All The Claims

1. A moving picture encoding method which generates a predicted image using information on motion vectors and information on reference images, the moving picture encoding method having multiple prediction modes including a mode without motion vector encoding, comprising:
a step of selecting a frame(s) to be referenced to in the prediction of each prediction direction in the prediction mode from among multiple candidate reference frames, and
a step of selecting motion vector information used in the prediction mode, wherein
said step of selecting motion vector information is performed based on whether blocks adjacent to a current block have a motion vector; and
moving picture encoding is performed by generating said predicted image using the information on said selected reference frame and the information on said selected motion vectors in said prediction mode.

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 controlling a vehicle system including an engine, a transmission, and a control system in operative communication with and structured to control operation of the engine and the transmission, the method comprising:
determining an operating point of the engine, the operating point including an engine torque and an engine speed;
evaluating a relationship between the operating point and a soft limit on engine torque;
modifying the soft limit to permit operation outside a boundary of the un-modified soft limit, the modifying the soft limit being constrained by a hard limit on engine torque; and
adjusting the operating point of the engine to increase engine torque above the boundary of the un-modified soft limit;
wherein the modifying and the adjusting are effective to at least one of mitigate a vehicle speed lug event and avoid a transmission shift event.
2. The method of claim 1 wherein the adjusting the operating point comprises a combination of increasing engine torque above the un-modified soft limit and decreasing engine speed.
3. The method of claim 2 wherein the combination of increasing engine torque above the boundary of the un-modified soft limit and decreasing engine speed is determined based upon an optimization of a demand responsiveness criterion and fuel consumption criterion.
4. The method of claim 1 further comprising reinstating the un-modified soft limit on engine torque based upon a reinstatement criterion.
5. The method of claim 1 wherein the modifying the soft limit is based at least in part upon a predetermined relationship between the operating point of the engine and the soft limit on engine torque.
6. The method of claim 5 wherein the modifying the soft limit is further based upon a predicted future engine operating point.
7. The method of claim 6 wherein the predicted future operating point is based at least in part upon information of a global positioning system.
8. The method of claim 6 wherein the predicted future operating point is based at least in part upon information of prior operation of the vehicle.
9. The method of claim 6 wherein the predicted future operating point is based at least in part upon a predetermined road parameter specification.
10. The method of claim 6 wherein the predicted future operating point is based at least in part upon information from an inclinometer.
11. The method of claim 6 wherein the predicted future operating point is based at least in part upon a forward horizon terrain profile.
12. The method of claim 6 wherein the predicted future operating point is based at least in part upon information from an inclinometer and a forward horizon terrain profile.
13. The method of claim 12 wherein the information from an inclinometer and the forward horizon terrain profile are utilized to determine a fused grade sensor value.
14. The method of claim 13 wherein the a fused grade sensor comprises a weighted average of the information from the inclinometer and the forward horizon terrain profile.
15. A vehicle system comprising:
an engine;
a transmission; and
a control system in operative communication with the engine and the transmission, the control system being structured to:
determine an operating point of the engine, the operating point including an engine torque and an engine speed,
evaluate a relationship between the operating point and a first limit on engine torque,
modify the first limit to permit operation outside a boundary of the un-modified first limit, modification of the first limit being constrained by a second limit on engine torque, and
adjust the operating point of the engine to increase engine torque above the boundary of the un-modified first limit.
16. The system of claim 15 wherein the controller is structured to adjust the operating point of the engine by increasing engine torque above the un-modified first limit and decreasing engine speed.
17. The system of claim 16 wherein the controller is structured to adjust the operating point of the engine based upon a weighted optimization of a demand responsiveness criterion and fuel consumption criterion.
18. The system of claim 15 wherein the controller is further structured to reinstate the un-modified first limit on engine torque based upon a predetermined criterion of the engine operating point.
19. The system of claim 15 wherein the controller is structured to modify the first limit based at least in part upon a predetermined relationship between the operating point of the engine and the first limit on engine torque.
20. The system of claim 15 wherein the execution of the instructions by the controller is effective to mitigate a vehicle speed lug event.
21. The system of claim 15 wherein the controller is structured to modify the first limit based upon a predicted future engine operating point.
22. The system of claim 21 wherein the predicted future operating point is based at least in part upon one of information of a global positioning system, information of prior operation of the vehicle, a predetermined road parameter specification, information from an inclinometer, and a forward horizon terrain profile.
23. The system of claim 21 wherein the predicted future operating point is based at least in part upon a fused grade sensor value determined based upon information from an inclinometer and a forward horizon terrain profile.
24. The system of claim 15 wherein the execution of the instructions by the controller is effective to avoid a transmission shift event.
25. A method comprising:
operating a vehicle system including an engine, a transmission, and a control system in operative communication with the engine and the transmission;
determining engine output information;
evaluating the engine output information relative to an adjustable engine output limit;
increasing the adjustable engine output limit based upon a first adjustment criterion subject to constraint by a non-adjustable engine output limit;
controlling the engine output to exceed the un-modified adjustable engine output limit; and
decreasing the adjustable engine output limit based upon a second adjustment criterion.
26. The method of claim 25 wherein the engine output information comprises engine speed information and engine torque information.
27. The method of claim 25 wherein the adjustable engine output limit comprises a limit on engine torque as a function of engine speed.
28. The method of claim 25 wherein the increasing and controlling are effective to avoid a vehicle speed lug event.
29. The method of claim 25 wherein the first adjustment criterion comprises a current relationship between the engine output limitation and the adjustable engine output limit prior to the increasing.
30. The method of claim 29 the first adjustment criterion accounts for a predicted future engine output.
31. The method of claim 30 wherein the predicted future engine output is based at least in part upon one of information of a global positioning system, information of prior operation of the vehicle, a predetermined road parameter specification, information from an inclinometer, and a forward horizon terrain profile.
32. The method of claim 30 wherein the predicted future engine output is based at least in part upon a combination information from an inclinometer and a forward horizon terrain profile.
33. The method of claim 25 wherein the increasing and controlling are effective to avoid a transmission shift event.

1. A seal assembly, comprising:
a first body;
a second body;
a non-weeping primary seal disposed between the first body and the second body and adapted to seal critical pressure coming from a single direction;
a redundant secondary seal, serving no other purpose but to back up the primary seal in the event of failure of the primary seal, disposed between the first body and the second body in spaced relation to the primary seal and shielded from the critical pressure by the primary seal;
a non-weeping pressure port extending through one of the first body or the second body between the primary seal and the secondary seal; and
means for detecting a pressure increase within the pressure port, thereby indicating a failure of the primary seal.
2. The seal assembly as defined in claim 1, wherein the second body is positioned within the first body.
3. The seal assembly as defined in claim 2, wherein the second body is a shaft which does one of reciprocates or rotates.
4. The seal assembly as defined in claim 3, wherein both the primary seal and the secondary seals are annular seals.
5. A seal assembly, comprising:
a first body;
a second body in the form of a shaft disposed within the first body, the shaft being capable of one of reciprocating or rotating;
a non-weeping primary seal grouping including several annular seals disposed between the first body and the second body, and adapted to seal critical pressure coming from a single direction;
a redundant secondary seal grouping serving no other purpose but to back up the primary seal grouping in the event of failure of the primary seal grouping, the secondary seal grouping including several annular seals disposed between the first body and the second body in spaced relation to the primary seal grouping and shielded from the critical pressure by the primary seal grouping;
a non-weeping pressure port extending through the first body between the primary seal grouping and the secondary seal grouping; and
a pressure sensor for detecting an increase in pressure within the pressure port, thereby indicating a failure of the primary seal grouping.

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 a node to join a wireless ad-hoc network, comprising:
invoking a permit-to-join command on an input unit of a target node to start a joined procedure of the target node;
sending a join request message by a new node to start the join procedure of the new node;
starting a permit-to-be-joined timer;
determining whether the permit-to-be-joined timer reaches a predetermined permit-to-be-joined time limit, and terminating the joined procedure of the target node if the permit-to-be-joined timer reaches the predetermined permit-to-be-joined time limit;
sending a join response message by the target node and issuing a joined prompt on an indication unit of the target node, wherein when the new node receives the join response message, an indication unit of the new node issues a join prompt;
determining whether the joined prompt of the target node and the join prompt of the new node are correspondingly issued; and
if the joined prompt of the target node and the join prompt of the new node are not correspondingly issued, a reject-to-be-joined command is invoked on the input unit of the target node issuing the joined prompt to cancel the joined procedure of the target node, or a reject-to-join command is invoked on an input unit of the new node issuing the join prompt to cancel the join procedure of the new node.
2. A method for a node to join a wireless ad-hoc network, suitable for connecting a new node among a plurality of candidate new nodes to a target node in a target wireless ad-hoc network, wherein the candidate new nodes and the target node respectively equipped with an input unit and an indication unit, the method for joining the new node to the wireless ad-hoc network comprising:
(a) receiving a permit-to-join command from the input unit of the target node to start a joined procedure of the target node, starting a permit-to-be-joined timer, determining whether the permit-to-be-joined timer reaches a predetermined permit-to-be-joined time limit; and terminating the joined procedure if the permit-to-be-joined timer reaches the predetermined permit-to-be-joined time limit;
(b) receiving a join request message from one of the candidate new nodes by the target node during the joined procedure;
(c) sending a join response message from the target node which receives the join request message to said one of the candidate new nodes during the joined procedure, and issuing a joined prompt on the indication unit of the target node, wherein when said one of the candidate new nodes receives the join response message, the indication unit of this candidate new node issues a join prompt;
(d) determining whether the joined prompt of the target node and the join prompt of the new node are correspondingly issued during the step (c); and
(e) invoking a reject-to-be-joined command from the input unit of the target node if the joined prompt of the target node and the join prompt of the new node are not correspondingly issued during the step (d).
3. The method according to claim 2 further comprising creating a not-permitted-to-join address list on the target node.
4. The method according to claim 3, wherein in the step (c), the target node sends the join response message to said one of the candidate new nodes only when said one of the candidate new nodes is not in the not-permitted-to-join address list of the target node.
5. The method according to claim 3, wherein after the step (e), the method further comprises:
adding the address of said one of the candidate new node to the not-permitted-to-join address list.
6. The method according to claim 5 further comprising deleting the addresses from the not-permitted-to-join address list by using the input unit of the target node.
7. The method according to claim 2 further comprising creating a permitted-to-join address list on the target node.
8. The method according to claim 7 further comprising:
determining whether the addresses of the candidate new nodes appear in the permitted-to-join address list, wherein the candidate new nodes are allowed to join the target node if the addresses of the candidate new nodes appear in the permitted-to-join address list.
9. The method according to claim 8 further comprising deleting addresses from the permitted-to-join address list by using the input unit of the target node.
10. The method according to claim 2 further comprising measuring signal quality of the candidate new nodes on the target node, and sending the join response message to one of the candidate new nodes according to the measured signal quality.
11. The method according to claim 2 further comprising determining whether an unanticipated connection occurs before the new node joins the target node.
12. A method for a node to join a wireless ad-hoc network, suitable for a new node to join a target node among a plurality of candidate target nodes, wherein a joined procedure of the target node is started, and the new node and the candidate target nodes respectively equipped with an input unit and a indication unit, the method comprising:
(a) starting a permit-to-be-joined timer;
(b) determining whether the permit-to-be-joined timer reaches a predetermined permit-to-be-joined time limit, and terminating the joined procedure of the target node if the permit-to-be-joined timer reaches the predetermined permit-to-be-joined time limit;
(c) sending a join request message from the new node to one of candidate target nodes during the joined procedure;
(d) receiving a join response message from said one of the candidate target nodes by the new node and issuing a join prompt on the indication unit of the new node during the joined procedure, wherein the indication unit of said one of the candidate target nodes issues a joined prompt after said one of the candidate target node issues the join response message;
(e) determining whether the joined prompt of the target node and the join prompt of the new node are correspondingly issued during the joined procedure; and
(f) receiving a reject-to-join command from the input unit of the new node during the joined procedure if the joined prompt of the target node and the join prompt of the new node are not correspondingly issued.
13. The method according to claim 12 further comprising creating a not-permitted-to-be-joined address list on the new node.
14. The method according to claim 13, wherein in the step (c), the address of said one of the candidate target nodes does not appear in the not-permitted-to-be-joined address list.
15. The method according to claim 13, wherein the step (f) further comprises:
adding the address of said one of the candidate target nodes to the not-permitted-to-be-joined address list.
16. The method according to claim 15 further comprising deleting addresses in the not-permitted-to-be-joined address list by using the input unit of the new node.
17. The method according to claim 12 further comprising creating a permitted-to-be-joined address list on the new node.
18. The method according to claim 17 further comprising:
determining whether the addresses of the candidate target nodes appear in the permitted-to-be-joined address list, wherein the new node is allowed to join the candidate target nodes if the addresses of the candidate target nodes appear in the permitted-to-be-joined address list.
19. The method according to claim 18 further comprising deleting an address in the permitted-to-be-joined address list by using the input unit of the new node.
20. The method according to claim 12 further comprising measuring signal quality of the candidate target nodes on the new node, and issuing the join request message to one of the candidate target nodes according to the measured signal quality.
21. The method according to claim 12 further comprising determining whether an unanticipated connection occurs before the new node joins the target node.
22. A wireless ad-hoc network system, suitable for a wireless ad-hoc network, the wireless ad-hoc network system comprising:
a target node, already joined a target wireless ad-hoc network and equipped with a first input unit and a first indication unit, wherein the first input unit is used for receiving a permit-to-join command to start a joined procedure on the target node; and
a new node, equipped with a second input unit and a second indication unit, wherein the new node automatically sends a join request message to start the join procedure on the new node,
wherein the target node starts a permit-to-be-joined timer and determines whether the permit-to-be-joined timer reaches a predetermined permit-to-be-joined time limit,
wherein the target node terminates the joined procedure of the target node if the permit-to-be-joined timer reaches the predetermined permit-to-be-joined time limit,
wherein when the target node sends a join response message, the first indication unit issues a joined prompt, and when the new node receives the join response message, the second indication unit issues a join prompt,
wherein if the joined prompt on the first indication unit and the join prompt on the second indication unit are not correspondingly issued during the join procedure, the first input unit or the second input unit is further used for receiving the reject-to-join command to cancel the joined procedure on the target node or the join procedure on the new node.
23. The wireless ad-hoc network system according to claim 22, wherein the target wireless ad-hoc network is a network conforming to a ZigBee standard.
24. The wireless ad-hoc network system according to claim 23, wherein the target node is a ZigBee coordinator or a ZigBee router.
25. The wireless ad-hoc network system according to claim 23, wherein the new node is a ZigBee router or a ZigBee end device.
26. The wireless ad-hoc network system according to claim 23, wherein the first input unit and the second input unit respectively comprise a button or a graphic user interface (GUI).
27. The wireless ad-hoc network system according to claim 23, wherein the first indication unit and the second indication unit respectively comprise a sound producing device, a light emitting diode (LED) light, or a liquid crystal display (LCD).