insulator is spaced from the insulative housing for a distance.
5. The electrical connector as claimed in claim 4, wherein each of the suspending portions is suspended in the upper chamber and located at the same height as the contacting portion in said chamber.
6. The electrical connector as claimed in claim 2, wherein the second contacts are gold fingers formed on the inner circuit board directly.
7. The electrical connector as claimed in claim 1, wherein the insulative housing includes a main body and a pair of extending portions extending forwardly from two lateral sides of the main body; the extending portions defining a receiving space formed therebetween; the suspending portions are arranged in the receiving space.
8. The electrical connector as claimed in claim 1, wherein both the first contacts and the second contacts are compatible to the universal serial bus (USB) 2.0 standard, include a grounding contact, a power contact, and a pair of signal contacts locating between the corresponding grounding contact and power contact under condition that the second contacts are arranged in a reverse order compared with the first contacts.
9. The electrical connector as claimed in claim 1, wherein the second contacts are spaced from the insulative housing for a distance, the suspending portions have curved portions formed at rear ends thereof, some of the curved portions bent downwardly, and the other curved portions bent upwardly.
10. An electrical connector for reversibly mating with a complementary connector, comprising:
a metal shell defining a chamber;
a tongue plate disposed in the chamber and dividing the chamber into two symmetrical half chambers;
a plurality of first contacts defining contacting portions located at a surface of the tongue plate and exposed into one of the half chambers for contacting with a group of terminals of the complementary connector when the electrical connector mating with the complementary connector in a normal orientation; and
a plurality of second contacts, each electrically connecting to one respective first contact, the second contacts defining contacting portions arranged at an opposing surface of the tongue plate and being exposed into the other one of said half chambers for contacting with said group of terminals of the complementary connector when the electrical connector mating with the complementary connector in a reverse orientation;
wherein each of said first contacts has resilient suspending portion extending from the respective contacting portion for resiliently bending in a height direction, and the tongue plate pivoted with the contacting portions to adjust dimensions of the half chambers for the complementary connector.
11. The electrical connector as claimed in claim 10, wherein the electrical connector further comprises an insulative housing spaced from the tongue plate in a mating direction perpendicular to the height direction, each of the first contacts has a connecting portion connecting to the respective suspending portions and being retained in the insulative housing.
12. The electrical connector as claimed in claim 11, wherein the insulative housing has a main body, a supporting portion extending rearwardly from the main body and a pair of extending portions extending forwardly from two sides of the main body, each of the first contacts further has a tail portion retained in the supporting portion and exposed to exterior, the extending portions are disposed at two lateral sides of the first contacts and define a receiving space therebetween, the suspending portions are arranged in the receiving space.
13. The electrical connector as claimed in claim 10, wherein the electrical connector further comprises an inner circuit board retained in the tongue plate and between the contacting portions of the first and second contacts, the contacting portions of the first and second contacts are mounted at two opposition surfaces of the inner circuit board to electrically connect respective one on the other surface of the inner circuit board.
14. The electrical connector as claimed in claim 13, wherein the tongue plate has two clearances between respective two sides and the metal shell to make sure the tongue plate being capable displaced in the chamber in the height direction without interference.
15. The electrical connector as claimed in claim 14, wherein the tongue plate has a pair of protrusions formed at two lateral sides thereof and spaced from the metal shell to reduce frictions between the tongue plate and the metal shell.
16. A reversible electrical connector, comprising:
a metal shell defining a chamber having two symmetrical upper and lower chambers;
an inner circuit board disposed between the upper and lower chambers;
a plurality of first contacts having contacting portions deployed on an upper surface of the inner circuit board and exposed into the upper chamber, and resilient suspending portions extending from the contacting portions away to the inner circuit board; and
a plurality of second contacts electrically connecting to the first contacts, each of the second contacts having a contacting portion mounted onto a lower surface of the inner circuit board and exposed into the lower chamber, each of said the contacting portions of the second contacts being electrically connected to each one contacting portion of the respective first contact;
wherein the suspending portions resiliently bend in a height direction , the inner circuit board pivots with the contacting portions when a matched connector inserted in said chamber.
17. The electrical connector as claimed in claim 16, wherein the electrical connector further comprises an insulative housing being spaced from the inner circuit board and the contacting portions of the second contacts, each of the first contacts has a connecting portion extending from the respective suspending portion and being retained in the insulative housing, the suspending portions swing around the respective connecting portions.
18. The electrical connector as claimed in claim 17, wherein the electrical connector further comprises an insulator molded over the contacting portions of the first and second contacts and the inner circuit board, the contacting portions of the first and second contacts are exposed on said surfaces of the insulator, the insulator is spaced from the insulative housing with a distance and is pivoted upwardly or downwardly with the contacting portions and the inner circuit board.
19. The electrical connector as claimed in claim 18, wherein clearances are formed between each lateral side of the insulator and the metal shell.
20. The electrical connector as claimed in claim 17, wherein the suspending portions have curved portions bent downwardly or upwardly relating to the contacting portions.

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 upcollimator structure for a laser system, the upcollimator structure comprising:
at least one concave lens, at least one convex lens spaced from the concave lens, and
at least one lens member composed at least in part of piezoelectric material disposed between the lenses, whereby, when voltage is applied to the lens member, a refractive index of the lens member changes thus changing an upcollimation factor when a light beam is passed through the upcollimator structure.
2. The upcollimator structure of claim 1, wherein the at least one lens member is composed of quartz.
3. The upcollimator structure of claim 1, wherein a pair of concave lenses are in spaced relation and a pair of convex lenses are provided, the pair of concave lenses being spaced from the pair of convex lenses.
4. The upcollimator structure of claim 3, wherein a first said lens member is provided between the pair of concave lenses and a second said lens member is provided between a convex lens and a concave lens.
5. The upcollimator structure of claim 4, wherein a first power supply supplies voltage to the first lens member and a second power supply supplies power to the second lens member.
6. The upcollimator structure of claim 1, further including a drive associated with at least one lens member to move at least one lens member along an optical axis with respect to the concave lens and convex lens.
7. The upcollimator of claim 6, wherein the lens member is mounted on a movable structure driven by the drive.
8. An upcollimator structure for a laser system, the upcollimator structure comprising:
a first lens structure including at least one concave lens, and
a second lens structure including at least one convex lens,
at least one of said lenses being composed at least in part of piezoelectric material, whereby, when voltage is applied to said at least one of said lenses, a refractive index thereof changes thus changing an upcollimation factor when a light beam is passed through the upcollimator structure.
9. The upcollimator structure of claim 8, wherein the first lens structure includes a pair of concave lenses and the second lens structure includes a pair of convex lenses, the pair of concave lenses being spaced from the pair of convex lenses.
10. The upcollimator structure of claim 9, wherein each lens of the pair of concave lenses and each lens of the pair of convex lenses are composed at least in part from piezoelectric material.
11. The upcollimator structure of claim 10, further including a power supply associated with each lens to supply voltage to the associated lens.
12. The upcollimator structure of claim 11, wherein each power supply is connected to a synchronization module that is connected to a laser gating signal, the synchronization module being configured to adjust power or energy density at distinct intervals from gating commands.
13. The upcollimator structure of claim 12, wherein each lens is composed of quartz.
14. A method of controlling fluence and power density of a laser system which generates a light beam, the laser system having an upcollimator structure including as an optical system, at least one convex lens, at least one concave lens spaced from the convex lens, and at least one lens member, composed at least in part of piezoelectric material, disposed between the convex lens and the concave lens, the method including:
directing the light beam through the optical system at a first fluence setting and a first power density setting, and
supplying voltage to the lens member to change a refractive index of the lens member and directing the light beam through the optical system thereby providing a second fluence setting and a second power density setting.
15. The method of claim 14, further including:
moving the lens member with respect to the convex lens and the concave lens thereby changing the upcollimation and focal point of the light beam as the light beam exits the optical system to provide a third fluence setting and a third power density setting.
16. The method of claim 14, wherein a multi-layered target is ablated in multiple steps via the light beam at the first fluence setting and a first power density setting, and thereafter at the second fluence setting and a second power density setting.
17. The method of claim 16, including continuously adjusting fluence and power density to maintain the same values of fluence and power density while penetrating single layers or all layers of the multi-layered target.
18. The method of claim 17, including adjusting depth of focus to maintain the same fluence and power density values throughout a machining process.
19. The method of claim 18, wherein the depth of focus is continually or incrementally changed during machining of different layers of the target to avoid beam clipping by upper layers of the target.
20. A method of controlling fluence and power density of a laser system which generates a light beam, the laser system having an upcollimator structure including as an optical system, at least one convex lens and at least one concave lens spaced from the convex lens, at least one of the convex and concave lenses being composed at least in part of piezoelectric material, the method including:
directing the light beam through the optical system at a first fluence setting and a first power density setting, and
supplying voltage to the at least one lens having piezoelectric material to change a refractive index thereof and directing the light beam through the optical system thereby providing a second fluence setting and a second power density setting.
21. The method of claim 20, wherein both the convex lens and the concave lens are composed at least in part of piezoelectric material and the method includes supplying voltage to both the convex lens and concave lens.
22. The method of claim 20, including continuously adjusting fluence and power density to maintain the same values of fluence and power density while penetrating single layers or all layers of a multi-layered target.
23. The method of claim 22, including adjusting depth of focus to maintain the same fluence and power density values throughout a machining process.
24. The method of claim 23, wherein the depth of focus is continually or incrementally changed during machining of different layers of the target to avoid beam clipping by upper layers of the target.